"I trust you will take good care of this," Riju said, handing a radiant shield to Zelda.

She ran her hands along the purple metal and the huge red jewel in the center with awe. Zelda had always loved the Gerudo culture, especially their clothing and weapon design.

"It's beautiful," Zelda said. "But will it protect me?"

Riju laughed. "Of course it will, Princess. There's no need to worry."

The two walked out into the main plaza of the city. It was filled with all the warriors that were going to fight. They conversed with one another, talked strategy, and some even practiced attacks. The morning sun shined off their armor and weapons.

As they walked down the steps, Zelda caught Link in the corner of her eye. He stood near the front of the crowd, tall, his blue was particularly easy to see in the crowd of Gerudo women.

Zelda stopped on the steps. Riju turned around.

"What's the matter?" Riju tracked Zelda's gaze to Link. She smiled.

"Ohhh. There he is."

Zelda nodded. "Yep. There he is."

"Did something happen between you guys?" Riju asked. They started to walk down the stairs again.

"No..." Zelda quietly said.

"You sure?"

"I'm positive."

"Ok. If you say so," Riju responded.

They reached the bottom of the stairs.

"He almost kissed me last night."

Riju stopped dead in her tracks.

"What!" she screamed. Many of the women turned to the yell.

"Shh! Quiet, Riju!"

Riju ran up and grabbed her arms.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, Riju. Now quiet down, please."

"Ok, ok," Riju said. "That's just so exciting!"

"Please, let's not talk about it now. We have a battle to fight."

Riju stood tall. "Ok. Ok, you're right." She walked to the crowd. She stood among her people.

"Are we ready?" Riju shouted.

"Yes!" Their response was even louder.

Link looked across the crowd to Zelda. They locked eyes. They hadn't talked since last night. Link subtly nodded. Zelda did the same.

"Let's fight!" Riju yelled.

—————

That afternoon, hundreds of Gerudo warriors lined the desert and marched to the Karusa Valley: the entrance to the Yiga Clan's canyon. All of them wore their battle armor and wielded their spears, swords, bows, scimitars, and shields. Lady Riju led the way along with a commanding army behind her. For her first battle, Riju appeared very calm.

They stopped about 100 yards from the opening of the canyon.

"If they are to come out," Riju called out, "this is where they'd do it."

She turned to Zelda, who stood to her right. "They're gonna come out, right?"

Zelda nodded. "That's what the dream said." She held her eightfold blade tightly in her hand and the radiant shield in the other.

Link stood to Riju's left, holding his hylian shield and the master sword with a savage lynel bow on his back. He stayed calm and was ready to face Dark Link for the last time.

"Link, What is that?" Riju asked, pointing to the hookshot on his belt.

He unhooked it and showed it to her.

"The hookshot. It can bring you anywhere you shoot it, and bring anyone to you."

"Fascinating."

Link only nodded.

Riju slammed her spear into the hot sand. The army echoed her actions and slammed their weapons into the sand. Riju did this again, and the army copied. Soon, they all held a steady beat: Riju slamming her spear, and the army soon after.

Link squinted into the dark canyon, looking for any sign of movement. The Yiga were incredibly stealthy, so he had to be always watching.

Soon, he saw the faintest movement behind one of the boulders. An arm?

No. A cape.

"Right there," he pointed. "They're here."

Riju quickly held up a hand to stop the pounding. Link turned to Zelda.

"Come on. Let's head back."

Zelda walked in step with him to the middle of the group.

"It'll be best to hit Dark Link by surprise. I'll wait for the right moment."

Zelda nodded and grabbed his hand.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

—————

"Master!" one of the troops whispered. "They're out there right now!"

All the clan stood behind the boulders that lined the canyon. Master Kanto and Dark Link stood at the front, opposite each other.

Master Kanto leaned against the boulder and looked across to Dark Link. Dark placed a hand on the rock and let a stream of malice flow out. It ran all the way up the rock until it barely poked over the top. He then closed his eyes. A small yellow eye appeared at the top of the malice. Using that eye, he surveyed the scene ahead of them. Dark quickly retracted the malice and opened his eyes.

"He's right. The Gerudo are right there."

Kanto laughed. "They think they can stop us from getting to Kakariko."

Dark smiled back.

"Yiga!" yelled a young female voice. "We Gerudo have come on behalf of the entire kingdom of Hyrule. You were born out of hatred of the good in the world and have pledged allegiance to Ganon. But your evil ways will end today."

"Foolish," Dark shook his head. "Guess there's no reason to stay hidden."

Boulder after boulder, all the members of the Yiga Clan came out. Dark Link and Master Kanto lead the way. They stood at the mouth of the canyon. The hundreds of Yiga faced the hundreds of Gerudo.

"This effort is futile!" yelled Kanto. "You will never prevail against the Yiga Clan. We have trained for months and months on end and we—"

"Fire!"

