Grotto Tribulations pt. 1

Voah was on edge all night, or was it day? Didn’t matter. At one point in the night, she had one of the spears poised to thrust if the footsteps grew too close. The mould woman hadn’t given up. When Voah heard small footfalls stop about 20 meters before their hiding space, she was certain that the woman didn’t see thespot where they had turned off.

Furthermore, the woman wasn’t keen to move forward down this passage. Good. Let the enemy be afraid as well. What had her scared? They would find out soon enough as this tunnel led back upward.

After hours of sitting in the dark, thinking about the past, Voah realized she was suddenly alone. Tarmen’s breathing had stopped. Dear Gods. How long had it been? She had spaced out. She needed his expertise if she was to survive in here. Voah crawled closer to inspect when, suddenly Tarmen jolted awake with a snort and she jumped back, nearly letting out a scream.

She simply rolled her eyes and sighed at herself. This place was getting to her, even without the spores.

She stifled a fit of nervous laughter and just gave him a pat on the shoulder that said it was her turn to sleep.

Tarmen and Voah made their exchange in silence. The way it must be to keep their cover. She fell hard into a dreamless sleep, one that finally allowed her mind and body some much needed rest. She once again woke to complete and oppressive darkness.

Not long later they were marching forward once more and the cold, dry, dusty cavern gave way to a warmer air. The dust that lined the stone her was more of a slick grime in some places, near the cracks in the walls and floors especially.

More clusters of mould and luminous fungus lit the tunnel. A welcome, but dangerous, sight. They would be sure not to disturb the mould.

The tunnel opened up high on their left side and the path ahead rounded right and climbed gently upward, with the sound of water babbling down the wall. This area was old, possibly part of an old mine or just an unfinished road. The water pool along the path’s lowest edge. This water stirred strangely. It seemed heated from somewhere below but the water trickling down the wall was as frigid as ice.
The appearance of bones at their feet caused more curiosity than alarm at first. The skulls were so ancient they crumpled like dry leaves beneath their boots.

Climbing and rounding the next bend took them right back down to the water on the hidden side. This was an expansive grotto, lit in eery blue fungus, the stone formed strange arches like connected stalactites and stalagmites. The area was humid and smelled sickly sweet. Clusters of resin hung to the ceilings arching overhead and far out.

The path ahead was drowned by the subterranean lake. To reach upward climb, they would have to traverse several feet of water that would be up to their waists at the least. Clusters of bones emerged here and there at water’s edge, but as they stepped through the first shallow ford, they noticed the wet floor became thick with them and they squished like muck underfoot.

The mired beauty of this place, while not lost on Tarmen, was spoiled in the moment. Had the trip gone any better and he would have cherished this place.
Instead every chalk-bone powdered under their steps was yet another reminder of how royally screwed they were. He couldn’t even believe they were this old; he had delved into caves that had this affect on bones, leached the strength from them even before the meat had left. With the fragile light, he allowed a humored breath to escape him.

Once they hit the water though, his thoughts were troubled. What had happened here? Was this some kind of ancient burial site for these freaks or an ancient massacre… he didn’t like either thought. Better yet, maybe there was something in here that did it? He hoped life would have a better sense of humor as he felt the water reach up his shins.

The water itself seemed to glow a murky blue hue. It certainly had a quality of enchanting beauty, but as the two neared the far end, they realized their mistake too late. Tarmen was up to his knees still and slowly making his way out of the water when he saw something dangling overhead. It was a body, curled up and cocooned in the crook of the cavern arches. Voah noticed the shadow of something moving in the water and as Tarmen turned to look, he watched her gaze follow the shadow. Behind the Arbiter, still waist deep, emerged the looming figure of some unfathomable beast, the likes of which they had never seen.

It’s body was something of primal horror. Some combination of reptilian, insectoid, and fish. Its body rose up like a snake, its ribs and neck were webbed, giving it an appearance of a chitinous, skeletal, desert cobra centipede.

The skeletal ribs actually moved like clawed legs as they wrapped the Arbiter in a cage-like embrace. Her arms flailed, trying to get an attack angle with her spear.

Zin take them both, this is just what they needed. He had moved toward the Arbiter in the hopes of guiding them out of the water, but the nightmares attack rushed that plan.
The creature was testing its newfound item, running feelers along Voah’s body to determine if it was food. As it tested, a massive pair of jaws unfolded from somewhere inside, reflexively snapping before settling on a low chittering.
Tarmen couldn’t see any other shapes here, so focused on this freak and lunged into action.
He swung at the head, clipping a feeler off and tried to avoid embedding his machete into a hide he had no idea how thick.

The creature reeled back a few feet, Arbiter in tow as it let out a clicking, ululating shriek.

Voah didn’t even have time to be afraid. This was just great. Nothing like being breakfast right after eating breakfast. She would make a better meal for this creature than the meager mushrooms and bread in her own stomach.