Chương 12: The River Unbound- Part II

The entity surges against the shield wall again before anyone can answer. Water crashes through the chamber in a violent wave that drives the soldiers backward across the flooded stone. Garrick catches the impact near the center of the formation, boots grinding against the floor while the men beside him lock shields together tightly enough to absorb the force before the line splits apart completely. The thing presses harder the moment the formation loses ground.

Its body stretches outward through the floodwater surrounding it, broadening into shifting currents that slam repeatedly against the shields while fresh riverwater spirals continuously upward from the broken seal behind it. Every strike against the creature tears pieces away. Every wound closes immediately. The buried river keeps rebuilding it faster than the soldiers can damage it. One spear thrust rips directly through the entity's shoulder, scattering black water across the chamber.

Before the soldier can pull the weapon free, the current wraps around the shaft and reforms the arm around it again. The soldier recoils instinctively. The entity seizes the opening at once. A surge of water erupts from the chamber floor and crashes into the shield line hard enough to throw one guard sideways into the flooded basin. Garrick grabs the man before the current can drag him deeper toward the grate while another soldier steps instantly into the gap left behind.

"Line steady," Garrick orders, breathing hard now.

"Hold your footing." The formation tightens again despite the water rising steadily around their legs. The river clergy remain near the runoff channels at the chamber edges, listening through the chaos while the current lashes violently around them. Their chants have changed since the entity emerged. Earlier they attempted to resist the corruption directly. Now they follow the movement of the deeper flow beneath the chamber itself, searching for the shape hidden within the current feeding the creature.

The eldest cleric suddenly looks toward the flooded basin.

"The spiral strengthens every time it strikes," she says. I feel it immediately afterward. The entity does not simply draw strength from the buried river. Its attacks feed the current itself. Every violent surge through the chamber reinforces the spiral pulling water inward from beneath the seal. The creature and the river are sustaining one another. Another heavy impact crashes into the formation before the realization can settle fully. This time the line bends dangerously.

Several soldiers stagger backward while the entity forces itself closer through the floodwater, its shifting upper form towering over the chamber now as more riverwater gathers continuously into its structure. Garrick steps forward before the pressure can collapse the center entirely. His shield slams into the creature's advancing mass with enough force to disrupt part of its torso while the soldiers beside him thrust spears through the opening together in disciplined rhythm.

For a brief moment the entity loses shape. Then the current rebuilds it again and faster this time. The river clergy exchange sharp looks.

"It adapts," one says quietly.

"Yes," I reply. The buried current has spent years carrying corruption through the sealed channels beneath the city. The thing rising from it understands pressure instinctively now. Every movement through the chamber teaches it more about the formation resisting it and the longer this continues, the stronger the spiral feeding it becomes. The eldest cleric kneels suddenly beside the flooded runoff channel and presses both hands into the current. Her expression tightens sharply as the water rushes around her arms.

"The lower river still follows its original course," she says through clenched teeth.

"The corruption keeps forcing the current inward toward the basin." I look toward the broken seal. The buried river still wants to flow naturally beneath the city. The spiral dragging water upward into the chamber was created artificially, that changes everything.

"It's redirecting the river," I say. Garrick hears the shift in my voice immediately while holding the center line against another crushing surge.

"Meaning?"

"The current feeding the creature is forced into the chamber instead of continuing downstream." I study the flooded floor carefully as the runoff channels churn around us.

"Break the spiral and the river will pull away from it naturally." The entity lashes outward again before anyone can respond. Multiple arms form from the surrounding floodwater and hammer into the formation from different angles at once. Shields splinter under the pressure while soldiers slide backward through knee-deep current despite every attempt to anchor themselves against the stone. One guard loses footing completely. The water catches him instantly.

The current drags him sideways across the chamber floor toward the flooded basin before Garrick lunges through the formation, catches the soldier's arm and hauls him violently back behind the shield line. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work! The entity surges forward immediately afterward, sensing weakness in the disruption. Garrick meets it head-on.

His shield catches the impact while the soldiers beside him lock formation around him fast enough to stop the creature from breaking through. Water explodes upward across the chamber in dark spiraling waves as the buried river hammers against the line with relentless force. The captain's boots grind deeper into the flooded stone beneath him. Still, he holds. The river clergy rise together near the runoff channels.

Their chants deepen into something older now, quieter and far more deliberate than the prayers spoken earlier in the descent. The current surrounding the chamber responds slowly at first. Then the runoff channels begin shifting direction beneath the floodwater. The entity reacts instantly. Its entire form convulses violently as the river beneath the chamber hesitates for the first time since the seal broke. One of its arms collapses halfway to the shoulder before reforming unevenly.

