Malcolm signaled for Simon to wait with the lantern. He stepped cautiously into the subterranean lake, his Lancasters firmly in hand. He sank in and the frigid, stagnant water lapped at his thighs. Malcolm waded into the black. Simon waited a moment before he drew the sword from his walking stick and slipped the empty wood into his belt. He eased down into the water. He waved for Nick and the others to hold, and followed in the Scotsman’s wake. The hard bottom was slick.
They were halfway across when the water rippled between the two men. Simon caught a glimpse of white flash under the murky surface that veered toward Malcolm. Simon thrust his sword deep as if he were using a spear to fish. He struck true.
The water erupted in a wild torrent as whatever was beneath the surface thrashed about. Something heavy struck Simon across the back of the knees and he fell. The blade pulled free from its victim.
Malcolm spun back to see a monster rear out of the water and loom over Simon. Most noticeable was a great mouth of razor-sharp teeth, much like a shark, but it had muscular arms that lifted it up. The gaping mouth set beneath bulbous eyes snapped as Simon thrashed backward in the vile water. A Lancaster came up and fired off a round. The thick, heavy tail struck Malcolm’s chest hard enough for him to lose his breath. The beast flopped back down and disappeared with a twitch of its powerful tail.
“Bloody hell!” Malcolm helped a sputtering Simon to his feet.
“Are you all right?” Nick shouted to them, almost stepping down himself before Simon waved him back.
“What was that?” Nick asked.
“A homunculus,” Simon told them. “Part salamander, or maybe part fish.”
He slicked back his hair, eyeing the water around him. He and Malcolm were in the center of the junction lake with nowhere to climb for safety. Lantern beams swept the black water.
“I can’t see it.” Malcolm cast about.
“There!” Nick shouted as something crested to their left.
A white streak leapt for Malcolm, its body coming half out of the water, but it never landed on the Scotsman. Simon grasped the tail with one arm, and his sword stabbed deep into the flesh to provide a better hold. The monster was jerked to a halt. Simon used his new strength to swing the creature and slam it hard against a column. Bricks cracked at the impact and black blood splattered, adding new ichor to the already stained walls.
Malcolm wasted no time and pulled one of Penny’s standard grenades. As soon as the great mouth swung to him, gaping wide, he shoved the device inside the toothy maw. “Let it go!”
Simon obeyed, yanking out his sword, and the beast dove again. Both men struggled for the far side as best they could in hip-deep water. There was a muffled whomp. Water and sordid debris blew up, then rained down. A hot breath of putrid exhalation coursed over them all as bits of pale white flesh fell all around them.
“Oi, that’s disgusting!” exclaimed Penny. “But bloody effective!”
Simon got his feet on dry ground and pulled Malcolm up beside him. He held his injured arm with a grimace.
“If I get cholera from being down here, I’ll be blaming you.” Malcolm’s thick finger stabbed Simon in the chest.
“Let’s not argue in front of the children, dear.” Simon pulled out a vial of Kate’s rejuvenating elixir and took a swallow. He waved the others across.
Malcolm kept a close eye on the water’s surface, while Simon assisted everyone up onto the landing. Luckily there was nothing more hiding in the pool.
Nick warned, “Drink that elixir sparingly.”
“Of course,” was Simon’s quick reply. He couldn’t tell his friend just how miserable he felt. Every single one of them was in the same state.
Nick’s breath was an exasperated huff as he followed after Simon. They moved quickly, aiming east for a quarter of a mile. The catacomb grew wider and the walls still glistened wetly, but the standing water existed only in small pools in the corners. They reached another arched junction where two more tunnels branched away. There was one just to their left, and another across the intersection some twenty yards away. As they came out into the vaulted chamber, everything grew deathly silent save for their own footsteps.
Low growls brought everyone to a halt. Something shifted in the dark straight ahead in the mouth of the passageway, hiding in the shadows, with breathing loud and throaty. It wasn’t trying to be stealthy. It wanted its prey to know it was there, stalking, hunting.
Malcolm raised his weapons at the archway straight ahead but resisted the urge to fire blindly into the darkness. Then the sound of breathing could be heard from the closer tunnel to the left as well. Simon turned in that direction.
Malcolm growled, “Show yourselves, you miserable monsters!”