In a flash, a row of Gerudo archers knocked arrows, and let them fly at the Yiga. The Yiga readied themselves, and teleported away before the arrows could hit. They thunked into the sand, missing their mark. The Yiga immediately shot back, sending arrows whizzing toward the women. They all held up their shields and they bounced off.

The Gerudo shot again, and the Yiga shot again. And again. And once more. They were getting nowhere.

"We can't keep trading fire like this," Buliara said. "We'll run out of arrows before we deal any damage."

Riju nodded. "I know."

She looked behind at her army and deeply exhaled as she nodded to the front lines. She slowly held her hand high in the air. All shooting stopped immediately.

Then, she quickly snapped into a fist, and all the Gerudo started to run towards the Yiga.

All the women yelled as they charged at their enemy.

"You know what to do," said Kanto, telepathically through the malice

The entire Yiga army charged, some running, some teleporting. There was no order in which they came. It was chaos. While the Gerudo had formations and order, the Yiga had insanity.

The two forces met head on. Shouts and clangs erupted from the desert and could be heard from the entire southwest part of Hyrule. With each hit and teleport the Yiga let out their signature laugh: the one that Link had heard many times during his journeys. Him and Zelda fought whenever enemies would get close, but he mostly spaced them out with his bow.

Riju went straight to work. Being as small as she was and wielding a Gerudo spear, she was almost as quick as all the others. She made quick work with one of the footsoldiers. Three quick jabs were enough. She saw another in her peripheral vision come from the right. She acted like she wasn't paying attention because she knew Yiga loved to go for the flashy kill. She heard the Yiga jump up, and she quickly rolled away. When he landed, she made two quick jabs. So much for a flashy kill.

The front lines held strong. Many Yiga teleported behind them, but the Gerudo had their weapons ready when they appeared again.

Buliara proved to be an incredible force in combat. She used the same weapon that Urbosa had used. No one could even come near her. They would see the slash of her blade before they could even think of attacking. All the Gerudo fought hard, but the Yiga proved to be too quick for some.

Buliara locked swords with a blademaster. She pushed with all her force, but the blademaster's bulky body was too strong for Buliara. He forced her down, making her bend backwards. Her hair pushed into the burning sand. She knew that if she couldn't overpower him, she'd have to outsmart him. She slipped from under him, making his mask face plant into the ground. She took a quick slash to his back, making him go limp. She jerked her head up to see if any others were coming at her, but instead saw Riju deep in battle with one of them. Riju was fierce, and was putting all her effort into this fight. From behind, Buliara saw another Yiga run up. Buliara had to do something.

"Riju!"

Riju heard her yell, and knew that meant someone was coming quick. She had an idea.

The next time the Yiga swiped down, she caught the sword with her spear. She twisted it, making the Yiga lose his grip, and swung her spear over her head. She had timed it perfectly. The sword flew out of her spear and into the advancing Yiga's chest. Then, bringing the spear around, thrust it into the Yiga she had been fighting before.

"Thanks," Riju said, whipping her hair back over shoulder.

"You're welcome," Buliara said. "Be careful." And she ran off to help others.

Dark Link, having the same sword skills as Link, could easily hold his own under the pressure of the army. After he had killed one of the Gerudo women, he took her shield and used it to his advantage. Him having a sword filled with malice was quite a threat to the others. With each swipe, malice flew all around making dodging his attacks incredibly difficult. Dark had never fought in sand before, so he was much slower than he was on regular ground.

Master Kanto was also a force to be reckoned with. He was built like a blademaster: big, tall, and incredibly strong. He thundered towards a Gerudo warrior, lugging his giant windcleaver behind him. She braced herself, digging her feet in and holding her shield high. He swung it high above his head and brought it down with all his force. It crashed into the shield and sent her flying into the sand like a meteor crashing into the earth. Another mighty swing from Kanto and she was done for.

"Nice one, Master!"

A young footsoldier had run up behind him after the kill.

"Uh... thanks. But keep fighting! We don't have time for conversation!"

"Right. Sorry." The footsoldier turned to run, but an arrow flew through the air and pierced his chest, followed by four others that sunk into the ground. Kanto tried to find the origin of these arrows but couldn't find any: just a sea of Gerudo and Yiga. Another five arrows came zooming in and hit even more Yiga soldiers.

Where is that coming from?

Link drew back his bow again and sent more arrows into the air, only aiming at the Yiga side of the battlefield. The savage lynel bow had the ability to turn one of his arrows into five. Him and Zelda were still hidden in the back. They were just doing what they could before they faced Dark Link.

Zelda kept watch while Link kept the Yiga at bay. She held her sword and shield as tight as she could. Her eyes darted back and forth looking for threats. She had never been in combat before, let alone a full scale battle.

"How are you doing?" Link asked.

"I- I'm fine," Zelda stuttered, clearly not fine.

Link launched more arrows into the sky. "Zelda, take a deep breath."

Zelda still tensed up. She held them so tight her hand began to hurt.

Link quickly slung the bow on his back. "Zelda," he said, reaching for her shoulders. "Look at me."

Zelda's worry-filled eyes looked at his. They were as calm as the palm trees had been the night before.

