“I’m not trying to hurt you,” the tentacle said, “I’m just here because it’s warm.”

Nay stared at the tentacle, her eyes not believing what she was seeing. Her ears not believing what she was hearing. She shook her head as if to shake herself out of a bad trip. “I’ve really lost it, haven’t I?”

“Lost what?” the tentacle said. It curved itself, contorting its stalk into the shape of a question mark.

“You’re just a figment of my imagination, aren’t you?” Nay muttered. “Just like everything else I’m seeing.”

“I assure you, lady, that I’m no figment. Now, would you put down the rock? It’s making me nervous.”

Nay looked at the rock she was holding in her hand like she was going to club the creature with it. “Alright, let’s play this game, then,” she said to herself. Then she looked back at the tentacle. “How do I know you’re telling the truth? Last few times I saw tentacles I was fighting for my life.”

“That’s because I was just an appendage,” it said. “I had no control, none of my own autonomy except for my own thoughts. But I always had to answer to the body that controlled me no matter how much I didn’t want to.”

“Are you saying you’re one of the tentacles I severed?” Nay asked. She remembered slicing through a couple when she was fighting the land octopus.

The tentacle shook, curving and nodding its top end like it was shaking its head. “For that I have to thank you.”

“Thank me? For what?”

“For freeing me of course. I was stuck to a most disagreeable task master who just wanted to strangle everything in sight.”

“And you’re not like that?”

“Of course not!” Its color morphed from purple to a light green. Its hue reminded Nay of lime jello. It was translucent and for a brief moment she could see the thing’s strange organs and circulatory system. It had quite a large brain. “I’m a lover, not a fighter.”

Nay then realized she was standing in front of this sentient tentacle whilst completely naked. She was suddenly self-conscious. She crossed her arms, trying to cover herself.

“Now that you’re not going to try to bludgeon me to death,” the tentacle said, “our first matter of business should be finding you some clothes.”

“Don’t think that I’ve made up my mind.”

“Suit yourself,” it said. Then it slinked into one of the hot spring pools. Bubbles rose to the surface as it plunged. Then it reappeared, bobbing back up like a buoy. Its color morphed again, but this time to a gentle blue. It was relaxed. “Oh, now that’s the ticket.”

Nay stared at the thing in utter bewilderment as it let out little moans of pleasure.

/////////

Nay had lowered herself back into the water, but mostly because she felt less naked with her body submerged. The tentacle showed her some courtesy by turning so that its single eyeball wasn’t pointing at her when she lowered herself in. She set the rock on the edge of the spring within hand’s reach in case things went south with the creature. She wasn’t comfortable parting with the stone just yet.

“What are you?” Nay asked.

“My name is Nzxthommocus the III, formerly the Third Whip of the Pain Lord, Ormandius,” it answered. “But now I’m just Nzxthommocus. Since you freed me.”

Nay shook her head. “I meant…what kind of mon – creature are you?”

“Oh.” It submerged its beak, taking in some water. Then it sprayed it out, like a child playing in a pool. “Ormandius, the host I was formed from, is called a shoggoth. Humans also call his kind Chthonic Kaiju.”

“Where did you, and it, come from?”

“Flayers and others of their ilk were spawned in The Roiling Celestia in the rings of Tindalos.”

“What?”

“It’s in the dark pocket of the cosmos where those called the Dread Ones or the Hounds of Tindalos slumber. I’ve never seen it myself and couldn’t give you an exact location, but sometimes I dream of it like I’ve been there before. It’s as they say, roiling with giant squirmy things. You would probably find it unpleasant. But I always think it’s kinda nice.”

“Christ,” Nay said. She didn’t know what to make of any of this, yet she had no other choice but to confront it. “Do you remember, before I freed you from your host, a giant spider thing? In a church?”

“I remember that one minute Ormandius was feeding on the mind of a prisoner in the cells where we were employed, and the next we were in a strange world surrounded by three cultists dabbling in spells beyond their skill level. I’m pretty sure they botched one of the pronunciations of their incantations and that’s how it summoned us in addition to the Riftway Spider.”

“Riftway Spider?”

“Sure, big red bastard. Lots of legs. Glowing red door on its tummy?”

“Oh, yeah. The giant spider thing.”

“We both world-hopped again when it sucked us into its door. That’s what they do mostly. Provide doorways between worlds. Also, they like to eat people. Probably an unforeseen side-effect when they were bred by The Architects. I don’t know about you, but all the dimensional hopping gave me a serious case of whiplash.”

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“Dimensional hopping? Is that where I am? Another dimension?”

“I’m pretty sure that explains what happened to your clothes. The fabric didn’t survive the trip. I hear it’s been known to happen. People tumbling naked out of riftway spiders, spit out into some strange new world like they’re being spat out of a womb again. Just carrying the skin on their back, just like the first time they emerged.”

Nay looked around and considered the implications with wide eyes. She felt dizzy all of a sudden and a little sick to her stomach. “Is that where I am? Another world?”

“I think we’re both in another world. Some other place different from our own respective dimensions.”

“I thought this was all of a hallucination. A nightmare. A bad dream at best.”

“No, it’s real. Didn’t you feel the bite of the cold out there? We both almost died from hypothermia. If it wasn’t for following you I would have turned into an icicle. Trust me, I don’t do well in extreme cold. Or extreme fire. Extreme fire is probably worse though. What do you think would be a worse way to die? Cold…or fire? I think I’d have to go with fire, because with cold, it seems like, yeah, there would be a lot of discomfort. But ultimately it’s like falling asleep. But with fire –“

“Please stop. I can’t hear myself think.”

