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The tunnels of Iocli were often just as noisy at night as they were during the day.
In the almost constant noise of the tunnels– whether it be the far-off sounds of dwarves and kobolds milling about, the grinding of something digging through the stone, or the soft dripping of water, the caves of Iocli were never quiet.
Even now, as Shay kept watch– it was his turn on the night shift– he could hear traders in the distance bartering, the droning hum and constant clacking of machinery, and the crunching sounds of footsteps wandering all about.
If he thought any of them got too close, then he’d retreat back into the rooms that he, Feilim, and Effie shared, and rouse them so that they could escape through one of the many smaller tunnels that were attached to their chamber, while whatever was outside was preoccupied with the door.
The door that they used to block the entrance was a large piece of carved stone that could be removed easily by anyone inside, but was practically impossible to do so for anyone or anything the outside. The time it would take to open it from the outside would give the three of them more than enough time to slip away. It had worked with great success for years. Every now and then a predator would approach, and either realize that it couldn’t get to its prey, or that the energy required to dig through the rock just so it could eat the three of them wouldn’t be worth it.
Shay’s stomach ached. Not unusual. Food was sometimes hard to come by, and a decent portion of nights they would go hungry either to save the food they had, or because they had none to begin with.
His eyes felt heavy. The day had been long and tiresome. He had to escape the guard captain again, alongside what felt like a quarter of the guards in Ortou. While returning through the tunnels, they had to take a long and slow route, being as quiet as possible, as they spotted a tungwyrm moving through the passage they usually took. Getting to their chamber was tiring too, when a greyskin decided that the tunnel outside their hideout was prime real estate, and they had to fight it off.
The rumbling white-noise of the faraway crowds soothed Shay’s ears. It didn’t sound like words, more like the sounds of waves of water crashing against rocks. He, Feilim and Effie had taken a long journey down to the sea of groundwater that had collected in one corner of Iocli. The sounds and sights there were truly something to behold. Maybe he could convince them to go down there again.
The pull on his eyelids felt like he had been carrying a bag of rocks all day. Despite the day having been busy, the night was quieter than usual. Besides, he was a very light sleeper, and his senses had been honed from years keeping himself hidden. He would be fine if he took a rest.
Just a few minutes.
Even if he was hungry.
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Hungry.
It smelled food. Delicious food, staying still. Sleeping.
Hungry.
It approached the food. Wonderful food, unmoving. Asleep.
Hungry.
It opened its mouth, and readied to feast.
No! Not them!
Why not? It was hungry!
Not them. Please not them!
The food was sleeping. Asleep. And it was hungry.
You can eat whatever you want, just not them!
Stupid voice. Voice does not control! It will eat the food now, and sate its hunger.
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Please!
. . .
Fine. There is other food. But if it is still hungry, then it will eat this food. Understand, voice?
. . .
Hungry.
Voice is gone. It is hungry.
Hungry.
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A sudden lapse of sound in the night woke Effie.
There were only a few possible reasons as to why exactly the tunnels were silent, and none of them were good.
She rose as quietly as possible, her claws not making even the slightest noise as they scratched across the stone floor. Slowly, she reached for the knife that she had stolen several years prior for self-defense, and upon grasping it, moved towards the entrance of her room.
The room ahead was dark. The tiny glowstone that they used as a light had fallen to the floor and cracked into several smaller pieces, casting monstrous shadows across the walls and ceiling.
She could see Feilim rise as well, scanning the room with sharp eyes, and silently approaching her, keeping an eye on the shadows. Shay wasn’t near the door. In fact, the door that was supposed to keep them safe was slightly open, the dark tunnels beyond it unknown.
Carefully, Effie picked up one of the glowstone shards, and approached the door, Feilim behind her. Shay wasn’t the type to leave them if something happened, even if that something was something he would personally profit from. He might have been dumb and somewhat reckless, but he was loyal to a fault. He was not so stupid as to exit the room because he heard something outside. Probably.
The tunnel was twice as dark as the chamber, even with the glowstone shard. Now that she was out there, she realized that it just as quiet as it had been inside. The crowds were silent, and the only sounds that could be heard at all were the light dripping of water perpetually raining from a crack in the stone, and the soft sound of something hiding in the dark ahead. It didn’t sound like any of the monsters that roamed the tunnels. It sounded more like a sleeping animal, low rumbles and scratching claws, a quiet but clear warning.
She gripped the glowstone shard tighter to lower the amount of light that was emitted. She lowered herself, preparing to strike as she and Feilim approached the thing. If it– whatever it was– had eaten Shay, then she and Feilim would avenge him. Even if it didn’t, it was still best to drive whatever it was away from their hideout anyway.
It was close now. Within lunging distance. She opened her hand to get a better look–
“Shay?”
It wasn’t Shay. Shay’s eyes were never so blank. It just looked like him, crouched over a bloody, mutilated corpse of another dwarf, and eating chunks of flesh from the body.
Shay was never so–
“Hungry.”
Someone lunged– she couldn’t tell who– and all of a sudden she found herself pushing the door closed with Feilim as The-thing-that-was-not-Shay clawed and howled behind it. She could hear it's claws grinding against the stone, and feel it keeping the door from closing completely. Her knife and the glowstone shard were out of reach, laying at her feet. She felt her muscles strain from the effort before–
There was the sound of a blade against flesh, a roar of pain, and a wet thud. The door slid closed.
Something had fallen in front of the door, leaking a dark liquid from one end. Feilim kicked it away before she could get a good look at it.
"We need to get out of here." Feilim gasped, a white-knuckled grip on Effie's knife. "We'll use the western tunn–"
There was a grinding sound, and then a loud crack as the door was forced open. Not-Shay stood hunched in the opening, mouth agape, one arm missing, and eyes more clouded then before.
She couldn't tell what happened next, just that the three of them were suddenly locked in a vicious melee. Bites, slashes, kicks and punches, Effie couldn’t even keep track of who she was fighting. In the back of her head, she heard the sound of something digging through the stone, but it was far away. The grunts of exertion and sounds of claws against rock, scale, and flesh took all of her attention.
Shay’s body shoved Feilim away with a powerful push that would have been impossible before, and launched itself at Effie, knocking her to the ground and throwing the glowstone shard across the room.
–His teeth at her throat–
Feilim tackled it off of her, grabbing and biting like an animal. Shay’s teeth were darker then she remembered them being at the start, and a chunk of bloody, scaled flesh was sitting not too far from where it and Feilim were clashing. Effie's head felt light, and her neck felt colder then usual.
Feilim was slashing at not-Shay with Effie's knife– where did he get that from– and then not-Shay’s hand was in Feilim’s stomach and then Feilim didn’t have her knife anymore, and instead not-Shay had it and– why was it sticking out of his head like that–
Not-Shay’s eyes seemed to clear. It looked more like him now. A bloody Shay with a knife in his head and a face that looked surprised and thankful and confused–
Why was everything so quiet now? Why is my body so weak?
And Feilim was crying and hugging Shay, and Shay was so still, and Feilim was trying to drag himself and Shay over to Effie, and he was holding his stomach and his hand was dark and sticky and something was digging through the floor–
. . .
Tungwyrms are attracted to sound and vibrations.
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