He betrays his wife to save her.

Having awoken past mid-day, from the longest and deepest sleep he'd had in years, Wiglaf came to the only conclusion he could.

Having spent some of the scant handful of hours he had before the appointed time cleaning himself as best he could, before returning to the inner cave. A brisk swim in a nearby river and a thorough scrubbing dealt with the muck and grime. His hair was neatly combed, and his combed beard was braided again. He had no mirror, so he could not shave, but he could stand straight, knowing that he was, at the very least, presentable.

As the sun just began to dip under the horizon, he lingered for a moment at his sword, but with a deep breath, passed it to step onto the center of the island. "I return, monstress!" he called, summoning her from the depths. "I accept your bargain. A day and a night, I am yours. Do with me what you wish."

The air in the inner cave shifted, and the heavy oppressive atmosphere within passed beyond him. As if there was a sigh of relief. Somehow, even the thin streams of fading light streaking in through the ceiling seemed even brighter. "Remove your coverings, Son of Gunnar. You will not need them," the creature's mate's voice said, from all around him, sounding pleased and excited, that suddenly turned spiteful and possessive. "Along with that."

Wiglaf raised an eyebrow but stayed silent. Despite not wanting to, he could not help but be amused at the creature's very human jealousy. Stripping off, he laid he armor and clothes on the ground in a neat pile, and taking off his necklace, he draped it reverently on the hilt of his sword. For a moment, he considered kissing his ring once more, but a menacing growl bouncing off the walls stopped him. A smirk came to his lips, and he pet his sword, asking it to protect his gold ring.

Returning to the center, naked as the day he was born, he fought not to shiver. "Excellent," the creature's mate's voice purred in approval. "Now, step into the water."

Wiglaf frowned deeply. Coming towards the water's edge, he looked into it and was met with his reflection. Keeping his lips tight, he looked up and around incredulously. "Get in the water." She commanded again, sounding annoyed that she had to repeat herself.

Shaking his head, he let out a deep exasperated sigh. Taking a few breaths to prepare himself, he slowly stepped into the water. The cold bit straight into his bones, but gritting his teeth, he continued on until he was up to his waist in the frigid water. "Now what?" he hissed, his teeth chattering around in his mouth.

Suddenly, a massive cluster of tentacles burst out of the water in front of him. Within moments, they coiled around him in their slimy embrace, barely giving him time to even yell, before dragging him down into the depths.

For a split-second, he saw that he was being pulled through an underwater tunnel, before suddenly picking up tremendous speed. His eyes shut themselves by instinct, their only protection from being blinded by the sheer force of the water slamming into his head. However, through all the turbulence in the water, he could surmise that the only way she could attain such a speed was from using her tentacles to hook onto the tunnel walls and pulling them forwards.

A twist, a turn, a rise, another turn. He tried keeping track of her movements, but his rapidly depleting air and being jostled around made that almost impossible. His starved lungs were screaming at him to take a breath, but to do so would guarantee certain death. His body started to get heavier and heavier, and his mind started to fade...