It had to be the entrance they’d been searching for.
“Oh, joy – we’ve found the tunnels,” Williams rasped before falling into a strained silence. Then, the silence crumbled as the diabolical chanting starting up once more. This time, it hammered up at them from the depths of the earth, relentless as the waves of a storm-tossed sea.
16
The vaulted chamber pulsed and echoed with Ezra’s vibrant voice, the strange words bursting forth from the full lips of the body he now controlled while the Children responded to the chant in their own guttural tongue. Sweat poured off him as a vortex began to form, catching the dim light of the candles and collecting it in its dense, all-consuming grasp. With every fiber of his being, he strained to push the powerful chant even further out across the multitudinous dimensions, seeking celestial lifeforms that were never meant for the eyes of man to see.
And they began to respond.
With greater confidence, he poured his mastery into the ancient spell, seeking, compelling, demanding that they submit to his will. His power was vast, yet greater still was the strength of the beings that replied, and his mind soon rang with the vibrations of their chaotic thoughts. Yet he reveled in it. This was his chance to commune with the Old Ones, to gain the power he’d longed for, and to achieve his dreams of immortality. He would exist forever within the embrace of living death, giving into the places between while his dark influence enfolded the world within its unyielding grasp.
He would be a god!
As he completed the last segment of the complex spell, he fell to his knees in front of the altar, lifting his soft, feminine hands in supplication. Swirling in the air was now the start of an astral portal, pulsating like a giant blue-and-white whirlpool of lightning-streaked clouds. It was more than half complete; a few more passages of the vile chant and he’d be able to make the sacrifice, summoning the great Nathrotep into the realm of men. It was the moment that he’d been preparing for his entire life.
Kneeling in the midst of the churning, snakelike Horrors, he reached out, running a hand along the rough, eel-like skin of one as it slid past, then giggled in morbid delight. The thing hissed, resenting his touch as it wriggled away through the roiling mists. Then, still chuckling, he climbed to his feet, preparing himself for the final segment of the ancient ritual. His new rapport with the creatures beyond the gate allowed him to draw from their blinding energy, much like a piglet would suckle its mother’s teat, and he knew this added power would soon be needed if he were going to tear a hole in the very fabric of time and space itself. With their tremendous energy coursing through him, he glanced down, his face shining with glorious intensity.
The girl was no longer screaming; she now lay panting and glassy-eyed, her nakedness gleaming snow-white in the glow of the incomplete gateway. What a fine sacrifice she’ll make! he thought, pulling the shimmering dagger from the sash of his robe. Soon, very soon indeed, it would be time. Oh, how the world would tremble at his greatness then, and taste the extent of his terrible power! As the key disciple of the Old Ones, he would destroy any and all that got in his way! He would...
Something in the back of his mind briefly pulled at his attention; a link that he’d forged within another’s consciousness being irrevocably severed. Startled, his concentration wavered for just a brief moment.
That was all it took.
The Hunting Horrors swarmed in, lashing out with razor-sharp claws and tearing at him with vicious, jagged-edged teeth. In a dozen places he was bloodied before he could regain control. Then, reasserting his will, he struck back with all the power he’d milked from the nebulous outer entities. Lightning flared within in the chamber, cascading around the flying shapes with sudden ferocity. In their present state of being, they sizzled in the electrified air, twisting away from him as their blunted, irregular snouts screeched out in futile rage.
Torrents of energy coursing through him revealed what he’d already surmised; the madman and his family had failed.
A slow smirk of utter contempt crept across his features as he lashed out at the Horrors again, watching as they howled in indescribable pain. They would regret defying him; he was not a man to be trifled with, oh no, not at all! He was the high priest of the mighty Nathrotep, and his will was absolute! Aside from the momentary distraction, Zak’s failure was of no real concern; the trespassers would soon be taken care of by the Children gathering in the sacred entrance hall. With hardly a thought, he sent a tendril of his newly acquired power out to command the lesser beings that congregated there.
