Their thick, bullish necks were connected to immensely muscular bodies, warning any who looked upon them of an inherently tremendous physical strength. They were also long-limbed creatures in proportion to their powerful bodies, the considerable lengths of their arms and legs rippling with corded muscle.
There was little mystery as to the identity of the creatures. Lee knew that the beings coming towards them were the Unguhur.
Lee could see why the creatures had once been called Stone Hides. Their grayish skin did indeed have a stony texture, though at close proximity Lee could see that the creatures possessed a very light growth of thin, gray hairs covering their outer skin.
Most of the creatures wore a type of hide-skirt, similar to a kilt, which was wrapped around their waist and hung down to just above their thick knees. A select few wore plain hide tunics along with the kilt, both items appearing to be fashioned of a thicker, different kind of leather hide. The Unguhur wearing tunics also looked to be larger and more muscular than the rest.
The massive hands of the Unguhur exhibited fingers that ended in what looked like of small spear blades. The same was true of their rather long feet. Lee could not help but conjecture that the creatures could readily tunnel through hard-packed ground without the need for any tools.
The ones wearing the tunics were armed with great lances. The lance blades were crafted out of a black stone that had been shaped long and sharp, making the weapon propitious for slashing or for thrust.
Those with the hide-skirts alone carried much shorter weapons, club-sized for the scale of the beasts. The crude, mace-like weapons held a large, obsidian stone lashed tightly to the end of their thick shafts.
The creatures bearing the lances moved to the forefront of the bare-chested ones, the latter clustering into a loose throng behind them. Altogether, sixteen of the creatures came to stand before Gunther’s party. The huge beings made no hostile moves, though they kept some distance between the two parties. The ones in the front retained a firm grip upon their huge spears, though the sharpened points were tilted upwards, towards the cavern ceiling.
Gunther turned to Lee and the others, and spoke in a lowered voice. “We must wait for one of the Unguhur leaders, versed in our language. One will come. These were the closest to us, warriors and laborers attending to this cavern.”
Lee nodded wordlessly to Gunther. He was not about to divulge the nature of their amulets to these creatures, for there was no telling what interest or alarm the brutish-looking beings might harbor for the magical devices.
After what seemed like an age had passed, five more of the Unguhur walked into view out of the forest. Like those in the forefront of the group before Gunther, four were wearing the tunic-kilt combination, and bore great spears. The four warriors walked in escort around the fifth member of their group, keeping the distinctive being centered in their midst.
The protected Unguhur, alone among the twenty others in sight, was unarmed. Clad in a full-length tunic of softer material, flowing almost like a robe, the creature wore a necklace made up of an array of very long, sharp teeth. Tan-hued hide armbands were wound snugly about each of its upper arms. Each exhibited a single line of raised scutes, gleaned from the hide of whatever creature had been used to fashion the armbands.
“Hail, Eranthus,” Gunther greeted the guarded Unguhur, lowering his head towards the approaching contingent.
“Gunther. You come. Been long. No wood? No trade? You bring others?” the robe-wearing one stated, when the last group of Unguhur had finally reached the larger gathering.
Lee listened with the benefit of the amulet, knowing by the stilted, hesitant words that the Unguhur was speaking in the Saxan tongue to Gunther. The creature spoke in a low, gravely tone of voice that fit well within the atmosphere pervading the strange world of deep, underground rock. It was obvious to Lee, from the great deference given to the creature by its surrounding brethren, that the being held great authority amongst their kind.
“No trade. We seek refuge here. A danger comes to us above,” Gunther replied.
It was difficult to read the expression upon the creature’s broad face, but the look in the large being’s eyes seemed to convey familiarity, and even a sense of affinity, towards Gunther. The same eyes shifted to study the four humans with the woodsman very closely. The creature’s eyes narrowed, bringing furrows to the prominent, broad ridge of its forehead, applying great scrutiny to the clearly unexpected human guests.
“Enemy come?” Eranthus asked.
