Reviews for this story first, then for my new one!

Dragon-Charmer16: Yah, I did my best. Good to know my efforts paid off! And the picture of the winged girl, I'm not gonna tell you straight up in case someone's, like, skipping around and not paying attention to previous chapters, so I'll hint at it. Think about Chapter 9, look at the bangs, look at the hair length. If that doesn't give it away, I'm pretty sure the third paragraph of this chapter will make it all too obvious. And there's something special about Hieke's indecisiveness. But there's no way I'm saying what it is!

JMG: A little short on words, JMG? Hey, a review is a review. I don't care who it's coming from or what it says!

Fire god101: It's gonna get cooler! …more cool? No, I'm pretty sure it's cooler.

And then we have the four reviews for my new story "The Legend of Advertisement!" which was created so I would get more reveiws and not have to fight you people so I can update!

Gina: You think so? It was okay, I suppose. A quick and crude attempt at humor. The thing took about fifteen minutes to write. I swear that's what Mr. Owl says: "Two-hoo!" I just saw that commercial the other day!

JMG: Any humor/pardoy out of me is definitely not going to be normal.

Natiana: Honestly, it really is 326. My brother got the same thing!

Zora-man: Eh, sorry. That story's not gonna get any love until this one is finished. But it will be continued (as soon as I find some more commercials to make fun of… -malicious grin-)

That does it for replies! Now for the part you've all been waiting for: THE STORY!

Chapter 11: Fight!

The giant spewed a blast of dark flame at Kaze. Link blocked it with his shield and lunged at Wythe, slashing at the beast's massive arms. "You'll never defeat him like that," Hieke warned.

"You seem to know a lot!" Kaze snapped. "How about helping us out a little!"

Hieke stood. "Very well," she said, revealing her Celestial wings. Her once gorgeous golden wings were now black and gloomy. "In what manner do you require my assistance?"

Link had an idea. "Do you know where your soul is?" he asked, dodging another blast of flame. Hieke nodded. "Good," Link smiled. "Hieke! Go and find your soul!"

"I cannot do that, Link," she protested. She leapt into the air, hovering for a bit, then came down upon Wythe with a burst of dark Celestial magic. He roared in pain and swatted Hieke away like a fly with his swords. She collided with the wall and got up soon after, despite the agony throbbing throughout her body. Link thought he saw the golden flame of determination spark in her eyes for the briefest moment.

"I'm sorry, Link, but the soul has already been delivered to Kuro," she stated, wiping a trail of blood from her mouth. Kaze laughed, forgetting the battle for a minute. Whatever spell Hieke was under, it was weakening. She hadn't called him 'Lord Kuro' as she did every other time. Then, wonders never cease, a smile caressed her lips!

"But we can defeat Wythe without it, can we not?" she said as she lunged for the creature again. Kaze joined in her attack, charging and thrusting his sword into Wythe's torso. Link completed the combo with a jump attack that amputated one of his many arms.

"Again!" the hero ordered, and they repeated the strategy, taking out another of Wythe's arms. He was left with six, each with a sword in its hand. "Insolent girl!" he roared, slicing at Hieke and making a cut across her stomach. Kaze winced, remembering his battle with his dark self. "I know how that feels," he sympathized. But Hieke rose again, and this time the blaze of resolution in her cold amber eyes was unmistakable.

Wythe moved to attack Kaze, who was too concerned with Hieke to notice the beast behind him. "Kaze!" Hieke warned. "Behind you!" The thief turned around a moment too late as Wythe raised a sword, grinning devilishly. Link quickly made his assault, removing yet another arm his foe's body.

"Wythe! Your time is up!" Hieke shouted as a golden color flushed into her dark wings. The monster that was their opponent bellowed in blind rage and started swinging his swords about wildly. It was no problem to dodge the unrefined blows. Kaze managed to relieve Wythe of another of his arms, so he was left with only four.

Hieke grabbed two of the swords from the floor and held them in front of her like a cross. She charged the blades with Celestial magic and attacked Wythe again. He blocked the oncoming assaults, but had trouble also fending off the swords of Kaze and Link.

"What is the meaning of this!" Kuro demanded. He held a crystal bottle in his hand, and within that bottle was the little star that was Hieke's soul. But the star was very dim, as if it was escaping its prison and returning to its home.

