The Damp Mother

They set out in the morning, and by now, Noah felt it must be noon, the air growing warmer. Yet, they were compelled to abandon the sunlight, seeking out the cold, gloomy caverns along the coast.

Eroded by the sea, the Threetail Bay area was riddled with water-filled caverns at varying elevations, interconnected by a labyrinth of crevices. Echoes triggered by their footsteps sounded like the howls of specters, adding to the eerie atmosphere and fueling many a sinister rumor.

"This is the dwelling of the Damp Mother," Sara said, standing at the entrance of a dark fissure, "but there's a side path inside that leads to my grandmother's home."

"The Damp Mother?" Maden exclaimed, aghast. "A monstrous eater of men!"

"I suspect it's not a pleasant entity," Noah observed the cave, which plunged into darkness after barely ten paces.

"She is the mother of the drakes in this region," Sara said, covering her nose and mouth from the stench.

Noah distinguished the smells of rotting flesh and putrid fish in the air. The cave appeared to be a natural tidal grotto, now more akin to a decaying storehouse of moldy provisions, suggesting the presence of some man-eating monstrosity within.

The thought of entering such peril made Sara's despair understandable – it seemed an impossible task.

"My family says the Damp Mother is the new drake queen. She births litter upon litter, spreading them across the seas to devour fish and disrupt fishing vessels," Maden explained to Noah.

Adjusting his pack to avoid soaking, Noah felt the walls, wading deeper into the sea-carved cavern. The water rose to his knees, ice-cold, seeping through his clothes, clinging with damp heaviness. His progress was hindered by the resistance of the water. Silence reigned, broken only by the sound of their passage through the waves.

To avoid the temple guards, they had no choice but to take this secluded route. Noah endured, despite the discomfort.

Sara whispered a spell, a faint light glowing in her hand. Noah caught the rapid, forceful cadence of her words, distinct from the incantations of the hunters he knew.

Illuminated by the phosphorescence, Noah scanned their surroundings. The water whispered around them, its depths mysterious. The uneven seabed and irregular ceiling required careful navigation to avoid injury.

"How can we be sure we're not lost?" Noah asked, feeling the sea level rising.

"When she was younger, my grandmother mapped all forty grottos in the area and taught me to remember them. Straight ahead lies the resting place of the Damp Mother," Sara said, her clothes soaked, her breath short from the exertion of moving through the water.

Maden, a strong swimmer, led the way, climbing onto a dry bank. Seeing a place to rest, Sara's spirits lifted, and Maden helped her up.

"Hurry," she urged Noah, trailing behind.

Burdened by heavier gear, Noah slowly made his way up the bank. A narrow corridor lay ahead, dry but reeking with an intensified stench. The other side of the cavern was like a refuse dump, unimaginable what lay piled there.

Sara's light cast shimmering reflections on the water. Noah looked down and noticed something in the murky depths.

"Look at that," he pointed at the oddly-colored object.

"A fish?" Maden guessed, peering over. "A big one."

"Why isn't it moving?" Sara observed the still object at the bottom.

Noah plunged his gray knife into the water, skewering the object and lifting it to the surface. Sara recoiled, and Maden frowned in disgust.

It was a human skull.

Damaged, with hollow eye sockets, an absent nose, and broken teeth, it dripped water from the knife's tip, a ghastly sight in the cavern's gloom.

He lowered the blade, allowing the skull to slip back into the water.

"It must have been devoured by the Damp Mother," Sara guessed anxiously, "She's on the other side of this fissure."

Noah approached the fissure, listening to the sounds within.

Something was scraping against the rocks, rolling violently, emitting dull, muffled cries. Was it feeding?

"We'll pass through the fissure silently. I'll lead, stay close," Sara extinguished her light.

Noah glanced back at Maden, his eyes resolute in the dim light, the fish spear firm in his grip.

The cavern came alive with subtle sounds of slithering, screeching, and flowing water. Creatures emerged from the water, only to dive back in, splashing incessantly, a chilling noise. They were in a world beneath the world, where the sea roamed freely and monstrous sea life dwelled.

