Chapter Four: The Forest Temple
The actual entrance to the temple was nothing more than a half-dead tree that Shane struggled to climb up while the Kokiri children watched in amazement. Once he was inside he could still hear their delighted cries as they laughed and cheered. Swallowing the sense of dread that was building in his heart, Shane pressed forward into the darkness of the temple. The first room he entered was an open courtyard with several large trees. Vines and moss were growing over the stone walls and Shane heard a growling from behind him. He could feel something breathing on his neck, hissing in his ear. Something lithe but heavy loped up behind him.
Shane strangled a cry and spun around, fists trembling. There was nothing but gloomy shadows. He suppressed a sigh and took a good look around him, up and down each side of the courtyard, until he was sure that he was alone. Then he continued.
Ahead of him was a moldy, rotten door made of wood. The doorknob was rusted and had long ago lost its shimmer. Shane reached for it, half-expecting it to be locked. Much to his surprise, it opened creakily, leaving him to look cautiously down a long, dark passage way. It smelled musty and dank, mixed in with the essence of a decaying body. It made him want to gag, but he stepped through the threshold, dead leaves crunching crisply under his boots. He strained to see as his eyes got used to the dark, kept one hand on the handle of his knife.
Above him something hissed, the scent of rotting flesh got stronger. There was a whirl of movement and a huge, skull shaped spider dropped down in front of its face, snapping its mandibles and writhing its disgusting, black and yellow legs.
With a scream, Shane stumbled backwards, fell onto his back and stared up at the oozing, hissing creature. The smell of death was enough to make him retch up a little saliva and some of his lunch. He sat trembling on the ground for a moment, wiping his mouth and trying to regain his composure, but he remembered that he didn't even have a shield to protect himself with.
For several minutes Shane seriously considered running home to his parents; the comfort of their arms and their voices was all he wanted to hear, but he couldn't actually imagine returning to Lon Lon Ranch and explaining to his father that he had run away from a spider.
Shane sat for several more minutes, pondering his the thoughts, and then, with renewed resolution, he got up, drew his blade and went at the Skulltula.
The giant spider hissed and spun at him, lashing out with its legs and gnashing its mandibles. Shane put up an arm to shield his face from the Skulltula's attack, clutched his knife tightly in one hand and stabbed at the spider; there was a metallic ring as the knife hit against the bone of the spider.
Shane stood back, holding his breath and studying his foe. It spun several times before he understood that the underside was the part to attack. Swallowing his fears, he waited until the soft part of the spider was exposed before he caught onto one of its thick hairy legs, then, blocking out his aversion to the creature, he plunged his blade hilt deep into the soft, black flesh.
Odious, thick, dark green blood gushed from the wound, spraying all up and down Shane's forearm. The Skulltula hissed a dying cry, convulsed violently and twitched for several moments before it hung limply from its web.
Shane inspected it cautiously to determine if it were really dead, and then he pushed past the body, let his breath out and hastened down the hallway and out another door.
For the next two hours the boy struggled through the mysteries of the Forest Temple, uncovering hidden traps and solving difficult puzzles. There were several tight places to squeeze through and steep walls covered in vines to scale, but no matter what the obstacle was, Shane constantly overcame it, putting his fears at the back of his mind and performing the tasks he had to do almost without thinking about them. Along the way he gathered several weapons, including the Deku nuts and the dead stems of the Deku Baba he managed to kill. Every now and again he'd come across a small chest with some rupees or a small key in it, and in spite of the monsters he faced he found that the Forest Temple was relatively peaceful.
When he had finally broken through a particularly difficult puzzle, Shane found himself in a large courtyard containing a small moat and a leafy tree. Shane knelt beside the moat to wash the blood off himself and even overcame his uncertainties to swim for a while before he flopped down under the tree, got out his ocarina and played a minute or two before getting up to survey his new surroundings.
On the far end of the courtyard there was a stonewall completely overgrown with vines and high above his head Shane spotted a balcony or a landing of some kind. A handful of skulltula were clustered on the wall, but he knew that if he hurried he could get away from them.
