"NOOO—"

  A tentacle slapped the wall over Boney’s head.

  "KYAAH!"

  Another slapped Laura’s calf, almost making her trip. Headless roared in confusion. The terrifying creature behind them continued its silent pursuit.

  They had been running for some time now. The tentacle-person didn’t seem able to close the distance, but their mad shouts had awakened every single monster in the vicinity, and tentacles kept shooting out of cracks to catch them. Thankfully, these creatures were ambush predators. They generally took their time to land one devastating blow. Due to having no eyesight, they struggled to catch fleeing prey, meaning that the trio were, somehow, still alive—as alive as they could be, anyway.

  At least, the tentacle spiders, the younger version of the monsters, feared the commotion and didn’t dare peek outside their holes. Only one did, and was then slapped by a flailing tentacle that shot it straight onto Laura. She lost her mind, and the little creature, equally terrified, started running around her body in blind panic.

  It eventually hid inside the higher back of her dress.

  "GET IT OFF ME!" Laura cried out, trying to reach her back. Headless kept slapping her, trying to catch the spider, but it constantly wiggled away. "It’s disgusting!"

  "It’s harmless!" Boney shouted. "Focus on staying alive!"

  "Help me, Boney!"

  "Like hell! Just run!"

  "Nooo…" She shrieked again.

  Headless, who was faster than Laura, had finally had enough. He jammed his hand into her dress from above, grabbed the spider, and pulled it out. It was a small thing, smaller than his fist, but with wiggly tentacles instead of legs and no face to speak of.

  He tossed it away.

  "Finally!" Laura cried out in joy, for a moment forgetting the deadly danger they were in. Tears of gratitude fell from her face. "Thank you, Headless! You’re the best undead!"

  "Hey!"

  "You shut up! I told you this was a bad idea! We should have stayed put!"

  "Don’t curse at me, you bi—"

  A tentacle found his skull, hitting him straight in the nose—or the hole for it—and interrupting his words. Laura pushed him from behind to keep going.

  "If you wanted to stay put," he continued, "you should have insisted!"

  "But you insisted!"

  "Because I was right!"

  "Right!? Does this"—she paused to slide into a turn—"seem right to you, you idiot?"

  "You just turned right!"

  She glared daggers at his back. "I hate you!"

  "Likewise!"

  Headless roared. If they had time to talk, they could run faster.

  A large crack loomed on their right. It was empty, fortunately, but also one they’d never seen before.

  "We’re going the wrong way!" Laura cried out.

  "No, we’re not! I remember our path!"

  "Remember better!"

  "How can I remember better!?"

  Boney tuned her out to remember better. Between dodging tentacles, watching his footing, and running at high speed, he also had to backtrack the path they came from, all the way back to that large chasm. The tentacle person was sliding instead of walking, so maybe it couldn’t cross the chasm. That was their only hope.

  Boney looked back and instantly regretted his decision.

  A nightmare of a thousand tentacles stared him down, sliding effortlessly after them. Its tentacle body resembled entwined roots filled with cockroaches, and its face, or lack thereof, was so grotesque it awakened disgust deep inside Boney’s undead soul.

  He quickly turned back to the front. If he had sweat glands, they’d be working at full throttle right now.

  "Right, left, right, right, left…" he muttered to himself, following turn after turn. Needless to say, this was difficult. Needless to say, he was already lost—but he couldn’t tell Laura, could he?

  "Are we getting there?" she asked, panting. "I’m tired!"

  "Almost there!" he shouted back, praying to every single God to help them find the way. How big can the maze possibly be!?

  Very—but the particular part of the maze they were in, not so much.

  Suddenly, Boney noticed a familiar wall. He easily recognized it because he’d gotten scared of his shadow there, and fear makes memories vivid.

  "I know where we are!" he exclaimed. "We’re almost there!"

  "Wha—You idiot! You were lost!?"

  "Not anymore!"

  "I’m going to kill you!"

  "How many times do I have to tell you? I’m already dead!"

  Headless roared in excitement. A corner appeared up ahead, but there was no floor out there; it was dark like a starless night.

  "We made it!" Boney cried out. "Jump, everyone!"

