Chapter Twenty-Four: The Prelude of Unease

Time passed, minute by minute, second by second. The oppressive atmosphere weighed on the patrol like a boulder, pressing down on them all. Not only was the serpentfolk captain pacing about anxiously, even Iris’s expression grew ever darker. As one of the vampiric kind, she could keenly sense the aura of the half-vampires she had dispatched fading rapidly, but she couldn’t determine whether it was simply due to distance or if they had run into some danger. She had confidence in her subordinates’ strength.

Nonetheless…

“We can’t wait any longer, my lady.”

This time it was the tiefling who first lost patience, which was only natural. They’d wasted far too much time, halting and starting as they moved. Now, so much time had passed with no word from any of the three passageways—were they supposed to camp here for an entire day, waiting for a reply? Supplies were also a concern. Even half-vampires required sustenance, and the patrol had come prepared to search, investigate, and fight—not like a merchant caravan on a wilderness journey, loaded with provisions. What they had now would last three or four days at best, not even counting the return trip. If this kept up, they’d risk being trapped here, starving to death!

“There’s no helping it. This is all we can do.” Iris knew the situation was dire. No response from any of the three passageways—not even an emergency signal—spoke volumes. There was nowhere left to retreat; their only choice was to press on, whatever dangers lay ahead. Even if the path forward was a gauntlet of blades and fire, they had no option but to charge through.

With that in mind, Iris swiftly issued her orders.

“Everyone, gather! Stay alert. We move out!”

This time, she did not split their numbers for safety’s sake. They had already divided their forces enough for scouting; to do so again would spell utter annihilation. Instead, Iris chose to gather the remaining members and advance through the central passageway. Since none of the three routes had yielded any response, now all she could rely on was a woman’s intuition.

And, well… intuition had often served her well.

“How strange…” The deeper they ventured, the more unsettled Iris felt. Traps, the winding subterranean labyrinth, that pervasive sense of lurking danger—all of it stirred a faint sense of familiarity within her, as if she’d encountered something like this before in her readings. Yet the harder she tried to recall, the thicker the fog of memory in her mind became. It was maddening, like tracing the outline of something she almost recognized, but couldn’t quite identify.

An underground tomb? No, that wasn’t right. She’d investigated several subterranean crypts before, and this was entirely different. There were no burial chambers, no inscriptions, not even a hint of corpses or undead. Perhaps an abandoned underground city? But that didn’t fit either. Though the stone slabs underfoot bore clear signs of artificial construction, there were no buildings, no signs of habitation, none of the hallmarks typical of underground settlements.

Then what was this place?

Iris forced herself to remain calm, comparing her memories to everything she saw, only to dismiss each hypothesis in turn. The further she pressed, the greater her unease grew, tension and dread making her heart race. Deep down, she sensed she knew this place, but the answer eluded her.

Whatever the truth, she was certain of one thing: this was no good place.

At that moment, the patrol abruptly halted again. Soon, a commotion arose not far ahead, snapping Iris from her thoughts. She looked forward, just in time to see the tiefling leader hurrying toward her, face pale, hands gripping his dagger so tightly that veins stood out. Even his blood-red eyes betrayed his anxiety.

“My lady, we have a problem.”

When Iris, led by the tiefling chief, reached the front of the formation, she immediately understood what he meant by “problem.”

Before her lay the corpses of the three soldiers sent ahead to scout, sprawled in grotesque disarray. Their faces were frozen in terror, their mutilated bodies reeking of blood, the scene of death too grisly to behold. On the other side, the serpentfolk captain stood rigid, face ashen, saying nothing. His trembling frame, however, betrayed the fury threatening to overwhelm him.

It was no wonder. Since arriving in this accursed place, they’d endured nothing but misfortune—first ambushed by traps, then wandering for half a day without seeing a soul. Now, their search party had been wiped out. Iris was certain that if any monster appeared before the serpentfolk captain now, he would tear it to pieces.

“It seems they encountered a fight here,” Iris observed, studying the signs of struggle.

“The enemy struck suddenly, catching our scouts completely off guard… There’s no trace of magic. It must have been some kind of subterranean creature, but…”

She frowned, staring at the corpses. One was a half-vampire, who now lay utterly bereft of the elegance of his kind, hands twisted and clawing at the ground—not as though he’d fought, but as if he’d tried desperately to escape. The obvious cause of death was the blow that had pierced his skull. Yet something strange caught Iris’s eye: a pronounced bulge at the very center of his chest.

Not only him—on closer inspection, the tiefling and serpentfolk corpses beside him bore the same mark, in exactly the same place. Only, where their chests should have bulged, there now gaped two large holes, their cause unknowable.

“What is this?” she asked.

“I have no idea, my lady,” the tiefling leader replied, shaking his head in bewilderment. That was why he’d asked Iris to come and see. By rights, the dead should be left to rest, but now something inexplicable occupied their bodies—and, disturbingly, it seemed to be pulsing ever so slightly.

Could something still be alive inside?

“I… can’t say for sure,” Iris admitted after a long scrutiny. Clearly, nothing in her studies matched what she saw here. At this point, the serpentfolk captain, already agitated, finally lost his patience.

“What’s the point in all this talk? Just cut it open and see!” he barked, raising his sword. Before Iris could protest, he brought it down hard.

With a bang, the swollen bulge burst open as the sword split the corpse, spraying vile yellow-green fluid in all directions.

“UnkaIsa!”

Fortunately, Iris reacted swiftly. Sensing danger, she pointed a finger, and the elemental warding spell she had prepared activated instantly, enveloping the group in a shimmering shield. The foul liquid splattered harmlessly off the barrier, sliding away like raindrops on glass.

Yet no one noticed that, as the fluid erupted, the corpse cleaved by the serpentfolk captain suddenly jerked upright. The dead serpentfolk’s eyes flew open, as if to sear the memory of his killer into his soul. In that instant, a white shape shot from the corpse’s mouth like lightning, hurling itself at the captain.

The acidic spray had masked the attack, so the captain saw nothing until it was too late. Elemental wards could block magical assaults, but not physical ones. By the time he registered the blur of white, a soft, mask-like creature had wrapped itself tightly around his face.

“Get off me, you ugly beast!”

As a seasoned warrior, the serpentfolk captain did not panic. While others might have frozen in terror, he acted decisively, seizing the tail of the strange parasite and, with his free hand, slashing at it with his sword. The blade sliced cleanly between the creature and his flesh, and he flung the parasite to the ground, where it writhed briefly before falling still.

“Damn filthy vermin!” he spat, glaring at the grotesque thing. What in the hells was this?

“Are you alright, Captain?” Iris hurried over to inquire.

“I’m fine. This pathetic thing is nothing to me, my lady,” he replied, shaking his head. Still, he glared fiercely at the dead parasite. “But what in blazes is this thing?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t resemble any common underground creature,” Iris replied, frowning as she studied the corpse. Was this really what had killed the scouts? Could such a thing be so deadly?

“Damn this place. This is why I hate the Underdark—monsters and abominations everywhere!” the captain muttered, returning his sword to its sheath.

“Let’s move. Once I find whatever spawned these things, I’ll hack it into eight pieces!”

At his command, the group moved on. Only Iris lingered, casting a thoughtful glance at the parasite’s remains before she, too, departed.

No one noticed that, not long after their departure, small black shapes slithered from the mouths of the other two corpses. They hissed almost inaudibly, writhing like snakes as they darted after the patrol with frightening speed.