The eldest cleric lifts her gaze toward Garrick through the spray and chaos filling the chamber.

"We can pull the current away from it," she says, voice strained with effort.

"But we need time." Garrick tightens his grip on the shield and steps forward into the floodwater again while the entity rises higher before him.

"You have it," he says. The formation contracts around Garrick's position while the river clergy begin forcing the current sideways through the flooded runoff channels. Water churns violently across the chamber floor as competing flows collide beneath the basin, sending sharp vibrations through the stone beneath our feet. The entity feels the disruption immediately. Its body lashes outward in unstable waves while sections of its shifting torso collapse and reform unevenly beneath the interrupted current.

The river still feeds it, but the flow has lost its smooth inward pull toward the spiral beneath the basin. For the first time since emerging from the breach, the creature's movements carry strain. It attacks harder because of it. A wall of water crashes against the formation with enough force to drive the front rank backward several feet through the flood. Shields grind across submerged stone while spears dip dangerously toward the waterline before the soldiers force themselves steady again.

Garrick remains at the center of the impact. His shield catches the worst of the force while the men around him brace against his position instinctively, reinforcing the line wherever the pressure threatens to split it apart.

"Anchor the center," he orders through clenched teeth.

"Left side forward." The formation adjusts immediately despite the rising floodwater swirling around their legs. The entity surges toward the weakened side of the line at once. The broad shape of its upper body stretches forward through the current while new limbs form from the water surrounding it, hammering against the shields in relentless succession meant to overwhelm the soldiers through sheer force.

One guard, stumbles under the impact, another immediately steps into position beside him before the opening can widen. The line holds, barely. The river clergy continue redirecting the current behind us, though the effort visibly strains them now. Water circles violently around their legs while their chants deepen into low rhythmic pulses that echo strangely through the chamber beneath the roar of the flood. The buried river answers them. I feel the change spread through the chamber floor first.

The deeper current beneath the seal begins resisting the inward spiral feeding the entity. The flow still surges toward the basin, but sections of the river now push sideways against the corruption forcing the unnatural movement. The entity convulses sharply. Its right arm bursts apart into scattered current before reforming slower than before. The eldest cleric sees it immediately.

"Again," she says sharply to the others.

"Push the lower flow eastward." The chants intensify. Water erupts from several runoff channels along the chamber walls as the redirected current slams against the inward spiral beneath the basin. The floodwater surrounding the entity grows unstable afterward, shifting unpredictably around its form instead of feeding smoothly into it. The creature reacts with sudden violence.

Its entire body expands outward through the chamber in a massive surge of riverwater that crashes into the formation from every direction at once. Soldiers slam shoulder-to-shoulder beneath the pressure while shields strain hard enough to splinter along their edges. One of the front guards cries out as the current tears his shield from his grasp and hurls it spinning across the chamber floor. The entity immediately drives toward the opening. Garrick intercepts it before the line can collapse.

He steps directly into the surge, shield raised high while the creature's shifting mass crashes into him with enough force to send water exploding across the chamber walls. The impact drives him down to one knee, but the captain holds position anyway, anchoring the center long enough for the surrounding soldiers to close the gap around him again. The floodwater around the entity churns violently afterward, its shape flickers.

The featureless outline of its head distorts unevenly while currents peel away from the torso in ragged streams before being dragged back inward again. The river is beginning to resist it and the creature senses the change immediately. Its attacks lose some of their calculated rhythm after that. Earlier every strike carried deliberate pressure designed to destabilize the formation gradually.

Now the entity lashes outward harder and faster, forcing raw current against the shield wall in increasingly violent surges as the redirected flow weakens its cohesion.

"It's losing control of the spiral," I say. The eldest cleric nods tightly without breaking concentration.

"The river wants its course back." Another wave crashes through the chamber. This one lacks the same crushing precision as before. The soldiers absorb the impact more cleanly while Garrick forces the line forward half a step afterward, reclaiming ground near the basin edge. The entity recoils violently and for the first time since it emerged from the buried river, something appears beneath the water composing its form. Flesh, pale, distorted and buried deep within the shifting current surrounding the torso.

Only visible for an instant before the river folds back over it again. But I see it clearly and so does the eldest river cleric. Her expression changes immediately.

"That thing…" she whispers.

"The river is hiding something inside it."