Chapter 159
The Drowned Fury
"Unbelievable." Howl raised his torch up high to marvel at the tunnel's high ceiling. "To think Xarek had this built beneath the castle…"
Shadow motioned for the wolf to keep quiet. He was already on high alert by the inordinately loud echo of their footsteps. The light of their torches barely broke through the oppressive darkness of the tunnel making it impossible to see how far it really went, or if there were any enemies up ahead.
The wolf captain led the way with Shadow taking a defensive position in the back. Between them, Roran and Amara lagged with every difficult step. Shadow was surprised that the priest had sacrificed so much of his own energy to revive Zertian, but he was grateful for the surprising action of foresight. Shadow had wondered what would come next if they actually managed to free the princess. From what he had seen at the imperial capital, there did not appear to be any hope of mobilizing a true civil war amongst the imperial armies. But Zertian had given them a name, and that was a place to start. If Robotnik's forces can even be partially divided that would be a huge gain.
Howl could not resist his amazement at the discovery of the tunnel, and seemed the only one of the group not silenced by a lingering sense of dread. "I don't understand. Xarek could have marched an army through here. Why did he allow his forces to be butchered?"
"He didn't build this for his army," Amara limped forward holding herself with her arms, she shivered violently despite the humid heat. "When the prince's army stormed the keep the castle began to sink. Xarek did not care if his soldiers died, all he wanted was to protect himself. He came here with only his personal guard and squire and hid in the tunnels. Those of his court followed him to the hidden entrance, but Xarek had it sealed off. Hundreds were butchered as they tried in vain to open the door."
"Then Xarek lived?" Howl asked in surprise.
Amara shook her head. "The gods cursed him for the killing of the prince. All his works were pulled into the swamp and when Xarek tried to escape he was cornered and destroyed. Only Xarek's squire survived to tell the story. The truth was hidden, preserved only in spoken legend passed within the descendants of the emperors."
"How did he die?"
Amara shrugged. "All that was said was that he was pulled back into the swamp by a monster, something that came to be named the Drowned Fury."
"Enough talking," Shadow snapped. He was not the only one to feel a cold pit open in his stomach at the mention of an unknown monster. Their best hope of getting away without any more trouble would be to pass through as silently as possible.
Half an hour passed in silent drudgery as they progressed at a snail's pace. Neither Amara nor Roran could walk very quickly, and no one was willing to put away the torches in order to carry them. Shadow tried to keep himself oriented by focusing on the pressure in the air. He figured that they were reaching the edge of the swamp as the murky humidity in the air began to be less pronounced.
"Look!" Howl broke the silence by running forward suddenly. He held his torch above a figure slumped up against the tunnel wall. The skeleton was still wet, coated in a thick layer of murky paste. A shield and spear lay broken beneath him rusted to the point of dust.
"One of Xarek's honor guards?" Howl asked.
Shadow frowned as he bent down to examine the body. The bones were covered in small puncture marks. His stomach turned as he realized that something had sucked the skin and muscles straight off the bones.
"This tunnel cannot go on much further," Howl said in a falsely confident voice. "We must be near the end. Whatever killed Xarek cannot still be here after all these centuries."
Shadow nodded and motioned for them to continue onward. However, now they walked in an even tighter circle. The gripping darkness that enveloped them just beyond the ring of torchlight loomed more menacing than ever. The faint drip of water joined the chorus that was the echo of their footsteps and the flickering of the torches.
With every step they took, Shadow felt the sense of threat growing larger and larger. By silent consent, everyone slowed down as they approached the nameless dread that awaited them. Somehow they all knew that whatever haunted this tunnel would be guarding the exit. "Something is out there," Roran whimpered faintly. "Can you feel it?"
Shadow's fur stood on end. A horrible putrid smell wafted towards them. "There must be an exit up ahead," He whispered. "The swamp is near."
Distantly, they could all see a faint blue circle that was growing steadily larger. Shadow's heart thundered rapidly in his chest. He wanted to break formation and make a desperate surge for the exit. Fear flooded his veins with adrenaline, and the suddenness of the panic caused Shadow to stagger.