Gunther nodded, and as he spoke he used physical gestures to illustrate and emphasize his words. “Bad times come in world above. Work of Unifier. Big army comes. There are many enemy. Had to leave home. Could not stay above. Come to warn Unguhur. Need home with Unguhur.”
At the mention of the Unifier, the Unguhur leader Eranthus’ facial muscles tensed into something that looked much like a snarl. The lips curled back enough to reveal that the Unguhur had large teeth, along with a set of extremely prominent, and very sharp canines. Lee could tell that there was no love lost between the Unifier and the Unguhur, something that made Lee feel much more reassured about their prospects with the intimidating creatures.
“You safe. In Unguhur lands now. Come now. Who friends?” Eranthus asked, his eyes looking back inquisitively towards the four exiles.
“Will give story. Maybe prophecy. Friends. Protect from Unifier,” Gunther replied.
“Gunther friends welcome. Gunther beasts welcome. Come. We go to Oranim,” Eranthus stated. “We watch tunnel to above world.”
Eranthus turned and spoke in an even lower tone to the warriors that had escorted him. Lee picked out several words, listening as the Unguhur leader instructed the warriors to summon others, ordering them to watch over the long tunnel that lead up to Gunther’s dwelling.
When Eranthus was finished speaking to the warriors, two of the spear-carrying Unguhur had cupped their hands to their faces, and bellowed back in the direction of the forest.
In mere moments, a number of other voices were raised from places near and far within the forest. There were evidently several more Unguhur in the cavern, as a trickle of Unguhur appeared shortly into view, covering the ground in swift, loping strides.
Gunther did not have to explain to Lee that each of the giant creatures was worth several human warriors, if combat were to ensue. Lee found himself intensely grateful for the fact that Gunther was regarded as a friend by the creatures, as over thirty of the creatures now surrounded them. If the Unguhur had decided to become hostile, there was nothing that Gunther and all of his Jaghuns combined could have done to protect Lee and his companions.
Most of the warriors gathered together, leaving with the ones that Eranthus had instructed towards the lower tunnel entrance. Eranthus then motioned for the humans to follow, adding the invocation, “Warriors there. Now, come.”
Only a couple of the warriors had remained behind, and these now escorted Eranthus, as the club-wielding Unguhur dispersed and headed back into the bizarre forest.
Eranthus led them a path that meandered through the forest-like environment, the loam on each side sloping up to the base of the lofty growths flanking the pathway. Walking in silence, Lee took in the sights of the forest around them. They moved through many varieties of unusual growths before finally stepping out of the forest and entering a broad clearing. His feet stepped once again onto a hardened surface, the ground no longer covered with the organic material that saturated the area underneath the tall growths.
A short distance ahead of them, at the end of a gentle, downward slope, an underground river flowed. The dark waters of the river coursed with a slow current, patient and confident within the channel that it had carved out of the rock over long ages.
There was an area along the shoreline where there were a number of broad, crude rafts. They were fashioned from even lengths of some kind of thick stalk, though whether the stalks were from something in the fungal forest, or a kind of tree, Lee could
not yet tell. The stalks were lashed tightly together with hide rope, and the rafts looked sturdy enough.
Several large stones rested at the edge of the river’s shore. The end of a long rope of hide was looped and secured around each stone, the other tied at the end of a raft. There were two such anchoring points for each individual raft, arranged so that the length of a particular raft could be tethered securely, right alongside the landing area.
A cluster of long paddles, and some considerably lengthier poles, lay prone upon the stony shore. There were a few Unguhur standing around the bobbing rafts, all looking upon the party’s approach with great interest reflected in their deep-seated gazes.
As they all neared the edge the river, Lee and his companions stayed back a little, keeping some distance between themselves and the flowing waters. The rock surface near the edge looked dangerously slick.
Peering down the river, Lee could see that it traveled along the outer edge of the forest, curving out of sight into the depths of a tunnel whose mouth was not far downstream. Off to the right, he saw that the river emerged from a similar tunnel at the other end of the cavern.
