ven after the gloom of the Mud Flats, it takes my eyes a while to adjust to the clutching dark of this tidal passage. The cave walls are glistening with brine, polished by countless years of lapping waves. The scant light available to me dissipates in all directions, leaving me feeling claustrophobic and terrified. My fear is not helped by the sounds I hear far off in the darkness around me, a strange hissing and clattering. For a moment, I could swear that I even hear distant singing. But how could that be?
With my vision somewhat adjusted, I make cautious progress through the maze of tunnels, treading carefully over the smooth, slick rocks of the cave floor. My feet are freezing, soaked completely by the stagnant salt water that pools in every corner of this maze. As I head in deeper, the ominous sounds grow louder, and then rounding a curve, I see them for the first time. The horrors that I've met above ground pale next to these things!
I can really only describe the creatures as a sickening cross between a toothed worm and an octopus. They slither close to the ground, grasping with slimy, sinewy tentacles. Despite their awkward appearance, the little monsters move with surprising speed, and they are upon me almost immediately. Soon I'm assailed from all sides, surrounded by screeching, biting mouths and grasping suckers. I fight them gamely, and am finally able to gain the upper hand by retreating into a doorway, allowing me to engage my foes one at a time. The tunnel floor is soon littered with slime, tentacles and corpses, but I'm still standing.
I make an attempt to clean my sword, but the blade remains streaked by the vile blood of the creatures as I make my way farther into the caves. A few moments later, I find the source of the clattering sound, scuttling rapidly down the corridor towards me. The arthropods bear a passing resemblance to the Spitters from the beach, but they come heavily armored in a glistening, thick carapace. They also brandish a pair of sharp claws, which slice smoothly through the thin mail mesh lining of my boots. Repeated blows from my sword do little to pierce the armor that protects these crab creatures, so I instead resort to the best blunt instrument I have, a stone hammer salvaged a few hours ago. A few sharp, well-placed blows from the hammer crack the shell of the largest crab, and to my shock and amazement, an intact Sand Spitter tumbles out! Before the stunned creature can scamper away I pounce, and one swing smashes it flat against the rocky floor. The remaining crabs soon follow the fate of this one.
Down in these depths, the roar of the ocean is nearly unbearable. My head pounds as I make my way gingerly down the tunnel, the darkness hungrily awaiting just a few paces away. I hear more of the horrid tentacled creatures scuttling nearby, and a heavy scraping, sliding sound that sets my nerves further on edge. I also hear the singing again, louder and weirdly enticing. What have I gotten myself into?
'm still hearing singing, it's louder now, echoing off the walls, coming from seemingly every direction. The lilting sound rises steadily in my ears, erasing all other thought, driving me forward down the tunnel. I'm vaguely aware that I'm still breathing, but the rest of my conscious mind is consumed with the need to learn the source of that voice. I must find it!
I round a final bend in the tunnel, and come face to face with the singer. It is a horror almost beyond imagination. It rears up on a mass of tentacles as it sees me, standing almost a head higher than me. Its face is some hideous conjuring of a child's nightmare, scales, squinted, serpentine eyes, and rows of razor sharp teeth. The creature draws in a breath, and the melody coming from within it rises to a hissing screech. For a moment I am stunned with terror, involuntarily raising my hands to my ears in an effort to muffle the sound. That is exactly what the terrible thing wants me to do.
In that moment of defenselessness, my assailant raises its two arms, and its entire body undulates with an exhalation that pours out and soaks me completely. The liquid that jets forward from it is foul beyond words, a mixture of sea water, acid and stinking sticky slime. I'm buffeted backwards, choking and gagging, and within seconds it bombards me again. Acting on instinct, I duck and roll under the viscous spray, which splashes and sizzles against the cave wall. I see an opening as the beast begins to draw in breath again and I seize it, leaping forward with a cry and driving my sword straight into its slimy chest. For all its menace and scales, it proves surprisingly vulnerable, and my blade slices cleanly into it. The creature chokes and gasps, tentacles flailing about, and then it slips slowly into a heap on the floor. I have won again.
Having learned the true nature of the singers, I fill my ears with some cloth, and continue carefully down the passage. With a clear mind, the Sirens are less dangerous, though the twisting labyrinth winds on with no end in sight. As exhaustion and chill creep deeper into my bones I begin to lose hope. I'm nearly mad with despair when I finally glimpse it, a bit of light shining up ahead in the gloom. A way out lies before me! Without another thought, I plunge headlong through the rift, and find myself blinking and half blind in brilliant sunshine.
