Chapter Eight

The masonry in the temple was dark and waterstained, and a faint luminescence seemed to emanate from the walls that made it light enough to see, but dark enough that everything was still draped in shadows. Walking down the dank corridor past the entry chamber, Ashei found herself deciding that the Shadow Temple was very aptly named.

As she went to turn the corner, Ashei jerked to a halt as the floor ended abruptly in front of her. The adventurer was certain that the sheer-edged pit was not a result of an earthquake or damage to the temple – the next twenty foot long section of corridor simply had no floor. Link came up to stand beside her and she frowned. The corridor continued on as normal beyond the pit, and from what she could see it looked as if the area had been purposefully designed that way.

"Well that's annoying. I have some rope and a hook here but I don't see anything I can use to anchor it on…" The adventurer untucked a thin black cord from the bottom of her cuirass, looping it around her arm before reaching down and retrieving the small metal grappling iron from her right boot. Link was watching her with a bemused expression on his face as she attached the hook to the rope then cast her eyes over the far end of the corridor, searching vainly for something she could catch with the iron.

Putting a hand on her arm, Link shook his head and reached behind the shield that hung on his back and withdrew a small metallic device tipped with a three-pronged claw. "Here. Watch." Handing her the strange object, he reached back and produced a second, identical one and pointed it at a small wooden plaque that sat just below the lip of the pit on the opposite side that Ashei hadn't really noticed until now. Holding it up so she could see, the knight squeezed a trigger and the claw shot out of the device, trailing a thick length of chain. It whipped across the gap, striking his target and pulling taunt as he gave it an experimental tug. Ashei was sure that the claw could not have gotten a firm enough grip to hold his weight, but a second later he thumbed back a small lever on the handle and sailed across the pit as the chain retracted. A few seconds later and he was scrambling over the lip of the gap and, yanking the claw free from the plaque, he gestured for Ashei to follow him.

Copying his movements exactly, Ashei gave a yelp when the chain yanked her off her feet and sent her flying over to the opposite side of the pit. Link gave a small smile and helped her to her feet, tucking both of the devices back into their pouches. They continued on for a short way before the corridor ended abruptly, a wall of stone carved with the twisted likeness of a skull blocking their way.

Ashei had to suppress an involuntary shudder. Rasping voices hovering on the edge of hearing, whispering over and through each other and seemingly coming from everywhere at once. "The shadow will yield only to one with the eye of truth… handed down in Kakariko Village…" She could make out bits and pieces, but the haunted voices slipped away every time she tried to pinpoint their origin.

"You hear that?"

"Yeah."

Ashei gestured to the wall in front of them. "What now?"

"It can't just be sealed up. There has to be a secret passage or something." Link went to press his hands against the wall, obviously preparing to search for some sort of hidden mechanism, when his gauntlets passed through the skull, disappearing beyond the stone. Startled, he pulled them back, then hesitantly waved a hand through the 'wall'. "It's an illusion of some kind, there's nothing really there." Cautiously, he drew his sword and shield before he put a foot through, testing the ground beyond. A second later he plunged through completely. Ashei followed suit, inhaling deeply before plunging through the illusion.

They found themselves in a large chamber, only half of which had a floor. The area that did was dominated by a plinth with a human-sized statue of a stylized bird perched upon it, wings spread wide as if taking flight. A stone slab jutted out from the plinth, topped with iron spikes and engraved with a crescent moon. Around the structure was a circle of six thin columns, each a little over ten feet high and topped with a leering skull. Beyond, the top of an iron brazier blazed with fire, and across the chasm that filled the other side of the room was a small platform with a corridor leading off from it, barred by an iron portcullis. At even intervals all along the walls of the room, the same carved skull from the end of the corridor grinned at them. Ashei brushed her fingers against one experimentally – it seemed the ones in this room were real, at least. She looked over at Link and took a moment to admire him from behind.

