The passageway Deeks entered was roomy enough for perhaps two people to swim side by side, and there was enough open water both above and below him for another swimmer. He stuck to the center of the space though, and swam as smoothly as he could. He knew that silt could be a real problem, and the easiest way to avoid stirring any up was to touch nothing and disturb the water as little as possible.
The quiet was even more pronounced than it had been in the galleries of the cave. All he could hear were the rhythmic sounds of his breathing; the quiet draw of air, and the burbling rush of expelled gas. The bubbles floated up to form small pools along the roof of the tunnel, glimmering like gellied pearls. He felt a sense of awe; this was a profound experience.
The passage angled downward, and Deeks figured he'd descended roughly 20 feet by the time the tunnel opened up into a submerged chamber. It was roughly 30 feet deep and wide enough so that his light barely reached the other side. He shone his hand light along the nearest wall, and felt his heart jump when he thought he glimpsed movement in one of the dark recesses. He saw no further signs of life though, so he turned back to the task at hand. Continuing to follow the guide wire, he moved closer to Sam.
Ahead, Sam had been searching for the item they'd come to find; to his relief, he located it quickly. The Leviathan hadn't made any effort to conceal the statuette, apparently trusting that the inaccessibility of the spot was sufficient security. He swam up to the rocky ledge on which the snake-headed lady perched, and looked for any signs of booby traps. Finding none, he put down the guide reel then reached out and picked up the figurine. It was about as long as his forearm, and heavy. He tucked it into the webbed bag he'd rigged across his chest, happy that he wouldn't have to swim far with the awkward weight.
Finished, he looked up just in time to catch sight of a sinuous form flashing toward him out of the darkness. Startled, he surged backward, and the giant moray eel missed its intended target. It had been going for the statuette, but its jaws closed around Sam's air hose instead. It thrashed, and Sam felt the regulator get torn from his mouth.
Then Deeks appeared, coming in from above and behind the creature. He got an arm around it, just below the head, and locked on with his other arm, in a type of wrestler's hold. Furious, the huge eel forgot about Sam and twisted away, Deeks riding it like some kind of demented bronc.
Sam checked his air hose, but it was torn through, the precious gas leaking away in a stream of bubbles. Nearby, all he could see of his partner's struggles was the beam of light from Deeks' headlamp slicing wildly through the dark water as they fought. He swam closer, and his own light showed Deeks hanging onto the eel for dear life, the fiendishly strong and supple body partially wrapped around him. The damn thing had to be at least 15 feet long.
Sam drew his dive knife, and grabbed onto Deeks. All three tumbled and spun, suspended in darkness, as he stabbed at the sinewy body of the eel. The blood that wafted out into the water was black, even when briefly illuminated by a passing beam of light. Bloody hell, Sam thought, the briefing hadn't included anything about non-humanoid Leviathan!
As quickly as he could, Sam pulled himself along Deeks' body to where he maintained his desperate grip on the head. Anchoring himself with a grip on Deeks' arm, Sam aimed below the jaw, and with two quick slices, managed to separate the eel's head from its body. He let himself float back, and Deeks fought his way free of the sinuous coils. The long form twisted and fell away, out of sight, and Sam made sure to retain his grip on the head. The last thing they needed was for the two segments to reattach, and come at them again.
Not that it would make much difference to Sam shortly, the exertion had shortened the time he could go without air. There was none above them, and there was no way he could make it back the way they'd come before he drowned. Even now, his vision had begun to grey.
Deeks, accustomed to being tumbled and tossed by waves while surfing, recovered his equilibrium quickly. The air bubbles that rose as he exhaled showed him which way was up, helping him to reorient himself. He'd dropped his hand light early in the struggle with the eel, so he pulled out his spare.
Deeks sought out his dive partner, and when his light found Sam's face, he noted with shock that Sam's mouth was a grim line, his regulator gone. Grasping the urgency of the situation, he swam over, and removing his own mouthpiece, he offered it to Sam.
Beyond grateful, Sam took the proffered lifeline. After a couple of measured breaths, he passed the mouthpiece back to Deeks. As they hung there in the water, buddy-breathing and getting their heart rates back under control, silt rose up about them in billowing waves. Soon, they could see nothing but suspended particles all around them, reflecting back their lights; it was like being lost in a snowstorm. They'd survived the attack, but their situation was still dire. They were both air-hungry after the fight, sharing what remained in Deeks' single tank; they'd lost the guide wire, and visibility was nil.
