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"I don’t like this. It’s unnaturally dark,” Sable murmured, her hand extended to fill the cave’s passage with soft light.

“Come on, Sable. The worst we’ll find is some hibernating bear,” Thenry reassured her, prompting a sigh as she calmed, her chest rising and falling beneath her white shirt. The four continued deeper until the tunnel forked. Nichye pulled a torch from his pack, sparking it to life with ease. “How about we split up, cover more ground, and meet back here in thirty minutes?” he suggested.

“Split up?! That’s–” Sable began, but Thenry cut in smoothly. “Not a terrible idea. You and Kali can take the left; Sable and I will go right.”

Sable hesitated, her protest fading. “T– Yeah… that could work.”

“Sounds good to me. You two enjoy fumbling around in the dark,” Kali teased with a smirk, striding confidently down one of the passages. Nichye followed, casting Thenry and Sable a knowing look as he trailed behind.

As Thenry led the way, Sable threw a glance down the dark cavern ahead. “You sure splitting up was wise?”

“Why not? We work just as well in pairs as we do as a team,” he replied nonchalantly, not a hint of doubt in his voice. Sable bit her lip, a slight unease lingering as she jogged to catch up, her hand still casting light. She couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a bad idea—but not for the reason she thought.

Nichye glanced sidelong at Kali. “Think Thenry has any clue?”

“Doubt it. Great with a sword, but oblivious to people,” Kali replied, scanning the shadows flickering on the walls.

“Think Sable might… you know, make a move?”

“What, you mean like this?” Without warning, Kali smacked Nichye’s rear, making him yelp.

“Hey! No fair…” he muttered, his cheeks turning red as he averted his gaze.

Kali laughed. “For a tricky rogue, you’re awfully easy to catch off guard.”

“Yeah, well–” A sudden squelch underfoot stopped her in mid-sentence. Nichye halted a few steps ahead, glancing back.

“Kali, what… is that?” he whispered, eyes fixed on the floor. Beneath Kali’s boot and trailing up the walls and ceiling, thick, fleshy, root-like tendrils seemed embedded in the stone itself.

“Something alive,” she replied grimly, drawing her axe. She lifted her foot carefully from the strange growth. “Let’s be careful. Watch your step.”

“Shouldn’t we… go back?” Nichye murmured as Kali pressed onward, determined, her eyes steely. He kept close, carefully stepping on solid stone as he followed her through the twisting cave.

As they trekked further into the tunnels, the natural stone surface became increasingly replaced by fleshy tendrils and tentacles, some of which seemed to shift and writhe subtly. Soon enough, it got to the point where the two couldn’t avoid stepping on the almost slimy surface. “I don’t think we’ll find a hibernating bear in here,” Kali stated, not slowing her stride for a moment as she kept her scanning the flesh, a stoic look on her face.

Nichye was getting increasingly worried, but refused to leave Kali’s side, not to mention he held the torch. “Kali, I think we should go back.” Just as he stated that, the two heard wet, squelching movement past the torch's light. Causing Nichye to unsheath his shortsword.

“You might be right Nichye,” Kali stated, despite moving toward the noise, causing him to halt for a few moments, conflicting thoughts going through his head before he murmured to himself, “Fuck…” As he ran up to Kali’s side, though slightly behind her.

As the two moved further in, a small dim red light appeared in the dark. It looked right at them as they stopped, staring back. A moment later, it darted forward, a small fleshy ball propelled by various tendrils protruding from it’s central mass, with one glowing red eye in the center. With a swing of her axe, the flesh ball split in two in the midst of it’s leap for Kali, dark purplish fluid splattering her armor. “Ugh… Gross” She scoffed, wiping some of the seemingly blood off her chestplate as the two halves were left unmoving.

“Well. That seemed easy enough…” Nichye said just as dozens more red eyes appeared in the darkness before them. “You had to say something,” Kali said with a sigh.

Thenry’s sword sliced cleanly through another of the fleshy creatures, dark fluid oozing from its ruptured form as it collapsed. But the red-eyed horrors kept coming, pressing forward in a relentless wave, their tendrils writhing as they propelled themselves across the cavern floor.

“Sable, there’s too many!” Thenry shouted, barely able to keep up with the creatures flinging themselves toward him.

Sable extended her hand, casting a glowing barrier that held back the nearest creatures. Her breaths came quick and shallow as she slashed at any that drew too close, their tendrils reaching out, blindly grasping. “They’re… they’re everywhere,” she gasped, her energy nearly drained.

More of the creatures pushed against her barrier, their pulsing bodies smearing it with dark fluid as they pressed closer, nearly crushing each other in their frenzy. The strain on her face was evident as the barrier flickered, cracks forming with each new impact.

Thenry stepped in front of her, swinging his sword in wide arcs to clear a path, but for every creature he cut down, three more seemed to surge forward, tendrils reaching out to ensnare his legs and slow his movements. “Sable, if that barrier fails—”

His words were cut short as her light finally dimmed, and the barrier shattered in a burst of fading energy. Sable stumbled back, her short sword raised as the creatures advanced, their red eyes fixed on them.

Then, from every corner of the cavern, more creatures poured in—dozens, perhaps hundreds, filling the tunnel with a suffocating presence. They moved as a single, pulsing mass along the floor, the walls, the ceiling, tendrils tangling and coiling as they surged forward, their weight bearing down like a rising tide.

Thenry tightened his grip on his sword, eyes scanning the oncoming horde. “There’s too many… Sable, run!”

The creatures pressed closer, tendrils wrapping around their ankles, pulling them down with surprising strength. Sable swung wildly, trying to slice through the bindings, but there were too many. As the horde swarmed over them, tendrils tangled around their arms and legs, dragging them down, their vision filled with nothing but writhing forms and crimson eyes.

With one last, **** swing, Thenry’s sword fell from his grip, swallowed by the pressing mass of creatures as they were overwhelmed.