It was in that moment that Lynn suddenly flinched, bumping into Lee and then aggressively nudging him. A startled, fearful look was splayed upon her face, and Lee followed the line of her sight to see what had suddenly unnerved her.
A distinct pair of impassive eyes was poking above the water’s surface, set into two rising protrusions. The creature’s pale eyes reflected the glowing light within the cavern, giving them the appearance of lustrous gems. A little distance in front of the eyes was what looked to be a very pale, light tan bump that broke through the surface of the water. The creature was hovering just a short distance beyond the rafts, staring intently towards the group of newcomers and the Unguhur alike.
At first, Lee could make out very little of the organism’s full form, concealed as it was by the dark waters. Finally, as realization dawned upon him, his eyes stretched wider with an upsurge of astonishment and fear.
Lee did not need to be an expert to judge the great size of the jaws belonging to the floating creature, from its eyes to the tip of its elongated, tapering snout. He instinctively shuddered to think of the enormous size of the body extending beyond those unblinking eyes, easily larger than any crocodile or alligator that he had ever heard about.
“Gunther! What’s that? Tell me that’s not what I think it is,” Erin blurted out excitedly, as she became acutely aware of what Lee and Lynn had been staring at.
The Unguhur, most especially Eranthus, looked upon Erin with a look of stunned surprise, even as Erin cast a look of alarm towards Gunther. Lee tore his gaze away from the creature in the water, and looked towards Erin, seeing immediately that she had just realized her mistake.
“Wizard Gift. Will tell story soon,” Gunther quickly said to the Unguhur, while shooting Erin a highly annoyed glance.
Lee could not entirely blame Erin for the inadvisable lapse in discipline this time. The massive creature in the water was absolutely terrifying to even comprehend, and he could not fault her for being shocked into committing the blunder. Nonetheless, he froze as he awaited the response of the Unguhur.
The Unguhur leader nodded to Gunther, although some tension had clearly manifested between them. Eranthus replied to Gunther with a pensive voice, “You tell soon. What this is. All new ones speak?”
The leader glanced towards Gunther’s four human companions in the way of emphasis.
Gunther’s face tensed, as he replied, “Yes, all new ones speak.”
Eranthus regarded Erin and the others with confusion apparent in his expression. “You understand my words?”
Erin nodded silently, looking reluctant to reply.
With a sigh, Gunther held his hand out towards Erin, indicating the amulet with his gaze. She took it off slowly, and handed it over to the woodsman, who placed it around his neck. Eranthus’s already large eyes widened further, as Gunther opened his mouth and spoke again.
“A Wizard’s gift. It enables us to speak your language, perfectly,” Gunther explained in a resigned tone. “I wanted to talk to you about this first, to explain it carefully, so that you would not be alarmed. I do not much like the things of magic myself.”
“What Wizard?” Eranthus asked Gunther, with palpable apprehension.
“The Wanderer,” Gunther replied. “In the forests above. He sees something of importance in these four.”
Lee could see Eranthus visibly relax at the open mention of the Wanderer. He was grateful for the Wizard’s apparently widespread reputation.
“That is a good tiding,” Eranthus commented, the edge now absent from its voice.
“Nice going, Erin,” Ryan muttered under his breath, with more than a little disgust in his voice.
Lee did not reprimand the young man, as there was no use in hiding their capability anymore.
Ryan had also taken notice of the cause for Lynn and Lee’s surprise, and he glanced back towards the creature in the river. “So what are they, Gunther?” Ryan asked the woodsman uneasily. “I can’t say I’m thrilled to see those things either.”
“Those are Gallidils,” Gunther calmly informed Ryan and the others. “Do not be afraid of them, but be cautious. They have lived alongside the Unguhur race for much longer than I have.”
“They are so enormous,” Lynn remarked, in clear awe.
