Siasha was sitting on the ground a good distance from the rest of their group. As Zig approached, he could see a look of concern on her face as she rested a hand against the earth like she was checking on something.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Something’s off,” she said softly. “Unless the earth is dry, cracks in the soil repair themselves pretty quickly. It’s not natural for them to last such a long time in a place where the ground is so wet.”
“Maybe they were made recently?” Zig suggested. “Like there was an earthquake or something?”
“No…I don’t think that was the cause. If there was an earthquake strong enough to crack the ground, the shoreline would’ve been even more roughed up, don’t you agree?”
That’s true, Zig thought. I don’t recall seeing any signs of damage caused by an earthquake when we disembarked.
The earth slightly trembled again.
“Hm, is that an earthquake?” someone from their group asked.
Zig was beginning to feel uneasy. There was something very wrong about this place.
“You two over there!” the captain of their group yelled over to them. “Go back to the main force and report on these findings.”
Zig was too deep in thought to give a response.
What exactly happened to the vanguard unit? It wasn’t a huge issue that they weren’t around, but there must’ve been a reason they moved out. Their group was also pretty decently sized, but they didn’t even leave any traces…not even a footprint.
The ground began to shake again, this time stronger than before. He hadn’t paid much attention to the cracks in the earth when Siasha pointed them out, but this time, he gave them another look.
What he saw within seemed to be squirming.
“Look out below!”
At the captain’s order, Siasha began to move. Zig quickly scooped her into his arms and jumped to the side. A long object burst out directly from where she had been standing, fracturing the ground in the process.
Zig put Siasha back down and immediately spun around, unsheathing his twinblade and slicing toward their attacker. Whatever it was felt squishy. It tumbled to the ground, cleanly split in half.
“What the hell is this?!” he exclaimed.
It appeared to be about ten feet long and about as thick as an adult torso. It had no eyes and was dappled with pink and red—like the color and texture of muscles stripped of skin. Numerous fangs lined its circular maw, looking more like thorns than teeth.
If he had to guess, those were used for stabbing prey and holding it in place as opposed to ripping it apart. The joints in its jaw looked flexible, like it could extend or unhinge the entire thing in a flash.
This creature fed by swallowing its food whole. By completely engulfing its victims and marring the ground with its movements, it could erase any traces of humans in the area.
“I think we found our culprit,” Zig said.
“Thanks for saving me,” Siasha groaned. “But what is that thing? It’s gross…”
Zig looked around. Judging from the creature’s size, it was large enough to consume one grown man. He didn’t know how many people belonged to the vanguard unit, but there were perhaps a dozen—or a couple dozen in the worst-case scenario—of these creatures roaming around.
“That’s some nerve, attacking me of all people from the ground…”
Siasha’s tone told him she was beyond offended that her attacker came from the very element she manipulated. A pungent odor started to drift through the air as she moved her hands.
“Don’t do it,” Zig warned. “There’re too many people around. Don’t forget why you came here in the first place.”
“Ugh! But…”
“Just cast something defensive that’s hard to detect. I’m here to protect you, remember?”
“…Fine.”
Siasha dispelled the magic she was preparing and started to cast a different spell.
“I directed my mana beneath the ground,” she said. “I can detect where they are for you.”
“That’s a big help.”
Suddenly, he heard panicked shouts coming from their group’s direction. He and Siasha began running toward them, with Zig taking care to stay close to her.
What they saw when they arrived looked like a scene straight out of hell. The troops scrambled around in a panic as monsters burst up from the ground to swallow them whole before they could fight back.
One man attempting to run away was launched into the air as several of the creatures tried to ambush him at once. Up he sailed…straight into a waiting maw. He desperately tried to break free of the sharp teeth digging into his legs.
“L-let go of me! Le—”
Another monster clamped its jaws around his head, cutting off his screams. His arms and legs went limp as the creatures tried to pull him into the ground like a grotesque display of tug-of-war.
The spine-chilling sight sent the other members of the group scattering in all directions.
“Calm down!” the captain shouted. “Don’t split up! We’ll get the main force to—”
“They’re done for,” Zig cut in.
Zig realized there was nothing he could do to help as he watched the carnage unfolding before him. He was about to move away before the monsters turned their attention to him and Siasha when she motioned for him to stop.
“Be quiet. Stay right where you are.”
What she was thinking, he didn’t know, but he immediately clenched his mouth shut and stood rooted to the spot. The monsters whipped their heads around as if they were searching for something.
He could feel the sweat running down his back as they turned his direction. However, to his surprise, they started to sink back into the ground. The earth shook again, tremors growing weaker as they seemed to head for the ones who’d managed to escape.
Zig remained frozen in place for what seemed like forever. Once all signs of the monsters’ presence completely disappeared, Siasha gave a sigh of relief and finally relaxed.
“You can move now,” she said softly. “Oh, but try not to make any loud sounds. Use soft voices.”
“I see.” He kept his voice low. “So, the noise attracts them.”
“Right. I thought it might be heat at first, but they all clustered around the captain and the people running away.”
The monsters didn’t have eyes. Dwelling underground meant that sight probably wasn’t necessary. Instead, they seemed to rely on sound to track their prey. They perhaps usually lay in wait beneath the earth, emerging only when unlucky creatures wandered into their territory.
“So those are the kind of creatures that live on this continent,” Zig murmured. “Doesn’t seem like it’s a matter of the ecosystem being different…”
Siasha giggled, almost as if she felt the creatures were someone else’s concern. “Sheesh, we’ve sure come to a messed-up place.”
Zig looked up as it struck him that it was going to be much more difficult to keep her safe than he’d initially thought. At least the sky here was also blue.
“Okay, let’s make our way back to the ship,” he suggested after taking a moment to recover. “They won’t be able to come after us in the water.”
He was met with silence.
Zig was ready to move, but Siasha remained quiet and still. He gave her a dubious glance. She was staring blankly toward the ocean, her eyes completely devoid of emotion. Something about their emptiness made his skin crawl. Whatever she was watching…he knew it wasn’t going to be pleasant.
Somehow able to overpower all his instincts screaming Don’t look, Zig slowly turned around.
A horned whale, around 165 feet long, was piercing through the massive ship carrying most of the investigation team’s forces. It had rammed the vessel so hard its body was protruding about halfway out of the water.
The ship began to sink, broken cleanly in two after the attack. Those closest to it were not spared—the force of the impact capsized some vessels and pulled the others beneath the waves. The ships farther away seemed unharmed at first glance, but if Zig squinted, he could see something clinging to their sides.
The forms looked humanoid, but they definitely weren’t human. Their bodies were covered in scales, and they had webbing on their hands and feet. Their faces were filled with malicious intent, and there were so many of them flooding onto the decks that they were impossible to count.
By the shore, the worm-like monsters were attacking a different squad, while the scaled creatures stormed the boat that had brought them to shore.
All Zig and Siasha could do was silently watch the scene play out in front of them.
“Well, then…” he finally said.
“Yeah…”
Both of them turned on their heels at the same time.
“Shall we?” Zig asked.
“Sounds good.”
Their adventure had only just begun.