A soft shaking of his shoulder awoke G. The air was musty and warm, and his bed was a hard stone surface. He had fallen asleep quickly after his guard shift, exhausted and emotionally drained from their journey through the dark pathway tunnels.

Jowl Beard knelt beside him, placing a finger over his lips to signal for quiet. He then pointed towards the pool of water where the finglets had been earlier. At first, G saw nothing but the finglets munching away. Then, he noticed a shadow moving along the pool's edge, a long creature with two legs holding it upright, possibly a black lizard with scaly arms that each ended in three hooked claws. Another movement caught his attention, and he realized there were two of them.

Tocai analyzed the creatures:

Crevice Stalker

Level 14

Mana 0.

The Crevice Stalker is a fearsome predator that stalks its prey through the dark, twisting passages of the underworld. Standing at a height of up to 8 feet tall, this creature is a formidable sight. Its two long legs are covered in black scales, and its body is slender and sinewy. Its arms are long and muscular, ending in three hooked claws that it uses to grasp and hold its prey.

These creatures are found in areas near connections to the dark pathways, where the ambient mana is highest. They are believed to require this heightened level of mana to survive, and as such, they can often be found in the shadows, waiting for their next meal.

Despite their fearsome appearance, Crevice Stalkers are highly intelligent and work in mate-bonded pairs to stalk and hunt their prey. They are known to be expert hunters, silently stalking their prey before striking with lightning speed.

The red skull next to the mana gauge indicated that these creatures were formidable opponents and would attack G if they spotted him. Jowl Beard pointed towards the tunnel they had entered earlier and held up one finger, signaling for G to wait a moment. G turned back to watch the Crevice Stalkers sneaking up on the Finglets, only to see the stalkers charge towards them after one of them triggered a guardian mushroom's shriek. The Finglet bull charged toward the stalkers and the mushroom, and G heard screams of pain and howls.

Jowl Beard tugged on his shoulder, pointing at Crewton, who was about to bark at the fight. G dismissed his pet, and the hobgoblin adept was already down to the far side of the platform. G followed Jowl Beard as they made their way out of the cavern, with the hobgoblin moving quickly. Once they turned the corner, Jowl Beard almost ran down the tunnel, and they didn't speak for several minutes as they ran and turned in a direction that was gray on G's map. Time passed, and they slowed back into a more stealthy progression. Jowl Beard paused and whispered, "Those were Crevice Stalkers. Few things would be worse to encounter right now in these tunnels with just the two of us. I've seen a pair of those things rip whole companies of goblins apart before they were stopped. Follow, there is a submerged passage ahead then we will be on one of the larger dark roads. They should not follow us with other prey nearby, but we need to be out of this area quickly in case there are more."

G nodded in affirmation. He was still trying to work out how the hobgoblin could find his way in all these winding passages with so many other side tunnels leading off into the gray of his map. They moved along for two hours. They paused for a few minutes in a side alcove as G and Jowl Beard ate some of the mushroom pieces G had in his inventory.

"How do you find your way in these passages? One looks much like the other, and I can't see much of any trail on this calcite and stone," asked G, handing the hobgoblin a bottle of water.

"There are marks at each intersection indicating the way. If you use your magic sight, you should be able to see them," said Jowl Beard. Then he paused, looking again at G. "You can't use magic sight?"

G gave a half-smirk, whispering a bit loudly, "You already know I can't. Is it something I can learn, like a spell, or is there more involved?"

Jowl Beard sighed and nodded, "Aye, you can learn it, but I'm not sure how to teach this. Magic sight is something someone develops before they learn to use mana; it's how we see our spells or the magic." He paused, thinking, "Close your eyes and imagine a flame in my hand."

The hobgoblin held out his hand palm upward. "Think about a white flame that doesn't burn but gives a tiny bit of light."

G thought about a flame, a white flame. The hobgoblin continued, "Now, slowly open your eyes, but keep your eyelids closed."

