“Restrictions,” Barb said, sliding over on her belly. There was no standing in the cavern; the ceiling was less than three feet.
She sniffed at the one to the right but didn’t smell anything except, possibly, a faint animal musk. There were some small bones on the floor, and she realized they were probably in a bear’s winter den.
The one to the left, however, had some distinct drag marks. She realized it was going to be hard to track the Shambler based on ichor because, surprisingly, the walls of the cave were black. Lazarus was standing by the opening as if wondering what was taking her so long.
“I thought these were limestone,” she said, pointing to the wall.
“That’s a slime mold that covers just about every cave wall in the world,” Argyll said. “That’s how you know it’s a pristine cave, it’s got black walls. But something’s been through here,” he added, pointing to the drag marks.
“And that would be the way we have to go,” Barb said, looking at the restriction. It was tighter than the entrance, but shining her light in, she could see an open area beyond. She tilted her head back and forth.
Lazarus looked at her again and just walked into the cave ahead of her.
“Get on your back,” Mike said, shining his light in. “Head to the side again. I’ll brace your boots. Grab on and pull up and to the left as you’re looking, my right. Yo, Cedar! Next victim!”
Barb had been slithering and poking and sliding for what seemed like days and was, in fact, four hours when she finally got to a spot where she stopped.
“I can’t fit through that,” she said.
Barb’s impression of caves, she had realized, came from the mine in Snow White. Caves were supposed to be high things where you walked through going “ooo” and “ah!” at the pretty stalactites reflecting the light from your torches.
Caves were not supposed to be barely negotiable, narrow, dark and nasty tunnels. They had slid through mud twice, ducked under a “sump,” which was a restriction filled with water, and only been able to stand upright in two caverns. And those had neither stalactites nor happy, singing dwarves. And now this.
The irregular opening was barely a foot across and high. Or so it looked.
“Eh, you’d be surprised,” Argyll said, cocking his head from side to side. The cave before the opening was no great shakes, being barely two feet high, but it was wide enough the entire team had crowded in. “What I don’t get is, who the hell is this guy? He dragged this girl through all this? Why? How?”
They’d found not only more scraps of hair but bits of clothing along the way. There was no question at this point that they were on the trail of Loren Cowper. But Barb didn’t expect to find her alive and had made that very clear to the party.
“Hope you don’t find out,” Janea said. “You seriously think we can fit through there?”
“I’ve gotten through worse,” Thane said. “Want me to show them?”
“No, I’ve got it,” Argyll said. “I’ll make sure it’s doable then you ladies can follow. Better tie me off, though.”
Shane reached forward and slid a rope around the team lead’s ankle.
“Ready to yank,” Shane said.
Lazarus looked at her and yowled.
“Professor,” Barb said, looking at Lazarus. “If it’s doable, maybe I should go first. Heck, maybe Laz should go first.”
At that, Laz yowled again as if saying, “Not on your life.”
“No. It’s fine. Right,” Argyll said, folding his shoulders inwards. “You ladies are going to have to do this different, but…gimme a push.”
Cedar grasped his ankles and slid him forward, and the geology professor slid into the hole like a piston.
“Right, pull me out, this is a reverse entry,” Argyll said after a moment. He slid out, then flipped on his back. “We’re going up again.”
Cedar slid him back into the hole to the maximum extent of his arms, then pulled back out.
“Right,” Argyll said, his voice muffled. “Gonna have to wriggle this one. Ladies, the way that you’re going to have to do this is…” He paused for a moment, then screamed as the rope started flying through Thane’s hands.
“What the hell?” Thane shouted, grabbing on. But it continued to slide through his gloves.
The screams sounding from the hole echoed through the cave and were magnified until they cut off abruptly. There was a crunching sound from above and then a stream of blood gushed onto the floor of the cave.
“Oh, my God,” Cedar said, rolling to the side and retching.
“I think we found the perpetrator,” Barb said, looking at the hole. “I’m going to need my necessaries.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“Now, you understand these things don’t respond to the normal God stuff,” Janea said worriedly.
“The Lord has dominion over all things, seen and unseen,” Barb replied, looking askance at the opening. The much smaller professor had barely fit. She wasn’t looking forward to trying to slide up the slot. Much less fighting at the top. Or possibly not even at the top. “I’m more worried about sliding up that damned hole. Refresh me on cold steel.”
“Shamblers can normally be cut,” Janea said. “But they regenerate tentacles like mad. Cut one, you just get ichor all over you for your trouble.”
“Thane, I need my bag. Then there’s this chant thing.”
“A-ku-surgo, ka-ka-gree,” Janea repeated gutturally. “You’ve got to get the inflection on the gree.”
“Sounds like demon Tongues to me,” Barb said, looking over at the assistant. Thane was pressed against the back wall of the cave, wide-eyed. Cedar had disappeared, probably halfway back to the entrance. “Thane!” Barb slid across the slick floor and grabbed the assistant’s face, pulling it to look at her. “Eye contact! I need you to focus for me!”
“Sure…” the student said, his eyes still wide. He was shaking from head to foot.
“I need my bag,” Barb said. “You are sitting on it. You sure power of light won’t stop it?” she added to Janea.
“With you, no,” Janea said. “But generally you can throw Bibles and holy water at these things all day and nothing happens. They’re not strictly demons. They’re, like, some sort of remnant being. Maybe they were demons for dinosaurs. Who knows. But they sort of predate gods.”
“God created the world and all in it,” Barb said, taking the bag from the student. She slid towards the opening and slid the bag open, considering her choices. First she pulled out her H amp;K and buckled it on. It would make moving up the hole harder, but she wasn’t going to face this thing without a gun at least available. Then she pulled out two wakizashi, short, slightly curved Japanese folded steel swords. Last she pulled out a tanto knife of similar design.
“Except yours, I guess,” Janea said. “But don’t count on God helping you with this one. He rarely gets involved with Old Ones.”
“Ladies, are you talking about what I think you’re talking about?” Thane asked.
“That’s why I was supposed to be taking point,” Barb said, flicking both of the sheathed swords to the side so the sheaths clattered against the wall. She took one in either hand, and a deep breath. Closer to the hole she could smell the stink of the Old One. The professor must have been so caught up in his role of expert he hadn’t noticed. Or was it getting…?
“Is that a…slithering sound?” Janea asked.
“Looks like we get to depend on your pronunciation,” Barb said, backing up. “Now would be a good time!”
The creature emerging in the helmet lights was pure nightmare. Its very form was hard to determine. Mostly a mass of writhing tentacles, there were suckers and pseudopods extending in chaotic order, and everywhere there were eyes that were oddly human. The color was not black but a nauseous, leprous green that shaded to black and