Over his shoulder Shane heard a contained snuffling and some growls. He thought he saw a pair of red eyes glittering back at him, but they soon vanished. He turned to look, but once again saw nothing. His heart was hammering and it took several minutes to calm it, but he did overcome his terror to think clearly. All throughout the temple Shane had gotten the feeling that he was being followed by someone or something, but the creature never revealed itself and Shane had continued on, hoping it was only his imagination.
Only this time he was positive that something was in the room with him. The thought filled him with terror and chilled him to the bone. He didn't want to imagine what kind of horrible, disgusting beast was following him, what kind of weapons it had or anything else about it. Glittering red eyes was enough to terrify him. Shane turned and raced toward the wall, shoving his ocarina back into place. He caught hold of the vines and hoisted himself up. He was several feet in the air when there was the sound of running feet and something clawed at his leg.
Shane felt pain searing through his calf; it was so powerful he lost his grip on the vines and fell back to the ground, found himself on his back, looking up into the fearsome, noble face of a gray wolfos. The creature grinned at him, its tongue lolling out of its mouth, razor sharp teeth gleaming. The boy cried out in fear and scrambled to get away. The wolfos let out a vicious howl and slashed at him.
Its claws found its mark, cutting deep into the flesh of his skin. Shane gasped and held his arm. He felt the horrifying warmth of blood oozing between his fingers, but he had no time to worry about that because the wolfos was coming at him again, swinging its huge, clumsy paw. It hit a direct blow across the boy's face, leaving large, bloody slashes over his smooth, young skin.
Once more it dove at him, snarling and growling and snapping its teeth. It lunged, clawed at his shoulders and was able to bite down into his collar bone.
Shane screamed again and fumbled with his knife as the wolfos knocked him to the ground and came at him with glittering white teeth. Terror overwhelmed the boy: he was going to die. What had he been thinking coming in here without a sword? What had he been thinking ever leaving Hyrule Castle? This was too much for him. It was over his head!
"F-father…" he thought, "I know you can't hear me, but I'm really scared right now…I'm afraid to die. I'm so sorry…you're right, Lily should have been the boy. I've failed you in every single way up to this point, and I'm so sorry. I don't want to be afraid any more, but…I just wasn't born to deal with these kinds of things like you were."
Things abruptly became very peaceful. The wolfos was lunging at him but the world around Shane shut down and was silent, gradually spinning and spinning until everything was faded and unreal, every movement was in slow motion as the monster came at him and Shane cringed away. The Wolfos' growling died down, the haunting bird cries disappeared and Shane was alone. He could imagine vividly, his young father walking confidently through the very courtyard he was in now, and it shamed him to think of what Link would say to his son if he could see him now. It was as if he could hear Link's voice.
What are you doing son? Get up.
"I'm sorry, Father, I just can't do it."
What are you talking about? Of course you can
"No, I can't."
"I know you're afraid right now Shane, but you've got to remember who you are. I'm your father, some of my strength is in you, I promise.
"I don't feel it. I've never seen it."
Do you remember when I first taught you how to break a horse, and then you broke Darkness? You were so afraid that day, I could see it in your eyes, but I knew you could do it.
"That was a lot different."
Just listen. Remember, Darkness bucked you off, and your mother wanted you to stop and let me ride him first, but you wouldn't listen to her. You got up Shane, and that's how I know you're strong, because no matter how many times you fall down you get back up. You've got the exact same stuff in you that Lily and me have, but you use it differently. You're strong, Shane, it's just a different kind of strength, but that doesn't mean it's not just as good. Remember, you broke Darkness. I didn't do it, I didn't help you, you broke Darkness by yourself, you can do this too, you've just got to get up and face it.
Suddenly something snapped inside of Shane. Link's words, although not real, were so true and the aroused something so strong inside of him that it was terrifying. Shane realized he was still afraid, that he still wanted to run, but he could not find it in himself to turn from his foe. Instead he jumped up with a speed he'd never known that he had, pulled the knife from his belt and pointed it at the wolfos. "Stay back, you demon." He snarled.
