Descent into the Depths of the Earth

“Polk, I’m gonna give you such a pinch when we get outtahere!” Escalla yelled into the dark. “Jus, come on man, open the door! What’sthe hold up?”

On the other side of the door, the Justicar’s eyes bulged.The garotte around his neck jerked tight, and his fingers bled as he tried to pry the wire from his throat. The kuo-toa snarled, heaving backward on the garotte to try and tear Jus’ head off his shoulders. High priest of an assassincult, the kuo-toa hissed with the pleasure of the kill. Jus tried to rear and slam the monster against the walls, but the creature outweighed him, shoving him against a pillar and heaving viciously at the ranger’s neck.

Jus tried to punch backward with his fist but struck only the harsh hide of the monster’s arms. His elbow viciously slammed backward andfailed to connect. He tried to rake his boot sole down the monster’s shins, butthe creature hopped and stepped away. With his air shut off, Jus staggered and heaved, while at his belt Benelux cried out excitedly with advice.

Drop your weight! Turn into him! The sword jittered likea school marm. Look out! Don’t let him bite your head!

From the other side of the door, a little fist began pounding at the door.

“Jus! Jus, I mean it! This isn’t funny! There’s about amillion fish out here!”

Whipping his free hand down to his side, Jus tried to draw his sword. The weapon was too long to free from its scabbard until Jus loosed the first few inches, gripped the blade in his gauntlet and whipped the weapon clear.

A spell exploded somewhere on Escalla’s side of the corridor.

“Jus, open the door! Open the door!”

The Justicar rammed the sword hilt back, crashing the pommel into the kuo-toa’s skull. The fish snarled and ducked, the next blow glancingoff its angled skull. Jus reversed the blade and stabbed backward past his flank, slamming the weapon home and drawing a wild roar from the kuo-toa. Still the wounded creature held on, arching backward with renewed frenzy as it tried to tear the Justicar’s head off. Cinders thrashed to no avail, and blood pouredfrom Jus’ upper hand. The wire garotte had cut through his leather gauntlets toslice into the flesh of his hand like a giant razor blade.

Jus stabbed backward again-the sword skipped clear of fishscales-and then again, this time jamming into flesh. The kuo-toa screamed,released its garotte, and smashed down with its hand. Benelux clanged protesting to the floor, struck out of Jus’ bleeding grasp. Still holding the ranger frombehind, the kuo-toa tried to strangle him with its bare hands. It bit at his head, getting a mouthful of Cinders’ fur and breaking teeth on Jus’ metalhelm. The Justicar gave a vicious noise and grabbed the kuo-toa’s hand, snappinga finger and bringing yet another bellow of pain and rage. He broke a second finger, then a third, breathing at last through a throat that felt ragged with pain.

Behind him, the door exploded inward, flying to pieces, revealing a furious Escalla hovering in midair with magic still boiling around her fist.

“I said open the damned door!” Pausing in mid yell, thegirl saw the kuo-toa strangling Jus from behind. “Hang on!”

A flame bolt ploughed into the kuo-toa’s back, blasting openflesh and scales. With a roar of agony, the monster released Jus and whirled aside. An ice blast from Escalla’s wand hit it in the chest and sent thecreature skidding across the floor. Jus dived, the sword Benelux sweeping up in his hands as he snatched it from the floor. A crossbow bolt from Private Henry stabbed into the monster’s thigh. The creature made a swift look to a box in onecorner of the room. It opened its arms, screamed the syllables of a spell, and a magic gate flashed into being.

Jus and Escalla both lunged forward, Escalla smashing her lich staff into the creature’s back. An instant later, Jus gave a hoarse roarand speared his sword through the creature’s skull. Still screaming, its bodyflopping with horrid vitality, the kuo-toa leader took one step forward, drawing Jus and Escalla to the threshold of the gate.

Jus and Escalla stared for a brief moment into a watery universe of palaces and kelp. Enthroned on a couch of pearls sat a titanic being, a creature with a naked human female’s torso and the head and arms of alobster. Surrounded by countless thousands of priests, kuo-toa, carnivorous sea beasts, and lesser gods, the entity turned to look at the intruders at her door.

The dead priest tumbled forward into the water. Escalla gave the sea goddess a nervous little wave.

“This one’s broken! We were just returning it!”

The sea goddess roared.

Jus lunged back into the secret room, snatching Escalla out of the gateway an instant before it crashed shut.

The room was chaos. Kuo-toa raved, harpoons clanged against the walls, and the place stank like a slaughterhouse. Chained to the walls were the rotting bodies of half a dozen armored gnomes, their weapons and treasures at their feet. Rot-grubs still writhed through the corpses moving in and out of eye sockets.

Private Henry was madly turning the windlass of his crossbow, a quarrel held between his teeth. The magic tentacles were failing, and kuo-toa struggled past. Fingers shaking, Henry slapped in the quarrel and shot the leader, making the creature tumble and fall. His crossbow was empty, and still more kuo-toa charged into the room.

Desperately searching for an escape, the young soldier saw a crossbow lying among the weapons piled at the dead gnomes’ feet. He snatched itup and stared helplessly at the alien shape of the weapon. He made to fetch his own weapon back, but the kuo-toa surged forward with a hissing roar. Escalla pushed the boy back, opening her hands and sending a dense poisonous fog thundering out to fill the other room.

“Jus, find a damned exit! Hurry!”

There seemed to be no other doors. Looking swiftly at the walls, the Justicar lumbered over to the far end of the room, his bleeding fingers probing at his bruised throat as he ran. Every breath was agony. He threw a healing spell to repair the worst of the pain.

“Cinders, look for doors! That fish came here as an escaperoute!”

The hell hound wailed unhappily, fish-spittle dripping down his fur. Big fish bit me! Fur all gooey!

“We’ll wash it later! Look for doors!” Jus whirled, slamminghis sword pommel against a wall of solid stone to test for hollow spaces beyond.

Benelux gave a squawk of panic and outrage. I say! Careful! The sword screeched as she was used as a hammer yet again. Stop! No! Wait! One of my pommel pins is shaky!

Jus swore, striking chips from the stone as he hammered at the carved walls. With kuo-toa raving and blindly hurling spears, Escalla pushed Henry back toward the far wall, made to follow, caught sight of the kuo-toa priest’s box, and instantly swerved aside. The lid already stood open, and allsorts of glittery stuff could be seen inside. Escalla dived straight into the chest and began burrowing like a crazed little mole through coins, pearls, and knickknacks.

“Polk?”

“Yep?”

“Incoming!”

With the portable hole partly open, Escalla burrowed into the treasure trove, stuffing away anything light enough for her to shift. Pearls, loose change, a mummified thought-eater, a dead cone shell… Polk screechedas dross and rubbish showered him in his hidey hole.

Far across the room, Jus turned and bellowed hoarsely in rage, “Get out of there! Move!”

“But there’s still stuff here!”

“Do it!”

A kuo-toa staggered wheezing and reeling through the poisoned tog. The creature held a long staff tipped with pincers. It saw Escalla even as she flicked into invisibility. Lunging at her with the staff, it caught her tight. Escalla squealed, kicking her heels as she became visible once again. The girl sent an electrical shock chasing down the staff and into the fish monster’shands, causing absolutely no effect at all.

At the far wall, Jus bashed his sword hilt against solid rock, then suddenly heard the answering echo of a hollow space. He banged the sword on the wall again, and the pommel broke. Benelux screeched in dismay as the