The ignorant country youth that she had met in Telma's Bar in Castle Town well over a year ago was long gone, replaced by a powerful young knight who had garnered respect from every corner of the kingdom. To begin with Ashei had had no interest in him whatsoever, but she had always found strength attractive, and during the Twilight Invasion Link had demonstrated a level of power and skill that she had found intoxicatingly irresistible. The only reason she had held off for as long as she had was to respect the feelings he had for that Twili princess he was mooning after – once Ashei had judged that he had had sufficient time to get over her, she had pounced.

Two nights in a row, she'd been with him. Unusual, for her. She had never really been interested in a serious relationship, preferring to just find someone suitable anytime the urge struck her. Up until now, her sexual history had consisted of nothing but a series of one-night stands; she had never even slept with the same person more than once until now. As an adventurer, living from one day to the next and never knowing which may be your last, anything beyond the most casual of encounters seemed pointless.

Initially, her intentions with Link hadn't been anything beyond the usual one-nighter, but after watching him wrestle a goron sumo champion to the ground with his bare hands Ashei had found it hard to resist the desire to jump on him right then and there. She had sated that urge last night, and though her sex drive had settled for now, she idly wondered if there would be something today that would make her want to have her way with him again. It certainly seemed possible; men like Link tended to attract danger like a magnet, and the ancient temple they were making their way through was quite definitely going to be full of danger and lurking horrors.

Ashei pursed her lips as she watched the young knight out of the corner of her eye; he was quite handsome, as well. A number of the men she had been with hadn't been much to look at, those she had taken an interest in solely because of their strength, but Link was definitely not one of them. He moved with a deadly grace as he walked, like a tiger on the prowl, sword and insignia-emblazoned shield at the ready as if expecting combat at any second. He had the sort of physique that most other men would only ever dream of having, muscular and toned without reaching the point of being excessive or unpleasant, and his fine facial features and longish blonde hair lent him a strikingly heroic appearance. His hard gaze scanned the dank room with the diligence of a practiced adventuring eye – in their business, overlooking anything at all, making even the slightest misstep, could mean death. The pitch black tunic he wore today seemed to interact strangely with the faint light, and when he stood in shadow it was impossible to see where the tunic ended and darkness began.

Link walked slowly towards the central statue, but as he did Ashei bounded across and threw her arm in front of him, barring his way. He looked at her quizzically, and she turned and knelt down. The brickwork was set in a circular pattern inside the circle of skull-poles that deviated from the regular floor pattern. A quick tactile investigation confirmed her suspicions, and she looked up at the knight. "The floor here has been rigged to drop away. It's solid at the moment, but I'm not sure what will trigger it."

Nodding, Link waited until Ashei stood before he continued out across to the stone plinth in the centre. The whispering voices flared up again, and Ashei caught another few words before they died away. "Make my beak face the skull of truth… the alternative is descent into the deep darkness…"

Putting a gauntleted hand to the engraved moon symbol, Link looked over at her. "It looks like we can use this slab to rotate the statue. What do you think?"

"It needs to point at one of those pillars. I think if you push it to the wrong one, the floor will give way. The question is which one is the right one?"

"The skull of truth…" Link murmured. "We've already seen one illusion in this place, who's to say there aren't more? I have an idea." He gave her a level look. "Turn around."

"Uh, why?"

"Just do it."

"Okay…" Nonplussed, Ashei turned her back to the knight, unsure of what to expect. There was a faint rasping sound, like something scraping across a thin sheet of metal. "What exactly am I-" She froze as a silver-grey wolf padded up beside her and looked up at her face, eyeing her coolly. A black iron manacle was latched around one of the beast's forelimbs, and it bore a triangular golden marking on its brow. Remembering something she had heard once, she forced her hand away from her sword hilt where it had instinctively moved to and inhaled deeply. "You should have told me what you were doing. I very nearly skewered you just then." She reached down to cautiously touch Link on the forehead – she had heard about his ability to transform into a wolf, of course, but she had never seen it before.

