Hey, I'm back! And with a new chapter, too!

Lily: Aw, I was enjoying my holiday...

Arae: Me too. Damn.

Me: Well, I don't own the Legend of Zelda.

Link: You say that every chapter!

Me: DER! It's so I don't get SUED!

Link: Oh.

Chapter Nine

Link looked outside nervously. It was dark, and Lily, Arae and the boy hadn't come back yet. "Where are they?" he muttered.

"I'm sure they're fine," Rayne said, but his face was troubled.

Zelda frowned. "Where could they be?" she asked.

Link shrugged. "I told them to be back before nightfall… maybe they're just heading back now."

"Are there any bandits around?" Isabella asked. Her blue eyes shone with worry.

Link shook his head. "Not that I know of…" He sighed. "I'm going to look for them." He began to walk towards the door.

"Link?" Rayne asked, grabbing Link's arm. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to look for them," Link repeated. "I'll be fine. I know these places head to toe," he told them, with a knowing wink at Zelda. Only she knew that he could turn into a wolf, because of the Master Sword.

Zelda smiled. "Be careful, Link."

"I'll be fine." He bowed, and then left the room.

Isabella sighed. "I do hope he finds Lily and Arae… and what is this about a boy?" she asked Rayne.

Rayne shrugged. "He came and asked Lily to teach him some swordplay… I've never seen him around before." He sat down. "Now, I think we should ready a search party…"

Zelda shook her head. "That won't be necessary. If anyone can find them, Link will."

Lily landed neatly on the ground ahead of her, and continued to run. Her heart was pounding, but she kept running down the path, slowly going upwards. Lily heard the dismayed hisses of the lizards behind them, and Arae hissed and spat at them. Lily laughed inside and continued up the path.

They soon reached a door at the end. Approaching it warily, Lily nudged the door with her head, and it creaked open. As she stepped inside, the door slammed shut. She barked in surprise, and Arae hissed menacingly. The room was suddenly illuminated, but by what, Lily didn't know. She looked up at Arae, but was surprised to see that her fur was shining brightly, lighting up the room.

It was a small room, with a raised platform in the middle. There were unlit torches lining the room, and she saw a portrait at the end of the room. Arae uncoiled himself from around Lily's neck and slithered slowly towards the portrait.

It was a picture of a large Goron, with a hard, stern face. He was quite large, for a Goron. His fists seem made of rock. Arae stared at it for some time while Lily walked around the room.

It had a ladder leading to the top, where there was a wooden platform. Lily couldn't see anything, so she barked to get Arae's attention. He turned, and she gestured at the ladder. Arae slithered up the ladder quickly, and looked around. He saw pots everywhere, scattered over the platform. Arae went behind a small pot and pushed it over the ledge, laughing inside at Lily's bark of surprise. As he slid down the ladder, he noticed Lily glaring at him and growling. Arae just hissed and looked at the portrait again.

Something didn't seem right to Arae. The portrait looked real, but he thought that he had seen it changed when he had looked at it from a certain angle. Arae began to move around slowly, always keeping his eyes locked on the picture. He drooped low, stretched high, moved from side to side, but the picture stayed the same. Sighing inwardly, he began to turn around.

Just before Arae did, however, he caught a flicker of movement, and snapped his gaze back to the portrait. It now looked like a huge, flaming beast with a gem in the center of its forehead. Arae shivered, and as he did, it turned back to the original. He turned around to see Lily walking away, and hissed. She whirled around, and Arae gestured with his tail for her to walk forward. As she got closer, the picture changed again.

Arae hissed with joy. Lily looked at him, and then at the portrait. She jumped back in surprise, but then came forward again. As Lily came closer and closer, the portrait became darker and darker. Soon, she was sitting on her haunches, gazing up at the picture, which was pitch black. The silence in the room was deafening.

Lily barked, and the picture shattered into a million pieces. They shot everywhere, and Lily and Arae cowered as the black shards rained over them. But, after a few moments, they looked up, and saw that the shards were all resting in the air, all over the room. Lily barked again, and they slowly came together, piece by piece, in the middle of the room.

Lily and Arae looked in wonder at the large shard of black. It floated lazily in the middle of the room, pulsating. They stepped onto the raised platform, and as they did, their world went black.

Zant felt the power of the Fused Shadows calling to him in its melodious, mournful song. He closed his eyes, trying to resist the call, but it was too much for him. It taunted him, screamed at him, beat at him, trying to win him over.

"Go away!" Zant yelled, beating his hands at air. "Go away!"

The words of the Shadows brushed past his ears, whispering to him. Zant jumped up, panting. The hold of the Shadows was becoming stronger, and Zant couldn't resist the urge for much longer.

"You were a fool…" the Shadows whispered to him. "You cannot hope to control us…"

"I won't give in!" Zant yelled as bravely as he could, but his courage was failing him. In the corner of his eyes, he could see sinister shapes, but when he looked, nothing was there. Zant gathered the last of his power, and yelled, "I will win! The power of the Fused Shadows is MINE!" A wind whipped his cloak, and he raised his hands. The shadows shrank back.

"Midna is the only one…" the shadows whispered rebelliously.

Zant laughed. "Midna…" he reached out his hand, and felt it grab something. He pulled the shadow close. "Give Midna this message… tell her it's from an old friend. War is coming." Zant laughed again and tossed aside the invisible shadow. He felt the darkness disappear, and began to head towards the path leading up to the Fused Shadow.

Jon gritted his teeth as the dragon slammed its hand down again, trying to make him let go. I can't take much more of this, Jon thought grimly. It was hard to hold on to the dragon's slippery scales, and he had to continually adjust his grip. Jon's mind began to race, thinking of a way to escape with his life.

As the dragon brought its arm up quickly, and then slammed it back down again, Jon was struck with an idea. The dragon tried one final time to knock Jon off. It lifted its arm quickly, and Jon let go, flying onto the dragon's back. He quickly lunged for the uninjured wing and slashed it. The dragon thrashed in pain, and Jon was nearly thrown off.

Jon latched onto one of the large necks, and nimbly climbed up onto the head. The other two heads roared at Jon, and he nearly fell off from the force of the roar. Jon plunged his talons into the eyes of the middle head, and it screeched loudly. Jon covered his ears, and then jumped to the next head, where he did the same. The dragon beat its wings, but it was useless. Jon leapt off of the heads onto the body, and ran for the path that led up the mountain. The one head that could see watched helplessly as Jon escaped.

The dragon went on a rampage, breathing fire and smashing into rock, sending tremors through the mountain. Jon grimaced. Damn dragon! He thought. He'll bring down the whole bloody mountain!

Then, Jon groaned.

Jon: Oh boy.

Me: What?

Jon: I'm gonna have to play hero now and rescue everyone, right?

Me: No...

Arae: I'll be the hero!

Jon: Me!

Arae: ME!

Jon: ME!

Lily: Shut up! Review, and tell us who should be the hero...

Arae: ME!

Jon: ME!