It took Surgit and Karla a while to regain their composure. Surgit was sitting on a rock near the dream lantern. He has his face buried in his hands. Karla stared at the cave walls without uttering a word. They had been in the cave for about an hour. Neither of them had spoken a single word.
Surgit finally raised his head. "I thought nothing could surprise me anymore," he said in a defeated tone.
Karla turned to look at him. Dark rings appeared below his eyes. He was fidgeting with his fingers, twisting his cape and releasing it at different intervals. "Just thinking about that thing makes me shudder..." Karla said with a faint voice, almost a whisper.
"And that lullaby..." Surgit shook his head. "We can't leave that thing destroy our morale. We can defeat it. We just have to reach it before it sees us."
"I was about to lose my mind Surgit. How do we defeat something that damages you before you reach it?" Karla asked.
"The spider threw us down there. All we have to do is avoid to do is avoid the caves. No good will come out of killing that beast," Surgit replied.
"What about my echoes, and yours?" Karla asked. "I lost quite a bit down there."
"You can always get more," Surgit retorted. He stood then inhaled sharply. "We won't achieve anything by dwelling on the past. If we die again trying to reach your echoes, we'll lose them indefinitely. What's the point of chasing after them?"
"Unlike you, I have never used echoes to upgrade my attributes," Karla said. She approached the hunter and met his eyes. "I've been through a lot. I've even killed a Cleric beast and slaughtered a village full of monsters. Do you believe I could replace all the echoes I lost?"
Surgit shrugged. "I'm positive. We can always go back to the cave and die before reaching them, or after..."
Karla let out a frustrated "Tsk!"
"Don't think too much about it. After we're done with this place, I'll take you to the Chalice Dungeons. We will find strong monsters inside, strong enough to earn all the lost echoes back." Surgit gave Karla his most comforting smile. "Cheer up! There are always beasts to hunt."
Both hunters left the cave and restarted their exploration. Although they could hear the sinister bell ringing in the distance, no invaders had come to fight them. As they crossed the bridge, they noticed the spider lurking above the hill on the opposite side. They couldn't reach him though. He crawled up steep cliffs as soon as he caught a glimpse of them, cackling as he went.
They kept going, and soon reach a vast expanse. Murky waters spread as far as the eye could see. It looked like a dried up lake. Small isles consisting of boulders and tiny pieces of land scattered inside and around it. Squid like creatures roamed the murky waters, splashing with their tentacles as they moved.
"That's new," Karla said as she pointed at the largest isle. On a tall boulder, the size of a regular chapel, stood a furry creature.
It spotted the hunters even though they were far away. It picked up a rock then threw it at them. The rock's size kept expanding as it approached the hunters. Surgit and Karla, realizing it was just a boulder approaching, jumped aside right before it crashed.
The resulting debris almost hit Karla square in the face. Surgit had to use his Kirkhammer as a shield since a big chunk of the broken boulder flew at him with breakneck speed.
"That's also new," Surgit commented after he avoided the worst.
"We're out of antidotes. We can't reach that thing on time." Karla swore under her breath.
"Let's not forget those weird squids in the water. We'll be busy fighting them while that guy is raining boulders over our heads," Surgit added then sighed. "I think we should get back to the dream, but some antidotes from the messengers."
"With what echoes?" Karla asked.
"Well fuck me sideways..." Surgit swore. They avoided another boulder the giant had sent next. Surgit shot a dark look at the furry creature in the distance. "I'll use my blood vials to stay in the poisonous water. You head straight for that giant and deal with him."
Karla nodded.
"And watch out for anything we can't see. There are too many blind spots. More of them could be lying in ambush." Surgit put his hammer back on his back then advanced toward the squids.
As soon as he began engaging the squids, Karla dashed toward the giant. Surgit danced around the long tentacles, cutting them off when he could, finishing off the opponents closest to him.
He was surrounded, but his speed allowed him to avoid the worst. He had kept ten vials in a belt he strapped around his torso. Every time he felt close to collapsing, he'd inject himself and keep fighting. When he had but three more squids to face, Karla had reached the isle of the giant.
Surgit had to dodge the tentacles as well as the flying boulders. Dodging the rocks was easy enough. He'd hear the giant grunting as he threw the boulder. That was his cue to get the hell out of dodge. However, as soon as he dodged the first boulder, he heard another grunt, coming from the opposite side.
He saw a shadow above his head. It kept expanding as the object that was thrown his way approached. Surgit, fighting the poison that ran through his veins, threw himself aside. He landed on all fours, and toxic water filled his mouth. He coughed and wheezed as he fumbled in his belt.
He could still hear the squids splashing as they approached him. With the corner of his eye, he saw the giant Karla was hunting hurl another boulder above his head. His hands trembled as he attempted to pull a blood vial out. His fingers were shaking, and his vision was getting blurrier by the second.
He finally managed to inject himself with a vial as the squids reached him. The boulder he expected, however, never came. He shot a quick glance at the isle and saw Karla waving to him. Then he heard another grunt. He looked behind him and saw another giant hurling a boulder his way.
He jumped away just in time. He was running out of vials and the squids didn't offer any blood that was fit for consumption. He had to retreat and catch his breath. Dodging the boulder and fighting off countless tentacles wasn't going to end well for him.
By the time he went back to the starting point, Karla had disappeared from the isle. Surgit was out breath. The squids were still chasing after him. They crawled like snails however. He had ample time to catch his breath.
He saw Karla running through the murky waters then. She was heading toward him. She dodged two boulders and finished two squids off before reaching him. Her face was devoid of color when she stopped beside him. She folded over her stomach and retched.
The third squid reached them by then. Surgit flung his Kirkhammer at the beast, flattening it. Then he wobbled toward it and finished it. He injected himself with another blood vial then took a deep breath.
"That was tougher than I expected," he said, wiping sweat from his forehead.