by Kayla Krantz
“I don’t think it’s smarts so much as luck,” Milo admitted.
“Or Rhys likes to play favorites,” Jack said with a shrug. “Where’d you get these from?” He tapped the cover over his ear.
“They were inside my pouch,” Milo said. “After we came here from Belphegor’s, I filled them with medicine. I didn’t know if it would help you or not. There was so much blood.” He trailed off, staring past Shawn and Jack. He could only imagine the way he had felt staring down at them in the chambers had been the way his friends had felt watching him struggle through his nightmare coma.
“Seemed to be the right call,” Shawn said.
Jack nodded. “Definitely. Now, we can be grateful there’s another demon behind us. Just five more to go, right?”
“Sounds easy when you say it like that, but as far as the past two fights have gone, I’ve been nothing but useless,” Shawn said, squinting his eyes to try and keep his pain out of them. “I don’t think I can handle being a liability in another battle.”
“Your time will come eventually, Paladin,” Rhys’ voice cut into their conversation.
Jack cut his eyes to the sky, the loathing clear in every inch of his body. “And just when I thought you weren’t paying attention to us.”
“Rest assured, I am always watching, always listening,” Rhys promised.
Jack shivered, his lip quirking upward into a frustrated snarl. “That’s the opposite of a comforting statement.”
“What’s next?” Shawn asked, not expecting much in the way of an answer.
“For now? I’ll allow you the time needed to rest properly. Going dungeon to dungeon was hard on you, and since you have taken the first two down with such finesse, you’ve earned a reward.”
“I don’t feel good about this,” Milo admitted, dropping to a sitting position by Shawn.
“Me either,” Shawn admitted, plopping down beside him. “But a chance to rest? That’s not something I’m willing to pass up.”
“Use your time wisely,” Rhys suggested. “With each dungeon, there will be more challenges, more danger.”
“Yeah, we figured,” Jack said drily. “I think we’re starting to get the hang of your sense of humor.”
Milo bobbed his head, staring down at his fingers.
“Are you going to be alright?” Shawn asked him as Jack sat down a few feet away. “You still never told us what happened when that drude put you under.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Milo said quickly. “The only problem now is that I’m tired,” he admitted, looking up at an angle that made his naturally dark eyes look red in the light. “But I don’t trust going back to sleep.”
“I can imagine,” Shawn said though really, he couldn’t. Whatever had happened to Milo on the other side had to have been traumatizing if he was scared that regular sleep would bring him back to that place. Shawn frowned, once again wishing he could switch places with his friend. Milo deserved so much better.
Milo looked up at the sky as if he sensed Shawn was about to pry again. “Rhys!” he called. “Who’s the next demon we’re going up against?”
“The next demon?” Rhys asked, sounding genuinely surprised that it was Milo to ask the question. “Are you sure you’d like to know?”
“No. Ideally, we’d like to be at home, bored out of our minds and far away from you, but you’ve made it clear that’s not going to happen,” Jack retorted. “So you might as well tell us now.”
“We’re going to know sooner or later anyway, right?” Shawn tacked on. “No point in keeping it tightlipped.”
A moment of silence, and Shawn thought Rhys was about to ignore their request when at last he said, “Your next demon is going to be Leviathan.”
Jack paled and slammed his hand to the ground, a puff of dust rising up around it. “Wait. Leviathan...like the things full of black gunk from Supernatural?”
Rhys sighed. “If it’ll make you be quiet, I’ll accept the comparison.”
Jack looked at Shawn and Milo with wide eyes. They looked back at him, just as uncertain. It wasn’t unusual for Jack to be edgy, but there was something about the look in his eyes that Shawn didn’t like.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Leviathans are big ugly sea monsters. In folklore they can either look like a sea serpent or have two heads. In the show though, they looked like people. They could possess people like they were some special kind of demon.” Jack paused as if he were considering something before he tilted his face toward the sky. “Hey, what kind of Leviathan are we looking at here?”
