Going down seemed to take forever. It was strange inside the well; there was barely any light and less with each passing moment. My eyes tried to adapt, but they couldn't keep up. What was below me? A giant mouth filled with fangs? Who knew. My boots scratched and scrambled against the old, stone walls of the well, echoing as they tried to find a grip. The walls themselves were slippery, but there were plenty of thick, strong branches to hang onto. It became clear to me that they could've taken my weight-or that of something much larger.
I stopped at several stone ledges along the way, to catch my breath. Yet, soon, it felt like every muscle in my body was burning from the strain. When I felt I could take no more (and would have to think about how I was going to get back up), I noticed the side of the well opening up into a large, round, portal of darkness.
I waved my hand inside it; I could feel no wall.
There was nowhere that I could stop and get my hands free to light the torch. I went down a bit further to see if I could find another ledge, but my foot stepped into icy cold water. There was no further to go.
I stared into the portal, and reached out with my foot, into the darkness.
My foot found hard, stone floor.
In what was probably the bravest and stupidest thing I had done in my life, I I stepped off the rope into the blackness of the portal.
I lit the torch.
I was standing at the entrance of a giant, 12 foot wide, tunnel. Its walls were cut from smooth, black stone. Water dripped from the ceiling and ran down the sides, glistening. There were carvings along them; similar to the ones at the well but much clearer and better preserved. They showed what may have been symbols for fish and what I took for palaces and temples. There were human soldiers wearing large, fish-shaped helmets, and multiple kneeling slaves.
The central image appeared again and again; one of the giant, man-like creature, but with a reptilian or fish's head. It had clawed hands and feet, and a long, shark-like tail.
I wondered if humans had built this or another race. Both ideas I found equally disturbing.
Steps were cut into the floor, built for longer legs than mine. They sloped upwards. I drew my sword and began ascending.
I climbed about 30 feet before the tunnel opened up into a large, circular vault. The vault was dome-shaped, about 40 or 50 feet across, built of the same black, stone, blocks. The torch lit carvings of giant creatures across the dome ceiling; they glared at me with open fangs and glaring eyes.
Running along the circumference of the vaults were small recesses; inside each was a black, crystal statue. They were crudely cut, as if by a creature without the fingers for fine motor control. The statues filled me with a strange sense of both fear and disgust. I looked away from them.
Before me, under the domed ceiling, was an open, dry, chamber. Its stone floor was littered with debris; mostly torn rags that disintegrated as I stepped on them. There was a loud crack; I held the torch down and saw the remains of an ancient skull. My boot had crushed the jaw into dust.
At the center of the vault was the reflection of a large pool of water. Waves suddenly emerged, and water splashed out of the pool, gleaming on the stone floor. I stepped towards the pool, sword held at the ready, torch raised.
Inside the water was a fish with a head half as large as my body. It swam round and round in circles like some sort of monstrous goldfish in a bowl. As I stepped closer, it suddenly became agitated and rushed to the surface. Its head broke through the water like a great white shark's. It was encased in a giant mask of bone. It had huge fangs that could have crushed an iron shield like a piece of paper. It roared at me, the sound echoing inside the chamber. Its breath was cold and stank of rotting meat.
It was a Dunkleosteus, the top predator in the oceans of this time. This was just a baby; beyond freshwater rivers and in the sea, they grew large as whales.
Across the Dunkle pool, I heard a woman cry out.
I ignored (somehow) the Dunkle, and made my way around frothing pool. Across from it was several, wooden, wicker cages. Mounted alongside them were wooden crosses shaped like the letter "X." Tied to the crosses, and crouching inside the small cages, were the missing the slave girls.
"Master!" A caged, brunette whimpered, clutching at the bars of her cage and wincing at the torchlight, "Master! Please save us!"
"Be quiet, Slave," I hissed.
I went to one of the girls tied to an "X" cross. She was a tall, slender, black-haired, Celt. Her body was ivory-pale, her features at once elegant and soft. The beauty turned to look at me, eyes wide. She did not seem disturbed by the brightness of the torch.
"What happened here, Slave?" I asked her.
She stared at me, something dark and unworldly behind her eyes. Then she looked away.
I noticed that clotted blood hard formed a line down her thighs.
"They do not speak, Master," said the caged brunette. "They have been bred!"
"Bred?" I went to her cage and crouched down in front of her. "By whom?"
The slave pointed behind her.
