Go With the Stream

"W-what's going on?" Melissa cried.

Fred did the 'loca caliente!' dance to the door. "Oh my!" he remarked, hopping to and fro.

The quaking sensation got stronger and stronger. "What is it?!" Melissa demanded, peering out from behind Fred. She gasped.

Across the arctic waste, two gigantic purple worm creatures were converging upon the ramshackle hut. Each was easily a mile in length, ending in a massive frothing maw lined with circular rows of teeth. The sound of their crashing through the snow got louder and louder.

"Now I get it!" Melissa said weakly, falling to her knees. "I'm dead, and I'm in Hell, like in that popular movie I saw!"

Cups and dishes fell from the shelves and crashed to the floor as the worms got closer.

"Alas, m'lady, we have no time for idle speculation!" Fred shrieked, running around the room. "Hot, hot, hot! We have to find a way out of this predicament!"

"Nah, what's the point?" Melissa said sadly. "We're done for. In a second those things will eat us, and we'll go someplace even worse than here."

"I'm afraid I can't agree... augh!" Fred tripped over the rug and fell flat on his face. "Well, maybe you're right. I'm too hot think to even straight!"

"Wait, Fred!" Melissa cried just before the crashing and rumbling outside drowned out all other sounds. "Look!"

Underneath the rug Fred had kicked up lay a trap door. "Saints be praised!" Fred yelled inaudibly and pulled it open. A ladder led down into pitch darkness. He ushered Melissa inside, and had just enough time to grab his pants from the floor and jump down after her. Above them they heard the sound of the small hut being smashed to bits, and the terrifying howling of the wormbeasts, like a tornado overhead.

Fred quickly shimmied into his britches as they climbed down. "I can't see a thing!" Melissa complained. "I... aaaah!!!"

"Melissa!" Fred exclaimed as he heard her plummet. He wasn't about to fail this girl as he had failed his Quest. Heart pounding, Fred closed his eyes and jumped down after her.

Moments later he hit water with a mighty splash. It was still pitch-dark, and the water was ice-cold, much to Fred's relief. All he could hear was the roar of the current.

"Melissa!" he cried splashing about. There was no answer. Fred could only hope she had lost consciousness and been carried downstream, and hadn't sunk on impact. Fred wasn't much of a diver.

"Melissa!" Fred yelled plaintively as he paddled with the current. Although the freezing water was but a relief from whatever hex had been laid upon him, it could probably kill a young girl in a matter of minutes. He had to find her quickly.

Soon enough he saw light ahead. The current carried Fred along into a small cavern of intense natural beauty. Some sort of phosphorescent lichen glowed all over the walls, illuminating the water with a mysterious green hue. To Fred's dismay, there was still no sign of Melissa - and here the underground river branched in two. Fred could only trust in his intuition to lead him to the girl before it was too late.

1. Fred turns to the left, where the lichen continues to light the way, and the sound of rushing water grows louder.
2. Fred turns to the right, unlit and silent branch of the current.

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