"You know that doesn't make any sense. How can I open my eye--" he stopped then because he saw something, a small candle-sized flame floating in front of him. His eyes were not open, but he was sure he could see something. "I see something, and it's not really a flame but a pulsing of light."

"Good, slowly open your eyes and look again," said Jowl Beard.

G slowly opened his eyes, and the flame of light disappeared. He closed his eyes again, and the image came back. He did this several times, trying with just one eye squinting and opening them fast. It took a few minutes, then G realized he was looking for light. When his eyes closed, he hadn't been looking for a light but something else. He tried that now, unfocusing his vision a little, and the light stayed as he opened his eyes. It flickered, and he had to do it a couple more times before he had enough thought to keep it visible with his eyes open.

"I see it now. What is that?" asked G.

Jowl Beard nodded with a small smile, "That is raw mana. It is as much as I can summon and hold without casting a spell and how adepts mark the passages."

G looked around and didn't see any markings.

The hobgoblin reached out his hand and ran it along the passage wall, leaving behind a line of dim mana, like paint on a canvas. It was a pale white and not very bright in his new magic sight.

"These markings will stay for a very long time. When your magic sight improves, you will be able to see all types of old markings or messages left by others. I'll point out the next passage marking so you can examine it. We must go now; the submerged passage is near, and I do not trust those Crevice Stalkers will not smell us after they finish the Finglets. If they have a batch of younglings, they will be looking for more food to take back to them. I do not intend to be food," said Jowl Beard. He rose and started down the passage.

It took another hour before they came to a passage that sloped downward, and there was water. The passage appeared full. There was also something G didn't expect: a rope attached to a metal spike in the rock. The rope stretched down into the water. It was made of material that felt firm but not scratchy, like a hemp rope.

Jowl Beard pointed at the wall where, after a few moments of squinting and unfocusing his vision, G saw a small glowing symbol written with mana about three feet off the passage floor.

"This is the symbol for water passage. The rope was something my squad placed when we came through here to capture you. There are no other markings, and it's still here because the goblins don't use much magic to find their way. They use their noses, which are quite good at smelling creatures through the caverns and tunnels," explained Jowl Beard. He pulled on the rope. It gave a little but didn't pull free, as it snapped a bit of water off.

The air near the water was cooler than the passages behind G. He could smell the water, salt, and faintly what he thought might be dead fish.

"So we are going to swim through here? How far is it?" asked G, trying not to sound concerned or actually terrified, which he was. He had no intention of swimming through a dark tunnel holding a rope.

"The way is not far. There is one stop about 50 meters along where this rope is attached to a ring in the wall we placed. Then there is another swim for another 40 or so meters. I will warn you, there is a dark pathway's entrance below here in the water. It wasn't on our map; I think it might be new. This whole area is new. None of our current maps have it. There was a mana flow of some size down there. Do not go down if you see a bright or long light. It's a passage to another place. When we passed here, there were no dangers, but as mana flows and all entrances to the other planes tend to attract creatures, this might be the case now. Either way, we have little choice. If we hurry, we should be fine. Can you swim?" asked Jowl Beard.

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Of course, G could swim. He just did not like the idea of swimming here or down there. A planar passage? This was an entrance to somewhere else? How could they not know that on their map? He thought for a moment. Was this related to Area 51 being brought over? Or the alien artifact or Ryan's ritual?

"Yes, I can swim. I don't like this plan, is there another way?" asked G.

Jowl Beard sounded a bit put off, "The map the Queen's Consort provided showed this one path. If there are others, finding our way out of here might take years. This is the best way to guarantee success. The swim will not take long. If you get stuck or can't make it, just pull on the rope, two tugs, and I'll come back to get you. We keep our right hand on the rope the whole time as we swim. You can pull and kick and glide. I led a whole platoon of goblins through here. Are you telling me an elf can't do this?"

G knew right away he was being manipulated, but at the same time, he didn't want to look scared or incapable. Jowl Beard talked about honor so much G was pretty sure his relationship as the leader of the hobgoblins would suffer if he chickened out now.