The wolfos returned a growling reply of its own and didn't back down. It went down on all fours and circled around and around the boy, eyeing him with its dangerous eyes, saliva drooling off its tongue and from its mouth.
"I will not be your dinner!" Shane screamed, his voice trembled. All the rage inside of him was alive and powerful, beating against him and shouting to be released. Following that instinctive anger he jumped at the wolfos, diving in towards it, head and shoulders first. He hit as strong as he could up against the creature's ribcage, knocking it back.
The wolfos howled, outraged by his defiance and danced back and forth around him, howling and snarling and lashing out at him. Shane relied on his instincts to duck and dodge and shy away from the attacks of the claws and teeth. He slashed when it was prudent and stabbed when it was beneficial. He rolled away from the monster and circled across from it, his knife dripping with thick, cranberry-colored blood. His own blood was smeared over his face, across his clothes and chest, it oozed from his cuts and wounds, burned in his eyes, but he ignored it and as the wolfos stood up again on its hind legs, Shane rushed toward it, pressing himself in against its furry, warm body. He forgot for a moment about everything and everyone else in the world. It was just him and the wolfos.
His knife found soft flesh in the upper flank of the creature. Its powerful jaws clamped down on his arm. They danced together, back and forth, back and forth, holding one another in their arms, the wolfos snapping in the boys face, the dark-haired hylian struggling to find a foot hold, his lips curled back to show his own flawless teeth. He flung the wolfos to the side and leapt after it, wrestling it to the ground and fighting to stab its heart. He roared with rage as it clawed up and down his back and fisted his own hand in its fur. "I'll kill you!" he screamed, sitting astride it. They rolled across the grass, the wolfos winding up on top as they neared the moat.
Shane shoved the wolfos off of him and scuttled after it, his head tilting and his vision blacking out. He was losing so much blood, he was becoming so weak, and yet he knew he had to win. He had to do it for his sister. He swung his knife hand one last time and the tip of it delved into the wolfos' chest, burying itself deep in the heart. The dark red blood spurted around the wound, blasting with such force it stung when it hit Shane across the face.
The monster howled in agony and dropped to its side, panting and writhing and growling as it died. It looked balefully at the boy who had killed it and cried to the moon one last time before it dropped its muzzle and went reluctantly to eternal sleep, blood oozing and clotting on its fine, gray fur, staining it immediately.
As soon as Shane was sure the wolfos was dead he also dropped to the ground, his head finding a morbid pillow on the wolfos stomach. He wheezed and fought for breath. Every part of his body was in pain and his lungs were on fire. His wounds were burning and stinging, he could barely keep his grip on his knife and his eyelids drooped tiredly. He felt the wolfos beneath him, dead, and knew he had to get away. He crawled from the carcass, moving painfully toward the vine-covered wall. Above him the skulltula were rejoicing in his demise. He dropped his knife, unable to hold it any more and twined his fingers around a small plant. In his effort to keep moving he uprooted it.
There was a whisper and a melodious voice, a pink spark drifted past his sight and he looked up into the sweet, small face of a very tiny girl. She was barely clad and every inch of her was pink, but she had a tender, compassionate look in her small, opal eyes. The fairy reached out and touched Shane on the nose, said something in another language.
Her words were soft and kind, though he couldn't understand them. They were tolerant and filled with understanding, and as soon as she touched him every part of his body went utterly numb. He no longer felt pain or hunger or nausea, he was practically asleep in the arms of his mother. He closed his eyes to listen to the tiny voice and to absorb the peace. When he opened them again she was gone. The wounds on his body had been repaired, the agony was gone and only the rips and stains on his tunic remained.
Standing up carefully, Shane looked around for where the wandering fairy had gone, but he didn't even see a trace of pink. He glanced at the corpse of the wolfos, just to make sure it was dead, then he wiped his knife on the grass, put it away, and started scaling the wall.
