The tunnel beneath the well was dark and damp, with moss lining the brick walls, leaving a slimy texture behind as Maurus and Mari trudged slowly along. The last vestiges were snuffed out when the demon attempted to enter the well opening and inadvertently collapsed the entire hole. Once Maurus’ eyes adjusted to the profound darkness, he was able to clearly see the path forward amidst the dust cloud and the footprints of the others in the muddy ground. Maurus turned to his mother and whispered, “Mother are you ok?” “Yes, Maurus, I think I can walk now. The fall just knocked the air out of me. We must hurry before the creatures figure out where the tunnel leads to,” she replied. They ran quickly through the tunnel partially hunched over as the tunnel was only barely four feet tall. Up ahead, Maurus could see a slight sliver of light and in his haste, he rushed ahead to the exit to see what awaited them. He could smell the marsh gas and immediately knew they were close to the Owdeliz River. As he reached the opening of the escape tunnel, Maurus realized what the light was. The stormy skies had cleared and one of the five moons, Stelleus, illuminated the sky overhead with a pale white glow. The tunnel emptied out only twenty-five feet from the river’s edge. They had emerged below the river bank on the actual shore of the river. Maurus glanced around for his companions, but they were nowhere to be found. He quickly turned around and climbed the river bank digging his clawed feet into the soft mud and propelling himself upwards. As soon as Maurus clambered atop the river bank, he came upon the remaining adults and children standing amongst the bramble trees staring off into the glowing distance. He instantly felt anger and sorrow, for the firelight in the distance was his homeland and tribe burning in ruins. A steady stream of tears began to trickle down the soft fur of his face and it was then that his mother Mari climbed up beside him and pulled him close to her chest while whispering. “We will have vengeance Maurus, but right now we need to survive, for we are all that is left.” The adults and children turned to Mari and awaited her orders. “We must go west to Iron Town, Elmwood, and beyond. We will stay together, raise our children, thrive, and then seek revenge on those abominations. Follow me now quickly across the river before those creatures continue their path of destruction westward.” The group turned as one and followed Mari across the river wading in water waist deep and spanning approximately one quarter of a mile wide. The smaller cubs were placed upon the shoulders of the adult females. Maurus took one last long glance far into the distance to his home before turning around and running to catch up with the rest of the group. The image of his home burning to the ground firmly planted in his head and anger filling in the void.

  The journey to safety was one fraught with danger from bandits and other more insidious creatures lurking in the dark. The trek across the river was slow due to having to carry the smaller cubs on the shoulders of the adults. Maurus entered the cold water and immediately felt a chill travel up his spine. He was wary of the dark murky water; although the village used the river for fishing, the storm had disturbed the underlying silt, creating a light brown mixture. Soon the rainwater from the mountains would surge downstream and flood the area, so haste was paramount in crossing the river. As they waded across the Owdeliz River, the waters rose and lapped around Maurus’ waist with a swift current that forced him to use most of his strength to fight back against being swept away. He warily watched the currents swirl around him, wondering what else was being swept along beneath the surface. The river was a result of glacial melt in the Dragon Spine Mountains, and as a result, the riverbed was littered with rocks both big and small. The river was usually only about a few hundred feet wide during the dry season and was easily traversed as it was only knee deep and the current was negligible. Unfortunately for the group, they were traversing the wilderness during the storm season and the river had already swollen from recent storms, raising the water level and the expanse of the river. The group used the large boulders as barriers against the current and some of the children dropped off of the shoulders of the adults and proceeded to bound across the tops of the rocks. As Maurus leaned on one of the boulders for a brief respite, he felt something brush past his legs in the murky water. “Quick, everyone out of the water! There is something below!” he yelled. Just as everyone turned to look at Maurus, a long-pointed snout with a lizard face and long serrated teeth, breached the surface and snatched the leg of one of the cubs standing on a rock. Mud Serpents were only active during the flood season, where they would use the murky waters to remain concealed until the last moment when they could snatch an unsuspecting victim down to the muddy bottom. The cub tried frantically to pull loose from the serpent’s grip, but it was no match for the strength and size of the beast. One of the females closest to the lad tried desperately in vain to pull the cub away, but the serpent’s teeth were stuck steadfast to the limb and the tugging only severed the limb more. Eventually, the cub would die from the loss of blood and the limb that was slowly being torn from the body. Maurus drew his reaper and tried to wade towards the conflict as quickly as possible, but the friction from the water slowed him down considerably. The nearest adult jumped onto the neck of the serpent and attempted to pry its jaw from the cub’s leg, but the serrated teeth were interlocked within the flesh so tightly that the movement was only cutting into the cub’s leg more. Another mud serpent arose from the water and coiled itself around the female’s torso, essentially rending her from the neck of the serpent she was clinging onto. A gasp of air was heard as the serpent crushed her ribs and punctured her lungs with its constriction. The remaining children scrambled across the rocks as quickly as possible, attempting to reach solid ground before more serpents surfaced and dragged them down to a watery grave.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Maurus scrambled up the nearest boulder, stretched out his arms and let out a mighty roar before leaping towards the serpent that had the cub’s leg in its jaws. He launched the hammer end of his reaper squarely into the jaw of the serpent. Teeth shattered, bone was crushed, and the serpent let out a pained shriek as it released the cub and turned its attention towards Maurus. He tugged on the chain holding the hammer that was firmly embedded in the bloody pulp of jaw bone and muscle left of the monster’s mouth, drawing it closer to him. In a flash of silver, he drew his scythe and dug it deep into the mud serpent’s scaly skull. The curvature of the blade and the angle of penetration caused it to exit through the right eye socket. The serpent thrashed in its death throes with Maurus holding on through the chain wrapped around his wrist. Finally, the beast crashed down headfirst onto the boulder, dead.

  The other serpent, seeing the demise of its brethren, quickly slipped beneath the dark surface of the water with its prize. It would not let itself be taken or lose the meal it had so easily captured. The rest of the adult party tried in vain to search for the creature, but to no avail. They approached the boulder where Maurus was kneeling down over the cub who had lost a limb. The cub’s breathing was severely labored and his limb completely mangled with blood pumping out of the stump in tune with his weak heartbeat. “Go now and roam free with Mystra in the afterlife, your battle here is over,” whispered Maurus into the cub’s ear. The cub gasped a few times while blood spilled out of his mouth and died… Maurus picked up the cub and carried him to the riverbank. The remaining cubs were waiting under a copse of marshland trees. Maurus and the other adults dug a trench for the cub with their claws and placed the small corpse within. They hastily covered the grave and continued their march onward in silence.