He patiently waited as her hand settled on his head and she gave an experimental scratch behind his ears. Snorting, the wolf flicked her hand off and shot her an indignant look before padding away from her and looking closely up at the skull that topped the nearest column. Ashei stood quietly while he slowly made a circuit of the ring, studying each skull in turn, before he walked over to one and sat down beside it, looking at her expectantly.

"That one?" Link cocked his head to the side and continued to stare at her. "Alright." Cracking her knuckles, Ashei braced herself against the stone slab attached to the plinth and pushed, hard. The ancient stone groaned in protest, but she slowly forged ahead as the structure turned. The sound of stone grinding against stone filled the chamber, and as she approached the column that Link had indicated her muscles tensed, prepared to spring away the second it seemed as though the floor was going to fall away. The statue clicked into place audibly as she relented from her pushing, and for a moment nothing happened. Suddenly the grinding of gears filled the air and across the chasm on the other side of the room the portcullis that had been barring the corridor slowly lifted.

Looking over at the result of her labour, Ashei gave a wry chuckle. "Now what are we supposed to do? There's nothing over there for your little claw devices to catch on to over there." The wolf scanned the room, then stood and padded over to one of the carved skull motifs on the wall, sniffing the air. Looking back once at Ashei, he disappeared through the wall.

A twisting maze of illusory walls and corridors lay beyond, and with Link's wolf senses leading they navigated slowly through as barely perceptible whispering voices swirled maddeningly about them. "Shadow Temple... here is gathered Hyrule's bloody history of greed and hatred... what is hidden in the darkness... tricks full of ill will... you can't see the way forward... one who gains the eye of truth will be able to see what is hidden in the darkness…"

Eventually, they came to a stone slab of a door that slid up into the ceiling at Ashei's touch. Beyond lay a room with what appeared to be a series of long white poles thrust into the floor. Stepping inside, the adventurer sighed when the door slid down behind her and Link, locked in place with iron bars. It was then that she noticed that what she had originally taken to by white poles were in fact incredibly long, emaciated arms – thin flesh stretched over them white enough to be almost transparent with human-like hands tipped with red claws. Link gave a low warning growl, baring his teeth and spreading his forepaws apart while his nose twitched irritably.

Ashei drew her sword from its scabbard, carefully inching forward and glancing around the room again to make sure she hadn't missed anything, but the room was empty save the two of them and the arms, which sat unmoving in the soft dirt that comprised the floor of the square room. Continuing forward, Ashei let out a shriek as the two nearest arms struck at her like snakes, one wrapping its filthy claws around her throat and the other seizing her swordarm at the wrist. Despite their seeming frailty, the hands gripped her with an unnatural strength and she found herself gasping for air, unable to breathe, as she struggled against them.

Suddenly, a bloated, putrescent creature burst forth from the soft dirt nearby, its skin glistening wetly in the ambient light. It shuffled towards them, its feet hidden beneath the fleshy folds of its blotchy white body and its grossly distended neck pointing straight upwards so that its face was almost touching the ceiling. The monstrosity's arms ended in fleshy red flaps of skin, and as it drew closer it lowered its head, putrid saliva dribbling from its jaw as it regarded them with cold, black eyes and gashed its teeth hungrily.

Link's jaws closed like a vice on one of the arms that held her, tearing savagely at the limb and causing it to loosen its hold on her neck sufficiently for her to break free. Ashei twisted around, struggling free of the second arm and slashed at it with her sword. The metal blade sliced through the thin skin and muscle and scored down the bone, leaving a long gash that oozed pus and clear fluid. The injured arms retracted into the ground, disappearing beneath the loose soil as the bloated humanoid creature swung its distended jaw towards Ashei, trying to latch on to her with a mouth full of ragged, discoloured teeth.