Shane put his knife away as he entered a new room and looked around. He'd just battled through hours of different puzzles and monsters, as well as various illusions, and now he was feeling tired and frustrated. He took out a map he'd found locked in a chest and tried to determine where he was. According to the map there was a chest in the room just ahead of him.
At last he went to door on the other side of the room and entered. Everything looked peaceful enough. It was a little darker than some of the rooms he'd come from, entirely made of stone, and there was a large wooden chest in the center, sort of perched up on a dais. Shane relaxed, not sensing any danger, and moved forward nonchalantly. He discovered that the chest was locked, checked to see if he had any keys left. When he realized he didn't he had work for several minutes to break the lock using whatever methods it took. Fortunately the lock was rusty and broke quickly. Shane pushed the lid back and looked cautiously inside.
Laying at the bottom of the old chest was a bow. It was crafted out of a shiny, green wood and had intricate designs burned into it. The grip was smooth and easy to hold. He lifted it up, discovered with amazement that it was much lighter than it looked and that the string was perfectly strong and unaffected by time. It seemed a little waxy, but not slick enough to slip out of his fingers. He looked at the patterns in the wood. It read: Woodsman's Bow in ancient Hylian tongue.
With the bow was a fine leather quiver which had been dyed green to match the weapon and there were ten or fifteen sleek, sharp arrows with good quality fletching. Shane mounted one arrow on the bow and aimed across the room, shot it and it stuck fast in the door. He grinned. At last, after wandering for hours without so much as a club, he had a sophisticated, dangerous weapon. All of Link's archery lessons were actually going to pay off.
Still smiling, Shane put on the quiver and attached the bow to his back, then crossed the room to retrieve his arrow.
Suddenly metal bars came down around the door, locking Shane in, an icy wind swept through the room, almost blowing his hat right off his head. An eerie laughter rang around him and a cold voice said cruelly "So, little boy, do you think you can use that?"
Old fears rushing back to him, Shane looked around. He couldn't fathom the source of the voice or what it wanted, but he was more afraid than he had been in several hours. It had been all day since he'd heard another voice, the common monsters he'd been pitted against had thus far been nothing but mindless beasts, and other than the wandering fairy that had helped him, Shane had seen no sign of intelligent life in the temple. However, he remained considerably calmed since he now had a suitable weapon that didn't include close combat.
On the other side of the room a shadow move, turned like in a dance and a ghost appeared. It appeared to be female but Shane couldn't really be sure because its face was a black mist and it had a dark blue cloak wrapped about itself and a hood drawn up over its shining eyes. In one hand it held a torch alit with blue fire. "Over here child. Yes, it was me who spoke, and furthermore I asked you a question, boy."
Shane had a little trouble finding his voice, more out of confusion than out of fear, "What? Oh, well, I, uh, I think I can use it. Who are you?"
The apparition drifted closer and gave a little bow, "I am the Great Madame Sion Poe, the only sibling left of the poe sisters."
"The Poe Sisters?"
"Yes. I had four older sisters once, but thirty years ago another young man, a great deal like you, also entered our temple. He killed all four of my sisters as well as the master of this temple. Sadly, I alone was left alive."
"The Hero of Time." Shane nodded, deciding it wouldn't be a very good idea to reveal his relationship to Link.
"That was he. Do you know this Hero of Time?" Sion looked at him suspiciously.
Shane shrugged and tried to look careless but put one hand on his knife, "I've heard of him—he's famous for what he did."
"Oh, yes, yes," Sion laughed, "he's famous among those dead as well, boy. Well no matter. The matter at hand is you, of course. You're the impudent child who's been going through our lovely temple, destroying whatever you come up against. It is in my orders to put an end to your impudence."
The boy tried to smile. "Me? I haven't been doing anything. I'm just running an errand for the little Kokiri kids, I'll leave as soon as I'm done."