Rhys groaned. “Is that a real question? Use your common sense. If you have any.”
Jack pursed his lips, murder on his face.
“I would assume that means the one from folklore,” Shawn said.
“Okay, well, if that’s the case, they really only have one weakness—each other,” Milo said, licking his lips.
“What does that mean, exactly?” Milo asked. “Do they have to fight one another to die?”
“In...in a way,” Jack said, running his finger along his chin. “From what I can remember, Leviathans suffer from an extreme hunger, and with that, they’ve been known to eat one another.”
Milo crinkled his nose. “I shouldn’t be surprised that Rhys would toss cannibalism into our net of horrors, but I mean, that’s not much of a solution, is it? If there’s only one of those creatures, like there was only one Mammon and one Belphegor, then what are we supposed to do?”
Jack frowned, the expression cutting so deeply into his face that Shawn wondered if it hurt. “Not much we can do. Cutting off its head temporarily kills it, but...”
“Temporarily?” Shawn asked, blinking.
Jack bobbed his head. “From what I’ve read, they have the power to regenerate any body parts that are cut off or destroyed by anything besides Leviathan teeth.”
“So if you cut off its head with say...a sword, it’ll grow a new one?” Shawn asked, eyes wide. And here he was thinking the Nidhogg had been difficult.
Jack held his hands up, eyes moving from Milo’s concerned face to Shawn’s. “Hey, I don’t know if this is for sure. This is just some stuff I’ve read while trying to create dungeons. Even some of the mythology contradicts itself so it’s not as if it’s set in stone. For all we know, this could be a completely different beast that we’re going to go up against, and Rhys is just toying with us by giving us a name I recognize.”
“Or, have you considered the fact that I might be tossing you a line to try to keep you afloat rather than throwing you in and letting you drown?”
“I don’t believe you possess such kindness,” Jack said flatly.
“The fact you still have your hearing should tell you otherwise,” Rhys said.
“Fine,” Jack said, flaring his nostrils before he reached up to rip the cover off his ears. “But even if you are trying to help us, I’m confused. Leviathans are sea creatures. We can’t breathe underwater.”
“Won’t be necessary,” Rhys assured them.
“Why because you’ve already planned for us to drown?” Jack asked.
Rhys snorted. “I just said that’s what I’m trying to keep you from.”
Shawn shivered. Metaphorically, the mention had been enough, but the potential of actually drowning left him sick.
“Seems as if the need for rest has passed,” Rhys said.
“I’m sorry we’re a little chatty about the next way we might possibly die,” Jack said, tick in his jaw.
“I suppose this means you’re ready to face your next challenge?” he asked.
Shawn, Milo, and Jack exchanged glances. They wore the same grim expression, and Shawn thought it odd how in sync they were with one another. They had always been close, but never on the same wavelength like this before. There was something to say for shared trauma.
Shawn knew that they could scream to Hell and back that they weren’t ready for dungeon number three, but it wouldn’t make much of a difference. If they didn’t go to the next dun
geon, then they would be stuck in this oasis until Rhys decided to put them somewhere else. Shawn reached up to take the plastic covers off his ears.
He stared at them as he said, “As ready as we can be.”
15.
JACK CLOSED HIS eyes, trying to keep his stomach from sloshing with vertigo as they were transported out of the oasis. When they landed, he was afraid to open his eyes. The last two dungeons hadn’t been intimidating in the beginning, but the thought of what this one would bring was scary enough. He had never been a fan of water, and the thought that they might be submerged in it only made him feel worse. In his head, he pictured black water at the bottom of the sea floor, odd creatures that were mostly teeth, and gigantic beasts with lights. There was no telling just how many mysteries lie in the bottom of the ocean, and the thought only made him feel worse.
Beneath his fear, his mind tried to distract itself by plucking out every bit of information he had ever learned about Leviathans. It had never been a creature he studied for D&D since his unique fear of the ocean had him stick to mostly land creatures. No, the first time he had learned of the Leviathan was when he had been researching mythology for a school paper in middle school. The research project had left things to be desired, and even after it was finished, he had researched the being more in-depth.