G waded into the tunnel, and the chilly water sent goosebumps up his body. He tested, sliding his right hand along the rope as he moved. The rope was about a half-inch thick, and his palm slid well enough to keep a firm grip on it to pull himself forward, even wet.

"Tocai, will the map work underwater?" asked G.

Tocai replied immediately, "I see no reason why it should not. There is a fluctuation in mana here, and I can feel it."

G nodded as he continued forward, one hand over the other. He fought against the inner voice that told him this was a stupid idea. Jowl Beard checked to ensure his sword was secure before wading into the water and taking a few quick breaths. He went under, and all G saw were the ripples lapping against the side walls. It suddenly felt colder as his skin prickled.

"Ok, here it goes," said G as he took some deep breaths and went under, kicking and pulling between kicks to move faster.

He opened his eyes after a few seconds and realized that it was murky in his sight, but he could see in the darkness. He continued forward as he felt the oxygen in his system being used up. A new air bar appeared near his mana bar. He had learned to swim in summer camp long ago, and holding his breath for over a minute wasn't too hard. But what he learned quickly, the difference between swimming hard and sitting at the bottom of a pool waving at friends, was quite a bit. On Tocai's quest countdown, he could see that it had been less than a minute, and he was already feeling drained. He looked down and noticed that there was no longer a cavern bottom below him. It was deep, and it swirled with a weird shimmering. He kept kicking, kick, pull, kick, pull, and moving forward until his hand went up to where the rope was attached out of the water… He surfaced and came up for air, gasping for breath as he hit his face against the stone of the cavern roof. Ouch! It might have been twenty centimeters of space above the water for an air pocket. The air pocket was long and shallow. It smelled of dead fish and saltwater.

G could see another rope leading away, attached with an iron hook right into the stone. The air was a bit stale here, and it was colder now. He pushed his hat back up so it wasn't blocking his sight. He was certain now that Tocai was using some sort of magic to keep it affixed to his head.

He took several deep breaths as the air grew stale. He took a last one and dived under, following the second rope. He continued this way for several moments when he spotted a long light below him. Not a light, really. It was mana, a long thick strand of mana, several meters wide, glowing brightly to his magic sight. He stopped there, holding his place with the rope. He looked down. He could feel the mana beyond the film of swirling water. It was pulling at him somehow. He wanted it. That was mana, that was strength, the person that controlled that would have power. He made to let go of the rope and swim down towards it, it was dozens of meters away, but he didn't care. He wanted it.

G heard Tocai distantly screaming something into his mind, but he shoved it aside. Woosh, a huge shape swam towards him. He saw dagger-like teeth as they slid by, barely missing him. A large flipper spun him around as the rope was bitten in two. The skin on the creature as he pushed him aside was rough in texture and slick. He was still trying to see below as he froze in shock. Beyond the giant strand of mana flowing below him like a phantom in the night, tugging his will, was a wall of stone that moved up, revealing a shiny orb then dilated. It was a giant eye; it was huge. G could have thrown a party in the space that was its iris. It turned and rotated, then looked directly at him. His view of the eye was briefly severed as the large shadow that looked like either a giant seal or shark or both; it was all teeth at one end, wooshed by again, spinning him.

G focused and heard Tocai, "G swim up, look at your map. Don't go down! " He noticed his map. There were three large red dots on it, but beyond that was just a wall of red, one huge red dot. Tocai analyzed it, and the shadows and G could see the map's information.

Unknown Behemoth - Lvl unknown, mana unknown.

This monster is unknown.

The other smaller dots were also unknowns.

Unknown Behemoth pups - Lvl 56, mana unknown.

This monster is unknown.

Red skulls were flashing all over them.

"Oh crap," he thought as he realized he still had the end of the rope in one hand while Jowl Beard was pulling it. G swam and tugged a few times lightly, but the pull became much stronger and faster. He grabbed the rope with his other hand and gave up trying to swim as he was pulled upward, away from the swirling portal and the monsters below. He made the mistake of looking down, saw a flash of teeth, and heard a subsonic howl as one of the creatures tried to get into the narrowing passage. G almost flew through the water now, banging against the stone wall once but managing to hold onto the rope. A couple of moments later, he was pulled out onto a sloping rock surface, sputtering and gasping for air which he had forgotten he needed to live. His chest burned for want of air, and the bar indicating his air was flashing red.

