The darkness was absolute.
It wasn't just the absence of light; it was a physical presence that pressed in on them, stealing their breath and muffling sound. The air was thick and cold, heavy with the smell of wet concrete, stagnant water, and something else... a faint, cloying scent of decay. The only sounds were the frantic pounding of their own hearts and the slow, rhythmic plink... plink... plink of water dripping from somewhere above.
"Ben... the light," Elara's voice was a strained whisper, cutting through the oppressive silence.
A fumbling sound, then a loud click. A powerful beam of light sliced through the blackness, momentarily blinding them. Ben stood at the bottom of the iron ladder, holding the heavy flashlight. The beam illuminated a small, circular concrete room at the base of the shaft. Water streaked the walls in dark, slimy trails. In front of them was a low, arched opening leading into the main tunnel.
"This way," Ben said, his voice echoing unnaturally in the confined space. He consulted a folded map he pulled from his pocket, the paper already feeling damp. "The tunnel should run straight for about a mile before we hit the first junction."
Kai took the lead, his saber drawn, the round shield feeling heavy and reassuring on his arm. "I'll go first. Ben, keep the light on me and the path ahead. Elara, stay between us. If anything happens, don't hesitate. Run."
Elara gave a tight nod, her knuckles white around her tire iron.
They stepped through the archway and into the maintenance tunnel. It was a perfect concrete cylinder, just tall enough for Kai to stand upright without stooping. A series of thick, rusted pipes ran along the ceiling, and a narrow, raised walkway flanked a shallow channel in the center of the floor, filled with murky, ankle-deep water.
The flashlight beam cut a moving circle of clarity in an ocean of black. It danced over the grimy walls, revealing faded maintenance codes and patches of strange, pale moss. Their footsteps echoed, loud and intrusive. For a long time, the only sounds were their progress and the constant, maddening drip of water.
Kai kept his senses on high alert, his Observe skill a constant, low-level drain on his focus. He scanned the path ahead, the pipes above, the murky water below. Nothing. It felt like they were the only living things in this forgotten part of the world.
They walked for what felt like an hour, the monotonous scenery and the echoing silence starting to wear on their nerves.
Then, they heard it.
It wasn't a chitter or a shriek. It was a soft, wet, dragging sound coming from the darkness up ahead. Schlump... schlump... schlump. It was rhythmic, steady, and slowly getting closer.
Kai raised a hand, and they froze. He motioned for Ben to cut the main light. The sudden plunge back into darkness was jarring.
"What is it?" Elara whispered, her voice trembling.
"I don't know," Kai breathed. He strained his ears. The dragging sound was louder now, accompanied by a faint, gurgling noise. He focused his Observe skill into the blackness ahead.
A blue box appeared, but the information was unsettlingly vague.
[Unidentified Subterranean Organism]
[Level: ??]
Level unknown? Kai's blood ran cold. Everything he had faced so far had a level. For the System to not know meant this was something different. Something alien.
The gurgling, dragging sound was closer now, maybe fifty feet away. The foul smell of decay was suddenly stronger.
"Ben," Kai whispered, his heart hammering against his ribs. "Light. Now."
Ben clicked the flashlight back on.
The beam shot down the tunnel and landed on the thing that was making the noise.
It was a shapeless, quivering mound of grayish-white flesh, easily the size of a small car. It had no discernible head or limbs, but pulsed with a slow, sickening rhythm as it dragged itself along the tunnel floor, leaving a thick trail of translucent slime. Embedded within its gelatinous body were dark, solid shapes—bones, pieces of metal, a half-dissolved boot—trophies from whatever it had consumed. As the light hit it, a dozen small, milky-white eyes opened all over its surface, blinking slowly and mindlessly in the sudden glare.
A low, wet gurgle emanated from deep within the creature's mass. It began to move towards them, its pace picking up, the soft dragging sound becoming a more urgent, hungry sloshing. It filled the tunnel from wall to wall. There was no way around it.