Shadow and Memory

Part 2

He wondered how long these creatures had been shadowing them, how long they had been watched from darkened corridors, and the thought of unseen watchers running before and behind them made his skin crawl. The question of why loomed over him though, why had they not been confronted yet? Why had they not been attacked in their sleep, or ambushed at some dark junction? Whatever the answer was, he was sure that he wouldn't like it. He looked over his shoulder again and saw more flashes of eyes, more than one of the beings chasing behind them. It was clear that they didn't care about stealth or subtlety anymore either, as now he heard the slapping of bare feet on stone, heard a wheezing panting of breath.

"We're being herded." Wulfric said, growling in frustration. He saw them guarding the side passages, chasing behind them, but ever the way straight forward remained clear. "They wanted us to get this far, that's why we've been allowed to find this place. They're pushing us towards the destination." He grinned, a feral expression that did not properly belong on a human face. "Whatever we find ahead, we'll fight our way through it." He growled. His blood was up, his hackles raised and it was all he could do to not run recklessly on ahead of Carol's slower pace.

Then suddenly a figure ahead of them, just off the main path. A straggler from some party meant to block a side passage? One brave or foolish enough to try and confront them directly, or simply one that wandered down the wrong corridor? Wulfric didn't much care, he snarled and charged, getting his first good look at the denizens of this sunless realm.

Its form was human, or perhaps had once been human. Two arms, two legs, a face, but that was where the similarities ended. The arms were longer and spindly, the fingers similarly stretched and oddly pointed. Its skin was whitish and nearly transparent, pulsing blue veins plain to see. Its build spoke of a wiry strength, lean and thin by design and not by starvation of illness. The eyes were over large and watery and made him think of a fish's eyes more than a person's and were sunken deep into a head that seemed oddly proportioned, the cranium covered by only a few wisps of long white hair. Its mouth was open, and in its maw he could see a series of sharp teeth, half clear and reminding him more of broken glass than anything.

What words could never describe though was the overwhelming sense of utter wrongness that the creature radiated. Some sense in Wulfric's core could feel it, something more subtle than sight or sound or smell. The thing's nature was disturbing to him, a soul-deep disgust which was both inexplicable and undeniable. He had only felt this sensation a few times in his life and it had never once failed him, it was one of his instincts that he had learned to trust. By the same curious mechanism which let him feel he was being watched, or when there was hidden danger, he knew beyond all doubt that the thing before him was a manifestation of a great and terrible evil.

The creature let out a hissing, wet kind of noise and raised a sword, pitted and nicked with age, and Wulfric raised his axe in reply. He was faster than the creature, already prepared for a fight, and swung with a mighty slash. With a wet smack the axe sunk home, and the creature fell back into a side corridor leaking blood which did not smell quite human.

Wulfric didn't care if the thing was alive or dead, it was out of his way and now beneath his attention. His gaze was focused fully upon the tunnel ahead of him, picking up the pace and half carrying Carol along with him.

"The tunnel is ending!" Carol gasped, clutching to Wulfric's side with one arm, holding his borrowed bow in the other.

Wulfric didn't waste his breath on a reply, but saw that she was right. The tunnel was opening up before them, he could see dim shapes moving about in the gloom, and towering jagged forms looming from the darkness. After spending so long in cramped tunnels only just taller than their heads, emerging into this vast cavern at running speed gave him a momentary sense of vertigo.