“The ones dwelling in these caverns and tunnels are among the greatest of their kind,” Gunther replied. “There is some talk in the world above of an even larger surface kin, living somewhere within the Shadowlands. Thankfully, I did not encounter such monstrosities when I traveled in those lands. These are not of that breed, but you will likely find nothing to rival them anywhere else in Ave.”
“Doesn’t surprise me,” Ryan retorted.
“How can the Unguhur live so close to something like that?” Erin asked fearfully.
“They do not have a taste for the Unguhur,” Gunther said. “There is also some interaction between the Unguhur and the Gallidils, which shows a rudimentary level of relationship. But all of you should just use reason. I will give you one simple piece of reason. Stay on the shore or the rafts. Do not swim in the waters and tempt the Gallidils.”
Gunther grinned with a humorous sparkle to his eye, albeit brief, as he looked upon the faces of the four otherworlders. The woodsman was undeniably deriving more than a little enjoyment from the sight of their collective agitation.
“Stay out of these waters, and you will be fine enough,” Gunther reiterated, shaking his head and chuckling. “Is that clear enough? Difficult to understand?”
“That one stays by rafts often. It is a young bull of their kind. We feed him plenty enough,” Eranthus remarked.
The Unguhur leader then gestured towards the cluster of its own kind, the ones that had been standing down by the rafts when the party had emerged from the forest.
One of them turned, took a couple of steps to the side, and bent down to pick up the prone body of a large fish. The fish was one of a row of several rather sizeable fish lying upon the ground, near to one of the anchorage boulders.
Lee got a good look at it as the Unghur lifted it up. The pale-hued fish was highly unusual in appearance. It had an extended dorsal fin, with a similar fin running along its underside, adding to a general form that to Lee brought to mind an eel.
Yet he knew without question that it was certainly no eel. If anything, it was something like a catfish, judging by the long, whisker-like barbs protruding from the rounded end of its rectangular head. In proportion to its body, the fish had very tiny eyes. For a creature that lived in the dark of underground waterways, the existence of a diminutive set of eyes was not a surprise to Lee.
As the Unguhur raised the fish up, the Gallidil immediately started drifting towards the shore, as if it were well familiar with the gesture. Lee watched the giant creature gravitate closer, gaining a better perspective of the reptilian beast’s substantial g
irth and length. It was truly a monster, and the fact that it apparently had some sort of routine encounters with the Unguhur was of little comfort.
As the water parted and coursed around the contours of its tapering snout, Lee received some glimpses of the short spikes visible on the creature’s exterior, lining its upper and lower jaws. The fearsome array of interlocking teeth included veritable daggers protruding up from the lower jaws, towards the end of the snout, one on each side.
Lee did not even want to think about what it might look like when the creature opened its extensive jaws wide. Even closed, they were incredibly intimidating to behold.
With a great heave, the Unguhur slung the fish carcass out towards the incoming Gallidil. The creature’s great jaws exploded out of the water, flashing amidst a burst of water as they clamped down upon the tossed meal.
Lee quivered slightly at the sheer power and speed exhibited by the leviathan, even as he heard an audible gasp from Lynn and a curt exclamation from Ryan. Erin was left in a state of near paralysis, a faint trembling having come over her body.
“Keep him eating. Keep belly full. No room for Unguhur then,” Eranthus commented with a throaty rumble that Lee took to be laughter. Eranthus saw the dumbfounded expressions on the faces of the four with Gunther, and a mild look of irritation came across its face, “Second fish in short time. That one has eaten much. Now no room for Unguhur. Do you understand?”
“They do not have much humor in them right now,” Gunther quipped wryly, chuckling again. “I will explain it to them later, Eranthus … if they can remember to stay out of the water.”
Gunther’s reply caused Eranthus to suddenly break into loud laughter, accompanied by several of the other Unguhur. Thinking that they had just inadvertently caused some offense, Lee was very relieved to see their open mirth.
Gunther winked at his four guests, and turned back to Eranthus. “Many thanks, for keeping the Gallidils full. I am not sure whether or not I would like to find out if they like the taste of humans.”
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