In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming; PHASE II

[Nymeria]

It was black. It harbored no substance, and then in an instant light came and her hooves landed. She stomped the ground, packing the dirt in and forming a small indentation. Her nostrils flared and a horrid scent engulfed her lungs causing her diaphragm to convulse. Her stomach lurched and out came a thick green substance. It sloshed to the ground; unintentionally this had drawn attention to the mare. Nymeria felt her chest churn. She hadn’t opened her eyes yet. Fear had become her. Nymeria was a plain mare. She was lack luster in everyway. Brinley, her sister, had been the one who fought. She had been the clever one and leader. Nymeria followed. Brinley never led her astray, but at this moment Nymeria was beginning to regret her following ways. Slowly she peaked out from under her eyelids. The smell was still wreaking havoc on her stomach, but that problem soon fell to the wayside when Nymeria realized where she was (not that she knew exactly where that was). The bay mare had landed between two cliffs. She was shakily holding steady in the crevice of two mountains, utterly alone. She felt her pulse rise. Her ears tweaked. She was hearing everything. Above her a creature flew with talons longer than her own head (or so it appeared). Nymeria was glued to her position unsure of what to do next. its by the sea, about a mile off What? Sea? Nymeria barely managed the words above her own encasing fear. Out of the corner of her eye Nymeria spotted a cave. It was carved deep into the mountain. Perhaps that would be a good place to recap. The bay mare steadily moved her hoof, tracing the ground with each step and back step. She slowly managed her way to the cave. Diving into the darkness Nymeria swung her body to the right of the entrance and exhaled a great sigh. Safe. It had been an ignorant move, and the mare would note that at a later date. Within the depths of the cave awaited a creature- A creature that had been sprung out of other monsters. She was a daughter, and she was hungry. Ayi’ig did not often leave her cave especially with such dark times among the Earth. Eventually intruders always came to her. The daughter looked much like an octopus with snake-like eyes. Her tentacles were the most wondrous things. They sprung from her side with brains and bodies of their own. The she-creature had heard something hit the ground. She had felt the vibrations of an approach, and without any more reassurance she sent one of her tentacles to find and carry her meal home. Nymeria could barely see in the darkness. Light barely shown through the entrance, giving the mare a bit of comfort. Nymeria had managed a plan. She could smell the salt in the air. The plan was to leave the cave, pick a direction and….. The bay mare did not get a chance to recall the full plan to herself for out of the pits came a long and wiry thing- unimaginable and indescribable. Its slimy touch managed to wrap around the base of Nymeria’s back leg. At this point instinct kicked in and Nymeria lashed her hind leg out. Her front hooves clawed into the earth, but they were only able to get a shallow hold. Her body fell with the weight of the tentacle dragging her backward. Nymeria gasped for breath. She clawed, clawed, and frantically looked for something to aid her. The edge of the cave harbored rocks. The rocks were rooted in the ground, and as Nymeria’s body flew backward she managed to scrap herself forward and twist her body around the jagged edge of a rock. The tentacle kept pulling, but now with the weight of the rock Nymeria had leverage. She swung her hoof back again, this time striking it against the side of the cave. The tentacle took a bit of the force, as did her hock. Nymeria repeated this motion until the grip lightened and leg to. With luck Nymeria was able to scramble to a stance and gallop (or rather hobble with her bum leg) to the outside of the cave. She chose to go left (the air smelt saltier in that direction- or so she quickly deciphered). Nymeria ran as fast as she could, upon exiting the crevice. Not once did Nymeria believe that anything could be worse than the cave creature or the rancid smell, but like before she was proven wrong. Creatures roamed the ground with multitudes of the thing that had just attacked her. She froze again, imagining without movement that she wouldn’t be detected. She could turn and go backward or she could brave forward. Nymeria looked to her injured leg. Blood had begun to pool and coagulate around the base of her hoof. She sneered at the site, but amongst her irritation toward injury came courage. She had survived, and she could push forward. Slowly and with more confidence Nymeria edged forward along the borders of the arena like ground. She watched the creatures and calculated each move to motion with them. The salt air grew heavier. It began to win out over the flesh smell, and out of the corner of her eye Nymeria spotted water. Her patience had worn thin and with a small limp she turned her whole body and tilted forward. All of a sudden Nymeria couldn’t move. Her whole body had been immersed in water. Only a foot in front of her and the ground was dry yet she was completely encased, enveloped in an unknown monster. The dark water god, Cthaat, had snuck up to the mare. It had followed her hoof steps until the mare had managed herself into its grasp. Cthaat felt the horses body become one with its globular form. Once taken Cthaat would smother its prey, and then carry it to the sea to be thrown amongst the dead, adding to its countless numbers of victims. Nymeria panicked within the ball of water. She was floating mid-air, moving toward her destination (unknowingly), but she could not breath. Her lungs were burning, and her hooves were clawing at the weightless water. With each claw she simply swung her body round and round. Her body shifted, but the globe did not stop its movements nor did it flinch at her escape attempts. If Nymeria had not undergone her previous interaction she may have given up and allowed eternal peace to rest her. Instead Nymeria closed her eyes once more (like she had done in space) and centered herself. She felt her body convulse, wanting, begging for oxygen. Nymeria calmed. Her body relaxed then it went limp. Nymeria concentrated on her heartbeat. She focused on nothing but each thump, thump, thump. Cthaat felt its victim go lifeless. The monster had arrived to the sea soon after it captured the horse, but it was waiting for its death. Once lifeless Cthaat leg go, and then left the scene in search of its next victim. The bay mare felt her body release from the hold of the encasement. She fell to the sea, causing a small splash when she broke the surface. Nymeria allowed her body to sink, but she soon hit the bottom. The water was boiling hot, though thankfully the monster had dropped her on the beach. Nymeria’s stomach never went beneath the water so she was able to lift both her head and her body all at once. She gasped for air as she leapt out of the sea, breathing in heavily the thick, warm air. Her body was now left scorched (though not nearly as bad as it could be) along with wounded. Nymeria looked before her and there was the wormhole. It was both a comforting site and a fearful site- where would it bring her next time. Regardless Nymeria fell forward into its embrace, duly unprepared for the next stage. nymeria