Fauna's heart pounded in her chest as she clutched her staff, peering down the dim labyrinth tunnel. The distant screams she and Lamphrey had heard moments before were gone now, replaced by an eerie silence. The dust from the last quake still clouded the stale air, making it difficult to see more than ten feet in any direction. Even the glow of the flickering lights along the Duskmetal walls seemed to shrink away, unwilling to illuminate the horrors that might lurk in the darkness.

A slight hiss from Lamphrey brought Fauna's attention back to the Tialax mage. The tall lizardwoman stood with her staff held horizontally, eyes narrowed as she seemed to be listening to the darkness. "It's there," Lamphrey whispered, voice nearly lost in the muffled gloom. "I sense... many." Her long, scaled fingers gripped the staff's shaft tighter. "Too many."

Fauna glanced around, trying to muster her courage.

Her heart jolted when she finally glimpsed a movement in the gloom. The corridor behind them lay full of debris and twisted metal, but along its edges slithered a cluster of contorted shapes. It was as though the corridor itself spat them out of the shadows. At first, Fauna could only register that something big was crawling—shambling—toward them with jerky, unnatural movements. Then she saw the first twisted face, half Hopla and half Lizardman, protruding from a single fleshy mass.

Lamphrey took a single step back, staff at the ready. "It's an abomination," she snarled. "I can feel the hatred... the torment... every part of it screaming at once."

Fauna swallowed. Her mouth had gone painfully dry. The shuffling, wheezing mass was three times as wide as either of them, its form shifting as if the pieces comprising it couldn't decide how to fuse together. She spotted scaly limbs grafted into patches of Hopla fur, severed muzzles contorted into shrieks of agony, and the beginnings of a Lizardman's broad chest merged into what might have once been a Hopla's torso. The entire thing crawled on elongated, mismatched arms that dragged over the Duskmetal floor in a maddening clatter.

[Hoplax Abomination]

HP: 1250/1250

Fauna looked into the dark eyes of the beast, seeing the pain of her brothers and sisters who must have endured so much torture only to be made into this…thing.

He's trying to scare me…us, she thought.

She leveled her staff.

But it's not gonna work, this time.

"Stay behind me," Fauna whispere. A part of her doubted whether they stood any chance at all. But she knew well enough that if they remained idle, they'd meet a swift and horrific end.

Before they could decide on a plan, the monstrosity let out a piercing scream. The heads along its form wailed and howled, each at a slightly different pitch, creating a layered wail that twisted Fauna's insides with horror. The abomination sprang forward faster than she expected, all those limbs flailing and scraping the floor. She and Lamphrey lurched backward, nearly stumbling over rubble.

Lamphrey snarled a word in her native tongue, and a thin, greenish spell-light flickered around their ankles. "Kumrah!" she called, intoning the spell of Haste. At once, Fauna felt her legs grow light, as though some intangible weight had slipped free. She could sense her body respond to her slightest command, moving with surprising speed.

In unison, they sped backward through the corridor, staying just beyond the abomination's reach. The repulsive creature flopped forward, its many half-faces contorting with a blend of fury and agony. Fauna's heart hammered against her ribs as they retreated, but at least the twisted fiend was not closing the gap as quickly as before. Haste had given them a tiny advantage.

"We can't keep running without a plan," Fauna muttered, casting a glance at Lamphrey. Even with Haste, the labyrinth was a winding puzzle of corridors, passageways, and broken shafts. If they fled blindly, they could easily find themselves stuck in a dead end or an even worse part of the fortress.

Lamphrey responded by thrusting her staff forward. A swirling bolt of green energy—wild and luminous—flew from the tip, smashing into the abomination's leading limbs. One flesh-wrapped Lizardman arm ripped away on impact, disintegrating into black sludge. But from the parted flesh, a new, smaller face emerged, one that mewled and choked in a horrifying half-cry.

Fauna nearly dropped her staff at the sight. She had to steady herself, forcing back rising bile and horror.

"Arakis Ferdiman!" she hissed, voice trembling with adrenaline. A sharp whistle filled the corridor, and an arc of compressed air snapped toward the abomination. It struck the mass of writhing limbs with a wet crack, severing a chunk of flesh. A mixture of dark fluid splattered against the floor and a choir of disjointed screams tore at Fauna's ears.

They're already dead, she told herself. They're already dead...

The creature reeled, but even as it staggered, more lumps of flesh and bone squirmed out from the severed parts. Fauna felt her stomach wrench. "This thing just regenerates everything it loses," she called to Lamphrey, feeling the corners of her eyes burn with fear and frustration.