Everyone seemed to experience the same sensation all at once. They came to a dead stop literally frozen by the terror of the tunnel. The dripping grew louder and was followed by a heavy sloshing sound. Howl drew back, covering Amara with his body, silently pushing Shadow to the front of the group.
Fear made his arm feel like a thousand pounds as Shadow lifted up his torch in a vain attempt to shed more light on the noise. Plop. Plop. Plop. A very pale light came into view. Shadow squinted to try and make out the shape, but the light constantly shifted and changed hue.
"It's him," Amara muttered under her breath. "The Drowned Fury."
"Get back!" Shadow yelled, shattering the tension of the moment like glass. Roran yelped and turned to run, but slipped on his robe and fell. His torch sputtered out instantly. The darkness swelled and they heard rapid motion break out in front of them.
Galvanized by fear, Shadow sprang forward and sent a jet of flame out of the Ring of Kings. The fire burst forth to cast a beacon of light upon the thing that seemed to materialize out of thin air. Shadow had a momentary glimpse of a beast with white skin before the fire dissolved into vapor.
CRACK! Lost in the darkness Shadow felt something leathery and wet slap across his face. The impact sent him careening into a tunnel wall, smashing his back into the heavy stone. A hundred scuttling limbs rushed through the gap to seize Howl, Amara and Roran. The torches died as their holders dropped them in their desperate attempt to escape.
Shadow rolled to his feet, grimacing from the pain that was flooding through his back. "Argh!" He let out a battle cry as he fired another bolt of fire from his bracelet. The brief spark of light illuminated a sight so grotesque that Shadow was frozen still.
He had no words to describe the shape of the monster. It appeared like a moving mess of gelatin made up of the bloated skin of a drowned corpse. There was no head or torso, but just a single towering mass of flesh. Dozens of squid-like arms burst out of the central body and were wrapping themselves around Howl, Roran, and Amara.
With the suspense of the moment ended, Shadow's fear receded as his battle instincts retook control. He dashed forward, sliding across the wet ground and jumped high above the creature. Shadow came down like a crashing star, tearing straight through the limbs. There was a guttural cry, like the sound of someone trying to expel liquid from their lungs.
Shadow's attack freed his companions. Howl was the first to recover, drawing forth his sword and motioning for Roran to retreat. "Take the princess and get back!"
The Drowned Fury proved the aptness of its name by unleashing a roar so piercing it caused the entire tunnel to shake. Undaunted, Shadow rolled into a spin dash and shot forward like a cannonball. He was too fast for the monster to try and avoid and he punctured right through the center of its body, tearing easily through the flesh that was as durable as wet paper and emerging on the other side.
Shadow landed and felt the wet skin flake into his fur. He nearly wretched at the smell. It doesn't just look like skin…Shadow pulled the strings out of his hair and watched them dissolve in his hands.
"ARGH!" The monster let out another roar and echoed its displeasure by flipping around and trying to squash Shadow. Its solid shape slackened to that of a gooey plasma as it tried to wash over Shadow like a giant wave of watery rubber.
Shadow turned and raced in the other direction, easily outpacing the attack. Moonlight came trickling downward, and Shadow saw that they were almost at the end of the tunnel. A huge vertical opening allowed the outside light to spill into the chamber.
His gratitude for this only lasted a second. Now that he was in the light, Shadow could see the monster in its totality. The mass of congealed skin was not some kind of fish or aquatic monster like Chaos. Hundreds of bloated corpses were tethered together, joined in a union of undead evil the likes of which only existed in the blackest of nightmares. The titanic flesh golem had no obvious means of projecting itself, but instead slithered forward like a snail.
Shadow swallowed down the temptation to vomit. He could be sick once the fight was over. Shadow channeled his rage and disgust and used that as fuel. He sped up the angled tunnel wall and used that to reach the ceiling. Once he was above the golem, he dropped down. His intention was to break through it again, but this time vertically down the center.