Crap, Deeks thought. Kensi was going to kill him.
Kensi and Callen stopped when the rocky corridor they were travelling came to a dead end. Dumping her pack on the ground, Kensi looked up at the wide crack that bisected the ceiling; from here, they would have to climb.
They broke out the ropes, harnesses, shoes, and other gear. Thanks to the office climbing wall, they actually felt comfortable with this challenge. Callen set up to belay Kensi, then made a stirrup of his hands, and gave her a boost so that she could reach the bottom lip of the crack.
The two walls of the crack were too far apart for stemming, the practice of bracing a leg on either side, so Kensi had to choose which side to climb. The right-hand wall had better holds, and she was already on it, so she started up that one. At regular intervals, she placed spring-loaded camming devices into small cracks, feeding her rope through the attached carabiners.
When she ran low on cams, she found a spot where she could anchor herself, and prepared to belay Callen. As he worked his way up, he removed the cams and brought them with him. Once he passed Kensi, he began to set the protection points along the next pitch.
Callen reached the top before another belay point was needed. Since they were nearly to their goal, where they were most likely to encounter opposition, he anchored and waited for Kensi to join him before sticking his head above the rim.
As she passed the last protection point, Kensi moved off to the left, putting some space between them. She set two more cams, which would take the brunt of her weight and keep her separate from Callen, if they were both to fall at the same time.
Set, she nodded to Callen, and together they eased up to look over the top edge. Their lights were not powerful enough to illuminate the large open space. She had the impression of walls rising out and away on all sides, which probably gave the chamber its name, the Bowl Room. They were poking their heads out of a crack in the bottom of the bowl.
She shone her light around, but saw nothing but bare rock. Slowly, she levered herself into a standing position. Looking to her right, she saw that Callen had done the same.
'I see it!', he suddenly said, excitement in his voice. She followed his light to a small alcove in the rock wall, where the cat-headed figurine they'd come to find stood in lonely splendor. He'd taken a single step toward it when an inhuman, bloodcurdling scream froze both of them in place.
When the atavistic fear response eased its first icy grip, she snapped her head up to find the source of the terrible sound. A deep, rumbling growl helped her zone in on a ledge high on the wall across from her, at the limit of her light's reach. Eerily glowing eyes shone in the darkness, then she saw ivory fangs as the cougar opened its mouth to issue another of those yowling, heart-stopping screams.
Kensi rapidly considered options, her eyes fixed on the menacing form of the big cat. Just how did one go about fighting a mountain lion? It studied her in return, its unblinking gaze unnerving. The cougar's tail lashed back and forth, and it settled a little further into its crouch. It was about to spring.
She'd better not die, she thought inanely. Deeks was never going to let her hear the end of it as it was.
'Son of a bitch!,' Dean swore, as his knee slammed painfully into a rock. He was getting heartily sick of this place. And oh joy, now he had to crawl on his throbbing knee, as the passage ahead shrank to a four-foot clearance. Again.
Muttering to himself, he negotiated the small space, pushing his pack ahead of him. When the passageway opened up again, he straightened with a groan of relief. His first hint that he'd reached the chamber they sought came when he heard a low, menacing growl issue forth from the darkness on his left.
Dean snapped his head around, his light finding a huge, snarling Rottweiler staring at him, mere feet away. Ice skated down his spine, and hair stood on end all over his body. He'd faced some of the scariest monsters known to creation with aplomb, but dogs still had the power to scare him silly. Okay sure, he'd been stalked and killed by a hellhound once, but really, shouldn't he be getting over that by now?
Then, to Dean's great surprise, the dog's head deformed, folding back to reveal the massive teeth and forked tongue of a Leviathan. 'Fuck me,' he breathed, stunned. A second rumbling growl sounded to Dean's right, and his eyes darted to its source. Another Rottweiler showed its true nature in the same way. He felt a sudden affinity with Ryan Reynolds' character in Blade: Trinity. 'Fuck me, sideways. All that's missing is the damned Pomeranian.'
Actually though, Dean felt fear ease its grip on him. The Leviathan may have meant to intimidate with their monstrousness, but they'd unknowingly given him an advantage. He'd spent a year beheading Leviathan in Purgatory, he knew how to handle them. Granted, he'd never encountered one in anything but liquid or human form, but they were still a known factor. Also, not really dogs.
However, he'd been caught flat-footed. He had no weapon ready to hand, and the two massive black and tan animals were poised to attack. Some Hunter, he thought with disgust. He deserved to get eaten.