What Lurks Below

by Michael Soldat

  This time, nothing leapt out from the waves of green and yellow. Robert led the group north for roughly an hour through grasslands before they reached the foothills of the mountains. To the north, the ground rose out of the earth more and more, eventually leading to rocky peaks. Behind him, Robert gazed longingly at Thogt's wall, not nearly as large from this distance. He hoped to only see this side of it once more as a soldier, upon his return.

  After stopping everyone, Robert called for more coffee. Some complained out of anxiety, wanting to get this over and done with. He dismissed the complaint, stating that others, himself included, might not be morning people. Once a fire was going and everyone gathered around it, Robert asked for quiet.

  “Everyone, I’d like to thank you again for coming on this journey. I know we usually pay you well, but there will even more gold this time.”

  “Why’s that?” a soldier asked.

  “Today, we’re going into the mountain to look for what I think is spawning the grog. I’ve dubbed it a queen, since as far as I can tell these things aren’t smarter than ants. They're much more dangerous than bugs, and that’s why I’m hoping to get you all taken care of. I appreciate that you came to risk your lives with me, and that’s why you should be fairly compensated. That said, please try to focus on staying out of danger rather than the paycheck.”

  A few soldiers chuckled while others sipped their coffee.

  “Today, we’ll be heading a little deeper into the tunnels. As always, I’ll lead the way, and I’d like Nami to protect whoever carries the rear guard torch. We only brought a few of them, so let's not waste fire by letting some mountain rat put out our fire. I can think of no poorer decision than trying to get the drop on Nami, so don't worry about needing one hand to hold the light. With her, It’s like backing a wolverine into a corner.”

  Nami beamed as the two soldiers to her side tousled her hair and laughed.

  “Now, you all know I need this coffee, but let’s drink up quick so we can get on with this. Ideally I’d like to be back in fresh air around noon, and home before dinner. Assuming the skies stay clear, nothing will follow us out into the daylight. As you all probably know, grog and the sun are not the best of friends. Still, that won’t stop one of them from taking your arm off while it tries to get back into the tunnels.

  Most of all, I want you to get home safe. I want the same for you that I want for myself, which is to kick my boots off at home tonight and eat so much I want to fall over afterwards. Besides, Cecile is tired of funerals. Let's all get back in one piece, alright?”

  Robert drank from his cup. The others finished after he did, then one soldier doused the fire. After they packed up again, everyone re-mounted their horses.

  From the foothills, the soldiers rode a short while to the base of the mountain. Robert led them to a giant slab of rock on the south side of the closest peak. Before them lay a giant tunnel into the depths, one the army carved out of solid rock. Years ago, Felas commissioned a crew to dig into a small hole grog reportedly crawled out of, under the guard of Robert and his soldiers. Ideally, they thought, grog would be handled easily now that the army knew where they would surface. Unfortunately, no matter how many came out of the earth to meet Robert's blade, he kept finding more.

  Standing several heads taller than Robert’s horse, the tunnel accommodated two people side by side. Everyone tied their horses to a tree a short distance from the tunnel before heading in. A few minutes later, Robert and the others went through tool cut walls into a hole where the rock was scratched from years of grog tunneling around. Walking became difficult due to how uneven the ground could be. They paused to detect anything lurking nearby. Sounds carried throughout the tunnels easily. Convinced nothing was nearby enough to find them, Robert pressed on.

  Being familiar with the few mapped parts of the underground, Robert had a plan for this trip. He knew there were already large caverns scattered about, large enough for grog to congregate. Sometimes, Robert would find bones in these spaces, though it seemed to be even chance they were prey or grog. Regardless, the rooms were too far apart in his opinion to be used as a lair. He theorized that a grog queen would stay deep within the mountain to give birth, much like an ant in its colony.

  Half an hour later, they reached a cave on the edge of the current map. Robert stopped everyone to rest.

  “Alright, two at the entrance, two at our exit. I don’t want anything getting in or out without us noticing,” he announced.

