diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index e52bf64..68808f8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -76,6 +76,8 @@ include(FindPkgConfig)
 find_package(PkgConfig REQUIRED)
 pkg_search_module(GLIB REQUIRED IMPORTED_TARGET glib-2.0)
 
+link_libraries(PkgConfig::GLIB)
+
 # ------------------------------------------------ #
 #  TOML-C99                                        #
 # ------------------------------------------------ #
@@ -96,6 +98,21 @@ set_target_properties(tomlc99
 
 include_directories(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/dep/tomlc99)
 
+link_libraries(tomlc99)
+
+# ------------------------------------------------ #
+#  LLD-C-Layer                                     #
+# ------------------------------------------------ #
+
+add_subdirectory(dep/lldcl)
+
+# Link lld libs and C++ LIBC
+link_libraries(lldcl
+        lldCommon
+        lldCOFF
+        lldELF
+        lldMinGW
+        stdc++)
 
 # ------------------------------------------------ #
 #  LLVM backend                                    #
@@ -144,10 +161,6 @@ set_target_properties(release
         OUTPUT_NAME "gsc"
         RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${GEMSTONE_BINARY_DIR}/release)
 
-target_link_libraries(release PkgConfig::GLIB)
-
-target_link_libraries(release tomlc99)
-
 # FIXME: cannot compile with /O2 because of /RTC1 flag
 if (MSVC)
     set(RELEASE_FLAGS)
@@ -183,10 +196,6 @@ set_target_properties(debug
         OUTPUT_NAME "gsc"
         RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${GEMSTONE_BINARY_DIR}/debug)
 
-target_link_libraries(debug PkgConfig::GLIB)
-
-target_link_libraries(debug tomlc99)
-
 if (MSVC)
     set(DEBUG_FLAGS /DEBUG)
 else()
@@ -216,10 +225,6 @@ set_target_properties(check
         OUTPUT_NAME "gsc"
         RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${GEMSTONE_BINARY_DIR}/check)
 
-target_link_libraries(check PkgConfig::GLIB)
-
-target_link_libraries(check tomlc99)
-
 if (MSVC)
     set(CHECK_FLAGS /DEBUG /WX)
 else()
diff --git a/dep/lldcl/CMakeLists.txt b/dep/lldcl/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c4cfbeb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dep/lldcl/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.15...3.25)
+
+project(gemstone
+        VERSION 0.1.0
+        DESCRIPTION "programming language compiler lld c++ layer"
+        LANGUAGES CXX)
+
+set(GEMSTONE_BINARY_DIR ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/../../bin)
+
+set(CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS ON)
+
+# ------------------------------------------------ #
+#  LLVM                                            #
+# ------------------------------------------------ #
+
+# Fetch LLVM link configuration
+execute_process(COMMAND llvm-config --libs all
+        OUTPUT_VARIABLE LLVM_LIBS)
+# Strip whitespace from output
+string(STRIP "${LLVM_LIBS}" LLVM_LIBS)
+# Link all targets to LLVM
+link_libraries(${LLVM_LIBS})
+
+execute_process(COMMAND llvm-config --includedir
+        OUTPUT_VARIABLE LLVM_INCLUDE_DIR)
+string(STRIP "${LLVM_INCLUDE_DIR}" LLVM_INCLUDE_DIR)
+include_directories(${LLVM_INCLUDE_DIR})
+
+file(GLOB_RECURSE SOURCE_FILES *.cpp)
+
+add_library(lldcl ${SOURCE_FILES})
+target_link_libraries(lldcl)
+set_target_properties(lldcl
+        PROPERTIES
+        OUTPUT_NAME "lldcl"
+        ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${GEMSTONE_BINARY_DIR}/dep)
diff --git a/dep/lldcl/lldcl.cpp b/dep/lldcl/lldcl.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..30f0c4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dep/lldcl/lldcl.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+//
+// Created by servostar on 6/8/24.
+//
+// based on: https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/blob/main/lld/unittests/AsLibAll/AllDrivers.cpp
+//           https://github.com/numba/llvmlite/blob/main/ffi/linker.cpp
+
+#include <lld/Common/Driver.h>
+#include <llvm/Support/raw_ostream.h>
+
+/*
+ *  Gemstone supports Windows (COFF, MinGW) and GNU/Linux (ELF)
+ */
+
+LLD_HAS_DRIVER(coff)
+LLD_HAS_DRIVER(elf)
+LLD_HAS_DRIVER(mingw)
+// LLD_HAS_DRIVER(macho)
+// LLD_HAS_DRIVER(wasm)
+
+#define LLD_COFF_ELF_MINGW_DRIVER { {lld::WinLink, &lld::coff::link}, {lld::Gnu, &lld::elf::link}, {lld::MinGW, &lld::mingw::link} }
+
+extern "C" {
+
+/**
+ * @brief C-wrapper for lldMain which is written in C++
+ * @param Argc
+ * @param Argv
+ * @param outstr
+ * @return
+ */
+int lld_main(int Argc, const char **Argv, const char **outstr) {
+    // StdOut
+    std::string stdout;
+    llvm::raw_string_ostream stdout_stream(stdout);
+
+    // StdErr
+    std::string stderr;
+    llvm::raw_string_ostream stderr_stream(stderr);
+
+    // convert arguments
+    std::vector<const char *> Args(Argv, Argv + Argc);
+
+    lld::Result result = lld::lldMain(Args, stdout_stream, stderr_stream, LLD_COFF_ELF_MINGW_DRIVER);
+
+    *outstr = strdup(stdout.c_str());
+
+    return !result.retCode && result.canRunAgain;
+}
+
+} // extern "C"
diff --git a/src/llvm/link/lld.c b/src/llvm/link/lld.c
index 7aa5be4..f4e2d24 100644
--- a/src/llvm/link/lld.c
+++ b/src/llvm/link/lld.c
@@ -5,6 +5,11 @@
 #include <llvm/link/lld.h>
 #include <sys/log.h>
 
+/*
+ * call the LLD linker
+ */
+extern int lld_main(int Argc, const char **Argv, const char **outstr);
+
 const char* get_absolute_link_path(const TargetConfig* config, const char* link_target_name) {
 
     for (guint i = 0; i < config->link_search_paths->len; i++) {
@@ -72,6 +77,18 @@ TargetLinkConfig* lld_create_link_config(const Target* target, const TargetConfi
 BackendError lld_link_target(TargetLinkConfig* config) {
     BackendError err = SUCCESS;
 
+    const char* message = NULL;
+    int status = lld_main(0, NULL, &message);
+
+    if (message != NULL) {
+        print_message(Warning, "Message from LLD: %s", message);
+        free((void*) message);
+    }
+
+    if (status != 0) {
+        err = new_backend_impl_error(Implementation, NULL, "failed to link target");
+    }
+
     return err;
 }