A deep, terrifying sound reached Noah's ears, as if from a leviathan far larger than any human, stirring a primal unease within him.

Passing through the fissure, they entered another cavern. What was this place? Noah looked up to see a vast coastal grotto, and before them, a swarm of creatures in a frenzy.

A crack in the cave's ceiling let in a sliver of light, revealing the horrifying scene.

A massive drake lay upon the rocky islets in the water, surrounded by numerous smaller beings. Drakes, resembling serpents with elongated, snake-like bodies, were covered in water-blue scales, layered tightly, leaving no space between them. Their bodies, long and sinuous, ended in thick tails, with dragon-like heads—broad snouts, wide eyes, but no horns. Instead, crown-like fins and gills adorned their heads.

The giant drake, presumably the Damp Mother, propped up its upper body with its arms, its lower half sprawling on the rocky ground. The others, though sizable at twice the height of a person, were mere children compared to the central beast.

The colossal drake was the Damp Mother, and the smaller drakes were vainly trying to lift its majestic tail, eagerly wriggling beneath her belly, entwining their tails with hers in a semblance of mating.

But the Damp Mother's girth proved too much; many drakes slid beneath her only to find they couldn't bear her weight, struggling desperately to escape. Soon dragged out by their kin, others took their place, only to fail and crawl away in disgrace.

Thus, the drakes perpetuated their futile ritual, unable to mate successfully with the Damp Mother. Many resorted to watching anxiously from the water, their anxious croaks filling the air.

The drake queen grew increasingly impatient with her inept offspring.

This behemoth was far more terrifying than any demon, Noah thought, how could our world harbor such might?

"They might be physically robust, but their minds are easily shattered," Gladius spoke disdainfully. "Demons, however, are complex and unpredictable, full of deceit."

"But it could defeat you."

"Such a creature might contend with lower demons, but it would be torn asunder in an instant by the mightier ones. We exist on a fundamentally different plane. Some beings are inherently limited, while the power a demon can attain is boundless. The only purpose of their existence, no, the only purpose of your world, is to preserve souls within your frail bodies for us to consume. Destruction is the only end; annihilation is the final destination. All your struggles are in vain."

Faced with such a grim outlook, Noah knew he needed to muster double the courage.

He followed Sara, moving cautiously along the cave wall. She moved slowly, not wanting to make a sound.

The drake queen, growing tired of supporting herself on her arms, lay down, pressing her body down. This put even more pressure on the drakes beneath her, one of which was directly below. It let out a piercing scream and collapsed, dead on the spot.

The drakes, witnessing their companion's demise, retreated in fear, seemingly abandoning any desire to approach the Damp Mother. Quietly, they slipped back into the water, dispersing in all directions.

Aren't we easy to spot now? Noah thought nervously.

As the ripples spread, a drake swiftly approached the edge of their pool, eyeing them intently.

Sara stood frozen, unsure of how to proceed, as the drake scrutinized them.

It had a long head, and its emerald eyes, with black vertical pupils, seemed to be covered by a thin membrane, though hard to discern in the dark. The monstrous creature fixed its gaze upon them, and they didn't know whether to move or if it would provoke an attack.

"Should we stand still?" Maden whispered.

"Indeed." They heard a coarse, raspy voice and looked towards its source, focusing on the Damp Mother, who had just spoken in human tongue.

The giant drake slowly lifted itself with its thick tail, turning its attention to the three of them pressed against the wall, emitting a guttural sound.

"Stop right there," it commanded, picking up a stone spear, its tip stained with excessive blood, now a dark rust color.

Noah gazed at the towering form of the Damp Mother, feeling incredibly small. A voice within him, Gladius, urged him to pierce through the dense carapace, to cut open the so-called sturdy scales and reach the heart within.

"We have to run…" Maden said in despair.

The Damp Mother growled menacingly, and its many offspring, over a dozen large and small drakes, followed some unspoken command, encircling them in a tight, inescapable ring.

The colossal drake moved closer, inspecting them.

"Girl, leave," it ordered. "I only want the men."