"I'll strengthen the binds on this bottle. I will not allow this asset to escape me!" he grumbled as he cast a shield of white magic around the crystal. The glow returned to the star and the bottle radiated with starry light again.

At that moment Drakar entered the chamber and bowed before Kuro. "My lord, would you entrust the soul of the girl to me?" he asked, still crouched on the stone floor. Kuro raised an eyebrow at this. "What for, servant?" he inquired suspiciously, tossing the bottle in his hand.

"Every moment you hold the soul of another, you're heart becomes tainted," Drakar explained. "You know as well as I do that the Staff works best in the hands of a pure heart. However, if you'd rather hold the Staff of Nightmares, a considerably weaker weapon…"

"I get your point," Kuro snarled. "Let me strengthen the shield once more so that girl can't reclaim her soul… She's trying to that, you know." As he reinforced his barrier on the bottle, the star inside glowed brighter than ever.

Hieke jumped back and leaned against the wall. "Kuro… leave me," she muttered, with her hand to her head. Link paused for a brief moment when he saw how his friend was behaving. "Hieke, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly, but he was attacked by Wythe before given a chance to receive his answer. The ochroid wings began to pale and fade to ebony again. She whimpered in pain, her eyes shut tightly.

Kaze ran to her side, no longer caring about Wythe. "Hieke! Please don't go back to being that marionette…!" he begged, his hands on her shoulders. The girl looked up with a sad smile, the light fading from her eyes. "I failed… to recapture my soul… Kaze, it's up to you and Link…" The thief threw his arms around her and sobbed quietly as the vigor was drained from Hieke's being.

"K-Kaze!" Link shouted, slightly envious of his thief friend. "Come on! Don't just leave me with this monster!" He evaded two more sword slashes and whipped out his Din's Fire. "Link! Wait! Hieke and I will be hit too!" Kaze reminded, eyes wide.

"Don't worry, Kaze," Hieke murmured. She moved her hand just slightly and a veil of stars appeared around them. The blast of fire didn't touch either of them, but Wythe was covered in charred flesh.

"FOOLS!" he thundered. When Hieke opened her eyes again, they were once again stripped of all feeling. "Mister Wythe… I am sorry to say, but you have been defeated," she said. Kaze helped her to her feet and she hid her wings away. Wythe's body began to dissolve into a mist. "He's escaping!" Link shouted. Hieke shook her head. "I haven't lifted the binding. He is dying, not leaving," she explained.

"Girl!" Wythe hissed with the last of his strength. "Come here… now!"

Hieke crouched before the beast of a man and tilted her head to a side. "How can I help you, Mister Wythe?" she asked innocently. He grabbed her shirt collar with one of his remaining arms and hauled her near. "You are not free… Lord Kuro will punish you harshly for your actions," he growled, then released her as the last of life seeped away from him. His body relaxed with a groan. There was a long bit of silence.

"All right! One bad guy down, three to go!" Kaze cheered. Link put a hand on his shoulder to calm him. "I'm sure it'll only get more difficult from here on out," he stated grimly. Kaze glared at his friend. "Who asked you, you pessimist?" he spat. Link rolled his eyes and approached Hieke.

"Will you release the binding on the room so we can leave?" he asked quietly. Hieke turned to him and didn't say a word, but touched the floor. The stars that illuminated the room faded away, leaving it in complete darkness again. "Master Drakar is further up in the castle," Hieke said as she pulled the doors open and left. "But you shouldn't go there now. If you thought Wythe was tough, you won't last a minute against Master Drakar."

Link and Kaze looked at each other while Hieke stood in front of the door, holding it open for them. "Let's come back later," Link suggested. "We have to tell Zelda and the others that we're all right."

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Whoo! Okay, next chapter is a slow one, but it's very endearing nonetheless. I'm sure you'll like it. Well, I'm relatively confident you'll like. If you don't like it, you can't sue me! HAH! Well, yeah… Okay, five reviews! This might be a good time to mention that reviews for any of my other stories will count towards this one. "The Legend of Advertisement!" was written so I could more easily get reviews. People are more likely to read about Tootsie Pops than OCs, right? REVIEW TIME! Press the light indigo, somewhat periwinkle, button down there that says "GO!" and write me a review!