“You may open your eyes now,” Rhys’ said.
Jack had the feeling that he wasn’t the only one hesitant to see what dungeon number three would bring them. He opened his eyes to slits, peering at Milo and Shawn beside him who were doing the same. When he saw his surroundings though, his eyes stretched wide. They were standing at the mouth of a tunnel. This wasn’t just any tunnel though. The walls and ceiling were made of a glass so clean and see-through that he could make out the fish and other creatures swimming easily through the black water beyond.
Air was hard to draw in as he did a 360 survey, and he hoped he wouldn’t succumb to a panic attack. Even Shawn, who had been his best friend forever, didn’t know just how much the ocean frightened him.
“Are...are we at the bottom of the sea?” Shawn asked, eyes wide as he glanced at Milo and Jack.
Jack didn’t reply at first. All he could do was stare at that flimsy glass, wondering how much pressure it could withstand before it cracked and shattered, the water crushing them as they drowned in nothingness. Clenching his sweaty hands into fists, he tried to tell himself it could be worse, that they could have to be swimming through this water where they would be at the mercy of whatever creatures happened to stumble across them.
Please don’t let that be coming, Jack thought.
“I think so,” Milo said at last, craning his neck to study every inch of the glass enclosure above them.
“This is crazy,” Shawn said, blinking, and let his feet tap against the metal flooring beneath them before he turned his attention to Jack. “But I guess it makes sense. You did say they were sea monsters.”
Jack managed to bob his head, eyes still volleying back and forth to take in every inch of the blackness above their heads.
“So what now?” Shawn asked, turning to look behind them.
There was a thick silver door, the gears in the middle of it strong and complicated. Jack didn’t have to ask what it was to know. It was a door leading to the water beyond. Touching it would be the worst move they could make.
“See where the tunnels lead us,” Milo said, squinting up into the darkness ahead. “That’s about all we can do.”
Milo was right, but that didn’t mean Jack had to like it. He clung close to Shawn and Milo as the group advanced forward. Each section of the glass above would light up to illuminate their path, and as soon as they reached it, the one behind them would turn off. Jack glanced over his shoulder, feeling even worse as a new thought crept into them—what if they got lost in this endless tunnel beneath the ocean? Was there an air supply?
Could it run out?
It’s like my worst nightmare, Jack thought and peered up at the sky, wondering if Rhys was eavesdropping on his thoughts or if he already had and had created this dungeon just to spite Jack for being so outspoken. The silence brought him little comfort.
The boys’ footsteps barely made a sound against the odd flooring beneath them. When the sound of clacking sounded from farther up the path, from the part still bathed in shadows, Jack’s heart began to pound. His first assumption was that there was a leak in the tunnels and as they got closer, it would give out, crushing them beneath the pressure of the ocean floor. All three boys stopped to listen, and Jack realized then that it was the sound of movement, footsteps, something trotting through the darkness.
Jack scrunched his face. It sounded like a horse, but that couldn’t be right. He took a step backward, lighting up the light behind them while Milo and Shawn’s presence kept the current one on. Through the darkness, Jack could spot a mass of shadows moving toward them. It was tall, the top of whatever it was nearly reaching the ceiling of the tunnels. An ethereal growling rose from it, and then the light above where the creature was turned on.
Jack was ready to faint. It looked like a horse with no skin. All the muscles, tendons, and pulsing blood that should’ve been beneath a protective layer of flesh were exposed. The front of the freakish horse creature had one eye, and above that, there appeared to be a man coming out of its back. Like the rest of it, it was stripped of skin, the eyeless sockets in its face peering at them.
“God, I think I’m going to puke,” Jack said, taking a step backward.
“What the Hell is that?” Shawn asked, watching as the thing took another step closer to them.
