The wall of the tunnel was rough and slimy. Gia had a hard time touching it, as she wasn't sure, in the dark, what she was touching. Judging from the smell, she was grateful she didn't have a light to ignite the fumes around her. The sounds of squeaks in the dark caused her to panic until she consoled herself that she would get out of there and find Vonn. She just needed to find a ladder to climb.
As she moved forward, ever forward, deeper into the darkness, Gia started hearing whispers. Closing her eyes to get herself under control, and to try to hear the voices better, she found that they were just outside her range of hearing to understand. Was this some trick of the mages? Was he not worried about keeping a guard on this entrance because he had some spell cast to drive intruders insane?
Breathing hard, she thought over how gentle Vonn had been. The sound of his voice was the only one she cared about. The other voices started to fade and she continued on. Soon, the voices started to grow again, but this time, her thoughts of Vonn didn't make them go away.
Pausing in the water, that was now up to her waist, Gia leaned against the rough wall and fought to catch her breath. It was harder to breath with the air so fetid, and she didn't want to pass out from fear. Whatever was in these tunnels would gobble her up in a heartbeat, she knew.
"What are you waiting for? An invitation?" asked a voice in her ear.
Muffling her scream, Gia reached out to keep from falling, and grabbed a bar that was just beside her. Using it to pull her upright, where she had almost fallen in her fright, she realized she wasn't holding a metal bar. It felt too real. Too alive!
"Quickly, now. Before the slime gets any closer!" said the voice in her ear again.
Gia's heart skipped a beat, as all sorts of images came to mind. Clinging to the bar, or arm, or whatever it was, she felt around and found what seemed like a ladder to climb. As soon as she was on the ladder fully, she felt it rising up into the air, and closed her eyes, clinging to it in panic. Below her she could hear the voices rise in anger, murmuring of her escape, and faint lapping of the water against the stone.
"It almost had you. Don't worry, I was fed recently, so I'm not interested in eating you," said the voice as she came to a halt.
Opening her eyes, she saw that she was clinging to a living ladder, suspended over a stone portal that seemed to be where she had been. A single torch flickered by the only door in the room, and she quickly scrambled away from the ladder and the hole. The creature the ladder seemed to be a part of, studied her for a moment.
"You look a lot like the mage. Are you a human, too?"
"Ye…Yes," she stammered, standing by the door shivering. Her clothes were soaked from the chest down, and as she glanced at them in worry, saw that they didn't seem to be soaked from just water.
"Not many humans come this way. I normally have to eat any that come in that way, but like I said, the mage just fed me, so I'm good. That slime though, it doesn't care about anything. Everyone it eats, becomes a part of it. The mage was pretty happy when he made it, but it wouldn't listen to orders so he shoved it down there."
"What keeps it down there, instead of leaving and looking for more things to eat?" she asked in a whisper, holding her arms tightly to try and stop her shivering.
"Probably the number of rats that it can eat," it said, shrugging.
"I need to find my Vonn," she whispered, inching towards the door, but not wanting to upset it.
"You should change out of those clothes. That slime on you will start to eat away at your flesh soon," it said, settling down into a more comfortable position.
Gia glanced down uncertainly, swallowing in fear. What if it was telling her the truth? Pulling off her backpack, she started stripping off the clothes. If they were really soaked in slime, she didn't want to keep them, but they were such nice clothes. Juniper had spent so much time making them.
Bending over to dig in her bag for her spare clothes, she was disappointed to see everything in the bag was coated in the slime.
"What will I wear?" she asked herself, starting to chatter her teeth from the cold.
"If you go before the mage looking like that, I imagine you will definitely distract him," said the creature behind her.
Swinging around, Gia covered herself in shame at the lecherous look in its eyes.
"Don't worry, human. I don't eat young maiden in that way," it sighed, before turning away from her. "I haven't been able to do that in ages. Go, find your Vonn. The second door on the right should have clothing you can wear. My cousin is one of the chests, so be sure you mention me before you start opening things. He normally eats first and asks questions later."
Gia nodded quickly, backing up to the door and fumbling with the latch. Slipping into the dark hall, she stood stark naked, wearing only the amulet given to her at the beginning of this long trek for survival. Doors lined the hall on both sides, before a set of stairs climbed up out of sight. Light spilled down the stairs, giving her just enough light to see by to tiptoe to the second door on the right.
Pausing for only a moment before reaching for the latch, Gia decided she didn't have a choice. She couldn't save Vonn stark naked!
Slipping into the room, she glanced around at the dim interior. Four chests were arranged against the walls.
"Hello?" she whispered.
Something shifted subtly, but she couldn't make out what.
"I was told by the ladder creature that his cousin was in here?" she continued, craning her neck around to see which chest was the cousin.
"And just why would he go and do that?" grumbled the chest closest to her. The tips of teeth could be seen glinting from the edges of the lid, and a thick strand of drool crept down one corner.
"I need some clothes, as my last set was ruined by slime?" she said softly, trying to be as truthful as possible. "It said I might find some clothes in here?"
The chest popped up, gazing at her with large glowing eyes that stuck up out of the top of the chest.
"It's been ages since I saw myself some proper booty!" he growled, grinning wide. "I like! Spin around and bend over!"
With a startled cry, Gia backed away from the mimic, tripping on the chest behind her and falling to the floor.
"That'll do!" the mimic crowed, grinning wide, as strands of thick mucus fell to the floor. "Open the chest behind you, and you'll find all sorts of clothes!"
Nodding quickly, Gia scrambled backwards and quickly threw open the chest behind her. Feeling fabric under her fingers, she glanced quickly back to see it was indeed filled with cloth of some kind. Picking herself up off the floor, she tried to keep an eye on the mimic behind her, that was ogling her naked body, as she started pulling strange outfits out of the chest.
"Those belonged to his followers, before they all died. He put them there until he needed them again," said the mimic, turning to get a better look as she twisted to stay away from it.
"Please, keep your distance," she whispered, too afraid to lift her voice.
"Oh, I don't have the parts to enjoy what I see, little girl. Otherwise, you would already be enjoying me!" he chuckled. "I'm going to have to thank my cousin. I haven't had this much fun in a while."
"Well," said Gia, clearing her throat as she pulled on an oversized tunic and grabbed up a pair of pants. "I don't appreciate the way your acting at all. It's quite rude!"
"Rude? HA!" The mimic fell back, close to where it had started, and laughed and laughed.
Gia took advantage of its mirth to grab up a pair of boots and a belt before darting to the door. The mimic tried to snatch at her, but from his prone position, she managed to get away, shutting the door firmly behind her. Leaning against the wall next to the door, she fought to catch her breath. Energy was racing through her veins after that close call, and she quickly slid on the pants and boots. Tying the belt to secure everything, she turned to the stairs. What other tricks did the mage have up his sleeves?