The Legend of Zelda- Ocarina of Time

Bongo Bongo

Chapter 50
Bongo Bongo

Link blinked, desperately hoping his eyes deceived him. He raised a hand to his face, ensuring the mask remained in place. His fingers brushed against the familiar wooden frame. Sheik's bloodstained dagger lay on the ground where it had fallen. Adding to Link's dismay, the orb of light, Sheik's spell, flickered and extinguished. He hesitated to ponder whether it was due to the caster being out of range or something more ominous.

"Did you see anything?" Link asked Navi.

"No," Navi sounded as stunned as he felt. "There was this shadow, and then I turned around, and she was gone."

Beware the shadows.

"Sheik can't have just vanished," Link reasoned, though his words offered little reassurance. Peering up the twisted corridor, half-hoping for an unexpected joke, he called, "Sheik, you can come out now!"

Silence.

"Sheik?" he called again. "Sheik. This isn't funny."

No one answered. Nothing stirred. 

"Uhh... Link, I'm sure there's a perfectly rational explanation for this," Navi began, but Link wasn't listening.

"SHEIK!" he bellowed, the echo reverberating off the walls. Running back down the corridor, its unnatural twists churning his stomach, Link hoped to find her nearby.

Still, there was no answer from Sheik, only his laboured breathing and the crackling of torches.

This is not funny, Link thought, growing frantic. Where did she go?

"They are here. The shadows," Courage said. "Sheik was taken by one of them. It was gone before I could warn you it was behind you."

"What are they?" Link thought back. "Is she alright?"

"They can shift from one place to another, but not far," Courage answered. "I can still sense the Triforce of Wisdom, but it's deeper within the temple..." an abrupt pause followed by, "Ware your back!"

Link felt an uneasy sensation of being closely watched. Navi screeched from behind him, "Watch out! There's something-"

Link spun before Navi finished. A shadow loomed on the wall, growing larger, then appeared—a black, leathery 'thing,' resembling a disembodied hand, as if it moved through the wall. Floating towards him, at least the size of a fully grown skulltula, it could have easily grabbed him.

"Do not let it seize you!" Courage said.

Five gnarled fingers opened, and Link slid to the side, flattening against the wall. The hand snatched thin air. Sensing his movement, it turned. Before it could grab him, Link slashed his sword downwards, slicing through several fingers.

The creature erupted into black, smoky wisps that faded into the air, leaving nothing behind. Link backed into the wall, gasping.

"What was that?" he panted. "An illusion?"

"I don't know," Navi replied, her voice trembling. "I'm not an expert on creepy, disembodied hand-looking things..." she paused, her eyes going round. "LOOK OUT!"

Another floating hand approached him, moving like a puppet on invisible strings. Link ducked, and the strange apparition missed him by a hair's width. Reacting quickly, Link plunged his sword through the back of the hand. A third apparition came flying towards him, leaping over Link's frantic swipes. It belted him across the face, a stinging blow that knocked him flat.