They would stop this meddlesome couple before they got any closer with that accursed relic. And even if they somehow failed, the dweller in the sunken catacombs would surely see to it that they advanced no further. Not even the Children were willing to linger in those benighted chambers. None could hope to stop him now.
His oath-bound minions would take care of everything.
17
Many of Terry’s wounds were superficial, but there was one cut just above her right eye that kept weeping blood. With the backward swipe of a hand, she smeared it away, gasping at the fresh pain that exploded across her brow. It probably needed stitches, but there was nothing she could do about it now. Besides, the rest of her wasn’t in much better shape; countless bites and scratches throbbed in the dank air of the passageway as they moved downward.
It had taken her quite some time to convince Williams to enter the tunnels; he was badly shaken, the horror of what they’d experienced having worn away at his courage bit by bit. In the semi-darkness, she could see the fear written plainly across his pale features. He’d lost his glasses during the scuffle, and his tousled hair now seemed to have taken on quite a few new streaks of gray. She knew he wouldn’t be able to hold up much longer unless she found a way to refocus his slipping resolve. It would be difficult, but she couldn’t give up on him; he was depending on her, and she planned to see him through this thing to the end, no matter what the cost.
Still, she did not like the odds.
They’d been traveling for a while now, making their way down a large, mist-filled corridor. The noisome walls were covered in a series of curling, intricate patterns that confused the eye, and about every ten feet or so was a niche filled with the remains of some long-forgotten soul. Many of the bones had been disturbed and it looked to her as if they’d also been gnawed on. Swallowing heavily, she wiped the back of a hand across her eyes again to clear away the blood.
“Doc?” she whispered. “I don’t hear the chanting anymore, do you?”
Stopping, he fiddled with the shotgun as he muttered back over his shoulder, “No, I don’t hear it either...” Then he retreated a step. “Maybe we should return to the basement...”
Placing her hand on the small of his back, she applied a firm yet gentle pressure, urging him along.
“You know we have to do this,” she cajoled. “Think of Robin; if we don’t succeed, she may not even survive. We have to finish this now, before it’s too late. Barnaby... remember your father.”
It was a cruel thing to say, and it pained her to say it, but it had the desired effect. Grunting like he’d been kicked in the stomach, he straightened his shoulders, then continued to follow the darkened pathway.
“You’re right, and I’m sorry,” he said after a moment, his voice raw with emotion. “It’s just this place! I don’t know if I can take much more of this; the walls are closing in on me, and I hear voices.”
“What kind of voices?” she asked.
“You don’t want to know,” he replied with finality.
Although she listened for the next few minutes, she could hear nothing but the scuffle of their feet and the harshness of their own breathing. With a feeling of uncertainty, she chose to ignore the comment.
As the tunnel widened out, the intricate designs receded back into patterns that began to glow with their own unexpected light. It came from the walls themselves, climbing in and around the designs in a hypnotically disturbing wa
y. Soon, they could see each other clearly in the pasty-green glow.
“It’s the lichens.”
“What?” she asked, startled.
“The lichens and mosses,” he said, “they’re bio-luminescent. I read about it somewhere.”
With dreadful reluctance, she let her eyes focus on the menacing hieroglyphics. They swam in and out of her vision like gigantic worms struggling against one another in an effort to hold up the ceiling. In quivering revulsion, she turned her face away, burying it in the folds of his shirt.
“Make them stop!” she cried out, her face smothered by material.
Pausing, Williams encircled her waist with his free arm.
“Don’t worry, Terry,” he whispered into her silken hair. “These designs can’t hurt you, and they’re actually kind of beautiful in a way.”
Leaning back from him, she stared into his burning eyes. He was further gone than she’d thought. With a concentrated effort, she pulled herself together.
“You’re right,” she said. “They can’t hurt us and they’re really quite helpful. I can see much better now. Let’s just keep moving; we need to find out what’s at the end of this tunnel.”
