RCM- (looks sadly at a calendar) …it would seem that a different Chaos is approaching… not the entity our friends are on the mission to stop, but rather something more real… a force my magic has no effect against… The school year begins in approximately eight days… and at that time my progress will be hindered greatly. However, the satisfaction that this would be my final year does not escape my grasp.

But enough of that. As always, I reaffirm the fact that I do not own any of the numerous recognizable concepts within my story. I will credit all that I can once it is complete, provided I can remember exactly where they all came from… In any case, this episode tests Tikal's growth as a mage, and my fairies make another appearance. Read on…

Chapter 17

Avian Chaos

The Deku Leaf expired just as Link was about to reach the floor. Falling the last three feet with a thump, he brushed himself off. "I guess I have to replenish my magic power. I used the last of it floating down."

"How do we do that?" Looking around, Link found a trio of jars in the corner of the room. How they survived the Harpy Queen's assault is anyone's guess, but he quickly emptied them, finding three smaller jars inside. Opening one of them to show his friends, Link then drained each of them. He felt his magic recharge back to full capacity, and the magic decanters vanished without a trace. "Oh… that was cool."

"Alright, next question… How do we get up the rest of the tower?"

The ledges above them were too high for Link, Hugh or Lance to throw their grappling hooks up to, and not even the full extension of the Berserker could reach the lowest platform. They already knew that Tikal's spell was useless in this situation, so they stopped and took a closer look at their surroundings. It was Elric who spotted the inscription first. "Hey guys. There, in the back."

Lance placed his hand on the runes, his pendant glowing slightly as he translated. "'Activate the unseen switches'… didn't we do that already?"

Tikal shook her head slowly, noticing a minor detail in the words. "No… no, I don't think we have… Unseen switches? That's plural. We've only hit one." Casting her Reveal spell, she looked about the room, a smile appearing on her face. "I can see four more crystal switches along the wall!"

"Where?"

The girl turned back to her friends, the white glow in her eyes fading away. 'There has to be a way I can show one of them so they can activate those switches… but how…?' Then it hit her. "Link, your boomerang can lock onto targets, yes?" The boy nodded, curious as to what she was getting at. "Do you mind if I try casting the Reveal spell on you? If I change a few words, it may let you be able to see where to aim."

The others exchanged a look, then turned to Link. "It's worth a shot."

Agreeing to the plan, Link closed his eyes as she chanted the spell, her staff pointed at him. Feeling a slight head-rush, he opened them again to find everything in a whitish hue. However, he also saw the four switches winding their way up the walls of the room. "Cool! It worked!" Taking aim, he let his weapon fly. As the final switch lit up, the white hue faded and a set of platforms appeared out of the walls. They formed a sort of spiral staircase for them, which they were easily able to climb. At the top sat an ornate treasure chest, which they found to be securely locked.

"Move aside, I'll get this open." Shadow shoved his black weapon into the keyhole, using its morphing ability to break the lock from the inside. The chest's content wasn't exactly impressive. "What? A chunk of metal? What would anyone want with a piece of junk like this?"

Lance shrugged, placing the lightweight ore into his pack. "We can ask Queen Aria about it when we get back. Let's find the Mage." With Lance at point, the party made its way up the remaining floors of the Ice Tower, slaying the various icy monsters along the way. At the sixth floor, they found a small hallway that seemed to wind up to the highest point in the building. Entering the final door, they watched in horror as a gigantic white eagle swallowed the pale blue Crystal Shard. The Chaos Mage was nowhere to be seen. "No! We're too late!"

Memories of the Helmaroc King flooded back to Link as the avian beast turned to face them. It was nearly identical to his old enemy physically, but instead of a mask it bore an intimidating crest of sharp feathers, and its body was much larger. A familiar hatred returned to him as he pulled out his bow. "No… not this time…"

Though Lance had no idea what had gotten into Link, he quickly agreed. "Let's cook us up some bird!" Leaping into the air, he thrust his sword upward. The Flare Blade jump activated, sending flames arcing up to where the eagle was hovering. However, the beaked face seemed to twitch into a smirk, and within the blink of an eye, a blinding blast of wind encircled the beast. The cyclone not only knocked Lance out of the air and into the wall, but also reflected the fire he had created back at him.