"Curse those Kokiri punks. So 'the Great Mido' has sent you to be rid of us again, has he? I suppose he promised you something very special. Well, you can forget any prize you're expecting, kiddo, Sion will not let you go a step further."
With that, the little ghost came to life with movement, swinging back and forth, whirling her lantern. She flew at Shane with such speed the boy barely knew what hit him when she struck. He was suddenly away of a sharp, burning pain that went jolting up his arm and into his neck. He strangled a cry and ducked her subsequent blow.
As if possessed, Sion went at him again, still spinning her lantern; this time she only missed by half an inch as Shane darted away.
"You know, Sion," he said angrily, "you're really making me mad."
The ghost didn't reply, only laughed and vanished. The next thing he knew she was right behind him, coming in for another fatal blow.
Shane sliced at her with his knife, and much to his surprise the weapon passed right through her body. Sion vanished again, "Those kinds of weapons don't work on me, boy."
Thinking quickly, Shane pulled the bow from his back, keeping his eyes alert to every corner of the room. He nocked another arrow and tried to be ready to fire it.
Suddenly he was surrounded by Sions. They were in a large circle, all around him, each spinning their own lantern and casting their own blue fire. They laughed, a chilling sound that filled his head and made his heart pound all the harder. He turned around, arrow ready, trying to decide what to do. He shot his weapon and it whirled through the air, struck a ghost right through the chest. Sion laughed and all of the apparitions vanished. "Wrong." She declared, reappearing before him and slapping him across the face with her lantern.
He screamed and put a hand to the burn mark as she vanished again, her cruel laughter humming through his entire body.
"It's painful, I know, but soon it will all be over, I promise." The other ghosts were back, circling around him, coming closer and closer, laughing and chanting.
Shane ignored the pain in his face and mounted another arrow, looked around once more, mind racing. How could he tell which was which?
Out of the corner of his eye he saw one ghost move, spin around and an instant later all the others followed suit, spinning around as well.
"There!" Shane shouted, turned his bow in the direction of the one that had moved first and fired. The arrow whistled across the room, and once again hit home. This time the ghost screamed, the others vanished and Sion was enveloped in her own burning fire. Then she disappeared. For good this time.
The boy breathed a huge sigh of relief and rubbed his cheek where the burn was, then he turned toward the door as it slid open again, and walked out. He checked his map again to see if he were heading in the right direction, and much to his distress realized that the next room he was faced to enter had a huge, white skull painted on the map. He swallowed hard and walked toward the corresponding door. He found himself next in a small room with another door on the other side. The room was filled with jars and wooden crates and weeds like the wandering fairy had been in. With a short sigh, the boy kicked a jar only to discover a small, heart shaped bottle of medicine inside. After destroying several more of the jars he had four or five bottles, as well as a hunk of break and some water. He sat down against the wall, forcing himself to ignore the gloom around him and treated his own wounds the best he could, then he ate to regain his strength. The temple certainly seemed odd. There was so much danger and mystery inside, but at the same time he found that there was always something, like the medicine, to help him barely squeeze by.
Feeling rejuvenated, Shane got up again and checked his supplies. He had a few weapons, but nothing too devastating, he'd eaten all of the food his mother had sent with him and found a couple dozen more rupees than he'd started with. He'd also found a small glass bottle hidden in the weeds. He was using it to store water, seeing how so much fighting tended to dehydrate.
Fighting a small fear that was starting to swell inside, Shane walked through the final door. It was pitch black inside the new compartment and deadly quiet. He strained to see but it was in vein. He groped along the wall, looking for something. He heard bars close over the door behind him and panicked. He was locked in a very dark, very cold room. What if he never got out? What if there was nothing in here at all and he'd walked straight into a trap? He felt his blood turning to ice and he took his bow off again, ready to fight. If only there were something for him to fight in the first place.
A blinding red light filled the room. Shane saw that he was standing in a very large room with several portraits of Ganondorf hanging from the wall. The red light seemed to burn his eyes and he wanted to shut them but knew better.