"Breathe in."

She obeyed, taking in the hot desert air.

"Breathe out."

She obeyed again.

"Ok. Good job. Now, you have to tell yourself that it's going to be ok." He raised his eyebrows. "Can you do that for me?" He slightly squeezed her shoulders.

She tried to convince herself that this was true, but the possible outcomes of the battle flashed in her mind. "B-but what if you... or I-"

"No," he shook his head. "You didn't listen to me. Breathe in again."

Zelda closed her eyes and breathed in again through her nose.

"Now breathe out."

She took a long breath out through her mouth.

"Ok. Now tell me that it's going to be ok."

She stared into his blue eyes. His face told her all she needed to know.

She nodded. "It's going to be ok."

Link smiled.

"Ha Ha Ha!"

"Ha Ha Ha!"

The insane laughter filled both of their ears. Zelda looked over her shoulder to see two footsoldiers, mask and all, sprinting towards them.

"Link?" she said.

"I see them." Link let go of her shoulders and took out the master sword and hylian shield. He pointed to the ground.

"Stay here. I'll be right back." Kicking up sand as he turned, Link ran at them with full force. One of them drew a duplex bow from behind his back and knocked an arrow. Link held up his shield to block it, as he always did with regular arrows. The Yiga shot on the run and hit Link dead in the shield. Link's eyes went wide as electricity instantly filled his body making him tense up as bolts of jagged yellow surrounded him. He clenched his teeth and fell to the ground as stiff as a board. In the process, his shield, sword, hookshot, bow...

Everything.

All his weapons flew onto the ground.

Shock arrows!

The two Yiga in front of him slowed down and swiftly picked up his weapons as another Yiga came from behind. Link jerked his head to each side, out of weapons and out of options. Two Yiga ahead, and one Yiga behind. One of them slowly walked up, flipping his demon carver menacingly. Link had no choice but to wait and try to dodge the blow that would soon come.

But this couldn't be it. This couldn't be the end for The Hero of Hyrule. Bested by a few Yiga Clansmen? In the biggest battle since the Calamity? It couldn't. Link knew he had more work to do. In his heart he prayed to the Goddess he would make it out alive, but his mind told him that this was it. This could be the end. For the first time in a while, Link felt true fear.

The Yiga took big, slow steps up to the hero that sat on the ground. The two others closed the space in between as well. Link's heart pounded out of his chest. All he could do was stare at the emotionless mask.

The Yiga slowly raised his sword up, ready to end the hero's life. Link squeezed his eyes shut. Then, the Yiga swung down.

"Hyah!"

A clash. The demon carver flew up into the air, catching a bit of sunlight as it continued its ascent.

The Yiga that had held the weapon collapsed, lifeless, onto the ground.

Link sat there confused. He slowly opened his eyes to see what had happened.

Then they grew big.

Zelda, eightfold blade in hand, stood over Link, ready to face the other two. They staggered back, not sure if to attack or retreat.

Link gasped when he looked into her eyes. They stared down the Yiga, daring them to advance. They were fearless.

Calm.

The two Yiga chucked Link's weapons to the side and ran at Zelda. She quickly unhooked the Sheikah Slate and threw it at Link. Then she took out her shield and readied herself for the blow.

Link quickly rolled out of the way as the two Yiga swung down on her shield. Zelda could hold them off for a while, but she didn't have the skills to truly fight them.

Link saw the master sword a few feet away. If he ran to where it was, it would be too late. Zelda would be gone. He looked at the slate that laid in his lap and understood why she had thrown it to him.

He activated the slate, and quickly changed it to magnesis. He pointed it at the master sword and locked on.

Zelda blocked another hit with her shield. One of the soldiers ran to her back and jabbed. Zelda quickly turned around and blocked it, then turned back around to block the other soldier. She slashed at his side which he easily blocked. Their swords clashed again, blocking each other's blows. She quickly glanced behind her, but the other soldier was nowhere to be found. Then the sun turned dark above her. She looked up and saw that the Yiga had teleported above her, blocking the sunlight, and was coming down fast.

The other Yiga ran at her back, reveling in the fact that their plan had worked. What he didn't expect was the sword that flew through the air and into the airborne soldier. The Yiga landed on the ground, with the sword sticking through him. Zelda and the last soldier looked to see Link deactivating magnesis.

"Run," he warned Zelda as he switched to remote bombs.

Zelda took off, obeying Link's warning. All of a sudden, a huge blast boomed from behind. She turned and saw small blue particles in the air. All the Yiga in the area were gone. All that stood were Link and Zelda.

"Are you ok?" Zelda asked.

"Dear Hylia," is all Link said. He started to run to her.

"Link," she said. "What's the matter?"

He embraced her. Almost knocking her over. He squeezed her body with all the strength he had without crushing her.

"Thank you," he said.

"Well, you did it to me first," she replied into his shoulder.

As they held each other, one of the Yiga lay dying in the sand. Using all the energy he had left, he sent one last message to his master.

"They're both here."