The force of the twister ripped a large hole in the ceiling, allowing the avian to rise up into a whole new battlefield. As the rubble fell down from above them, Hugh heard a small voice cry out in anger from his left. "Sol, I thought I told you to focus! Now we're too late! Look at this mess!"

Turning around, he found himself face to tiny face with two old friends. "Anri? Sol? What are you doing here?"

"Master sensed a growing darkness emanating from the shrine here and sent us to check on your progress." Looking up, the yellow fairy caught sight of the demonic bird flying above them. "Oh shit!"

"Solaris! Watch your language! Master'd have a fit!"

"Ah… ah… Anri…? Now… is not… the time…"

She stopped as she saw the look of terror on his face. "What…? What's wrong?" Following his gaze, she screamed. "Aahh! Let's get out of here! That's Hurricane Eagle!" Sol looked around frantically, looking for something useful. "What are you waiting for?! Come on! We can't even get close to that thing, let alone fight it!"

The yellow fairy refused, flying over to Link's Mirror Shield. "We won't have to! This thing reflects light! We can use it to reflect a beam of sunlight off of Mirror Mountain over there, and blind the damn thing!" Link replaced his bow with his sword and shield, looking to the fairy to hear more. "The only way we've ever known how to stop that thing is to stun it long enough to quickly attack, before it can raise its gale barrier. If you shine light directly into its eyes with your shield, it might just do the trick."

The Hylian nodded, looking toward the shining mountain in the distance. "How long before the light will reflect?"

"Um… it's almost noon, so it shouldn't be much longer. Just wait until the light pours through this hole, and have the others keep it busy."

Elric readied an arrow. "I'm game. Tikal?"

The girl was way ahead of him, preparing a new spell. Raising her staff, she cried the final command. "Shield!" The green flash from the rod enveloped each of the heroes in a magical barrier. "That should protect us from deflected Chaos magic." Turning to the panicked red fairy, she pointed to where Lance had fallen. "You're Anri, yes? Get a hold of yourself and help us! Heal Lance!"

The elf's words seemed to shatter the hysteria within Anri. Steeling her nerves, she nodded quickly. "Right… right, I'm on it!"

Shadow's scythe was poised for attack. "Time for a diversion… Elric! Cover me!" Rushing forward, the Darkman leapt up in a spinning flurry of slashes, the acrobatics making the attack seem like a ball of blades. As he approached, the elfin archer launched a triad of arrows at their avian adversary. Though neither attack hit, the fact that the assaults came from opposite directions disoriented the bird for a moment.

"That works! Keep attacking it from opposite directions, two at a time! It'll stay confused long enough to let the light shine in!" Sol fluttered about excitedly. "It's gonna be awesome if this works…"

Evading an energy blast from the eagle's beak, Hugh spun upward, sword flaming. "Tikal, lend me a hand!" The following Inferno spell did the trick, though the wind reflection caused them all some minor damage. Keeping up the attack pattern, they managed to keep Hurricane Eagle busy until… "Link! Light's reflecting off your shield! Do it!"

"Keep an eye on the birdie." Angling his shield, he redirected the beam of light directly into the avian's eyes. The bird screeched in surprised pain. "You're finished! Everyone, NOW!"

"Flare Blade!"

"Fire Spin!"

"Quake Blaze!"

"Impact!" The red energies from Tikal's new spell were absorbed into each of the weapons right before they connected, doubling the attack power of each blow. Badly hurt, the eagle tried to escape.

"Oh no you don't…"

"I don't think so…" Both Elric and Link shot a final arrow at the fleeing bird, one laced in fire, the other wrapped in light. Both piercing the creature's heart, the demon burst apart into a smoke cloud. However, it was over the edge of the tower. As the smoke cleared, the crystal shard they were after began to fall over the side. "No!"

Shadow lunged for it, narrowly grasping it in his palm. "Gotcha!" Unfortunately, his momentum was too great, sending him hurtling over the edge. "Aw shit!"

"Shadow!" Despite their cries, there was nothing any of them could do to stop the reformed Darkman from falling to his doom.

End Chapter 17

RCM- A little cliffhanger to keep your interest peaked… hehehehehehahaha… oh, don't give me that look, you'll see what happens soon enough. I am almost done with the first draft of the next chapter, and I should have it ready to post by Friday at the absolute latest. Until next we meet, my friends. Farewell.