A rasping sound came from behind her and then Link was there, having shed his wolf form, swinging his sword around in a powerful arc. Ashei tumbled out of the way as the young knight split the creature's grinning face with his blade, and it howled in pain as saliva and ichor splattered to the ground. Not waiting for the creature to regain its balance, Link slammed his shield hard into its head, smashing its already ruined face into pulp with a powerful Shield Bash. As the monster turned to retreat he leapt into the air, somersaulting over it and bringing his sword down like a scythe in his Helm Splitter technique, cleaving its head and the majority of its distended neck in half. It fell to the ground and twitched for a few moments before lying still, and the rest of the long arms sticking out from the ground pulled beneath the surface as it gave a final death rattle.

"Nice." Ashei tried not to let her unsteadiness creep into her voice. She hadn't seen a creature like that ever before, and the corpulent mass of flesh had unnerved her.

"I think I'll save wolf form for when we really need it. My sword arm will be of more use if we come across more monsters." As Ashei nodded in agreement, a swirl of golden light towards the back end of the room drew their attention. A heavy wooden chest appeared amidst the lights before they faded; the raven-haired adventurer had seen similar magic a score of times before – it seemed strange, how almost all dungeons, abandoned temples and ruined complexes used the same magic to keep their treasures hidden, but she had a very limited knowledge regarding the Art, so perhaps it made sense on some level.

Link moved towards the chest; he hadn't seemed surprised at its appearance, no doubt due to his own similar experiences in dungeons. Sheathing his weapon and putting up his shield, a deft flick of his boot sent the lid of the strongbox flying open, and he bent down to examine the contents before lifting them out and holding them up with both hands for Ashei to see. The pair of golden, metallic sandals worked with tiny wings at the heel glinted in the dim light, and the adventurer pursed her lips at the size of them until she realised they were designed to fit over a pair of boots. They appeared to be magical, but she had no clue as to their abilities.

"No doubt these will play an integral role in navigating this place." Link sighed and rolled his eyes, quite obviously bored by the sameness of it all, and Ashei chuckled.

"No doubt." Ashei frowned for a second, remembering the room with the bird statue and the chasm. "Put them on and see what happens."

- - - - - -

Princess Zelda paced the length of the Light Spirit's spring furiously, her eyes filled with fire as she muttered impotently under her breath. She hated having to stay back and wait for the knight's return; she hated not knowing what was happening. It had been three hours since the small party of Royal Knights had ventured into the Shadow Temple, and she was beginning to think something had gone wrong. She shot a glare at a pair of liveried soldiers that stood watch at the edge of the spring, and they shrank back under her hard gaze before she turned away. So preoccupied with her thoughts, she didn't noticed the golden light playing across the waters until the giant owl-like bird of Eldin had almost fully coalesced above the spring.

A soft voice spoke clearly in her head as she turned, her eyes widening. "I welcome you to my spring, Princess."

"Eldin." Zelda breathed. Regaining her composure immediately, she gave a deep curtsy to the golden spirit. "I am honoured by your presence." She had not seen any of the Goddess's Light Spirits since the final battle with Ganondorf, during which they had bestowed upon her the Arrows of Light that she had used during that fight. The Arrows were now safely hidden in a secret vault in Hyrule Castle, and would stay there until the day she or one of her descendants once again had need of them. Glancing at the soldiers that were standing guard, she realised she must look like she was talking to herself – only those strong in spirit were able to actually see the Spirits of Light, and there were few in the world who had courage and strength enough to discern them.

"I come with a warning. There is great danger here." Eldin's reverberating voice held a hint of worry – something unusual to hear from a being of light.

The princess's brow creased as her attention went back to the spirit. "Danger?"

"I sense the emanations of magic nearby, carrying the taint of Twilight."

"Oh." She blinked. "It's alright. The Twili have not returned. Link has obtained a tunic that allows him to draw on the Twilight."

Eldin made a gesture that vaguely reminded the princess of a headshake. "The magic is weakening the seal that binds the Other. If this magic is used in too close a vicinity to the Other's prison, it may be enough for the beast to break free."

"The Other?"

