The small, pink, wet eyes were looking at Oto. It was impossible to know for sure since they had no pupils, but the mere sight of them conveyed a visceral sensation, a discomfort felt deep down, together with the feeling of being observed from every side. Wet crackles accompanied every movement of the being. Some of its limbs extended under the group’s terrified gazes. A bloodless arm and skeletal fingers came out of that horror of flesh. Another crunch and the protuberance that resembled a head moved away from the rest, revealing a thin neck. That mess of flesh, or whatever it was, was splitting itself similar to an insect emerging from its larva. A small emerald green creature was detaching from the rest of the deep blue body. A chilling, high-pitched hiss pierced the air. The wind rippling the surface of the suspended lake intensified, its noise reverberated against the cave walls. The floor vibrated and made a sound like glass brushed by a rough object. A thin but unbearable whistle assailed their ears.
The eerie voice came from all sides, an echo out of nowhere who belonged to someone, or something, foul. With a final, violent snap, the being was freed from its shell. Its body was covered in deep wounds, its insides exposed, its pulsating organs bare. Those same wounds healed within seconds. The blue shell, which resembled a helpless and curled-up body, did the same.
The thing had a humanoid shape. It was very small, less than a metre tall, and extremely fragile-looking, like a twig. Its rear legs had two joints each, one resembling a common knee, one reversed, and ended in a sharp, dangerous-looking spike. The front limbs were similar to normal human arms, but incredibly thin and covered with blue scales at shoulder height. Its tiny torso, which a second before was in horrible condition, now swelled and deflated at the rate of what seemed to be its frantic breathing. The thin, long neck culminated in a small round head, surrounded by what at first glance looked like long hair, but rather resembled tufts of white, damp grass, as if it had lost pigmentation in the absence of sunlight. From below, two very long pointed ears emerged and quivered, rotating around like antennas. Its face featured two small, blank pink eyes. It had no nose or anything equivalent, only a large, frightening mouth, disproportionate for its small frame, containing a long row of thin, sharp teeth, a mad and ferocious snarl.
The thing spasmed. A sticky sound announced the unfolding of two transparent wings, similar to those of a fly, dripping mucus. After a few moments, they were dry and began to move, flapping so fast they became an indistinguishable haze on its back. It dropped in altitude, towards them. No one dared to move a muscle, their voices extinguished by dismay and fear. It approached Oto's face who, although visibly frightened, remained still.
The creature opened its thorny mouth. Oto screamed and fell to the ground, breaking the chains of fear. Nene stepped in front of him, grabbed the cross and pointed it at the monster.
The thing hesitated. It looked at the cross with curiosity. Nila and Adanara took refuge behind Nene, but that thing continued to target Oto.
The boy, sitting on the ground, looked at his hands, resting on the bizarre mirror that separated them from the starry abyss. He jumped up and took another step back.
The creature fluttered in front of her. Her bravado disappeared in an instant at the sight of that ethereal creature stretching out its small hands towards the cross. She didn't dare move. The contact with the holy symbol had no effect on the monster, who continued to touch it out of curiosity.
Her voice echoed through the cave. The creature hesitated and glanced at the shell from which it had emerged. It brought a finger to its mouth and shushed.
The ceiling pond began to bubble. Streams of water splashed downwards and then fell upwards. The blue body, still suspended in mid-air, moved slightly. A deep yawn rumbled against the walls. Unlike the first being, the second was slow and sinuous. What seemed like an empty shell curled in on itself, unrolled, revealing a scaly tail that ended in a single fin. Above that fish-like tail was a pale blue, slimy-looking humanoid body. Its trunk was robust but had no arms. Its neck was stocky and supported a spherical head similar to that of the previous creature. Likewise, the second had two long pointed antennas, large glowy yellow eyes, and a small mouth with plump, purple lips. A dark tuft of marsh algae grew out of its head. It had an absent expression and looked around as if lost.
The green being flapped its wings and darted to the other one’s side. The blue thing craned its neck towards its companion.
Adanara touched Nene on the shoulder and gestured towards the chasm they had come down from. Escaping was definitely a good idea, but it would take some time to climb up there. She had no idea what those beings were. No bestiary described anything like them, so she wasn't sure how dangerous they were and wasn't about to push her luck. However, turning their back to a potential opponent was equivalent to inviting them to attack.
