through his brain, gouged its way through the crown of his
head. He sobbed mightily and raised his face toward the
cavern roof, groaned, an agonizing call from an injured
and bloodied beast.
Above the underground lake, a shock of red lit the
dome and Wank dropped back to all fours, his head
creased in agony. The broken shelfs across the lake glared
luridly across at him. The reflections of light and shadow
outlined a small island, danced over banded striations that
seemed to throb as the glow flickered with some unknown
power. He glimpsed something moving on the island,
though it could just have been from the lightshow.
Jagged red light flicked out, lashed at Wank’s eyes
and skull. A harsh crackle exploded into his ears, blinded
him. All sense of up and down left him. He flailed,
seemingly weightless until wet stone collided with his
forehead and consciousness once again fled.
When he awoke, a completely mundane pain
creased his skull where it rested on a small rise of wet
stone, and a profound emptiness bloated him. Limb and
body were vague, numb things, a shadowy suggestion of
reality.
He rolled sideways and levered himself to sitting. A
wave of dizziness gripped him and he put both hands
behind on the ground to keep himself upright. When the
stars stopped swimming across his vision, he saw, laying in
front of him, a fish. It was a pale, sickly thing, long and
thin and gutted.
66
He started salivating even before his hand