Benny looked around nervously. “I don’t know. I didn’t see it.”
The men observed the dark tunnel as Ojore slowly illuminated the water with the flashlight, pausing whenever he thought he spotted something, only to find it was just floating feces.The only things they heard were their labored breathing and the dripping of water.
“Look!” Askold said, pointing in the distance. Just a shortdistance away, the sheer, sparkling dome barrier glistened. “We’re close.”
“You guys good to keep going? If we swim fast, maybe we can get past whatever the fuck is in here,” Benny said as he stood up.
“Yeah, I think so. Let’s get out of this awful place. Why didn’t the map say a monster was in here?” Askold’s complaints echoed through the tunnel.
“Probably because no one actually tries to traverse through shit this far down,” Ojore grumbled in response.“Explains why the Rozzer didn’t come in after us, though.”
They looked at Ruel.
“You okay?” Benny asked him. “Think you can swim?”
Ruel, a bit shaken, agreed that he was okay to continue.
They slowly slid back into the dark water and swam toward the glittering barrier of the dome, passing through it. The same tingling sensation prickled across Cahir’s skin as he pushed through.
Ojore’s sudden yell got cut off as something pulled him back under the water.
“What the fuck!” Benny shouted as he quickly turned around, his arms flailing as he tried to stay above water with the sudden shock.
Ojore was flung out of the water, riding the back of a human-sized leech. The black leech had a giant mouth with rows of sharp teeth that tried to curl around itself and snap at him.
Ojore roared and tightly wrapped his arms around the slippery beast, cutting off its airflow.
The leech thrashed in the water, splashing everyone in the process. Liquid got into Cahir’s mouth, and he quickly swam away from the fight, spitting what he could back into the murky water.
The monster tried to throw Ojore off like a bull. It attempted to break free from his grip, but Ojore’s hold remained firm. He squeezed the beast as tightly as possible.
The beasts thrashing slowly stilled and came to astop. Ojore pushed himself away from the monster and swam back over to the men.
“How the fuck….” Askold started.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Ojore responded before he could finish.
Everyone swam in place, remaining silent, looking between Ojore and the dead monster.
“Welp… Glad you killed it. That was impressive, Ojore. Let’s get the fuck out of here. Hopefully that was the only one,” Benny finally said, breaking the silence. The men turned away from the leech and continued swimming in the direction they had initially planned.
The murky water gradually became shallower, and the men began to walk through the water that now only reached their calves.
They did it, they escaped the dome! Cahir’s mind whirred back to Seda. He was coming for her. The plan worked!
They followed the tunnel to another split, and Benny called out, “Do any of you recall which way to go?”
“To the right,” Cahir answered with a smile. He felt so relieved they were so close.
Ojore looked at him but didn’t say anything. They turned right, and the end of the tunnel was visible, with the night sky and darkened Heath Forest beyond. At the end of the tunnel, they saw five forms waiting there.
“Fuck, the Rozzerdidcall backup,” Ruel whispered.
They all froze, staring at the forms, and Cahir silently scolded himself for thinking they had made it before they were actually out of the Murkway.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I NEED to get to Seda.
The Corvids and the two other Rising members came into view.