The blue creature snaked through the air like an eel through water. It moved slowly, lazily, and dropped until it settled on the resinous ground. It curled around itself like a snake ready to wriggle and gave them a languid look. Its vertical eyelids were half closed, its toothless mouth half open. Everything about that creature communicated drowsiness and hunger.
The green thing fluttered in front of her. The woman shrugged as it seemed to analyse her.
The two little monsters gathered in mid-air in front of them. They exchanged a look. The cave suddenly became brighter. The starry sky beneath them disappeared, replaced by a white light whose rays became fragmented as they passed through the resin mirror. The pool on the ceiling boiled again, spewing hot steam, blown away by the wind howling in the cave. The temperature rose dramatically.
The green creature opened its jaws. The blue one writhed for an instant and four small protuberances, tentacles, emerged from its torso, at the ends of which were circular mouths bristling with sharp teeth. They were surrounded by dozens of smaller tentacles, similar to hair floating in the water, and dripped yellowish mucus.
<... they return to the Flow>
There were many stories about monsters in the Principality. The scary ones were about real threats: the damned hiding among innocent people, witches practising blasphemous rites in the woods. Epic tales, on the other hand, were born from fantasy: stories of one-eyed giants or colossal fire-breathing demons who were defeated by an expedition of Knights of the Church after heroic battles. None of them spoke of minute, incomprehensible beings, who subvert the laws of nature or call them to their aid. No master Inquisitor would have ever even thought of preparing a cadet for such a scenario, no fictional story dared to hypothesise the existence of such blasphemy.
Oto shouted as he flailed his arms violently. The green creature clung to his jacket. Its jaws snapped towards the boy's face, producing a terrifying sound with each miss. Meanwhile, the blue one lazily crawled towards them. Its tentacles, being dragged along the ground, left a yellowish trail in the resin, which boiled and evaporated in an instant, sizzling.
She drew her sword. The cross did not affect the monster, so steel was her best option. However, she was afraid of hitting Oto, so she reached out and grabbed the being by the wings. They were slimy and disgusting to the touch. She pulled with all her strength. A high-pitched scream shook the cave. Nene found herself with one of those mucous membranes in her hand. Disgusted, she dropped it to the floor.
Despite only having one wing left, it launched itself at crazy speed towards Nene. A gust of wind accompanied it and overwhelmed her. She got lifted off the ground a couple of metres and fell flat on her back onto the hard resin. She felt a sharp pain but tried to give it no attention. She had to get up and defend herself… but she wasn't fast enough. Her fighting spirit disappeared when she saw the creeper approaching her. It rose on its tail and towered over her. The little mouths at the end of its tentacles opened wide, teeth quivering ready to grind. The creature's sleepy expression was gone. Its bright eyes were dilated, popping out of their sockets in anticipation.
Adanara ran to her and without hesitation, kicked the little creature. The blow flung it away, its soft little body distorted and then crashed to the ground with a wet sound. The other creature then threw itself at the witch. It grabbed her hair and bit her ear. Adanara screamed and rolled to the ground, writhing like a wounded animal.
Nene jumped up to run to her aid but was preceded by Nila. Or rather, what looked like Nila: the woman was brandishing the axe they had brought with them, every trace of her gentle behaviour, of her kindness, gone. In its place, a fierce, uncontrollable personality emerged. She ran towards her sister shouting and holding the axe over her head. Adanara, with her back on the ground and the little monster still attached to her ear, turned pale.
Nila swung the axe with all her might, all her weight, downward. The tool’s blade almost grazed Adanara's face and crashed into the creature. With a sharp sound, its small body was torn apart. It made a choking sound. Its little head lay split open on the ground. After a few spasms, it stopped moving.
Adanara stood up holding her bleeding ear. Nila came to her senses and hugged her in tears.
Oto and Nene gathered next to the sisters. The little green creature lay helpless on the ground in a pool of semi-transparent slime. Bloody pieces of Adanara's ear could be seen between its sharp fangs. Nene held out her sword towards the still-living beast, which was laboriously dragging itself towards its fellow.
Its ears twitched and spun, its little body stiffened and its gaze turned towards the other one. The water in the pond over their heads stopped moving. The wind disappeared completely, the cave was silent, except for Nila's sobs, and Adanara's laboured breathing.
In that silence, a whisper could be heard, soft, deep, constant, almost hypnotic.
