Chapter 93 - It’s What’s For Dinner!

  I barely managed to wrap myself around Alex before the creature’s bulk smashed down atop both of us and the world went dark and wet. Pressure slammed into me like the whole ceiling had dropped at once. The impact knocked the air out of both of us, and for a second I couldn’t tell which way was up. Everything was motion and pain and an awful, grinding sound as the creature’s teeth tried to gouge through my skin.

  Then we stopped, wedged tightly against each other inside a space that was far too small, and smelled like rot and death.

  “Cameron—” Alex gasped, his voice strangled. “What the hell happened? Did it…? Tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”

  “Oh, it’s exactly what you think it is,” I managed, forcing the words out between clenched teeth. “The damned thing swallowed us.”

  The air sizzled. I felt something splash against my shoulder, a thick, viscous fluid that began to smoke where it touched my clothes. Natural Armor kept it at bay, but I could feel the heat rising through my protective magic, like I was standing too close to a bonfire. Alex hissed in pain beside me.

  “Acid,” he said through gritted teeth. “We’re being digested. Lovely. This is absolutely how I wanted to go out. Not.”

  I twisted, trying to get an arm free. No luck. The creature’s interior had clamped down on us hard enough that the pressure alone kept me from moving more than an inch. I pushed back with everything I had, but I just couldn’t get any leverage to move.

  “Hold still,” I said.

  “I’m melting, Cameron!”

  “Yeah, well, hold still anyway!” I shoved and strained, trying to pry myself loose, but it was like trying to lift a truck with my elbows. My hands were trapped at my sides, fingers digging into soft, spongy tissue that quivered under my touch. I could feel the creature’s pulse through the muscle.

  Alex screamed as more acid dribbled over us both. “That hurts like hell!”

  A golden shimmer flowed out from his palm. His Heal washed through both of us, numbing the pain for a heartbeat, but I could tell from his ragged breathing that it was only slowing the damage, not stopping it.

  “Keep doing that,” I said. “Buy us some time.”

  “I can’t out-heal acid! Do you have a plan?”

  “Yeah.” I grunted, trying again to move my arms. The tissue shifted, but not enough. “Break free, then kill it from the inside.”

  “Wonderful plan. Ten out of ten. Any idea how to do the breaking free part?”

  “Working on it. You’re the genius in the party. If you can think of any ideas that might help, now would be a great time,” I said.

  For a second there was just the sound of acid hissing and both of us breathing hard. Then Alex said, “Wait. What if we can create a counter-pressure?”

  “What?”

  “It’s squeezing us, maybe I can push it away.”

  “Alex, whatever you’re thinking—”

  He took a deep breath, clamped his mouth shut, and cast one of his least-used spells—Create Water.

  A sudden surge of cold surrounded us. Water exploded into existence, pressing against every surface, mixing with the acid and diluting it. That part was good, as it bought us a little more time, although I was fairly sure Alex didn’t have Water Breathing, like I did. That’s why he’d held his breath. The acid wasn’t burning us anymore, but he’d still suffocate if I didn’t act soon.

  The creature shuddered violently, a low gurgling roar vibrating through its body as the expanding water forced the tissues outward. I realized why Alex had done this. Diluting the acid was great, but didn’t free us. The thing was, though, water doesn’t compress very well. Try as it might, the creature couldn’t clamp down on us as much.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “Holy crap, that’s working!” I shouted, my voice sounding strange under water. My arms moved. Just barely, but it was enough. I jammed my elbows out, braced my feet, and pushed.

  Tissues tore as my hands ripped through the beast’s interior. The monster convulsed again, thrashing as the mixture of acid and water burned its own insides. I forced one arm free, then the other. With both arms more or less loose, I started tearing into the thing. I’d used my Strength to break through a stone wall, earlier.

  Tearing apart the insides of a fungus monster ought to be a piece of cake.

  “Hold on to me, Alex!”

  Alex couldn’t speak. He was still struggling to hold his breath, but he kicked and twisted, then locked his arms around my waist as I tore through the inner lining. Foul green fluid spilled everywhere, filling the ‘stomach’ where we’d both been pinned, but I didn’t care. With both arms free, I didn’t bother with subtlety. I poured every ounce of power I had into my hands, ripping and punching my way to freedom.