The golem slunk away with surprising quickness and a dozen tentacles burst out of its chest to try and catch Shadow. However, Shadow had been hoping for this exact response. He dodged the tentacles with the Reditus and instantly resumed his offensive attack. It didn't even try to stop the last time. This must be its weakness.
Shadow darted up the tunnel walls again, but this time he did so in a side crossing pattern, hoping to confuse the golem. More tentacles were unleashed, but Shadow avoided these with relative ease. He unleashed a jet of fire from the bracelet, which the golem countered by condensing its body and shooting a pressurized stream of water, as if it were a spunge that had just been squeezed.
The resulting fog of vapor concealed Shadow as he reached the center of the ceiling and crashed down a second time. Shadow closed his eyes as he once again broke straight through the skin of golem and thundered down its body. When he reached the bottom, he was completely enveloped by the rubbery skin. Shadow held up the bracelet and used the Ring of Kings to blast his way out.
As he had hoped, the golem could not defend from this position. The white skin blackened and shriveled from the heat of the fire. Shadow burst out of the center of the now deflating mass of charred skin.
He stood back and watched as what remained of the golem withered and shrunk. Howl, Roran and Amara reached him a few moments later. "Is it dead?" Howl asked.
"I think so-" But the words died on Shadow's lips. The final wisps of wrinkled skin began to boil and exhaust a grayish mist. Bubbles rippled over the tattered flesh as they started to wiggle and congeal towards a steadily growing center. Shadow and the others watched in horror as the golem reformed, but now in a distinguished shape. The creature was tall and hunched and had the passing resemblance of a gigantic wolverine.
It's head fell back and it roared with a voice clogged with choking water. "It's him!" Howl shrieked. "It's the prince!" The wolf captain surged forward and held his sword up high. "Please, prince Aren, we are not your father. We had no part in your death. Let us pass!"
The creature took no notice of this appeal. It groaned as its body continued to solidify
"That won't work," Shadow insisted, but Howl stood his ground.
"Prince Aren! Your father is dead. The house of Xarek is a ruin. You have had your revenge, let us pass!"
At the mention of the name "Xarek" the creature suddenly became rigid. Its head swerved down to glower at Howl. Its face, horribly stretched and impossibly disfigured, fixed in an expression of mindless rage. Two gelatinous red orbs popped into being at the center of the face. The eyes roved in a rapid spiral before locking onto Amara. Everyone followed suit. The girl covered herself and screamed in terror.
Howl acted instantly. He leapt sideways just as the drowned corpse of the cursed prince lunged forward. Howl was swept away by a huge arm, but the delay gave Roran the time to grab Amara and fling her to safety. The Drowned Fury roared and made another attempt to seize the girl, but he was blocked by Shadow.
"Die already!" Shadow fired another stream of fire at the monster, but the attack was countered. The drowned prince opened up his mouth to a disgusting extreme and belched out a horrid stream of foul swamp water. Shadow's fire was quickly extinguished and he was left temporarily vulnerable.
A heavy arm swung at him and Shadow just had time to cover his face as the heavy limb slammed him against the tunnel wall. The fingers of the hand split apart into a mass of tentacles that quickly set to coiling themselves around Shadow's wrist and ankles.
"Argh!" Howl came slashing forward with his sword and cut the tentacles before they could finish pinning Shadow down. The dead limbs dissolved instantly into water when they hit the ground, and before either Howl or Shadow could get far, they instantly regenerated.
"Damn it all!" Shadow risked an extended use of the Reditus in order to get in close to the prince. He struck the neck with a heavy kick and followed up with a rapid series of punches that were potent enough to break the head free from the torso. Time resumed its usual course just as the head went spinning through the air. Shadow remained on guard and was ready for when the monster quickly regenerated.
"I'm getting sick of that trick," Shadow spat. "Can't anything on this planet just die?"
"It is a curse," Howl said. "You cannot break a curse by punching it."
Shadow's eyes darted to Roran who was busy trying to carry Amara as far from the battle as he could. "Hold it off!" He raced back down the tunnel, ducking under an arm that came swerving down on him. When he reached Roran, the priest had just collapsed. Amara spilled out of his arms and fell to the floor.