The tentacle stopped talking. It grew quiet. It submerged itself again, taking more water in its beak. It gurgled and sprayed it out in a stream.

“So, if this is another world…or reality…” Nay was thinking out loud. “Whatever this is, wherever this is…I still need to find clothes before anything else.”

“Except maybe food,” the tentacle said. “At some point, probably sooner than later, we will need food.”

“You need food?”

“Well, yeah. Food and water. Doesn’t every living thing?”

“Forgive me, I’m still coming to terms with a talking tentacle.”

“Sheesh. Get used to it now. We’re probably both going to see all sorts of strange shit that’s out of our norm. It’ll be easier if we just go with it.”

“Just go with it. Easy for you to say. You’re a talking tentacle.”

“Your judgmental nature is going to get tiresome, I can tell. I guess it’s not your fault, though. You seem to come from a pretty basic world. I mean, you didn’t even know about the Rings of Tindalos! Not every world has advanced civilizations yet, I suppose.”

Nay almost retorted, but then she realized she’d be in an argument with a tentacle. And now probably wasn’t the time. “What do you like to eat?”

“Fried xchien is my favorite.” He flailed enthusiastically, excited about the thought of tasty treats. “Well really, anything fried is pretty good. I like crispy things on the outside, juicy in the middle. But for now I’ll settle for anything. Beggars can’t be choosers, after all.”

Great, she thought. The tentacle was also a foodie.

“What do you like to eat?” it asked her. It blinked, excitedly waiting for an answer. The tentacle seemed passionate about this topic.

“Lots of things,” she said. “Where I come from, I’m a cook. A pretty damn good one, too. But for now any sustenance that will help me survive will do. You’re right. We currently don’t have the luxury of being picky.”

“A cook!” The tentacle wiggled back and forth, practically buzzing with happiness. “The Dread Ones must be gracing me with luck that I should find myself in the presence of one who can cook!”

She suspected that entities called Dread Ones probably had nothing to do with grace or good luck, but she didn’t want to kill his vibe. They were already in enough of a dire situation that was cause for increasing alarm as the minutes passed. The longer they were here, the more they would need food. And most importantly for her, clothes. She was pretty sure she could live with being hungry longer than she could live with being naked in a strange new world.

She pulled up her mini-map to see if there was anything nearby they should explore. She could see some of the cave system around her and there was a whole area that appeared to be another chamber, marked with a question mark symbol.

“What are you thinking?” the tentacle asked. “You still with us? Looks like you zoned out or are staring off into space.”

She blinked and the mini-map disappeared. She found the corresponding exit in the chamber that would lead in the direction of the question mark symbol she saw on the map.

“I’m thinking we should see what else is down in this cave.”

/////////

As Nay and her new tentacle companion made their way through the network of winding passages, the tentacle slithering on what Nay came to think of its wider base or hindquarters, they started to notice some type of moss or fungus on the walls and ceiling that emitted a bluish-green glow. Perhaps it was lichen. Nay wasn’t sure. The light was bright and it illuminated the way well enough for Nay to avoid stubbing her toes. It reminded her of the bio-luminescence in ocean creatures.

She occasionally had to brace her hand on the wall for support, because walking on a cave floor in bare feet hurt. To make it even more inconvenient, the ground was also slick with condensation. The last thing she wanted was to crack her skull open by slipping naked on a rocky floor or impaling herself on a stalagmite.

“How far is this place up ahead?” the tentacle asked.

Nay glanced at her mini-map. “Not far. It should be coming up on our right side.”

“I still can’t believe you have a map that only you can see. How come I didn’t get one of those?”

“If I had a nickel for every question I have right now, I’d qualify as a member of the billionaire oligarchy.”

“What’s a nickel?”

The wall moss grew brighter up ahead, and as they drew closer, they could both see a huge archway. Nay stopped. “Hold up, do you think this is dwarven architecture?”

“I don’t know what dwarven means.”

Nay looked at the tentacle and frowned. Why was there cross-over with some things across their worlds, but not others? The concept and nomenclature of dwarves should be a universal thing, she thought. “You know, like Helm’s Deep? Black Rock Mountain? Cities built inside of mountains by short kings?”

“When I think of subterranean cities I think of the Dread Ones and their magnificent necropolii underneath the Derleth Strait.”

Nay heard humming up ahead. She motioned for the tentacle to be quiet. She put her finger to her lips. “Shhh.” Pointed at her ear and then gestured at the chamber beyond the arched entrance.

The tentacle swayed in that direction. Nay took that as his sign of listening in that direction.

She was right.

Coming out of the chamber was someone humming a song.

She motioned at the tentacle to move quietly and then she started creeping along, putting down her heel first then shifting onto her toes. A careful way of walking to create stealth. When she reached the archway she cocked her head to peer inside.

The chamber within took her breath way. It was a huge pocket within the mountain, large enough to contain pillars carved from stone that shot up hundreds of feet to the ceiling. Buildings and statues were hewn out of the rock. It was the ruins of a stone city, illuminated by the blue and green light glowing from the moss on the ceiling high-above. As if a moon within the mountain was shining down on the city.

Close to them, near an area of stone slabs, a black-cloaked figure crouched on a rock, their back to them. This person was stirring a pot over a small fire as they hummed a song. On a stone slab next to them were what appeared to be ingredients, herbs and cut up root vegetables. And some type of large shell.

At that moment, a glowing text prompt appeared in Nay’s vision.

----------------------------------------

[Quest Detected]

[Quest: Challenge and Defeat the Delicacy Forager]

[Accept Quest Y/N?]