  I cast Drain Life as I tore at the thing. The beam of black energy lanced point-blank into the flesh around us. The creature’s body spasmed once, twice, then collapsed in on itself, the stones above us loosening as it died.

  The next moment, the entire side of its body burst outward as I ripped myself free. Water and slime poured out of the thing by the bucketload. We stumbled out together, covered in slime, coughing and sputtering as we pulled ourselves clear of the monster’s guts.

  Marion was already running toward us, her eyes wide. “Alex!” She dropped to her knees beside him, hands glowing white-gold. “Oh my God, are you okay?”

  He wheezed out a laugh. “Define okay?”

  Her healing light washed over both of us, warm and clean. The acid burns vanished. I hadn’t been too badly hurt, and my Drain had already helped me recover most of that, but Alex was in much rougher shape. Her Heal restored him, though he looked exhausted.

  “Ugh. Never, ever want to go through anything like that, ever again,” Alex said, plunking himself down on the stone floor. He shook off bits of monster slime from his hands. “That was easily the most disgusting thing I’ve seen all day.”

  “Oh, now you said it,” I replied with a chuckle. “You just know the dungeon is going to throw something even more gross at us next, now. And I’ve managed to ruin yet another set of clothes.”

  My skin, as usual, was more resilient than my garments. There was enough of my clothes remaining to avoid indecent exposure, but they had holes everywhere. I’d need a new set when we got ourselves out of this place.

  Marion helped Alex to his feet, and the rest of the team gathered around the monster’s corpse. The stone-covered mass was half-collapsed, leaking green-black ichor and the remnants of Alex’s spell-created water. Alex bent down, touched the dead beast, and held up the crystal he got from it. The stone was one of the largest I’d seen.

  “Tier eight Natural Armor,” Alex said, then tossed it to me. “You earned it.”

  I caught it, feeling the pulse of power inside. “Thanks.”

  “How close are you to tier ten, anyway?” Alex asked.

  “For Natural Armor? I have a tier nine and tier six slotted. With this, I need a tier six and a tier seven, or the equivalent. If I’m doing the math right, anyway,” I told him. “I don’t know that I’m going to manage that in here, today. Pretty sure we have other people who can use it right now.”

  Alex tilted his head at me. “You sure? I really want to get someone to tier ten ASAP.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because we know that tier five grants special bonuses, like being able to see rank and identify stones. I’m curious whether tier ten has similar benefits.”

  “Okay, that makes sense. It’s not going to be easy, getting the other stones I need, but I’ll keep this one, then, and do my best to fight more armored opponents.”

  “Good. You’re right that we want to spread the wealth around as much as possible, but information is just as important,” Alex said.

  We gathered ourselves up and prepared to move out. No one said it out loud, but we were all thinking the same thing, that we had to be getting close to the end. The monsters were getting tougher and the fights nastier. We could handle a tier nine creature, I figured. Probably even a tier ten. Much past that, and odds were we’d lose more people. Kelly’s fate was grim enough that I didn’t want to see it repeated for anyone else.

  We started down the tunnel once again, with myself in the lead, as usual. This passage was different from the other small tunnels we’d walked through. It was larger, both wider and taller. The deeper I pressed into the space, the larger it grew, too. Soon, Alex and Dara were able to walk almost abreast with me.

  “I’m getting a feeling this might be the dungeon boss,” Dara whispered.

  “What makes you say that?” I asked without looking back. All my senses were focused on the path ahead of us. I didn’t want to risk not noticing a trap or hidden creature.

  “I dunno, just the vibe I’m getting,” she replied.

  “I hope you’re right,” Marion chimed in.

  “Why?”

  “Because this place stinks,” Marion replied.

  I sniffed the air. She was right. The smell was bad, and growing worse. The reek from the dead Fungus Knight back in the previous room was bad enough, but this was quickly growing worse than that had been. I held up a hand, and the rest of the party stopped behind me.

  “What’s that smell, guys?” I asked.

  “Sulfur, I think. Decay too,” Alex replied.

  “What makes both of those smells?” I wanted as much info as I could get before proceeding on.

  “Could be hydrogen sulfide?” Alex replied, but he didn’t sound sure of the answer. “Sometimes a byproduct of decaying organic matter.”

  Which made sense, given where we were. I just wished I knew what we were walking into. There was no cheat guide available for this dungeon, though, so I started walking forward once more, fingers crossed that whatever it was, we’d be able to handle it.