"Well, well, well. What have we here?" It was the sweetest, silkiest voice he'd ever heard in his life. It made his throat clench, but not with fear, with a different kind of apprehension.
A young woman was lying on a red couch in the middle of the room. She had creamy skin, long black hair and was dressed all in red. Her eyes were silver without a pupil and her lips were crimson. She smiled, revealing long, sharp teeth. Shane found he couldn't stop staring at her. He barely was able to speak, "Who the heck are you?"
"I am the mistress of this temple. My Lord Argoka'shomen put me in charge here. And who exactly are you?"
Shane found it a little strange that something so vibrant and strange should be running a mysterious, dusty temple like this one, but he let that thought go as he looked at her. He had absolutely no intention of revealing his name or anything about himself. This was obviously the boss spirit of the temple and if she got away and returned to tell her master about him Shane didn't know what would happen. "I'm Shane," he said casually, "I live at Lon Lon Ranch with my parents. I really don't want to be here, you know. I'm really pretty afraid of things like you."
The boy clamped his hand over his mouth, horrified by all the words that had just slipped. He hadn't meant to tell her anything, especially not that he was afraid. He'd never told anyone else as much, why this creature? Shane was fairly certain that she had drawn the information out of him somehow.
"Shane? What a delightful little being you are. And what brings a simple farm boy like you here, to my humble home."
Shane fought to keep his tongue under control, struggling with ever fiber of his body to conceal the information, but it simply spilled out like everything else. He found himself walking toward her, unable to stop, feet moving without his permission. "My father sent me to rescue my sister from the Gerudo thieves. I'm here because I have to prove myself to the Kokiri so they'll take me to the Deku Tree."
"Deku Tree?" The woman thought a moment before smiling, "Ah, you're here to destroy me."
Shane was right next to her now, he could look straight into her eyes and her hot breath was on his face. He tried to move but was utterly frozen. His body simply wouldn't do what he told it, and he was sure that it wasn't an affect of fear.
Well, child," she petted his hair tenderly, "you're not the first to try it. Thousands have attempted to kill me, but none have ever succeeded. I know who walked through this temple before you-the Hero of Time-I never met him, but I'm quite certain that if we had met he would have met his end. He had not enough skills to kill me."
The boy had to bite his tongue until it bled not to say something that might insinuate that Link was his father. He stared up into her silver eyes, trying to break whatever spell she had on him, but it was entirely useless. He couldn't control his muscles at all; a small string of saliva was oozing from his gaping mouth and he couldn't wipe it away, the monster was petting his hair like he was a small, adorable animal, but he couldn't back down out of her reach.
She purred, "However, something about you is so kindred to him. Hm. Perhaps I should look into your thoughts."
Sharp, excruciating pain zapped through Shane's skull. His vision was completely clouded by her form, his body felt like it was tied up with tight, binding cord; he fought to move, to escape the pain, but some terrifying power held him in place as pain seared through his brain, like the monster had shoved her hand in through his ear and was digging through his mind. The pain went on for what felt like years, Shane's terrifying scream filled the air, awakening the Keese in the ceiling so that they flew around, agitated by the sound. The boy went on struggling and thrashing back and forth violently to get away, but it was futile and soon his muscles began to weaken, his knees buckled and he could hardly stand; the terrifying power held him in place.
All at once the pain went away. He could see again, but everything was still blurry.
"You're his son!" the monster screeched. "Of course! I should have seen this coming! You're here for the Pendant! You want to save your sister! The Hero can't fight and so he sends his child—oh, what a Hero Daddy is, eh, Little Boy?" She caught a fistful of his hair and tilted his head back, her face hovering millimeters from his, "Well I shall enjoy playing with you until you die, and then I shall send what is left of you home to your father so that he may see that his foolishness has caused him to lose both of his children."
The invisible bonds around him were released. Shane found that he could move again, in spite of his pain and fatigue. He clenched his fist around his bow and jumped back away from her as she stood up, dark hair flying like a beautiful medusa.