Beyond the cages in the crosses, there was another tunnel. I stood back up and walked towards it, my sword held out in front of me.
"Master!" I heard behind me. "Master, do not go there!"
I could hear scratching sounds at the other end of the tunnel, which curved around beyond what I could see. There was a wet squelching as well; and the occasional loud snap of something hard being broken.
I went around the corner.
Before me was a circular room. In its center was a low, flat, stone altar. On the altar was a dead slave girl. Her face had been torn off, revealing her skull, and her belly and entrails had been partly eaten away. Surrounding her were four, humanoid creatures, each about my height. Their skins had the shimmering blue-green of fish scales. Long fins ran down their spines to swishing tales. Their hands and feet ended in black claws. They had large, gaping fish mouths filled with fangs, they tore into the slave girls belly, shoving flesh into their armored, bone heads.
They all turned as one, stopping to look at me.
A screaming, piercing, thundering sound bashed into my ears and tried to stab my mind. They rushed at me, claws outstretched, jaws open.
I screamed back and charged.
I stabbed one through the chest, it squealed, and blue-black blood squirted out. It clutched at my blade as it died. I smashed another in its face with the flaming torch. It howled and ran back, clutching at its face. The third one hesitated, looking at its fellows.
I slashed it across the face, my sword cracking the bone armor as easily as it would a skull.
I pulled out my sword and looked down in disgust at the fish-man, Deep One. It was fully-formed, no human features about it. It was the first time I had ever seen one of these.
Now, where had the last one gone?
I heard the thundering roar of a huge animal.
It came from the direction the Deep One had fled in. The roaring became louder, and I felt the vibration of large, thundering feet as they pounded towards me.
I turned and ran back the way I had come.
I got halfway around the infant Dunkle's pool before it caught up with me. I turned to face it, a shaky hand holding up the torch. It was 9 feet tall, black, covered in scales, and with a head that seemed parts reptilian, part fish. It was covered in armor plates, and it had more running down its spine. Its chest was covered in patterned, ritual scars that stung at my mind to look at. It held out its arms. Claws long as daggers unfurled, it's stinking breath hit me in a wave.
It lunged at me, swinging for my head. I ducked and felt the wind of it, pulling at my hair. I jerked back as it struck again, but not fast enough. Its claws raked my leather breastplate, tearing into it and sending me sprawling across the ground. I felt a burning ice in my chest where it had cut into the flesh.
Just a feet away from me, water splashed up from the pool as the Dunkle became agitated.
The giant Deep One roared and charged.
A lasso landed around its jaws and yanked its head to the side. It tried to open its mouth, roaring in its throat. I looked behind me, following the taut rope.
"Get up, you fool!" Yelled Fogrim, straining against the rope which he held with both hands.
I jumped to my feet, picked up my sword, and rushed at the Deep One.
It looked down at me and swung. It missed, unable to focus. I stabbed it in the arm, and blue-black blood sprayed out. I blinked as it hit my eye; burning.
"Strike it again!"
I tried to stab up close, but then all I saw were the patterns in its ritual scars. A throbbing headache hit me so hard, I almost saw stars. I staggered back.
"Don't look upon it!" Fogrim was forced to his knees, his teeth gritting as he strained. "You idiot, what are you doing now?!"
I had turned away and was digging through my bag. I pulled out the rope; still tied in a lasso.
I peered out the corner of my eye and cast it.
It caught around its arm. It cried out, glaring at the rope, and trying to jerk its arm free. In the water, the Dunkle began raising its head out of the water and snapping its jaws. I finally became aware that the slave girls had been screaming.
"Around the pool!" I yelled. "Get to the other side of the pool!"
We both moved around the water, the ropes extending over it. The Deep One was strong, but there were two of us. We dragged it closer and closer to the water.
"We've got you, you bastard!" yelled Fogrim.
Then the lasso slipped off its jaws.
The beast yanked the rope out of my hands, throwing me to the ground. Fogrim and I looked up at the monster, as it stared at us and roared.
The Dunkle leaped out of the pool and bit the Deep One's leg off.
The Deep One screamed and writhed on the ground, blood gushing and staining the pool. The Dunklepushed itself back into the water like a lungfish, using its powerful fins.
Neither of us dared go near either monster. A few seconds later, the Dunkle leaped back out, caught the dying Deep One's waist in its jaws, and pulled it back into the water with it.