Lamphrey tightened her grip on her staff. "Then we must find a way to burn it out completely," she replied. Another quake ran through the floor, and the overhead lights flickered. "We can't do it here, though," Lamphrey continued, her voice a low hiss. "The corridor is too narrow for more powerful spells."

Fauna nodded. The labyrinth walls pressed in on them, and any large-scale magic could easily bring them down in a cascade of rubble. She pointed behind her with a thumb. "I saw a wider opening that way," she shouted. "Let's lead it there."

They both turned and ran deeper into the labyrinth, guided by the faint, sputtering lights. Their boots and claws rang out on the Duskmetal floor, leaving the twisted shrieking abomination behind for a moment. It followed quickly, its mass slapping and scraping across the corridor in steady pursuit.

Thanks to Lamphrey's Haste, they ran faster than they ever had before. Yet every few seconds, Fauna heard a thud or an echoing roar behind them. The abomination refused to relent. Even in its slow movement, it crept inexorably closer. The entire corridor stank of decay and corrupted magic, the stench intensifying with each monstrous wail.

They turned corner after corner, passing battered metal doorways and half-collapsed passages. Several times, they had to leap over piles of rubble. Whenever the abomination appeared too close, Lamphrey lashed out with a quick bolt of green energy or a slicing wave of air that crackled with magical sparks. Fauna joined with her own spells—Wind Pierce, Thorn Lash, and once, a small conjured Stone Spike that jutted from the floor. All to buy precious seconds. Every strike tore off limbs or momentarily impeded its mass. Yet each time, the horror knit itself back together in some unnatural patchwork of limbs, flesh, and scales.

Finally, they came upon a heavier bulkhead door that had been knocked off its hinges. Beyond it was a large circular chamber with thick metal pipes along the walls and a grated floor. At its center was a dark pool of stagnant water that rippled with each quake. The stale smell of old sewage hung in the air, and even though the labyrinth was sealed, water must have pooled from some long-broken reservoir down here.

Fauna skirted the edge of the circular space, nearly slipping on the damp metal floor. Lamphrey followed suit, both moving around the cistern-like room in a wide arc. "Get to the opposite side," Fauna instructed, voice echoing strangely off the curved walls. "We'll face it in here."

She was gambling on one crucial factor: space. Here, they could maneuver better, and perhaps—just perhaps—unleash something strong enough to destroy it without burying themselves in falling debris. The abomination screamed as it dragged itself through the open bulkhead and into the chamber after them.

"Now!" Lamphrey shouted, slamming her staff into the floor. A haze of greenish energy shimmered in front of her, forming runic circles that spun in midair. The Tialax mage chanted in a sharp hiss, her tone rising until the circles glowed with a fierce intensity.

Fauna braced herself, channeling the last of the Haste effect into her limbs so she could keep a safe distance. She tightened her hold on her staff, focusing on an offensive technique she rarely used. Her magic might be weakened here, but desperation fueled her. She began weaving her own runic pattern, lines of yellowish light dancing around her staff in a frenetic swirl.

The abomination edged into the center of the circular room, still screaming and drooling black gore. Its myriad faces jabbered in unison, all fixed upon them with twisted malevolence. One Lizardman mouth parted to hiss, while a Hopla snout next to it contorted into a silent wail.

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Lamphrey's magic coalesced in a brilliant burst of luminescent green. "I call upon the Memories of the Great Marsh," she intoned, thrusting her staff forward. "Let the waters drown your sins."

For a heartbeat, Fauna thought water would rush up from the floor. Instead, thick, green-tinged tendrils of ephemeral slime sprang from the cracks along the chamber's walls, seizing at the abomination's sides. The mass howled as the slime enveloped its lower limbs, pressing them into the grated floor. It thrashed wildly, yanking limbs free only to have them re-snagged by another slimy tendril.

Fauna seized her moment, finishing her own incantation. She felt raw power flow through her staff.

"Kresh Dolmen!" she cried.

Thin rays of brilliant light speared down from her stave and converged into a single, spear-like projectile. It sizzled with intense, solar energy before slamming into the abomination's side. The searing beam burned an entire swath of flesh from the creature's body.

For a brief, glorious moment, Fauna felt hope. The mass of patchwork bodies shuddered and slumped as more of the black gore sprayed the chamber floor. Several twisted mouths belched acrid smoke, shrieking in agony. The slime that Lamphrey conjured seemed to stifle its movements further, forcing it onto its side near the cistern's stagnant pool.