“It’s a Nuckelavee. It’s from Orcadian mythology,” Jack said.
“And you know what that is how?” Shawn asked, taking a step backward to balance out the creature’s movement.
“Mythology project in middle school.”
“Okay, wonderful, you know what it is,” Milo said, swallowing heavily. “Does that mean you know how to beat it?”
Jack screwed up his face, trying to dig through all the buried knowledge he had. Most of the information was about the Leviathan, but scraps of other water creatures were in his brain somewhere. “I don’t remember if there even is a way to beat it,” he admitted. “The only way to escape it is to cross a freshwater stream.”
Shawn gave an exaggerated look around at their surroundings. “I think we’re out of luck for that option.”
“Then let’s run!” Jack said, just as the thing charged forward.
Screaming, Milo and Shawn were right behind him. With the lights taking a delayed second to process, they were virtually running through the dark. The sound of hooves beating against the floor urged them onward even when they couldn’t see the grotesque beast responsible. Jack thought he had never run faster before in his life, not even when he was running from the fire that had consumed Mammon. Even when his lungs started to ache and the muscles in his legs felt like Jello, Jack pushed onward, siphoning his fear into energy.
It was gaining on them. Jack knew that without even turning around. Damn it, he panted inside his head. If they didn’t slow it down, it would catch them. He didn’t know what would happen when it did, but it didn’t take much to guess nothing good.
Everything had a weakness. The same had to be true for the Nuckelavee. They rounded a corner so quickly that Jack nearly stumbled into the bucket that had been placed there. Milo and Shawn took no notice of, bounding right past, but Jack skidded to a halt.
He picked up the bucket, looking at the mushy green pulp inside. It was filled with seaweed. “That’s it!” he yowled.
Shawn and Milo, who were already a considerable distance ahead, stopped and turned at those words.
“What are you doing?” Milo asked.
“Run!” Shawn added.
Jack didn’t move. He watched the skinless monster growing closer and closer, lights illuminating to monitor its movement. Jack listened, the sound of hooves growing closer and closer. When the beast got so cl
ose that he could smell its toxic breath, he reared the bucket back and let the slimy green tendrils fly through the air. Some of them hit the Nucklelavee with a wet splat and the rest rained to the floor around it.
It moved a step, and then another, and Jack dropped the bucket with a clatter, convinced the monster would destroy him. It stared at him for a second, the eerie single eye on the horse head peering through the shadows, before it backtracked, horse face pressed to the ground to lap up the seaweed. Jack let out the breath he didn’t know he’d held and almost laughed in relief.
“Come on!” Shawn called.
Jack took one more look at the hideous thing and ran to his friends.
“What’d you do?” Shawn asked as they hurried down the corridor, leaving the Nucklelavee in the shadows.
“In the old myths, Nucklelavee would come ashore to punish humans for the damage of their seaweed. When I saw the bucket, I just guessed.”
“Thank God for that,” Milo said. “What do we do now?”
“Get as far away from that thing as we can while it’s distracted,” Shawn said.
Jack nodded in agreement.
“What if it’s blocking the path to the Leviathan though?” Milo asked.
Jack shrugged. “These tunnels seem to stretch for miles in every direction. There’s no way to say for sure which one will lead us there.”
“We’re not going to split up if that’s what you’re thinking,” Shawn said.
“That’s the complete opposite actually,” Jack said. So far, they had survived solely on their ability to work as a group, and that led Jack to the fear that Rhys had designed this dungeon with the hopes that they would separate so they would be easier to take down.
Jack wouldn’t allow it to happen.
A deranged whinny echoed from the tunnels behind them, putting an exaggerated boost of speed into all their steps.
16.
JACK’S MIND RACED. It wasn’t a sensation he was used to. Jack had always prided himself on being one of the more levelheaded people his age, but now, he couldn’t get his mind under control. It didn’t sound as if the Nucklelavee was following them yet, but it couldn’t be much longer before it finished off the seaweed and would come after them again.