The little aquatic creature was in a catatonic state, repeating the same phrase faster and faster, as if amidst a delirium. Nene gulped: she had to gather her courage and attack. Her companions had already gotten her out of trouble too many times, it was up to her to end that confrontation. The monster was helpless, deep in who knows what sorcery. She gripped the hilt of her sword and took a step forward. Her forehead was soaked, but not with sweat. It was difficult to breathe, like on a sultry day. Soon she felt drenched, her clothes heavy. The cave walls began to drip.
Small droplets of water appeared in the air, floating in the middle of nowhere. Nene stopped, fearing the sorcery that was unfolding before her eyes. An Inquisitor was called not to hesitate in the face of evil, to purge it without questioning. Unfortunately, she was a coward and betrayed her principles once more. The water concentrated around the dead monster. The second being dived into the large bubble together with the other. An aquatic sphere with a diameter of more than two metres swirled around the two little creatures. Inside, the corpse's bile and Adanara's blood merged with the rest.
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Nene took a breath, ignoring their screams. She had a plan: enter the vortex and take down the demon. She lunged forward. All she had to do was run, hoping not to drown, and stab that abomination with her sword. She heard voices behind her, Nila calling her, but she didn't listen. She had hesitated too long, it was time to act. She pointed the sword forward. Soon she was only a step away from the sphere of water. She wasn't sure what the impact with that unnatural thing would have felt like, but the last thing she expected was a sharp, metallic clang.
Her sword stopped against something solid. Her momentum almost caused her to crash on it. She managed to stop by an inch. The sphere of water had quickly frozen. Nene’s blade barely nicked it. An immense block of ice was floating in the centre of the cave, the two small creatures sealed in it, hugging each other.
Nene observed the weird phenomenon: although the sphere was frozen on the outside, inside she saw the finned monster moving. Its small tentacles were touching the corpse of its companion, in what seemed like a macabre embrace.
Then she realised. The body of the creature struck down by Nila writhed, shaking. The still liquid water at the centre of the sphere, visible through the ice that surrounded it, swirled. The head shattered by an axe blow recomposed itself, similar to when the two monsters got split from one another. The ice cracked, the wind began to blow again. Nene stepped back and turned to the others.
Oto pulled the bow from his shoulder and nocked an arrow. Nila stood in front of her sister brandishing the axe. A dense cloud of steam puffed from the cracks in the ice, which was sucked into the small lake on the roof of the cave.
Finally, the frozen crust exploded. The resurrected monster writhed on the ground for a few moments. Its head and body were intact again, the torn-off wing had grown back as if nothing had happened.
An arrow lodged in its forehead. Oto had shot. His shocked expression was enough to describe how he felt about having killed a talking creature. Unlike Nila's axe strike, however, the projectile was simply expelled from the creature's body. The arrowhead fell from the wound, which healed in an instant. The conflict seemed without a solution. They were facing two unknown, dangerous and seemingly immortal entities. Nene forced herself to reflect on what had just happened, calling upon all her knowledge of blasphemous forces and demonic rites. She observed the two opponents: a minute humanoid insect with sharp teeth and a small sea monster with mysterious powers. An idea suddenly struck her.
The boy stared at her in dismay. She nodded, hoping he would play along. She turned to the others and shouted again.
Oto unsheathed a knife from his belt and began scratching the ground. After a moment, Nila imitated him by using the axe.
It darted towards them. With one bite it broke the axe handle in two. Nila kicked the thing and the wind blowed in her direction, throwing her to the ground. The monster then redirected its attention to Oto, who tried to flee, in vain: the creature rushed at him and started pulling his hair. Adanara ran to his rescue.
Nene, on the other hand, had a different task. She turned to the remaining monster, who stood still and watched. Its small tentacles moved with waving motions, it was much less aggressive than shortly before. Its little yellow eyes stared at her. For a moment, she thought she could see fear in that blank look, as she sprinted towards the demon.
The other beast's voice was muffled by a blow. She had no idea who had hit it, but Nene felt grateful to her companions for trusting her. She ran towards that half-fish abomination, which unlike before looked helpless. Whatever the source of its power was, it seemed invested in keeping the other thing alive and healing its wounds in an instant. It was defenceless.
The creature screeched once more. Nene lunged forward with all her might.
