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Chapter 8 by bopoznuvt bopoznuvt

Does Althea shake off the fear and escape?

Yes.

Sorrow weighed on Althea's heart, anchoring her feet in place, but when the hollow, inhuman howl rose from the dwarf's throat, she knew there was no saving the mercenary. The acolyte scurried back, barely ducking beneath a swiping, black tentacle as she passed. She was close now, the door was almost in reach-- THWAK! Suddenly, one of the thrashing tendrils lashed around Althea's wrist, tugging firmly. It took all of her effort not to stumble again, but she remained upright. Hastily, Althea plucked the ceremonial knife from her belt and uttered a word of prayer to her patron goddess. Her will to live ignited the blade with radiant light. Lorna-- or what was once Lorna-- hissed menacingly at the luminous chant. Empowered with divine wrath, Althea sliced through the lashing tentacle with ease, sizzling the flesh on contact.

Lorna's belly quivered in agony as it retracted the severed appendage. Each tremble sent ripples across the undead's mottled, moldy gut. Several of the thick, black veins snaking across its surface pulsed like the mockery of a beating heart. Althea at last reached the rusty, vault door and leapt through. Whirling about, she looked back in time to see the dwarf's belly expand outward once more. Lorna's navel parted wider, but then her tummy started to deflate with an audible hiss. A miasmic cloud of black spores erupted from her belly button, and the undead dwarf let out a discomforting moan of pleasure. Panicked at the thought of what such spores could do if they got loose, Althea strained to push the door closed. THUMP THUMP! Two of the tendrils now lodged themselves in the door gap, refusing to let the fungal garden be sealed again.

"Begone from the light of day!" Althea shouted and threw her shoulder into the door, tearing the ends of the tendrils off as it creaked shut. Only after hearing the telltale metallic clunk of the lock falling into place did Althea let her muscles relax. She slid down the face of the door, even as the muffled wails of the bloated, undead dwarf echoed softly behind her. Alone and exhausted from the terror and trauma, Althea curled her knees to her chest and wept quietly, offering prayers of solace for the souls of her departed companions. She just wanted to go home... but this was her trial of faith. As an acolyte of Helestria, she had **** but to persist and see her quest complete.

Does Althea encounter anything else in the tunnel shortcut?

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