"We need you," Shadow said as he picked Roran up.
"I..I can barely stand," Roran muttered. "Releasing Zertian…drained me…"
"Listen to me," Shadow shook the priest by the shoulders. "That spell of yours. Can you do it one more time?"
Roran's eyes flashed. "It is not a spell. I simply reverse the evil that was already at work."
"I don't care what you call it, can you do it one more time?"
Roran breathed heavily. His hands were trembling. "Maybe…I… I don't know."
"I can't kill this thing in a normal way. Howl and I will have to pin it down somehow but you have to lift whatever curse or magic is keeping it going."
Roran looked down at Amara. "What about-"
"She'll have to take care of herself." Shadow pulled Roran by the hem of his robe and pushed him back towards the battle. He then looked back at Amara who was slowly crawling away. "Stay out of sight, and wait here."
Howl tried in vain to keep the monster at bay. The prince roared as a horde of independent limbs burst out of its back and came slashing down at the wolf. Howl's sword sang as he cut dozens of them into pieces, but he was too occupied by the tentacles to avoid the blast of water the monster belched like a geyser. Howl's sword popped out of his hand as the current washed him down.
Shadow leapt up and caught the sword while Roran reached down and pulled Howl out of the rushing water. "Thanks," Howl sputtered as Shadow handed him back his weapon.
The trio converged around the Drowned Fury. It screamed and pawed at the floor. Hundreds of tentacles burst out of its back and floated eerily in the air, moving awkwardly like the giant balloons Shadow had seen humans use to advertise used cars.
"Howl and I will make an opening," Shadow said. "Once the monster is distracted, that will be your chance priest."
"My name is Roran," The priest muttered.
Shadow ignored him. "Let's go!"
He burst forward in a shock of speed. The Drowned Fury bellowed and sprayed a jet of water into the air. Shadow slipped past the attack, and as he hoped, all the tendril limbs went lashing out at him. He dodged in midair by using the Ring of Kings to propel himself side to side.
Below him, Howl led a direct attack. The creature slashed down at him with its huge foreward legs, but Shadow could not follow the battle. He would occupy the bulk of the monster's offensive weapons and would simply have to hope that Howl could hold out on his own.
Let's see how you can handle this. Shadow sprang high into the air and the groping mass of tentacles followed. He rolled into a ball and crashed down, but darted to the side to avoid tearing through the limbs. Shadow activated the Reditus just as he hit the ground and accelerated back into the air.
Again and again, he prompted the tentacles to reach after him and then pretended to make a counter attack only to dart away at the last moment. The mindless arms of the beast made no notice of their position. Shadow risked looking away and saw that Howl was still on his feet. He couldn't advance further to the monster, as the creature kept him at bay with a continuous stream of putrid water.
I'll have to thank the doctor for teaching me geometry. Shadow smirked as he made a final pass around the Drowned Fury. The tentacles screamed after him. Shadow stopped in mid air and turned to face them. A few feet before tearing into his skin, the tentacles were suddenly pulled taut. The monster screamed as it was suddenly twisted within a net of its own wiggling limbs.
Shadow landed beside Howl and shook the filthy water out of his air. The Drowned Fury lay on its belly, its body completely cocooned. The harder it tried to free itself, the more tangled and trapped it became.
"The core is probably behind the head," Howl managed through heavy breaths.
"Then let's cut it out." Shadow held up his hand and focused all his remaining energy. "Chaos Blade!" The blue sword materialized into life and flashed in the gloomy darkness.
Together, Shadow and Howl blitzed forward. The Drowned Fury spat another geyser of water, but they darted to the side and avoided the blow. Shadow let out a battle cry as he leapt forward, spinning in midair until he and his blade became a blurred razor of frenetic motion.
Shadow tore through the mouth, tearing the face of the beast into ribbons. The Chaos blade cut through the watery skin with ease. However, that did not mean that Shadow had won. The skin of the Drowned Fury healed at nearly the same rate that Shadow hacked it apart. His initial surge had penetrated deep into the bowels of the monster, but now he was being squished by the rapid healing.
