The human diviner was leaning against his staff, watching. Suddenly he tensed. "Something's coming."
"What is it?" Cavatina asked, instantly alert.
"Something… big." Daffir turned and stared out across the underground sea.
"A boat?" one of the Protectors guessed.
"As big as a boat, but… not a boat. A… creature. Whatever it is, it means us ill."
Cavatina scanned the Moondeep, but the surface of the water was unbroken. Nothing moved on it-not even a rat. She glanced at Daffir but couldn't see his eyes behind those dark lenses.
The others drew weapons or readied spell components. The Nightshadows faded back into the tunnel.
"Where is it now, Daffir?" Cavatina demanded.
Daffir shook his head. "That, Lady, I cannot tell. Only where it… will be."
"We should move away from the water," the wizard in the gold skullcap said. "Up the tunnel."
"Agreed," Karas said. "Before whatever killed the svirfneblin realizes we're here."
"No," Cavatina countered. "We stay here. Conceal ourselves and watch the lake." She did, however, call back the Protector and the Nightshadow who were down at the lake's edge. No sense taking chances.
Another sending came: One thousand paces in. With a chuckle in her voice, Halav added. Still nothing-except for a pair of boots, this time.
Cavatina frowned. Boots? She glanced down at where the svirfneblin's body lay. How large are they?
Small. Child-sized.
The Nightshadow whom Karas had sent down the tunnel reappeared and signaled that the way was clear.
"That's it," Karas said. "We're going." His forefinger flicked a signal to the other Nightshadows. Move out.
"Hold it right there," Cavatina barked.
The Nightshadows hesitated. They glanced between Karas and Cavatina.
She rounded on Karas. "We're having this out, here and now," she said in a low voice. "Qilue put me in charge of this expedition, not you. Eilistraee deemed it should be so. Do you dare risk displeasing her by disobeying me?"
Without waiting for his answer, she turned to the others. "My priestess just found a pair of boots in the tunnel." She pointed down at the dead svirfneblin. "Gnome-sized boots. If they're his, maybe he was forced to run before he could put them on. Whatever killed him might still be lurking in the tunnel."
"You heard Daffir's prophecy," Karas countered. "Whatever's going to attack us is out there. Submerged in the Moondeep."
"'Attack us?'" Cavatina echoed. She shook her head at Karas. She was fed up with this. "Tell you what. I'll call my priestess back. You, personally, can take her place. That way, if something does rise out of the Moondeep, you'll be in a nice, safe place where nothing's going to-"
A faint wail came from deep in the tunneclass="underline" the sound of a singing sword in combat. The Protector's sending came a heartbeat later: Undead! Huge! Its head alone blocks the-
The sending cut off abruptly.
Fall back, Cavatina sent back at Halav. We're coming. She pointed briskly at the Protectors. "You, you, and you, follow me. The rest of you wait here. Whatever Daffir sensed isn't in the lake-it's in the tunnel. We'll draw it back here. Attack when it emerges."
To her surprise, Karas nodded briskly. Gilkriz did the same. As Cavatina sprinted away down the tunnel, the three Protectors close on her heels, she glanced over her shoulder and saw some of the wizards levitating away from the opening of the tunnel and others vanishing. Daffir, however, remained in plain sight, leaning on his staff and nodding.
She kept running. The floor of the tunnel was flat. Cavatina and the priestesses made good speed. The sound of Halav's singing sword-and the howls of whatever she fought-grew louder. Then Halav was in sight.
The Protector battled furiously, her sword a melodic blur as she hacked at the thing that blocked the tunneclass="underline" an enormous head, large as a giant's. It crept along the tunnel on a tentacle-like nest of writhing veins, its enormous mouth opening and closing as it came. Other, smaller heads bulged out of its forehead and cheeks as it slithered along. These screamed or moaned piteously as they broke the skin, then fell silent as they sank back into it again.
Even from a distance, Cavatina felt the waves of fear pulsing off the thing. She raised her singing sword in front of her as she ran and felt it slice through the magical fear, sending it sloughing off to each side. Only a hundred paces remained; they were almost there.
Rearing up, the monstrosity pointed a tentacle at Halav. "Die," it croaked.
Halav stiffened. Her sword drooped in her hand, its singing fading to a moan. But Halav was strong and shielded by Eilistraee's blessings. Shaking off the creature's spell, she staggered back.
"Halav!" Cavatina cried. "We're right behind you. Fall back!"
Cavatina was close enough to get a good look at the smaller faces that bulged out of the monstrous head. One of them was gray-skinned and bald: a svirfneblin. She grabbed her holy symbol as she ran, intending to sing a prayer. "Fall back, Halav!" she shouted. "You're in the way."
Halav tried to back away, but a tentacle whipped out and coiled around her chest. It snapped taut, yanking her off her feet. It pulled the failing priestess head-first toward the gaping mouth. Teeth snapped shut, severing her neck.
"No!" Cavatina cried.
The tentacle flung the headless body aside. A heartbeat later, Halav's face bulged out of the monstrous head's cheek, screaming.
Cavatina shouted a prayer. A bolt of moonlight streaked from her hand like a thrown lance. It slammed into the enormous forehead in the same instant that two other magical attacks flew past her: a streak of holy fire and a sparkling sheen of positive energy that rippled down the tunnel like diamond dust carried by ripples on a pond. The enormous head rocked back on its tentacles as they struck.
That was it. Cavatina's chance. She leaped forward, sword raised-
A tentacle lashed out, slapping against her breastplate. A weak blow, not enough to halt her charge, but Cavatina felt a rush of pain. Her chest was warm and wet. Bloody. The thing had used magic to wound her, magic that had bypassed her armor.
She staggered back and gasped out a healing prayer. She expected the creature to follow her, to try to snatch her with a tentacle, yet it remained where it was. One of the smaller heads disappeared with a wet pop, like a boil bursting. The enormous mouth creaked open wide, as if taking a deep breath.
"Tash'kla!" Cavatina shouted. "Ward us!"
In the same instant the Protector behind Cavatina sang out her prayer, the undead head gave a ghastly wail. A chill swept through Cavatina, weakening her. Then the ward muted the sound. Cavatina and the three priestesses behind her remained standing, saved by Eilistraee's blessing.
She flung out an arm, pointing. "Get Halav's body out of here!" At the same time, she pressed home her attack.
A tentacle lashed out at her, and she sliced it off. The undead thing drew back, its smaller heads bulging then disappearing again, all of them howling and screaming. Cavatina thrust at the spot where Halav's face bulged-a mercy blow-but her sword point struck an invisible shield and skewed to the side. Momentarily unbalanced, she staggered and nearly fell. She quickly recovered, dancing out of range of yet another tentacle. Risking a glance behind her, she saw two of the Protectors lifting Halav's headless body and hurrying away. The halfling Brindell scooped up Halav's singing sword in one hand while whirling her sling. Before Cavatina could order her not to, she let fly one of her magical pellets.
Suddenly, Cavatina was fighting in utter silence. She could see the smaller heads screaming as they rose like boils, then sank away again into the morbid flesh. Her sword vibrated in her hands yet she couldn't hear the sharp smack of it hitting flesh or the sound of its singing.