Watching the roof of the cavern, grey scaly heads gave reflections of mucus off their skin, darkening with black and orange stripes patterned around their faces. Their tongues slithered quickly, returning to their mouths.
Out of the blue, a troop took arms and quickly fired. His shot ricocheted, causing those heads to retract in split moments, making pattering sounds as they ran deep into the crevices, disappearing.
"Hold fire!" Captain Reynolds ordered, But the troops began opening several more shots!
"They're gone, dammit! Hold fire!" he demanded.
They stopped, the bellowing echoes of their gunshots fading away,
"Are they gone!"
"What the hell were those!" said another.
"They look like alligators!"
"Down here?" shouted another,
"They're colored like bloody salamanders!",
"Let's go they're not harming anyone!", said Reynolds.
At that moment, rattling took everyone's eyes. They turned ever slowly.
Skeletal remains began to animate, moving their hands towards their exposed kneecaps, and others clawing the stone wall sending screeching rising from the ground.
From their clothes came a purple light, their hollowed eyes imitated glowing red pupils.
One then tore out a piece of their rib, reached his arm back, and flung his whole arm like a catapult, hitting a soldier square in his head and killing him.
"Fire!" Shouted Reynolds! Shots flew breaking their bones to pieces, but more emerged from the depths.
Then from on top of the cavern rooves, out pounced the reptilians on some of the musketeers showing their size was that of Humans, with the width of lions, and expanded their large hippopotamus mouths over whole limbs dragging them to the depths.
The Chaotic predicament was far from over. The shots had stirred the cavern's dormant inhabitants. Squeaks flapped towards them, first a few, then a chorus towards them, out flew a swarm of bats awakened by the commotion and began to descend, their wings creating a cacophonous flurry of movement heading toward them!
As they did, One Salamander landed next to Reynolds right onto Jackson, engulfing his whole head! Reynolds immediately charged with his bayonet, but he was blocked off by the swarm of bats scratching his face!
From the slight openings from the parade of wings, a sword-wielding skeleton tackled through the bats spearing his sword towards Reynolds, He rolled underneath to avoid its stab, then caught himself up and drove into the skeleton, tackling it and he took his Flintlocks and double tapped into the skeletons head, as more appeared behind him,
He yelled "Cover me!" while his men ran away, but Lawson rushed with a roar towards the Salamander trying to run off with Jackson, stabbing its neck!
As it went to run off with Private Jackson, it began dragging Lawsons with his rifle, but Lawson squeezed the trigger! Blasting the creature with a new eye socket into its neck.
"You son of a~!" yelled Jackson, taking his head out from the creature's mouth as it wailed and squealed, his head covered in saliva. Jackson then took out his shiv, stabbing beneath the reptile's belly.
Amid the disarray, shrill, piercing screeches of the bats reverberating through the cavern, some of the skeletal remains slowly approached upwards from the depths their decapitated limbs bore no slowing to their stature coming towards the men with lost arms and heads.
Desperation and fear gripped them all. Within the cave, they faced an ominous fate in the inky blackness of the cavern many of the fighters threw their lantern full of oil onto the flying menaces! Inflaming bats flew everywhere lighting the cave in a blazing orange! Their Intensified screeching filled the air and fell onto soldiers! Burning them into immense screams!
Faced with the relentless assault of chaos left in the wake of the horrifying attack, Amid the chaotic retreat, discordious accidents occurred. A misfired shot ricocheted off a wall, hitting some men. Others stumbled onto the burning remains of engulfed bats, slamming into loose rocks and causing them to collapse! Some swung their weapons wildly, trying to fend off the swooping bats, striking some of their own.
Gradually, "Into formation! Each pair, a pair to a dozen!" Ordered Reynold, began to unify in their headstrong fight against the winged menace. They formed a tight defensive circle, back-to-back, covering each other as they swung their weapons at the bats. Swatting and firing wildly, they made their way toward the exit.
"Captain! The light is being blown out!", Lawson cried out, beginning to light their remaining torches. They knew that once darkness enveloped them completely, they would be at a severe disadvantage.
It released a screech ending with an exhaust as it collapsed on top of Jackson and lifted himself out from underneath the reptile! Lawson took the bayonet out and then went to Reynolds, until a soldier took out a stick of dynamite, "TNT OUT!" He yelled igniting it and throwing it toward the hoard.
The three ran away as with the remaining troops towards elevation, and then Reynolds was grabbed by the skeletons! The two stay to fire off but their rifles clicked!
As he was being dragged back, Reynolds tore a grenade from his bandolier and threw it in the air just above the horde slamming the roof, falling onto the skeletons, and blowing them apart releasing him just as the dynamite erupted! It shook the whole cave, and caused a massive collapse!
The soldiers all continued their retreat, some fumbling over and stumbling over.
So the men got up and ran upwards, The cavern was calm, for now. As they approached the upper levels where they had come from, Reynolds stood paralyzed. "Davis!"