The blade easily penetrated its soft flesh. A yellow, slimy flicker, followed by a cloud of steam emerged from the little body. Its eyes widened even more, its tentacles wriggled like angry snakes. Nene's weight and momentum knocked both of them to the ground. The little monster quickly began to lose colour, its scales became pale, its skin transparent. It stopped moving.
The still-living monster punched Adanara in the face. Nila tried to hit her with the handle of the axe, but it avoided her blow. A furious whirlwind surrounded it, making it difficult to even stand in its vicinity. An arrow whizzed into the cave, but the violent tornado deflected it as if it were nothing.
With a cry, the enraged being flew towards Nene at a mind-blowing speed. She was still on the ground and didn't have time to get up. She turned and pointed her sword at her enemy, praying that it would be enough to keep it at bay.
A much bigger shadow appeared behind the little being. Adanara rushed at it with open arms. She tore through the wind barrier, ran through it, and slammed into the monster, throwing it to the ground.
She screamed.
Adanara's hysterical screams filled the cave. She squeezed the creature's neck with bare hands, slammed its head into the ground. The monster squirmed and struck her with its sharp paws, but the witch did not stop, not even when the violent winds blew against her back.
She opened her mouth and aimed for her neck.
The monster screamed in agony. The wind faded. At first, a light breeze remained, then nothing more. Its massacred body lay on the ground once again.
Adanara fell to her knees, her face soaked in transparent viscosity, her gaze lost, her eyes marked by tears.
Silence fell.
It took a while for Nila to dare approach her sister. After seeing her in that feral state, being afraid of her was more than natural. Nila took a few steps towards her and shyly called her name.
The witch turned around. She had a pitiful look and was trembling. She dragged towards her sister, sobbing. Nene checked the bodies of both monsters. They seemed to be dead for good. She looked up at her companions, battered and shocked by the fight with unnatural forces: Oto was sitting on the ground and curling up on himself, the sisters were hugging each other and she, who should have been their first line of defence, was trembling. She walked towards Oto while sheathing her sword. She held out a hand and took a breath.
Her companions looked at her in dismay. They were all exhausted and in disbelief, but slowly they regained their composure and began to look around. They weren't safe yet: a group of strangers was hunting them, and they were stuck inside that cave. Nene checked the surroundings. The resin floor continued to emit an intense white light, so much so that it was impossible to see through it. She tried not to dwell too much on the corpses of the two horrors they had just struck down, or her newfound calm would have disappeared again. She scanned the walls, examined every crevice, but saw nothing but earth and rock. Except for the hole through which they had entered, she saw no other exit. Unfortunately, it most likely would have led them to their pursuers.
The small lake suspended in the centre of the cave had stopped stirring. Its surface lay quiet. Nene picked up one of the stones they had thrown down there earlier and threw it towards the water.
To her amazement, the stone behaved normally only half through the way. Having reached a certain height, it began to "fall" towards the lake, like an object plummeting towards the ground. Too bad it was falling upwards.
Nene moved so that she was not below the water. Nila approached her hesitantly. Hers was a stupid idea for sure, but it was worth checking it out.
The girl was finally convinced. She studied the ceiling, a few metres above their heads, then tried to lift Nene in different ways. In the end, she opted to grab her hips. She pulled her up, and Nene felt dizzy. Her hair fluttered upward, her sense of balance was thrown off. The upper part of her body believed that the ground was towards the lake, the lower part towards Nila.
Nila bent her legs, took advantage of the momentum and launched her into the air. Normally she would have flown up briefly, depending on Nila's strength, and then fallen back into her arms, but what happened confused Nene to the point that she found herself screaming and waving her arms in the air. The world turned upside down, she watched Nila's dismayed face move further and further away, until she hit something solid. Her breath was compressed out of her body by the impact. She remained in contemplation for a few moments and tried not to vomit.
The resinous floor was above her, as were her companions. From her point of view they were hanging upside down, but judging by their incredulous looks, the opposite must have also been true.
She held back a retch. The experience was giving her a headache and nausea. She approached the shore of the pond, a small puddle of water in the middle of bare earth, except for the occasional sprout or root. It looked like plain water. She unsheathed her sword and touched its surface. Concentric waves propagated, but nothing unusual happened. She leaned over the mirror and thought she was dreaming again.