  This part of the tunnels was the closest to home they would get under the rock. During previous trips, Robert‘s soldiers constructed a fire pit so they could eat hot meals. He had been on longer campaigns, where warm food proved an amazing source of comfort for troops. On shorter missions such as this one, he knew the idea would carry over. It didn’t matter who or what you were fighting, he figured. As long as morale stayed high thanks to a warm meal, soldiers felt and fought better.

  “So, I’ve been looking at the map,” Lara said, sitting next to Robert. “From here, we’ll be under enough rock to make a whole castle out of. It’s worth noting that we may have to climb to reach the queen.”

  “You’re right, which is why I asked for hand axes from Felas. A few of the others should have them.”

  “Got mine right here!” Nami interrupted. “How ya been, Robert? Long time no see!”

  “Nami, as always, it’s a pleasure, but I prefer to stay on target. I’d love to hear some stories on the way back, because I know you’ve got them. I haven't seen you in what, three months?”

  Nami rolled her eyes and laughed.

  “Fair, fair. Well, if you’re gonna be like that, what am I killing today? Some sort of queen?”

  “I wish I could tell you. The closest thing we have to a description is one gate guard’s half awake rambling. We’re looking for something a little more hefty than a normal grog. Other than that, I couldn’t tell you what makes this different. I just know it’s out there.”

  “Hefty? You callin’ the queen fat?!”

  Robert sighed.

  “Sorry, sorry. Alright, I’ll keep an eye out. Listen, if we have to climb, you should let me do it. Been gettin’ up trees since I was a little thing. I brought some ice picks, because these axes you asked for might not work so well depending on the rock.”

  “But, you didn't know I'd have the axes. So, why'd you bring ice picks?”

  “Well, for stabbin' grog, really. I made up the bit about the rock, but I guess they could work in a pinch.”

  Robert's eyes rolled.

  “Plus, I’ll land better than Lara.”

  Lara's eyes followed suit.

  “What? I’ve always said you were better on solid ground. I’m the better scrapper, but I’d never want to be on the other side of a fair fight with you,” Nami said, patting Lara on the back.

  “Alright, I’ll keep that in mind. I’m glad you’re both here, because I don’t know what to expect. As ready for a fight as you may be, a hasty retreat might be in order. I’m not sure what the queen will-”

  “Sir!” a soldier interrupted. “Noise from ahead!”

  Lara and Nami dropped their water skins and moved towards the tunnel. Robert motioned for the front torchbearer to move away from the passage. He also positioned the one behind them in full view of whatever lurked ahead. Sometimes, soldiers resented being the bait. But, Robert’s plans allowed for enough distance so that a grog would never make it across the room. This was one of those such plans.

  “Lara,” he whispered. “You and Nami left, me right. I’ll yell, and it’ll focus on me. Kill it.”

  She nodded and assumed the position to the left of the portal. Within the tunnel, scratching noises seemed to come closer. They got louder and louder, until-

  “GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGGGGG!”

  Without any semblance of grace, the wiry beast fell into the room. It clawed around with all four limbs and thrashed its head from side to side. Robert returned its shout with a mighty roar, knowing that
the beast could barely see. He wanted to distract it from the torch to the left of the entrance, giving Lara and Nami ample time to cleave its limbs off. Going off instinct like Robert predicted, the grog turned to face him and howled again, rearing back. It brought one of its massive claws down on Robert’s shield. The claw, which seemed the size of Robert’s whole fist, clanged off the guard, though his heels pushed back on the rock. Before the creature could get back into an upright position, Lara and Nami slashed at the backs of its knees, forcing it to the ground. They got out of the way so two other soldiers could swing at its head. Large chunks came out of the grog’s neck as its howl turned into a gurgle. The cranium, no longer supported, fell back to look at the other soldiers.

  Lara brought her sword up again and severed the minuscule link between the grog’s head and shoulders. It fell limp to the ground.

  “Good work everyone,” Robert said, breathing a little heavy. “First kill of the day, done right. No one got hurt, I hope?”

