The Legend of Zelda: Real Courage [1ST DRAFT]

Chapter Thirty: Absolute Power

The rest of the castle was silent. The emptiness sent chills through her whole body, making her jump involuntarily. The sound echoed, too loudly. She waited for her heart to calm down.

No lights illuminated the great hall. Smoke billowed from outside to block even the light from the windows. Lila looked around wildly, knowing she couldn't hide forever.

And she was right. Shrieks of laughter startled her so badly she let out a small scream. That laughing was not Ganondorf's. That laughing could only belong to Kotake and Koume.

The hall lit eerily with the light from their magic: ice and fire trailing from their flying brooms. Even though she was invisible, Kotake shot a giant icicle straight for her. Lila barely had time to block it with her shield.

"Well look who it is, sister!"

"Why it's our very own Lila! Isn't she such a beautiful traitor?"

Lila hurried to throw her cloak to the side so it wouldn't hinder her movements. Her hair was tied up under her hat, but some of it escaped over her eyes.

"Yes. Now it's time for the traitor to die!"

In unison, the witches hurled their magics where Lila had been standing. She recovered from the dodge thinking, How do I get them to come down? My sword won't reach them!

The witches didn't miss a beat. They continued throwing fireballs and ice spears, hardly giving her time to breathe.

Kotake complained, "Stop flitting about like a raven and let us kill you properly."

Finally, Lila remembered her bow. She ducked behind a pillar to ready it. As she pulled back an arrow from the owl, the arrowhead glowed bright blue, just like Kotake's ice.

The witch must have seen the glow because she said, "What's that?"

Lila answered by rounding the pillar and aimed for Koume. The old witch was too slow to avoid the arrow, but it still missed the vital areas.

"Lila," Koume whined, "didn't we raise you better than this?"

Kotake threw back her head and laughed. "Yeah, the Lila we knew wouldn't have missed." Her mockery ended with a small gasp as a flaming arrow struck her chest.

"Sister!" Koume cried. She attacked Lila again. "You will pay for that!"

Lila held up her shield but felt the heat of the fire. Koume had thrown it with so much force it nearly knocked her to the ground.

"Is that all you've got?" Lila shouted. Her shield was still up when another shard of ice hurtled toward her. It was time to retreat behind another pillar.

"Are you playing hide-and-seek, little traitor?" Kotake hissed. "You know how good we are at that game."

Lila let the horrible memories fuel her anger as she shot another arrow. This one hit Koume squarely, sending her flying a few feet across the room. Lila didn't have time to react before she was bathed in flames. Through the pain, she rolled over to the closest pillar she could see. She stood up and nocked another arrow... to see Kotake right in front of her.

"Die, traitor!" the witch seethed. Out of her hand shot the coldest ice Lila had ever felt, but for some reason, she didn't get frozen in place. Quickly, she loosed the arrow on her tormentor. Kotake screamed as flames enveloped her body, radiating from the arrow deep in her chest. Lila hoped she was down for good.

Shaking, Lila breathed heavily, feeling the cold slow her body. She had to get moving or she would freeze. She bolted from the pillar just as another fireball hit it.

"You killed her!" Koume screeched. "You killed my darling sister! How? You're not supposed to be this strong!"

Lila stared right at the witch's face and smirked. "You're next," she said, letting another arrow fly. Koume flew out of the way easily and retaliated. When Lila nocked the next arrow, it had kept with the pattern and burned with flames. She wasn't sure how that would effect the fire witch but shot her anyway. The flames simply joined with Koume's own and she laughed.

"Did you think that would work? Think again." Koume sprayed fire at Lila and flew in close. Lila had to run while blocking with her shield, unable to fight against the relentless charge. She pulled out her sword, hoping the witch would get close enough. Finally came a break in the fire, and Lila struck where she thought Koume would be. A painful scream told her of her success.

"Why?" Koume screeched as she fell, dying. "You weren't... supposed to... be so strong..."

The light of her magic died and Lila dropped to her knees, gasping. She didn't have much time to recover, though, as powerful clapping rang through the hall.

A/N: So that's what the bow does. Cool! Uh-oh, who's clapping?