The Caverns of Kronos

The Tunnels - Part 3

     “What are we going to do?” screamed Matthew, all sense of dignity swept away by his fear. “What are we going to do?”

     “Shut up!” screamed back Shaun, close to panic himself. "Just shut up!"

     He looked across at Thomas, still slumped against the airlock wall. He was the clever one. Solving problems was supposed to be his job, but the wizard was still barely conscious. He wasn't going to be any use to them in his present condition.
Then I guess it's down to me, the woodsman thought grimly, getting himself under control with an effort. I may get through life with my muscles rather than my head but I'm hardly a simpleton. I can think well enough to get us out of this meant. He concentrated on the problem, and almost immediately an idea came to him.

     “This airlock’s got two doors!” he exclaimed joyfully.

     “So what?” replied Matthew. “If it can go through one, it can go through both.”

     “But not at the same time,” cried Shaun. “When it comes through that door there, we’ll be standing in this doorway here, and we hit it with everything we’ve got. Arrows, spells, everything. If we hurt it, drive it away, we’ll still have this second door closing between us and it and we’ll be safe.”

     “And if we can’t drive it away?” demanded Matthew.

     “Then we’ll be no worse off than we are now. Have you got a better idea?”

     “Look!” screamed Lirenna, pointing at the first door, and they turned to see one of the creature’s sheep intestine tentacles gently touching the window. The toughened glass stretched inwards like transparent rubber, and the Tharians scrambled madly through the second door as the terrifying hiss of escaping air returned.

     "Come on, Tom," said Shaun, grabbing the wizard and shaking him until his eyes focused on him. "Get your spells ready."

     Thomas nodded and shook his head as if trying to drive a fuzziness away. Then he took up position just on the other side of the open door, where he was joined by Shaun, Jerry and Lirenna. They braced themselves to stand firm against the gale of rushing air, and watched in horrified fascination as the first door was torn apart as though it were made of tissue paper.

     The creature was buffeted back by the howling gale, but hung on to the mangled remains of the door with its tentacles, the rest of its body waving behind it like a wind-sock. Then it began to pull itself in, oozing in through the razor edged hole in the door, and the wizards called the words of attack spells to their minds, preparing to cast them. Shaun put an arrow to his bow, pulled it back, aimed right at the middle if its head where all the tentacles came together, and let it fly.

     At such close range he couldn’t miss, and the arrow sank right up to its feathered fletches in the soft flesh. The creature reared back, its whole body shuddering and spasming wildly, and the wizards followed up with a hail of firebolts that left burning scorchmarks in its soft, rubbery flesh. Shaun was forced to shift his position as the door started to close and he managed to shoot off one more arrow through the narrowing gap while above him, letting go of his handhold for a moment to float in the low gravity, Thomas cast his flaming sphere spell, using up the last of his sulphur and powdered iron in the process. He wouldn’t be able to cast that spell again until he renewed his stocks of those essential ingredients.

     They gathered around the window to see the effect their attack was having on the creature as the door clicked shut and silence fell again. Thomas’s flaming sphere was completely wasted as it burned out in the vacuum, but Shaun’s second arrow had lodged firmly in the creature’s side and it was thrashing around with all its tentacles in an attempt to knock it out. Shaun was interested to see small geysers of body fluids gushing out through both wounds, and deduced that its thick hide was what protected it against the vacuum. A good swing with a sword would probably have been devastating against it, he decided, if the wound could be inflicted before its innate ability to turn solid materials as soft as wet mud blunted its edge.