Sabir barely had time to register the sensation of the Overseer shoving him forward before he felt the ground vanish beneath him. Gravity yanked him down, and with a rush of wind in his ears, he plummeted a couple of meters before crashing into a tangle of limbs onto an unsuspecting group of bodies.


    “Ow! What the—” Zabo’s voice cut through the groans and muttering as Sabir’s sudden descent sent everyone sprawling, with Sabir ending up sprawled awkwardly on top of him and the others in a heap. He groaned, peeling himself off the pile of his equally disoriented party members.


    Warren grumbled, pushing Sabir off with a look of barely restrained irritation. “What the hell happened to sticking the landing?”


    “Hey, not my fault!” Sabir protested, wincing as he adjusted to the ache in his limbs. “I didn’t exactly get a choice in the matter.”


    Everyone slowly got to their feet, brushing off dirt and debris from their armor and robes. They exchanged uneasy glances, clearly still unsettled from their encounter with the Overseer.


    “Who was that guy, anyway?” Maize asked, her usual smirk faded to a tense frown. “Because that was not Balaram.”


    “That was Balaram, I’m sure of it,” Elektra muttered, her voice carrying a bitter edge. “Or…what was left of him.”


    Rudiger snorted, his tone grim. “Whatever Balaram used to be, he’s gone. That thing… that Overseer… he’s someone else entirely now.” He paused, eyeing the distance as if searching for any remnants of the person he once knew. “The Balaram we knew is dead.”


    Saliba’s face was still pale, and he swiped sweat from his brow with a trembling hand. “Whatever he is now… he’s terrifying. I still feel like I’m gonna be sick.”


    Sabir’s eyes moved over the group, noting how shaken they looked—especially Saliba, whose usual cockiness had given way to visible fear. “What… exactly happened to all of you?” Sabir asked, feeling a pang of unease. “That eye of his didn’t seem to affect me the same way.”


    Zabo took a shaky breath, recalling the sensation with a shudder. “It was like this… all-powerful voice was trying to talk directly to me. But as soon as I tried to figure out where the voice was coming from, it felt like my minds was… exploding.” He tapped his temple, a haunted look in his eyes. “It was like I was nothing compared to that—thing.”


    The rest of the group nodded, their expressions darkening with each memory of the encounter.


    “I think I saw what it was. At least part of it. It was…an enormous eye, and it was like it knew me.” Saliba shivered.


    Maize finally shook her head, her expression hardening. “Enough. We’re here now, and we’ve got a dungeon to get through. Whatever happened up there is behind us.”


    Sabir took a steadying breath, trying to refocus as well. They’d made it through the Overseer, whatever he truly was, and now they were in unknown territory. They’d need their wits about them.


    As their eyes adjusted to the dim, hazy light filtering through a sky choked with stormy clouds, the group took in their surroundings. The air was thick and salty, tinged with a faint metallic tang that hinted at both rust and decay. They stood on the deck of an ancient, battered ship that groaned with every slight shift, as if the vessel were barely holding itself together.


    The wood beneath their feet was worn smooth in places but deeply splintered and cracked in others, like scars from battles long past. Each step they took sent tiny flakes of dust swirling up around their boots. In spots along the deck, dark stains seeped into the planks, their edges feathered and blurred, as though spilled blood or oil had soaked deep into the grain. Parts of the railing were burnt, charred black, as if kissed by fire. Jagged edges and splintered wood jutted out here and there, as if clawed or crushed by some enormous force.


    The ship’s mast towered overhead, weathered and cracked, draped with tattered sails that flapped sluggishly in a wind that seemed to come from nowhere. Loose ropes hung in frayed loops, creaking softly as they swayed, the sound strangely hollow in the heavy silence that surrounded them.


    Off to one side, they spotted a small, sandy island just beyond the reach of the ship’s hull. Pale, almost ghostly, it seemed out of place in this desolate seascape. Scattered haphazardly across the sand were crates, some cracked open to reveal the damp wood inside, others half-buried as if left there to sink slowly into the earth. The crates looked old, worn by the elements, some marked with symbols long faded by time.


    A faint, eerie fog clung to the island, giving the entire scene a haunted, surreal quality. The air was heavy, oppressive, pressing down on their shoulders as they looked around, trying to make sense of the place.


    “What is this place?” Sabir muttered.


    Rudiger’s gaze swept over the surroundings, and he spotted something near the rudder. “Looks like there’s a noticeboard over here.” He walked over, and the others followed.


    On the noticeboard, carved in crude, scratchy letters, was a riddle:


    To sail this ship, make it whole;


    Repair the wood, restock the hold.


    With crates retrieved, your task complete,


    Or be slain by the beast beneath the deep.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The last line made everyone pause, a shared sense of dread settling over them.


    “‘Beast beneath the deep’?” Saliba said, swallowing hard. “You think it’s…?”


    A deep rumbling from below quickly answered their question. A massive tentacle shot up from the water beside the ship, curling upward in a display of terrifying strength. It slapped down onto the deck, splintering the wood, and then another tentacle followed, each one as thick as a tree trunk.


    Warren’s eyes widened, his voice urgent. “That’s the beast! It says to kill us. We need to do exactly what the riddle says—fix this ship and gather those crates, fast!”


    Elektra leapt into action, her gaze sweeping the damaged deck. “All right, let’s get moving! Rudiger, can your ice fix these breaks in the hull?”


    Rudiger nodded, already holding out his hands as frost spread over the wood, sealing the cracks temporarily with solid ice. “It won’t last forever, but it’ll buy us time.”


    Maize shot a glance at the scattered crates on the nearby island. “I’ll start hauling those crates in. Let’s move!” With a sharp whistle, she and Elektra scrambled down to the shore to grab the crates.