Jowl Beard was hauling on the rope as he walked backward, pulling G up onto the cavern floor and dragging him several inches past the water's edge. G was gasping for breath, "What...what were those things?"

Jowl Beard had a big smile with all his sharp teeth, which slightly creeped G out. The hobgoblin seemed genuinely happy that G had survived. "I have no idea," Jowl Beard said, "but I did mention there was a new gate there, which appears to have now been claimed. That underwater gate could lead almost anywhere. The pressure on the other side of the gate could be immense also. I've never seen monsters like that; they had to be twenty meters long. On the other side of that gate could have been saltwater, acidic, or fresh water. It was being kept out for the most part, though it appears the creatures did try to come through."

G was getting his breath back now. He wasn't sure if he had peed himself back there, but that had been the most terrifying thing he had ever seen. "They want the gate or opening?" asked G between breaths.

"Yes, also, there was a torrent of life mana down there. You saw it, the yellow mana? They probably want that more. Being in control of something like that for a long period of time could make them very powerful as the beasts absorbed it," said Jowl Beard.

"Did you see the eye? It was way bigger than twenty meters," said G. "More powerful? The thing was already beyond Tocai's ability to analyze it."

Jowl Beard stopped talking and looked at G in silence. "Twenty meters? Did you hear it speak? Or feel it speak? I did not see anything like that."

"No, I heard a growl or howl. I'm not sure, but it certainly wasn't friendly. The water almost shook with it," said G.

Jowl Beard took a breath. "Good, it wasn't a god then, and it would be bad to have a god this close to the city. Many things have happened recently, and we would be defenseless if it was a hostile god."

G's mind was racing. A god? Do those exist here? Devils did, so it wouldn't be a huge leap for divine beings also. The creature was so big! And it had come up unknown. Was his skill too low for such a high-level creature, or did the spell not know this new monster?

"One thing was certain," G thought, "he didn't think those Crevice Stalkers were going to follow through that passage." They rested for a few minutes, catching their breath. Then Jowl Beard indicated the tunnel, and they continued their trek. They stopped once to eat again, and an hour later, the tunnel changed. One moment they were moving through naturally shaped tunnels, and the next, they came to an opening that led them onto a roadway. Well, a tunnelway that was fifty meters wide and easily that tall, carved out of the stone. Along both sides ran row upon row of support columns, and the roof had odd octagon-shaped ribbing. The pillars had images carved into them: short humanoids with beards pulling carts, swinging pickaxes, and harvesting mushrooms. A few of them had smaller versions that G assumed were children.

The two of them stood there, looking at the cavern as it stretched left and right from where they came onto it. There was a soft luminescence given off by a moss that hung in odd places as the road ran off into the distance. It was much straighter than any tunnel G had seen since leaving the Area 51 vault. G spoke first in a hushed tone of awe, "What is this?"

Jowl Beard was busy looking both ways like it might be a trap or something worse. "This is the main dark pathway to the city of Mirbor. Even with these roads, the city is still six days away by foot. We will also encounter patrols if we are not careful. The queen tries to keep the four main roads patrolled up to five days' walk in each direction. She claims for herself the area for up to fifteen days, but it's not enforced, and nobody patrols beyond five. This particular tunnel leads to nothing very significant, mostly more dark tunnels, and ends at old dwarven mine shafts."

"Six days?" G checked the timer on Tocai's quest, and it said 6 days, 8 hours, 13 minutes. "Can we go faster?"

Jowl Beard turned left and started down the center of the roadway. "No, we will try to sneak in. That will require us to turn in a few days and come in from a non-patrolled tunnel or side passage. Going straight to the main gates of the city would be suicide. It is shorter, but we would never make it straight down this road to the city."

G took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "We should get moving."