"Fight me, child!" she shouted, her lovely voice suddenly dark and twisted, "I shall kill you!" Her eyes turned a dark, bloody red, her face contorted to reveal the features of a horrifying monster: long, wicked teeth, a blunted nose and a ragged face. Her body remained the same aside from her hands. Her fingers stretched and grew out until they were long white claws. Her dark, sinister laugh surrounded him.
She was coming at him now, eyes burning like fire.
Shane wanted to scream and run away but he held his ground, leveled an arrow at her and shot. It struck her right in the shoulder. The monster howled and ripped it out, a strange fizzing sound filled the air. She slashed at him with her right hand, slicing a good sized cut in his arm. He rolled away, turned and shot again, skillfully pulling two more arrows from the quiver and shooting her with them.
Her rage-filled cry made the stones of the temple tremble and his head felt like it was coming apart, but Shane ducked another one of her attacks, felt her nails barely nick his arm and shred the sleeve of his tunic. He was worried. His attacks didn't seem to be doing enough. He didn't have a sword, how could he kill her without something stronger. She was fast enough to move so that his arrows missed any vital spots on her body. If only he could make her stop moving somehow.
An idea struck him. Shane sprinted past her, ramming his shoulder against her as he went, causing her to stumble a little. He reached into his pocket and took out a Deku nut. He threw it down hard in front of her, creating a blinding flash that stunned the monster momentarily, then he pulled another arrow at, aimed for her chest and shot.
The arrow hit just like it was supposed to, and the fizzing sound grew louder. The witch screamed holding the place. Her face was distorted with rage, her eyes were blood red as she flew at him again, cackling, "You cannot destroy me, child, I shall live forever!"
The fear was becoming overwhelming. Shane felt it growing in his chest like a darkness that would swallow his heart. What would he do if this really didn't work? How could he defeat her? He shoved the dismal thoughts back and pulled out another Deku nut, flung it at her face so that it struck her right in the forehead and flashed brightly. She held her eyes and stepped back screaming.
Shane drew his knife, dashed at her, his heart beating loudly. He jumped up and stabbed down into her neck, touched down on the ground again and slashed across her stomach, tearing her clothes. He cut again and again and again, stabbing, slashing, slicing and hacking. The woman cowered, crying out in agony.
One last time he fixed an arrow on his bow, drew back and aimed right at her face. Her eyes had faded back to silver and she was staring at him like a helpless animal. "Shane." She whispered in her beautiful voice, "Come with me and we'll-"
"Don't try your tricks on me, vixen!" he released the arrow and it hit right between the eyes, her head exploded in an aura of red, a blood curdling, high pitched shriek wailed around him, sending shivers up and down his spine. In another instant her body was lying decapitated and motionless on the floor, twitching just slightly.
Shane's breath was ragged as he put his bow and knife away, his chest was heaving and he could taste blood in his mouth. His eyes felt like they were on fire. He stepped away from her, each foot heavy like a stone.
In the middle of the room a blue light shimmered and grew. A peaceful hum filled the air, quieting Shane's still pounding blood. He made his way toward it, not sure what drove him other than he wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep. The moment he was standing in the circle of shining blue, he felt relaxed and all his pain and weariness went away. He tilted his head back, felt his strength restored, and before he knew it he was lifting off the ground and being carried away into darkness.
Shane touched down just outside the temple, looked around carefully at the woods. A Kokiri boy was sitting on a nearby stump looking bored and tired. When he noticed Shane he jumped up, smiling widely, "Did you do it? Did you destroy the evil?"
"It's gone." Shane agreed.
Whooping for joy, the boy jumped into the air, pumping his fist, "I'll go tell Mido, you wait here, Hero."
The boy's nickname for him troubled Shane. Did he really think he was a hero? A new thought struck him. Would all the Kokiri consider him a hero now that he'd defeated the spirit in the temple? He glanced back at the temple uncertainly. One thing he was sure about: he was glad to be out.