A piercing scream echoed through the tomb chamber, sounding particularly bone-chilling. Tiana’s trembling voice followed immediately after. “W–What the hell is that thing?”
Andrew smiled bitterly, realizing there was no hiding it anymore. He drew his knife and slashed toward Lenny’s head without even looking, but the dangling tongue moved with lightning speed, wrapping around Lenny’s neck and pulling him upward. Thankfully, his hunting knife struck faster, cutting the tongue in half with a single stroke.
A sound like a baby’s roar thundered throughout the tomb chamber entrance, filled with excruciating pain. With loud swooshing sounds, several strands of black hair descended along the tomb chamber door, writhing as if they were alive. What followed was a creature so horrifying that even Andrew felt his breath catch in his throat. It was a woman dressed in white, her body seemingly boneless as she sprawled with limbs spread wide. Her tongue hung out grotesquely, her head twisted backward, and two black holes gaped where her eyes should have been.
The crawling thing, with hair stretching over 20 feet long and moving like the walking dead, had the appearance of a woman. However, no one would ever consider it human.
Lenny shouted, “I thought it was raining, but it was just this thing’s drool! Mr. Keller, help me wipe my face! It’s not going to rot off, is it?”
Logan stared fixedly at the monster, having no mind to deal with Lenny. He snapped, “Get away from me! Stay back and don’t come near me!”
Andrew retreated step by step, keeping his hunting knife pointed at the creature. “Everyone, back away slowly. Don’t make any sudden movements that might disturb it.”
Chantelle backed away, her voice trembling. “Mr. Lloyd, what the hell is that thing? All those Deathbugs just vanished when it showed up! You’re telling me this freak’s worse than the bugs?”
Andrew watched the monster’s constantly rotating head and took a deep breath before explaining, “It’s a Night Hag–an evil creature only mentioned in ancient texts. Legend says they were created by ancient sorcerers who force-fed corpse maggots to young women while they were still alive.
“Nine out of ten girls would be completely devoured, and only a few could survive the process, becoming half-flesh, half-rot abominations. Down here, Night Hags feed on corpses and Deathbugs alike.
“They don’t even need to eat–just hibernating in tombs for centuries. The old nobility used them as guardians to keep tomb raiders like us out.”
Chantelle cursed angrily, “Those ancient aristocrats were monsters!”
Andrew kept his eyes fixed on the Night Hag while continuing to retreat. He could not care less whether nobles were monsters or not–he only knew that if this monster went on a killing spree, they would all end up as corpses.
Logan could not help but say, “We’re all expert martial artists. Can’t we fight it? It looks pretty scrawny to me. Why don’t we gang up on it and kill the thing!”
Andrew replied flatly, “Don’t even think about fighting this creature. It could easily bite your head clean off.”
The Night Hag’s eye sockets were empty holes, and it relied on constantly swaying its head to sense the group’s location.
Since everyone was retreating very carefully, the Night Hag remained in place for the moment, continuously rotating its head but showing no signs of attacking.
“It seems this tomb chamber has been silent for a long time, so this creature isn’t quite adapted to living intruders yet. That’s good. Everyone, keep your movements small, and once we’re far enough away, run as far as you can!”