The spirit paused, as if trying to recall something buried deep in its memories. "The Twilight Invasion was not the first instance of the Twilight Realm touching the World of Light. In an age long ago, a being of darkness and shadow crossed over into our world. At the time the Sheikah protectors of the Royal Family, being strongly tied to the shadow, used their knowledge to capture the beast and imprison it before it could cause damage to our world."

Zelda suddenly felt sick to her stomach, and she had to fight to keep her voice steady. "I… see. What is this being of shadow? Where was it imprisoned?"

"The Spirits of Light here in Hyrule have their malevolent equivalents in the Twilight Realm. It was one of these Twilight Spirits that was bound beneath the Shadow Temple, under the graveyard of Kakariko. Most of the seals on the Other's prison were shattered when the Twilight draped itself over this region, and now only a single seal remains. I fear that if the source of the shadow magic draws any closer to the Other's prison, the final warding will fail."

Her blood running cold, and Zelda struggled to keep her face smooth and calm as she gave another, smaller curtsy. "Thank you for the warning, Eldin. Even now, my knights are in the process of stopping the source of the shadow magic from journeying any further into the Shadow Temple. With luck, they will reach it in time." Regardless of whether they reached Link in time, surely this Twilight Spirit would be nowhere near as powerful as the likes of Ganondorf or the usurper king Zant. If it did break free, the golden-haired knight would be able to deal with it, even without the Master Sword. Wouldn't he?

The Light Spirit's tone did not waver as its body dissipated in a faint shimmer of golden particles, and its words hung in the air even after the spirit had completely vanished. "I pray that they do."

Despite herself, Zelda bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

- - - - - -

The duo's investigation of the Shadow Temple went much as Link had anticipated. Despite its own particular quirks and idiosyncrasies, the abandoned temple was much like any of the other dungeons that he had explored in his career. Various puzzles and traps were scattered throughout the rooms of the complex, set to catch the foolish or the unwary, and the two of them slowly made their way past each in turn. Link transformed into his wolf shape whenever it seemed likely that something unseen lay ahead, and each time he did he revelled in the glorious feelings of his enhanced senses, his nose detecting intricate tapestries of smell that led him unerringly through mazes and out across what had seemed like gaping chasms.

The golden sandals came in handy as well, despite the fact that their lack of traction meant Link and Ashei went slipping about as if running on ice whenever they put them on. While wearing them, however, stepping out off a platform didn't mean a long fall and a swift death – it was possible to run short distances on empty air using nothing but the magic of the boots to keep oneself from falling. Hover Boots, Ashei had decided to call them. It was a simple name, and he couldn't think of any better, so Hover Boots they were.

They navigated chambers with giant, spinning scythe blades that spanned the entire width of the room and series of stone platforms suspended in seas of darkness, avoiding massive guillotines operated by unseen magical forces as they progressed deeper into the temple. Link had to use his impressive strength to pull and push a number of massive stone blocks, marked with the same crescent moon symbol they had seen earlier, to solve more puzzles, and lent Ashei one of his clawshots on more than one occasion when they had been needed. Sporadically, Link switched to his heavy Iron Boots and wrapped his arms around Ashei, anchoring her firmly as they bypassed fans that blew with enough force to send a person flying, or did the same while wearing the Hover Boots so they were blown over to a platform across a one of the many seemingly bottomless chasms.

Nearly every trap or obstacle they came across, from the spinning blades to the floating platforms, had an invisible counterpart at some point or another, and Link crossed them warily, shifting into his wolf form as necessary and guiding Ashei through. On more than one occasion, the raven-haired adventurer was slow to react and was almost cut by an invisible blade or barely caught the edge of an invisible platform, but she faced it all with a grim determination and Link felt his respect for her grow. He had known that she was an adventurer, but until now he hadn't realised she was easily his match when it came to dungeon-crawling. They made an excellent team, he had to admit; each pointing out things that the other had missed and working together seamlessly to overcome anything the temple could throw at them.