    Meanwhile, Zabo swung his chains, sending them lashing out at the monster’s tentacles to distract it. “Sabir, keep close! If we’re going to keep this thing at bay, we’ll have to work together!”


    Sabir’s pulse raced, but he nodded, following Zabo’s lead. He ducked and weaved as the monster’s tentacles smashed into the deck around him, the entire ship groaning under the monster’s assault. Zabo’s chains snaked through the air, wrapping around one tentacle and yanking it back, but the creature’s sheer strength shattered the chains, forcing him to regroup.


    Saliba, still visibly unnerved, leaned over the edge of the ship and released a thick, acidic bile toward the nearest tentacle. The acid sizzled on contact, but the tentacled creature barely reacted, as though Saliba’s attack was little more than an annoyance.


    “Isn’t there anything that can hurt this thing?” Saliba shouted in frustration.


    “It’s not about killing it!” Warren shouted back, voice strained as he directed everyone. “We just need to keep it at bay until we can finish these repairs! Focus on completing the tasks, not fighting it!”


    Maize and Elektra were already loading the first crates back onto the ship, each crate marked with provisions, tools, and spare wood for repairs.


    “Hurry!” Elektra urged. “We’re almost there.”


    Sabir glanced over, watching as Warren knelt beside a torn section of the ship, quickly securing it with a makeshift patch of spare wood. The beast’s tentacles reared up again, but Rudiger’s ice shot out to reinforce the patch, creating a temporary barrier against the monster’s assault.


    As the final crate was dragged onto the deck, Warren shouted, “That’s it! We’ve got everything!”


    It loomed over them, its massive, dripping tentacle high above, casting a shadow that seemed to swallow the entire deck. Sabir’s heart hammered in his chest as he saw the tentacle beginning to descend, aiming right for Zabo, who was too focused on catching his breath to notice.


    Without thinking, Sabir lunged forward, throwing his weight into Zabo’s side. “Zabo! Move!” he shouted, his voice barely audible over the roar of the creature and the crashing waves.


    He got his arms around Zabo’s shoulders just as the tentacle slammed down with a force that shook the entire ship. The impact sent wood splintering in all directions, sharp fragments flying like shrapnel. Sabir and Zabo hit the deck hard, rolling over one another as Sabir tried to shield Zabo from the worst of the debris.


    They came to a stop near the edge of the ship, both breathing heavily, adrenaline pumping through their veins. Sabir lifted his head, his hands scraped and stinging from catching himself on the rough wood, and caught sight of the deep, pulpy indent left by the creature’s blow. A heartbeat slower, and Zabo would’ve been crushed.


    Zabo coughed, finally catching his breath, and looked at Sabir with wide eyes, realization dawning on his face. “I—Thanks, Sabir,” he stammered, his voice strained.


    “Don’t thank me yet,” Sabir muttered, forcing himself to his feet and offering Zabo a hand. The ship groaned under the monster’s weight, and another tentacle curled along the side, closing in on them.


    The two exchanged a glance, determination in their eyes, before scrambling to put some distance between themselves and the relentless monster. All around them, splinters and bits of shattered wood rained down, and the air was thick with the salty, bitter smell of the sea and the beast’s musk.


    But Sabir’s grip on Zabo’s shoulder was steady, grounding them both. For now, all that mattered was surviving the next hit.


    The ship gave a sudden, unnatural lurch, as if gripped by an unseen force from beneath. Sabir felt his pulse quicken as an eerie silence fell over the deck, the previous cacophony of creaking wood and crashing waves suddenly muted. His heart pounded louder in his chest, an ominous drumbeat that seemed to sync with the shifting of the ship beneath him.


    Then, with a low, resonant rumble that reverberated through the deck, the floorboards near the center trembled. The vibrations grew stronger, a throbbing hum that pulsed in the air, and the wood itself seemed to writhe, almost alive.


    Sabir took a cautious step back, his eyes fixed on the shifting boards, as the timber began to crack and peel away like shedding skin. A faint, cold mist seeped through the growing gap, swirling in tendrils around his ankles. The entire ship creaked with an otherworldly groan, as though it too felt the strange presence unfolding on its own deck.


    With a shudder and a final, echoing creak, a hatch suddenly appeared where there had been none before, a heavy trapdoor that swung open with unnatural ease. The mist thickened, swirling like ghostly fingers over the dark opening that was revealed. A narrow staircase spiraled down into an inky blackness below, the surrounding air tinged with the faint scent of something ancient and arcane.


    Sabir’s breath caught as he peered into the darkness, the unseen depths calling to him with a magnetic pull. It was as though the ship itself had unlocked a portal, a passage into a world that was never meant to be seen. A deep, resonant hum lingered in the air, echoing from below, and he felt something vast and unknowable awaiting them in the darkness.


    “Look!” Maize shouted, pointing. “That might be our way out!”


    Tentacles writhed around the ship, striking closer and closer with each passing second. Sabir locked eyes with his companions, and without a word, they knew what had to be done. They dashed for the hatch, their feet pounding against the deck as they raced to escape.


    The last thing Sabir saw as he jumped into the darkness was the creature’s massive eye watching him, its fury radiating through the air. But they couldn’t worry about it now; they had to move, and fast.


    One by one, they jumped through the open hatch, their feet hitting the cold wooden floor below as they descended into the darkness. Sabir barely caught his breath before he felt a sudden lurch on the floor beneath him. The stairway was collapsing.


    He felt himself falling again, the world spinning around him as his body dropped through what felt like a void. Voices echoed around him, his companions’ shouts blending with the distant roar of the beast as they plummeted further into the unknown.


    And as the darkness swallowed them whole, Sabir couldn’t help but feel as though they’d only begun to uncover the true depths of this dungeon’s horrors.