  Everyone checked in stating they were fine, save for a little grog blood on blades and clothes. Lara picked up something next to the beast and brought it over to Robert.

  “Look at this,” she said. “A dead rodent.”

  “You lookin’ for more dinner?” Nami asked.

  “Nami, c’mon. Why would a grog have this in its mouth?”

  “Beats me, don’t they usually eat everything as soon as they catch it? Maybe this one was bringing it home to mama.”

  Lara paused a moment as Nami’s eyes went wide.

  “Oh! It is bringing it home to mama! Robert, we’ve got a lead!”

  Robert smiled. He asked two of the other soldiers to move the grog corpse off to the side, to make things easier on the return trip. They didn’t rot faster than anything else, but they did smell even worse than when they were alive.

  Moving forward, he assigned one soldier to stay near the rear torchbearer. Sketching out how the new tunnels moved would improve their understanding . For several minutes, the tunnel shot straight forward, though at a slight incline. At the end of the incline, the path forked. To Robert’s left, the path rose sharply up a crude ramp, making for tighter movement. To his right, it curved away from then back towards the direction the original path was pointing.

  “Thoughts?”

  “I’d take the high road,” Nami said.

  “And I’d take the low,” Lara added.

  “It looks rough, but I think the high road is the better choice here. Sure, retreat looks difficult, but if anything terrible is hiding in there, I’m sure we can sneak out before it notices us. Grog don’t always remember things after they go around corners.”

  Robert took the lead up the ramp. It started out going straight left, but curved parallel to the original tunnel. Before long, he could see a room in the distance where the jagged rocks on the wall glowed a faint purple. He could see the faint outline of a platform leading into the cave, though it seemed to drop off quickly. After telling the torchbearer to stop in the tunnel, Robert crept up into the room on his hands and knees.

  There, he found himself on a rock outcropping. Above him, stuck in the ceiling, glowed a dull purple orb. Robert stared at it for a moment, confused, before looking down over the ledge. His eyes went wide, his breath short.

  Below him, swollen with a thrashing mass, sat what could only be the grog queen from the report.

  Robert waved Lara and Nami up from their position peeking around the corner of the ramp . They crawled up next to Robert to see two other grog standing guard near the beast. He pointed down towards the other exit.

  “Lara,” he whispered. “Grab the others and take the other fork in the road. See if it comes out there.”

  The room had two other exits, one of which he hoped Lara would emerge from shortly. As she retreated, Nami and Robert watched the grog queen.

  It had to be in labor. Thrashing around on the floor, the queen’s rough stomach skin rippled from top to bottom. If Robert's theory was correct, a new grog would pop out shortly. The queen howled much like the grog from earlier, but with the tone of pain rather than rage. Were he not as experienced as he was, they would have sounded the same. No, this was different.

  He gasped as a claw emerged from the queen’s abdomen. It kept thrashing, a sign that Robert took to mean that the grog inside desperately wanted out. The claw pushed outwards and down, releasing a combination of blood and other fluid onto the floor. Now unhindered by its mother's skin, a small grog crawled out of the queen and onto the rock, crying weakly. One of the other two grog offered it a small rat, which it nibbled on.

  Robert could see the glow of a torch reflected in one of the other tunnels leading into the chamber. Happy that he guessed correctly, he motioned to Nami to draw her weapon. As they did, Robert opened his mouth to signal them all to fight when a loud hissing interrupted him. Down below, a gray humanoid had entered from the other tunnel to Robert’s left.

  “What the…”

  Nami’s eyes went wide as her jaw fell open. Robert put his hand over her mouth and shushed her. He had no idea what he was looking at. In all his years of service, he never spotted anything as close to a human being as this was, distorted as the image may be. The gray creature stood nearly a head taller than the queen, and was just as thin as a normal grog. Contrary to the familiar beast, it appeared to be skin and bones instead of pure muscle. Hairless, its nose barely protruded from its face. Its eyes and mouth somewhat resembled a human's, had it not seen the sun in some time.