It didn't take long for them to find out that although it had been abandoned, the temple was far from empty. Skulltulas, Redeads, Gibdos, Keese, Beamos and other familiar foes fell before their flashing steel, and they even crossed paths with a number of Stalfos Knights as well – the skeletal warriors moved with uncanny grace and skill as they fought with sword and shield, their remains burning up and leaving nothing but a fine, ashy residue once killed. There were new enemies too, and at one point they were almost overcome by a horde of invisible, animate, severed hands. The maddening whispers seemed to follow them throughout the temple, always hovering just beyond the edge of hearing so that only snatches of phrases and words could be heard every now and then.

Eventually, they came upon a massive iron door, stained with age, with the same skull motif engraved upon it that they had seen repeatedly through the entire temple. The lock and chain barring it fell away easily once they made use of the large key they had happened upon earlier, and they headed inside.

The door hid a relatively small, circular room with worked stone serving as walls and floor, and with a roof that was so high as to disappear into darkness somewhere above them. The room was empty save for a massive circular iron plate on the floor, worked with the same skull motif that had been upon the door and inset into the stone with massive bolts the size of Link's fist.

Ashei carefully inspected the metal disk before stepping out onto it. Walking to the centre, she shrugged at Link. "What do you think? Something hidden around here?"

"Only one way to find out." The knight concentrated on his wolf form, but as the Twilight energy swirled around his body and changed him, he felt a disturbance in the magic. Falling to his forepaws, he heard the iron disk that Ashei stood on groan, and before she had a chance to move it collapsed beneath her feet, sending her plummeting downwards with a shriek. Link lunged towards the lip of the hole, but it was too late, and he watched on in panic as she fell down into the blackness. His enhanced wolf senses could make out some sort of platform far beneath her, and he forced himself to watch as she impacted.

Ashei's scream cut off abruptly, but instead of being accompanied by the sickening sound of her body hitting solid stone, there was a dull thump and she bounced back into the air, tumbling once or twice before landing and bouncing again, then again before coming to rest. Not content to stand and wait, Link leapt from the top and landed beside her, bouncing several times before he steadied himself and thrust his lupine nose into her face, trying to see if she was alright. The 'ground' beneath his paws had the feel of cloth or leather, stretched taut – in the back of his mind he noted dimly that it might well be human skin, though how it had been treated to make it strong enough to hold their weight was a matter he had no insight into.

"Blech! Get out of my face." Ashei pushed him away as she struggled to her feet. "Your nose is cold and I don't particularly feel like being covered in wolf drool. If you want to slobber all over me, change back into your normal body." If Link had been in his normal form, he would have turned bright red. He was glad that she was unhurt, though.

A hollow thud reverberated through the room and they bounced into the air as the ground leapt beneath them – the pair both managed to keep their footing as they landed and spun to face the source of the disturbance. A pair of massive, disembodied floating hands had appeared above the surface of the ground with thick sausage-like fingers as big around as one of the Ordon goats that Link used to wrassle. Mottled grey flesh hung in flabby folds from the appendages, and Link and Ashei bounced in the air as they struck the surface of the ground rhythmically with their palms, and the young knight slowly realised that the pair of them were actually standing on some sort of massive drum.

Looking over, he noticed that Ashei had drawn her blade and was eyeing the hands warily. Out of the corner of his eye, the wolf caught a vague glimpse of a grey-skinned body and elephantine face with the red, glowing maw that was common to many creatures of the Twilight, but when he turned his head it vanished as if it had been there, but he could feel it on the edge of his perception, his enhanced lupine senses lending him the ability to discern it even despite its invisibility. Link was startled at first; he had already investigated a connection between the Shiekah and the Twilight Realm and come up empty-handed, yet judging from the mouth of the thing this monster was definitely from that dark realm – what was it doing down here in an abandoned Shiekah temple?