A dull sound distracted her. The rope they had used to lower her fell next to her. She looked up and saw Nila tugging at it. The rope, once thrown upwards, had tightened as if a boulder had been anchored to its lower end. The woman tried to hang on. The rope vibrated but somehow was able to lift her without the need of somebody holding it. Nene instinctively grabbed the rope anyway, but soon realised there was no weight to it. Nila began to hoist herself up, laboriously at first, then more and more easily. Her hair began to rise in the air and she hesitated.
Nila advanced a little further. She was holding on to the rope with her legs and arms and at one point almost lost her grip. After passing a certain distance from the resinous surface, she found herself upside down. Nene grabbed her legs and helped her upright with a mid-air somersault. Nila found herself on her knees, shocked. She looked up and covered her mouth in surprise.
Blood soaked the entire left side of the witch’s face. The ear injury looked quite serious, although hidden under her hair. She looked at her hands, also stained with her own blood, and grabbed the rope.
One by one they all hoisted themselves up. When Oto had reached the others, they observed the body of water. It was shallow, and an intense light came from the bottom. The crystal clear water made the visibility excellent, so they could see the profiles of some trees.
Not only did she fear for his safety, but also for her own. Even if the crossing was possible, she didn't know how to swim. The boy put a hand on her shoulder and stared at her with a determination she had never seen on his face.
, she admitted in a faint voice.
She nodded and held back tears. She was lucky she wasn't alone. She watched Oto approach the surface. The boy sat on the bank and dipped his legs. After a few moments, he took a breath and threw himself up. Nene ran to look. She saw him swim towards the surface. After a few metres, he began to mill around wildly with his arms and legs. She feared the worst...
Then she saw him regain his balance and swim the last few metres. For a few moments, she could only make out his legs. Oto headed towards the shore and pulled himself up among the trees. He turned to her, upside down, and waved.
Adanara sat on the ground looking about to faint. She was visibly suffering and her sister's caresses were of no use. She needed treatment. Oto emerged from the pool and pulled himself up. His clothes were dripping with water, his hair was stuck to his face, but he had a triumphant expression.
She grabbed the boy's hands. She was afraid of failing, of drowning and dragging him with her. She tried to control herself: she had to trust, panic would only have gotten in their way. They had just defeated two demons who came from God knows which nightmare, what could a swim possibly be? Oto entered the water and pulled her towards him. She put her foot down instinctively, refusing to leave the shore.
Nene decided to imitate what Oto had done before. She dipped her legs first. The water drenched her clothes, freezing her feet. With one hand in Oto's and the other resting on the bank, she entered the water. The cold lapped her body, she felt her breath run out, her chest contracted. She took several gasping breaths determined to never let go.
Oto gestured downward. He took a deep breath, and Nene imitated him, ready to throw herself down… or was it up? The boy's head disappeared beneath the surface. She did the same, almost dragged by his hand. It took her a moment to regain her sense of direction. The muffled sound of water in her ears left her confused for a while. Oto was already moving towards the seabed, but he turned to wait for her. Nene was slowly sinking, and would surely have succumbed to panic if it hadn't been for Oto’s firm handshake. She began moving her feet as she was told. Oto, using his legs and free arm, began to push towards the woods.
After just a couple of metres, their sense of balance was upset again. Nene feared losing her grip, so she squeezed his hand with all her strength. She was starting to suffer from a lack of air and for a moment she feared the worst. She felt heavy and prayed that Oto could get her out of there. After a few moments, they managed to get back into the right position and headed towards the surface. The trees were getting closer, the daylight was getting brighter. Oto emerged first and pulled her up. With that final push and a splashing sound, Nene was dazzled by the sun. She closed her eyes and hugged Oto. She began to tremble.
Nene expelled the stale air she had been holding until then and gasped too. Oto dragged them both slowly towards the shore, helped her reach the dry ground, and then pushed himself back into the water.
Nene collapsed on the grassy bank, in a sparse clearing among the forest. She looked at the sky, the clouds. She had returned to the world she knew, where up is up, down is down. The giant tree that dominated the forest rose above her. It was very close, so much so that she could make out the markings on its bark. She continued to breathe eagerly until her emotions took over. She sobbed, then laughed. She cried and stifled a scream.
What had she just seen with her very eyes? Two monsters who inhabited a cave containing a starry sky beneath its floor? Had she walked upside down on a ceiling?
After some time she sat up. She was soaked, shocked, cold, but above all she was alone. She looked out into the body of water and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the others were approaching the surface.