  As the soldiers watched, the gray creature walked up to the whimpering, slumped over grog queen. It moved the flaps of skin that made up the rest of the womb back together, then put its palm over them. While the queen cried out, its wounds seemed to heal. Once the gray creature finished, the queen calmed down, though it breathed deeply. Beside it, the baby grog was munching on the rat presented to it with as great a fervor as it could. Apparently satisfied, the gray creature turned and entered the tunnel. Two steps later, it stopped.

  It looked directly up at Robert and Nami, and it hissed.

  “Charge!”

  Nami dropped down from the ledge, slashing her sword at one of the grog near the queen. It leapt back before howling at her as the other grog turned to face Lara and her soldiers as they charged in. Meanwhile, Robert scrambled down the ledge himself, closer to the queen. While the grog near Nami tried to get back to the queen, she swiped at it with her blade. The warrior kept herself between Robert and the creature.

  Lara’s soldiers surrounded the second grog and waited for a chance to strike at it. She moved past them to the gray man.

  “Easy does it, we’re here for the queen. This doesn’t-”

  It hissed loudly, raising its hands in the air. Lara brought her shield up and growled back at it while, behind her, Robert scrambled to his feet. Seeing that everyone seemed to have their foes handled, he moved towards the queen. First, he came to the baby grog, which was now scrambling about on its back. With one quick stab, he drove his sword through its face. The queen whined.

  “Hold them off! I got the baby, going for the queen!”

  Nami focused on her grog, cleaving one of its arms clean off, while the other soldiers were wearing theirs down. Meanwhile, Lara tried to advance, but couldn’t, buffeted by forces she could not see. The gray creature would not let Lara close, hissing and waving its arms about. Robert moved closer to his prey, noticed the queen’s limbs flailing on the ground, and cut one of its arms off. Both it and the gray creature shrieked.

  “Get going! This thing doesn’t like what you’re doing!” Lara yelled.

  Robert turned back to the queen after hearing this, and sliced its head clean off with one mighty swing. Both Nami and the other soldiers subdued their grog in due time. Now, though, the gray creature seemed furious.

  “I think we need to leave, Robert! I don’t know what this thing is doing!” Nami said while backing away.

  He turned and locked eyes with the gray humanoid. It hissed lou
d, and a force hit Robert hard so hard it threw him against the wall. Robert dropped to the floor, and lost consciousness.

  -----

  “Robert! No!” Lara yelled.

  Opposite her, the gray creature turned and ran back into the tunnel.

  “We need to leave! We need to go right now!”

  Lara motioned for two of the soldiers to pick Robert up. She then directed everyone back the way they had come. In the distance, she heard a loud hiss.

  “What happened?!” Nami said.

  “I don’t know! That thing looked over my shoulder at Robert, and then he hit a wall. It doesn’t matter, we have to get him to a doctor! Go go go!”

  The group moved through the tunnels as deftly as they could, making sure to avoid dropping Robert’s body on the jagged ground. When they got to the cave where they had eaten lunch, Lara stopped to check on him. He was still breathing, but unconscious. Lara urged them on faster, figuring he was well enough to be strapped to a horse once they got outside. They barreled through the tunnels as fast as they could. The hissing noise didn't stop.

  “It almost seems like that thing’s following us, but would it be that loud?” Nami asked as they charged forward towards the exit.

  “How should I know?!”

  “Listen Lara, I need to know if I have to turn around and slaughter something, OK?!”

  Neither woman spoke further. They reached the mountain’s exit in half the time it took for them to get to the queen’s chamber. Every soldier was charging as fast as they could without dropping their leader or stumbling. Finally, sunlight came into view, but the hissing was louder than ever before.

  Outside, the two soldiers carrying Robert secured him to a horse. As the others mounted their own, Lara made sure they left nothing behind. Behind her, several gray creatures popped out of the side of the rock, all hissing and flailing their arms at her. Though she worried that they would do to her what they did to Robert, their motions were hindered by their efforts to hide their eyes from the sun.