As they continued onward, the going got easier with the increased visibility. Soon they began to notice smaller tunnels burrowed right into the central corridor. There was a crude, rough-hewn look about them, like the ones made by animals. Stooping, Williams studied one of the many openings, his head tilted to the side.
“These seem to branch off in all directions,” he observed. “But I think it’s best that we continue along this main route for now. I just don’t know if –”
“What’s that?” she cut in.
“What?” he asked, glancing around.
“Shhhh! Listen!”
Faint echoes came to them from out of the depths. A low, throaty sound, cruel and gravelly, interspersed with a guttural, choppy-sounding barks, like that of a small dog. She couldn’t quite place it; it was like nothing she’d ever heard before. She was already frightened, but this was affecting her on a deeper level. The sounds were so... inhuman. And, much more than that, so unsettling that they called up the memories of childhood demons that had plagued her sleep so long ago. Shrinking back, she grasped Williams by the arm.
“You hear it now too, don’t you?” she whispered.
“Y-Yes...” he responded in a voice dulled by fear.
She was not at all surprised to find him trembling. This place was taking its dark toll on both of them and she didn’t even want to think about what might lay ahead. It was enough that they just kept pressing forward as best they could.
For better or for worse.
The sounds became clearer as they crept closer, sending fresh thrills of uncertainty down her spine. Up ahead, the tunnel rounded a bend, the luminescent patterns growing brighter as the unholy grunts and harsh braying became more distinct. Whatever was lying around that bend, whatever horrors awaited just beyond that fateful turn, she couldn’t even guess at, but no single animal could make such a cacophony of unnatural noise. There had to be a group of creatures to make that much steady clamor.
Or so she feared.
Rounding the corner, they braced themselves for whatever they’d find, but it didn’t prepare them for the truth of their discovery. Recoiling in shock, they almost fled in panic before being caught up by the monstrous spectacle.
They were on a small ledge overlooking a cave. Seething masses of bio-luminescent growths covered the entire chamber, and the floor was dotted with sulfurous pools of bubbling liquid. But that was not the source of the unwholesome noise, nor the cause of their almost insurmountable terror. Back within the shadows, not more than fifty feet from where they stood, was a gathering of loathsome creatures.
They were humanoid in shape, their spindly, bipedal forms surging back and forth as they grunted and barked in their incomprehensible tongue. But that’s where the similarities to humanity ended. Their angular, misshapen bodies displayed awkward movements, as if their joints were in all the wrong places, while their features were distinctly canine, with softly glowing eyes and sharp, jagged teeth. They were so intent upon whatever it was they were doing, that they had yet to notice the frightened couple standing rigid in the shadows above them.
Terry swallowed her rising fear and disgust, trying to become detached enough to study the scene objectively, but looking over at Williams, she noted that he didn’t seem to be handling it very well. Deciding that a retreat would be the best option for now, she motioned him back around the corner, sparing a glance down at the boiling mass of deformed beasts as they moved away. The creatures were fighting each other in an attempt to get at the middle of their gathering, and it was there that she caught a glimpse of more vigorous movements – perhaps some kind of pulsating dance or other ritualistic behavior. It made her wonder, in morbid fascination, just what the creatures were doing in the center of that hellish mob.
Retracing their steps, they rounded the bend and Williams released an explosive breath as he slid down the wall, cradling the shotgun across his knees.
“D-did y-y-you see it?” he finally stuttered.
“Yes, those... things... whatever they are, are doing something in the middle of that cave, something horrible!”
“No!” he cried hoarsely. “On the far side of that. The doorway – the one we must go through if we are to continue.”
“You mean you don’t think they’re the cause of everything that’s been happening?”
Sighing, he ran a trembling hand through his disheveled hair. “No. They’re animals! Perverted, malformed creatures! Can’t you hear them?” He thrust out his arm, wagging a finger toward the guttural barking. “The chanting we heard earlier, the ritualistic voice that came from somewhere far below us, could not possibly have been made by that group of... of twisted abominations!”
