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“There it is again!” shouted Esmerelda.
The drab green and brown body was halfway across the skiff. Daemona saw that was not that wide, just a uniform size only about as big around as her own arm. She couldn’t see the head, but guessed she could grab the tail and throw it back into the river.
“Daemona, don’t,” cautioned Ghul Lykos.
But she had already picked up the snake and made ready to toss it. Like the jaws of a trap snapping shut, the end of the snake looped around her three times over gripping her fast.
“What the devil!” shouted Daemona, as she tried to back away. The rest of the tail was now angling straight back into the water a good ten feet. No snake could be that long and still so thin. Ghul Lykos went to cut the thing with his blade but it yanked and pulled Daemona into the deep.
Her cry of surprise gave her a mouthful of brackish water.
She ported back to the skiff, soaking wet. Leeches already clung to her body. “What was that?”
“Chimera of some kind, I’d wager. Get ready,” said Ghul Lykos.
Nothing happened a long moment. Everyone was on edge, weapons ready. But only the current of the river and the mist surrounding them moved. After five minutes of nothing, they relaxed a little.
“What should I do?” asked Miniver.
Ghul Lykos whispered, “Get us out of here. Make the sail, we’ll try and catch whatever wind we can to assist us in hurrying away.”
Miniver dropped the skiff’s tiny sail and the little craft picked up just a tiny hint of speed from the light breeze. Almost immediately another great bump rocked the craft. Ghul Lykos caught himself before being tossed into the river and a bit of the gear did go overboard. Ivy reached to recover the still floating pack, but a green snake’s tail wrapped around the backpack and took it under.
She turned around to warn the others but then the biggest bump of all sent the entire craft flying into the air. It came down with a horrendous splash. Esmerelda, Miniver and Daemona went overboard.
Esmerelda was dogpaddling and choking on the river while trying to cry out for help. Ghul Lykos grabbed the nape of her neck and pulled her aboard.
Daemona blinked back aboard furious and scanned the water for the enemy. Miniver managed to clamber aboard, but a green snake tail stole his boot.
“This thing is gonna get it!” snarled Daemona. “Wait, where is Harlin!” She looked in her satchel and he was gone. She looked out over the river and panicked. “He’s gone! I’ve lost him forever!”
“Easy, he’s right here,” said Miniver, pointing to the miserable toad, sitting beneath a bench.
Daemona snatched him up and put him back in the satchel. “You stay put!”
“Ribbit.”
The water in front of the skiff began to boil as something massive rose from the depths. They all turned to see the monstrous being. It was green, the same as the snake tails except now they could see that the snake tails were a horrendous multitude of long tentacles coming from what at first appeared to be a giant man-like body but with a squid’s face. It stood twice as tall as the skiff and of course they could not see its feet.
“Goddess preserve us!” cried Miniver, frozen in place.
Esmerelda was screaming.
“An old one from the nether,” growled Ghul Lykos. Suddenly his own body rippled and shifted as he became a werewolf. He leapt at the vague colossal face and tore at its eyes with his claws and teeth.
The old one reared back and swept him aside with a brush of its great clammy hand.
Ivy shot arrow after arrow into its great flabby hide, but that it had any effect seemed doubtful, as if the old one took no notice of the attack.
Daemona ported to the top of its head and plunged her daggers down into the squishy green skull.
The great hand came flailing up at her and she ported away just before it slammed down.
Ghul Lykos had swum back from wherever he had been tossed and was sinking his claws into the monster’s sides, climbing up its body and gouging out terrible wounds on his ascent.
Daemona continued to port and stab at the giant monster, but it didn’t seem to be doing as much damage as she would have liked. She remembered fighting the rust golem, but that monstrosity had damaged itself more than she ever could, but this thing was too clever to tear at itself even to get her. There had to be another way.
The old one could catch the werewolf though. It leaned and took Ghul Lykos in a dozen tentacles before getting a better grip on him with its scaly hand. It started squeezing the life from him. Ghul Lykos howled in pain, at least until his air was stolen and he could no longer move or breathe.
