The group trudged along, enchanted cotton stuffed into their ear canals. Andy could hear his heartbeat with some intensity as he continued to scale the steep incline.

  “Only a bit further to go,” Verin whispered.

  They got back to what Andy thought would be the mouth of the cavern, but there was no light.

  “Did we take a wrong turn?” He whispered to Verin.

  “No,” Verin replied. “It’s dark outside. We’ve been down here for a little while now.”

  Andy shook his head. Time had moved so quickly. He looked down at the gut stains on his pants, reminding him of the events that had just transpired.

  “Wait,” Arlene said, putting her hand out to stop Andy and Kermit. “Look up there at the exit.”

  Andy strained to see. He could make out the cave exit. The night sky was a slightly lighter hue than the dark cavern. As Andy squinted, attempting to look more closely, he saw it: several figures, humanoid, moving around.

  “What are they doing?” Andy asked.

  Verin motioned for him to be silent.

  They stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. The figures seemed to be hunched over something. They were rising and falling.

  “Sirens?” Andy asked in a barely audible whisper.

  “Not sure,” Verin replied. “But we can’t risk it… let’s stay still I guess.”

  The figures continued moving slightly. Andy took one of the cotton balls out of his ear to see if he could hear with any more clarity.

  It sounded as if the figures were ripping the flesh of an animal, gnawing voraciously.

  Andy quickly stuffed the cotton ball back in.

  Not good.

  Kermit, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly began breathing heavily.

  “You ok?” Andy whispered.

  Kermit seemed to pay him no mind. Then, Kermit did the unthinkable…

  He sneezed.

  AAAAAACHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

  A look of horror spread across Andy, Arlene, and Verin’s faces simultaneously.

  “Sorry,” Kermit said.

  “Let’s ready up,” said Verin with a sharp exhale.

  The figures reared up, looking toward the group. Then, like the audible equivalent of ten-thousand needles, they began to scream.

  Even with the cotton balls, the scream raised every hair on Andy’s body. He drew his sword regardless.

  “I’d say those are sirens,” Verin said. “We have no choice but to charge them.”

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “I’ll go first,” Andy said without thinking. He raised his greatsword and began to sprint the short distance toward the cave mouth. As he progressed, he saw with more clarity the horrid, grotesque visage of the creatures: eyeless goblinoids with unbelievably large mouths, filled to the brim with razor-sharp teeth. Their faces were painted in blood, probably from the unlucky deer they had been feasting on.

  As Andy neared the sirens, he brought his sword over his head and slammed it down with a wallop. The sword came down onto one of the siren’s shoulders, cleaving it from neck to sternum.

  The unfortunate monster screamed in rage, spasming around Andy’s blade as it writhed on the floor.

  Andy attempted to pull his sword out, but it was firmly lodged in the dying Siren’s torso.

  The second siren, now screaming toward Andy, quickly hunched over and scrambled toward him on all fours.

  Freaky-ass thing…

  Andy didn’t have time to dislodge his sword. He kept a hand on the hilt and pivoted his ample blade between him and his attacker, but his success was limited.

  The siren scrambled over the sword, standing precariously balanced on the cross-guard, before leaping forward with a scream, all of its teeth ready to sink into Andy’s neck.

  An arrow shot past Andy, hitting the siren in the chest.

  It fell with a screech, writhing around as it attempted to pull the arrow from its body. Andy drew his slender dagger, turning it toward the creature before plunging it into its heart.

  Andy breathed a heavy sigh.

  “Let’s move!” he called down to the rest of the group. “They’re sure to have heard us by now.”

  Arlene, Kermit, and Verin scrambled the rest of the way to the cave mouth.

  Andy finally dislodged his greatsword from the first siren, wrenching it out with a sickening crunch.

  “Where should we go?” Arlene asked, looking both toward Andy and then Verin.

  “I…” Verin trailed off. He seemed shaken.

  “Anywhere safe,” Andy said, trying to encourage him. “Which direction?”

  “We ought to go east, I think,” Verin said, exhaling sharply and collecting himself. “Yes, let’s head east.”

  “East it is.”

  Andy stepped out into the cool night air. He hadn’t realized how oppressive the cave system had been. He felt free, liberated.

  “East is this way,” said Verin, pointing toward the right.

  “Right,” said Andy, turning on his heel and leading the group.

  “Wait,” Verin said harshly. “Do you hear that?”

  Andy paused. It sounded like a scrambling coming from the brush ahead. The pattern sounded familiar… almost like it was…

  “Shit,” said Arlene, readying her bow. “Another crawfish.”

  That’s right… they like to hunt on the surface at night. This place is probably covered in crawfish and sirens.

  Suddenly, a giant crawfish, much bigger than the one they had just slain earlier, burst through a patch of brush toward them. Even worse, it was carrying several sirens, all of whom were screaming and shaking crude spears.

  “Run!” Verin said.

  Andy grabbed Kermit and threw him over his shoulder as he and the group sprinted west. But they were stopped in their tracks.

  Yet another hunting party of sirens was closing in on them.

  “They’re flanking us!” Verin cried.

  “What do we do?” Andy said.

  “Back into the caves!”

  The group cleared the mouth of the cave, sprinting back through the cavernous hallway as they made their way through familiar terrain.

  Dammit dammit dammit.

  Though Andy’s hearing was partially obscured by the magical cotton balls, he could still hear the terrible shrieking of the sirens, the insectoid scrambling of the giant crawfish… he could clearly picture the blood-stained maws of the grotesque creatures that were chasing him.

  As they came to the fork in the cavern, Verin called from behind: “Take the right passage, the one going upward!”

  Andy dodged to the right as he began scaling the new passage, Kermit still slung over his shoulder. Arlene and Verin followed close behind.

  The horde of sirens and crawfish were on their heels.