She was amazed by his vehemence but also impressed at his reasoning. The gathering of creatures had held her attention in such a way that she’d thought of little else. “I think you’re right,” she conceded. “I guess I was so caught up by the sight of them that I just wasn’t thinking. What the hell are those things anyway? And what are they even doing down there?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they’re the things that Jarrod spoke of, or maybe they’re some kind of guardians—I just don’t know! But I do know this; the path we must follow lies just beyond them. I can feel the Elder Sign pulling me in that direction, can feel its hunger, its appetite. We have to go through them, and we have to do it now, before it’s too late. Before I lose what little courage I have left...”
She stared at him. He was a pale shadow of his former self and she felt a great surge of compassion for the man that he once had been. He’d been so gentle, never overbearing or rude – always the perfect gentleman. And his home life, before he’d run away, it had all been so hard on him. She’d often wondered why he was single and now she could fathom the struggle that had been going on inside him. It was a one-sided battle to escape the blanket of shame his father had wrapped him in, to prove to himself that he was not a coward, that he was indeed a man. And look where it had led him. Truly he was the bravest person she’d ever known, and, she realized in wonder, she loved him for it.
Now, he was slipping away little by little, and she had brought him to this; it was at her insistence that they’d pursued this matter. No, that wasn’t quite fair, not to her, nor to him. He had wanted to do something about the situation – she’d just helped him to decide, inspired him to be the man she’d always known him to be. Now, she needed to support him or they’d both die here in this godforsaken place.
Ignoring the malicious hooting of the barbarous creatures, she cupped her hand beneath his chin, lifting it up so she could catch his eyes.
“We’ll get through this, Doc. I know we will. But we have to be strong now. Let’s just get in there and do some damage; there can’t be more than thirty of them. As long as we go in shooting and keep a level he
ad, we can beat them. Just remember, whatever happens, I care about you. When this is all over, we’re going to have a nice long chat, just the two of us. I promise.”
With a lopsided grin, he stood and readied his weapon, shaking off his fear with a determined look in his eyes. Then, driving themselves forward, they rounded the corner and reached the overhang together. Williams immediately jumped down, then braced himself and began firing into the crowd of malformed beasts. Terry simply crouched on the ledge and started methodically picking off the creatures one by one. The effect of their weapons was devastating, but also unexpected; after felling about twenty of the beings, a greater amount of them came pouring in through the side tunnels that pocketed the walls.
There were hundreds of them, barking and clambering over one another in a surging mass of death itself. It was as if they were a single, gargantuan creature, wave upon wave of grotesque, pinkish flesh boiling forward in a screeching tide that threatened to wash away their very existence. Terry screamed once before her voice failed her. Williams just kept on firing.
Sinking forward onto her hands and knees, she swayed as she stared out over the advancing horde. Her movements were sluggish, like she was floating through thickened honey, and below her she could see Williams pulling off his last couple of shots and then struggling to reload. As she toppled forward, the beam of her flashlight flickered off the faces of the advancing nightmare, glinting in their cloudy, inhuman eyes, playing off the moist, slime-covered walls and unclean bodies, whirling around as she hit the floor and rolled. The last thing she knew before the blackness finally claimed her was a strange keening sound in the air above her.
18
Williams saw Terry fall as the gibbering pack surged toward him. There was nothing he could do; the shotgun was resisting his feverish attempts at reloading, and the things were almost upon him, their cadaverous pink flesh glinting in the fungal illumination. Their blunt-nosed snouts, filled with razor-sharp fangs, were looming so close now that he could see the splintery, red veins standing out in their glowing white eyes. Throwing his back against the cold, lichen-covered wall, he managed to jack a single round into the chamber before dropping the rest of the shells in panic. Then, leveling the gun, he shouted into the face of his onrushing doom.
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