The pair of gargantuan hands halted their drumming suddenly, floating rapidly around the drum as Link crouched low in a defensive position. It was hard to regain his balance so quickly on the springy material he stood upon, but he managed to roll to the side as one of the hands lunged at him, curled into a massive fist, narrowly missing as he tumbled away.

The hand that had attacked him resumed its rhythmic drumming and the other hand came around for a swipe at Ashei, who tried to take a swing at it with her sword. The fist struck her hard and she was knocked backwards several feet, landing on her back, but she quickly scrambled back to her feet and tried to regain her footing while the steady drumming continued. Unsure of how his wolf form would fare in this battle, Link hurriedly shifted back to his normal body, drawing his sword and shield in one smooth motion as he readied himself for combat. The hands didn't wait for him, taking another series of swipes at the two adventurers – Link attempted a spinning attack as he narrowly sidestepped the hand, but despite its bulk the appendage moved with uncanny speed and his blade sliced impotently through empty air.

Suddenly, the hand changed direction and flew skyward, flattening into an open palm before slamming downwards on the space Link had occupied a split-second earlier. The hands alternated between maintaining the beating of the drum and attacking the pair – neither Link nor Ashei was able to land a solid blow on the fast-moving appendages as they fought, and twice more the raven-haired adventurer was sent sprawling by a well-aimed fist hitting her like an avalanche of grey flesh. Each time, she had more and more difficulty struggling to her feet, and a stream of blood poured steadily down her face from a long gash on her forehead where her own sword had caught her. His reflexes faster than Ashei's, Link was caught on the shoulder once by one of the hands before he sheathed his sword and exchanged the shield in his hand for the bow on his back, and he loosed a feathered shaft just as one of the hands pulled back to come in for another strike.

The arrow struck the appendage solidly, and Link heard a frantic grunting as the hand began to shake wildly, seemingly in pain and trying to dislodge the shaft. Looking over to where Ashei had just avoided another hit from the other hand, he yelled at her to get her attention before tumbling over and passing the bow into her hands. She reached out a hand and withdrew an arrow from the quiver at his back as he rolled past, nocking it and releasing in a single motion as black energies swirled around him and he returned to his wolf form.

Both hands were trembling and attempting to dislodge the shafts that had bitten deep into their flesh now, the two adventurers seemingly forgotten, and Link used the opportunity to pinpoint the location of what he assumed was the main body of the beast with his enhanced senses. Ducking under the hands while they still had the creature distracted, he lunged forward and smashed into the creature's flower-like trunk. It gave a bellow of pain and sank to the ground, its invisibility dispelled; Link realised that his strike must have confused it and caused it to inadvertently shut off whatever ability it had to make itself unseen. Taking advantage of this second opportunity, he transformed back into his hylian form while still in midair and hit the ground, turning and unsheathing his blade in one fluid movement and slashing savagely at the beast. It cried out in pain and hatred, trying to struggle back into the air, but he gave it no quarter, and a split second later Ashei was there beside him, hacking away at the monster with her own blade.

The creature gave an agonising shriek, flailing wildly for a moment before it finally lay still. Link took an involuntary step backwards as the monster's body began to darken and deform, slowly dissolving into a steaming puddle of a black, tar-like substance. Looking over he saw Ashei wrinkle her nose in disgust as the viscous liquid evaporated rapidly, leaving behind no trace of the creature. Spinning his sword around his hand in a practiced gesture, Link sheathed it with flourish before he held out a hand for his bow. "Good work."

Despite her injuries, Ashei gave a wry grin and slapped Link's bow down into his palm before limping past him. "You're not too bad yourself, hero. What now?"

"Like as not, the ocarina is probably somewhere in this chamber." He scanned the darkness with steely eyes, trying to find some clue as to their next move. "We'll cover more ground if we split up. Be careful and yell if you find anything." It would be soon, now. Very soon, the Ocarina of Time would be in his possession and he would be well on his way to regaining the Master Sword. He just hoped Tuli would be able to supply him with the melodies he would need for the ocarina to allow him to attain his goal of reuniting with Midna.