"Shadow!" Howl reached him a second later, cutting and hewing at the collapsing walls. "We have to keep our way open." The wolf braced his back into the gap they had carved through.
Shadow had reached the very center of the monster. A pulsing red wall of bloody mucus coated a single sphere set at the very heart of the beast. Shadow cut into it with his Chaos Blade and opened it down the center. He gasped and staggered back. A wolverine wearing regal armor floated in a state of suspended animation. Its skin was water logged and the body suffered from bloat.
"It's him!" Howl shouted. "It's the prince!"
Shadow grimaced as he struck with his sword. The blade cut the prince in two, but it was no use. The body instantly healed. The entire tunnel seemed to groan as the outer body yelped in pain.
"Priest! Get in here!"
Roran rushed forward. Howl was just able to hold open the gap of cut flesh forcing Roran to squeeze through on his hands and knees. "My name is Roran!"
"Do it!" Shadow ran past the priest and stood beside Howl. The gap was sinking rapidly and would soon trap them inside. Shadow crouched down, and fired a jet of fire from the Ring of Kings. The orange and red flames kept the path open.
Shadow bit his tongue as the floor beneath them trembled. It seemed that the Drowned Fury had finally managed to untangle itself. It roared and the sound echoed a dozen times louder from within the belly of the beast.
"Hurry!" Shadow yelled. Behind him, he could just make out the sound of Roran's muttered prayers.
"This spell is much older," Roran returned. "I…it is full of such hatred…"
Howl had been pushed down to his knees. Shadow could not keep the space they were in open while also keeping their exit clear. If Howl couldn't hold on, the ceiling would collapse and they would all be crushed.
The fires sparked and the continuous stream of heat faltered and died. Shadow lowered his arm. His heart rate slowed. Extended use of the Ring of Kings, and the Reditus had sapped him to the bone. Sound blurred as Shadow's vision oscillated. He saw two rapidly closing gaps that both spelled his immediate death. Shadow's Chaos Blade faded in a puff of blue light. He nearly dropped forward, but someone caught him by one the spines.
"One more effort!" Howl growled.
Shadow snapped back into focus. The two gaps steadied into one. He felt something open in his stomach as the last droves of his energy poured out in a final desperate effort. Shadow put everything into the Ring of Kings and sent out a powerful wave of fire. He turned his head back to see what had happened to Roran, and just in time he saw a flash of golden powder.
Roran fell back as the red core turned a withered black. The body of the prince had vanished. The watery walls of the monster's belly were rapidly turning into solid stone.
"Go!"
Shadow stopped the fire and stood back. Howl jumped through the opening and crawled away. "Priest!"
Roran staggered forward and squeezed into the gap. "My name is Roran," He huffed as he wiggled forward. The priest was much slower than Howl, and the collapsing body could still crush them. Shadow kicked at Roran's feet, just as Howl jumped back in and pulled the priest to freedom.
Shadow had less than a second to escape. He activated the Reditus and spin dashed through the opening. The skin petrified into stone and cut into Shadow's back. He was being compressed and would soon burst into a red bubble. Two hands reached out and seized Shadow by the hair. They yanked hard and all three of them fell backward, sliding on the wet surface of the tunnel.
They looked back as the Drowned Fury writhed and screeched. The mindless corpse of the Drowned Fury jerked and twisted as its skin hardened. Eventually, the twisting mass petrified completely.
Shadow stood up. What had once been a mutilated monster had transformed into a stone tree with hundreds of twisting branches. Carved into the bark of the trunk was the unmistakable form of the prince. The branches also had faces and bodies. The bloated bodies that had made up the monster had been laid to rest, preserved within the tree.
Shadow sighed heavily and sat down. Howl left him there and went running back into the tunnel. He arrived a minute later with princess Amara in his hands. She seemed to have passed out.
Roran sat beside Shadow with his head between his knees. The old priest was shaking badly. Shadow gave him a pat on the back. "Well done priest."