Then came a deafening crack. With a single surge, the abomination ripped one of its thicker, scaled arms free. The resulting force splintered the magical slime. Another quake wracked the floor—likely triggered by the abomination's violent thrashing. Fauna stumbled, nearly dropping her staff as the grates beneath her feet rattled. She looked up to see the abomination lurch forward, dragging half its fused body across the floor toward her.

Lamphrey grunted, stepping forward and sending another wave of emerald pulses from her staff, but the abomination batted it aside with a new, monstrous protrusion that looked like a melding of a Lizardman's tail and a Hopla's elongated paw. The magical barrage dissipated in a burst of sparks.

Fauna scrambled away, searching her repertoire of spells for something to hold it back. Though her staff trembled in her grip, she willed herself to keep calm. She had to trust that the environment here—the wide space, the water, the hidden pipes—could give them an edge.

She thrust her staff upward, summoning swirling currents of air. "Gale Surge!" she cried. A buffeting wind coiled around the abomination's upper body. It let out another shriek, multiple faces contorting, as the wind battered its flesh. While it staggered, Lamphrey pressed her advantage. She circled behind the beast, staff angled low, green magic crackling in her eyes.

With terrifying speed, a newly emerged arm from the abomination's side reached out and slammed Lamphrey. Fauna's stomach dropped as she watched the Tialax mage fly across the chamber, slamming into the curved wall. She collapsed to the floor with a pained hiss, staff clattering away.

"Lamphrey!" Fauna screamed, reversing her staff grip and conjuring another barrage of swirling wind blasts. The pulses smacked into the abomination, staggering it from the side, but it immediately jerked its heads to face her. Its mouths flapped and drooled, desperate to devour, to destroy. With a lunge, it trudged closer.

Fauna's mind raced. If we can't kill it in one shot, it'll just keep reforming. She panted in panic. The abomination towered over her now, stinking of blood and decay, pinned together by an unnatural force that refused to let it die. My spells can tear away pieces, but that alone isn't enough.

The beast brought down a massive, scaly limb. Fauna dove to the side, feeling the tip of a serrated talon scrape her shoulder. She rolled across the slick floor and scrambled to her feet, staff clutched tight. Behind her, she heard Lamphrey groan.

Come on, Faun, the Hopla thought desperately. What would Ethan do in this situation?

"Hey!" she then yelled, forcing every ounce of anger and bravado into her voice. "You want me? Come get me, you freak!" She raised her staff and set off two small blasts of wind at the abomination's center mass. The impact was minimal, but it caught the monster's attention. All the twisted heads snapped to focus on her.

It let out a guttural roar and lurched forward, scraping its fleshy limbs and half-limbs across the floor with reckless abandon. Fauna hopped back, heart hammering. She prayed that she could time this just right.

"Now, Lamphrey!" Fauna shouted when she had the abomination near the stagnant pool. Surely a combination of water and potent magic might do something. But there was no reply. Fauna risked a swift glance over her shoulder, searching for the Tialax mage.

She saw no sign of Lamphrey at all. The corner of the room where she'd collapsed was empty, the dark wall slick with moisture and chipped where she had impacted. The staff was gone, too. A spike of disbelief cut through Fauna's chest. Her mouth went dry.

"No... no, Lamphrey?" Fauna called out, spinning in a circle, the abomination's wild shrieks swirling around her. Had Lamphrey run away? A surge of anger and betrayal churned in Fauna's gut. It stung. She'd expected them to stand together—expected that the Tialax mage wouldn't abandon her like this even with their differences. But that corner was empty, no scaly tail or staff or footprints in sight.

Dread closed around Fauna, pressing in as the abomination reared to its full height.

The beast came at her again, lashing out with another long appendage that ended in a mangled array of claws. Fauna parried with an angled barrier of wind, though it cracked under the blow. She stumbled back, nearly toppling over the grated walkway. If she lost her footing now, if she slipped into the water below, she doubted she'd surface alive.

She pressed her back against the slimy metal wall, staff shaking in her hands, panic surging. Where was Lamphrey? Had she truly fled? Fauna couldn't fight this horror alone for much longer; her magic reserves felt like they were draining away with each breath in this oppressive labyrinth.

Gritting her teeth, she managed to hurl another wind scythe at the monster, severing an arm at the elbow. The arm fell away, spraying black gore. At once, more lumps of twisted flesh swelled from the stump, forming something like a budding tumor—a fresh limb forced into existence. The abomination shrieked, climbing closer along the grated floor, eyes and mouths fixed upon the trembling Hopla.

