The Legend of Zelda: The Missing Link

Chapter 11: The Ruins of Snowpeak

"Well, here we are." Midna said as the two looked up at the mansion before them, large and imposing but still quite old and decrepit. Fluffy snow landed silently all around them, causing everything to appear to faintly glow bright white. Zelda looked over at Midna, who seemed unfazed by the cold.

"Are you not cold, princess? There seems to have been a very steep temperature drop in the past few minutes."

"Hm? Oh, of course not. Twili are very resistant to cold. It's you I'd be worried about, Zelda; you're shivering up a storm, even with my cloak."

"Oh, goddesses." She looked down at her legs, shaking violently beneath her.

"Come on, maybe it'll be a bit warmer inside." Midna took her friend's hand and the pair pushed through the grand front doors of the mansion.

The foyer, once grand and beautiful, was destroyed by the elements and years. Without a word, Midna seemed to melt into the ground as she hid herself within Zelda's shadow. There were patches of slick ice covering most of the floor, and a frozen chandelier hung in the center of the ceiling. There was a staircase on each side of them that led up to the second floor, but both had decayed and collapsed. A few ragged holes in the ceiling let in streams of sunlight, causing the ice surrounding Zelda to glitter.

Zelda shut the door behind her and took a few steps forward, being careful not to trip on the torn-up wood floor. She ran her hand along the small section of handrail on the stairs that remained standing.

Before she could get too comfy though, Zelda heard the sound of ice breaking, and turned around just in time to witness an icicle drop from the ceiling about 20 feet away. As it hit the floor, it shattered, and the shards of ice rose up, coming back together to form a humanoid ice creature. It was tall and skinny, with a flat, sharp head and wielded a coordinating ice spear in it's right hand.

Zelda gasped. "Chilfos," she whispered. She had only read about them before in the castle library; she had never seen one in person. Until now.

The Chilfos turned its attention to the queen before it, and took an attack stance whilst it pitched its spear at her.

Zelda just managed to dodge the spear, which smashed upon impact with the ground. The Chilfos crouched and held up its hands, until a new spear, identical to the first, appeared in them.

Oh goddesses, what to do? Zelda panicked. Wait a moment! Midna's Twili magic! With almost no clue as to what she was doing, Zelda held up her hands and focused the orange Twili magic between her palms. Just as the Chilfos was readying its second javelin to be thrown, she released the energy towards it and it hit dead center on the Chilfos's chest. The top half of it bursted into nothing, and its icy legs fell to the ground.

Zelda stepped forward apprehensively, watching the lifeless legs carefully. After a few seconds, the remains of the Chilfos were engulfed in a small fire, which quickly faded away. Ice legs on fire. Huh.

Zelda examined the room once more, finding a single door straight ahead. She approached it and turned the knob, carefully peeking through the crack between the door and the frame. She saw nothing of concern, just a small room with a few chairs in front of a fireplace. She opend the door wider, until she could just step through it and close it behind her. The fireplace was not lit, but she could smell the remains of it in the air.

"Queen Zelda?"