Breathing raggedly, Fauna tried to steady herself. She channeled the last dregs of her magic, ignoring the pain flaring in her shoulder. Maybe she could launch one final, devastating spell. Maybe that was all they needed—some decisive blow. She willed the memory of nature's destructive fury into the staff, searching her mind for any potent incantation that might—

Before she could unleash another desperate attempt, the abomination suddenly froze mid-lunge. A hush stole over the cistern, broken only by the creature's moans of confusion. Its many faces turned this way and that, as if seeking an unseen threat. Fauna paused, chest heaving, not certain what had caused its hesitation. Then she felt it—a prickle of power in the musty air.

A shape flickered behind the abomination—just for a heartbeat—and then vanished. Realization crashed into Fauna like a lightning bolt. Lamphrey hadn't run. She'd turned invisible and gotten into position to flank the beast.

Behind the abomination, the faint shimmer of cloaked magic danced, and Fauna caught a glimpse of a tall, scaled silhouette. The figure's staff lifted silently, green runes swirling around the tip. Even though Fauna's eyes could barely track the distortion in the air, she sensed the build of tremendous energy coalescing in that invisible shape. The abomination's heads twisted, some of them trying to peer over its own hunched back, but it couldn't swivel enough to see what was behind it.

Fauna took a steadying breath, relief and renewed determination flooding her. Lamphrey was still here—fighting. Despite everything, the Tialax mage had risked the deception of her invisibility to land a crucial blow.

Yet in this moment, Fauna knew she had to keep the creature occupied so it wouldn't guess the immediate threat behind it. So, choking down her fear, she let out a furious shout and cast another conjuration of swirling air at its front. The abomination roared in response, its multiple throats resonating in a chaotic chorus. With frightening speed, it swung an amalgam of an arm in Fauna's direction, but she ducked, letting the blow graze the wall instead. Sparks flew as the limb smashed against metal.

In that second of distraction, the shimmer behind the beast solidified. Lamphrey flickered into visibility for a split instant, her staff raised high and wreathed in bright, crackling green magic. Her eyes blazed with a righteous fury, her lips parted in an almost feral snarl. She stepped forward, unleashing her attack in a silent, savage thrust aimed directly at the abomination's hideous spine.

A single beam of emerald energy emerged from the staff's tip—so dazzling that it lit the entire cistern chamber for one brilliant heartbeat. Fauna shielded her eyes from the glare. The abomination threw its heads back in a ragged, collective howl as it sensed the assault a heartbeat too late. Then came the explosive impact as the beam connected, flooding the chamber with a thunderous roar.

Fauna lowered her arm, blinking to clear the spots in her vision, prepared to witness the abomination's downfall. But before she could see the outcome, dust and debris rained from the ceiling, blanketing the cistern in a haze. For one terrifying moment, the swirling gloom obscured everything—she couldn't see Lamphrey, couldn't see the abomination, couldn't even see the far end of the room.

Her heart still thumped wildly as she scanned the murky space. That final blow had to have done something—perhaps even finished the beast for good. And Lamphrey...

"Lamphrey!" Fauna shouted. Yet her voice echoed in the unsettled air without answer.

She coughed, waving a hand to disperse the dust. Somewhere in the swirling haze, something heavy slumped to the floor with a wet thud. The abomination's shrieks had ceased, replaced by a single, prolonged gurgle. Fauna couldn't tell if it was truly dying or simply regenerating yet again. She took a tentative step forward, staff raised, senses on high alert for any sign of movement. There was no sign of the Tialax mage's tall figure.

"Lamphrey!" Fauna tried again, louder this time. "Where are you?"

No response. The entire circular chamber reeked of charred flesh and acrid magic, but there was no immediate movement—at least not from the abomination. All Fauna could do was hope that Lamphrey had survived the final strike she had delivered. But in that swirling curtain of dust and gloom, Fauna could see only the beast's collapsed silhouette splayed across the grated floor like a ruinous heap.

She swallowed back a rising terror, stepping nearer with her staff held out. Her hand trembled as she used the tip to gently push aside a portion of the abomination's melted flesh—still sizzling from Lamphrey's beam. The labyrinth's overhead lights flickered, casting everything in a sickly strobe. She saw no motion, no frantic regeneration. Black gore seeped from the lumps of flesh, slowly draining across the grates into the dark waters beneath.

It was dead.

"A fine distraction, Hopla," Lamphrey's voice called out from the roof of the chamber.

Fauna inclined her head upward, fear and rage mingling as she finally caught sight of Lamphrey, and the invisibility spell that was slowly draining off her robes.

"I would say we make quite the team," the Tialax said. "Wouldn't you?"

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