  They did not jump. Instead, they screeched to a halt, and the only reason they made it in time was their shoes’ quality. A swarm of tentacles rose from the chasm as every single tentacle monster went berserk by the sound. Their tentacles met and wrestled, mistaking each other for prey, devolving into a wide brawl.

  In the eyes of the fleeing trio, those tentacles were a wall. There was no way to get through them.

  Their hearts, literal or otherwise, seized in their chests, and their breaths got stuck in their throats. Blood banged in their temples, and their entire body was filled with the limitless energy of despair, all exhaustion forgotten as they turned to face the horror at their heels.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  The grotesque tentacle person approached them, slowing down as it had them cornered. Just this fact made it ten times scarier, as it indicated intelligence. Each arm unraveled into three thick tentacles, and they seemed taut as if filled with muscle. Its face resembled a horde of insects as the small tentacles there wiggled like mad, exposing a gaping mouth and a throat made of tentacles.

  Getting chewed by that would mean a horrible, horrible death.

  Boney was shivering. If he had the ability, he would have probably soiled his pants. Laura was a hero for keeping her dress pristine, as she was shaking even harder than the skeleton.

  "I don’t want to die!" they both cried out at the same time.

  Fortunately, neither did Headless. He shouted a disembodied roar, drew his glaive, and lunged at the creature. There was no hesitation, no fear in his assault—either he hadn’t developed the intelligence for it, or he was the world’s bravest zombie.

  For a moment, time froze, and Boney and Laura were left staring at his wide back.

  A hero… they both thought at once, their eyes starry.

  The zombie clashed against the monster, and the sound of metal slicing flesh filled the air. A glaive was a long, heavy weapon; wielding it properly took both strength and finesse, especially in these narrow corridors, where maintaining the weapon’s momentum without hitting the walls was like threading a needle.

  However, who was Headless? He had been born with a detached head and no coordination. He couldn’t even walk at first. However, he’d practiced hard and turned his weakness into a strength. Let alone walking, he’d learned to dance and even became a master juggler. Moreover, zombies were physically gifted, to begin with.

  If Headless couldn’t use a glaive, nobody could!

  The creature pushed forward, but Headless held it back. Tentacles were sliced in swathes, but more took their place as the creature’s mass slowly—very slowly—decreased. For a few moments, they were at an impasse.

  Victory was far away, but it was possible—and Headless’s courage was contagious.

  Boney and Laura clenched their fists. Their fear transformed into grim determination, all thoughts escaping their mind as they focused on a sole task: fighting.

  The flask’s top popped off. Water rushed out like a small flood to envelop the creature, drenching its robe and limiting its mobility. The water invaded its body and wreaked havoc, pushing left and pulling right as it ruined the myriad tentacles’ razor-thin coordination.

  The creature’s tentacles flailed as the glaive cut them down, and the advancing monstrosity was finally brought to a halt.

  Headless and Laura were just barely holding the thing at bay, while Boney could only stand and watch, as he couldn’t fight at range. His metaphorical heart skipped a beat.

  Can we do it? he thought, clenching his fists. He looked back, where a dozen tentacles slapped the floor and several dozen wiggled through the air. Please!

  The monster ran out of patience. With a wet, slurping sound, it decided to disregard Headless’s assault and charge. Boney’s feet went cold. Oh, shit!

  The tentacle monster dove into the glaive’s reach, taking a strong hit at the waist and another that cleaved an entire arm off—but, by then, it had reached them. Headless could not retreat; the wall of tentacles was right behind him.

  He grunted as he grabbed the glaive’s body near the blade, using it as a sword to fight up-close, but the creature was relentless. It fell on him like a swarm of locusts. One tentacle after another jumped out of its body, and though Headless fought bravely, he was soon overwhelmed and wrapped by eight tentacles which pulled him towards the creature.

  He grabbed its shoulders to push away, but the tentacles wiggled under his grasp, and suddenly, he held nothing. A few thin tentacles shot for where his head should be, aiming for his orifices, and they were stunned when they found nothing. The poor thing had no eyes—how could it guess that Headless’s head hung on his chest by the straps Jerry had made so long ago?

  Laura’s water filled the creature’s body, more and more of the liquid appearing out of thin air. Her eyes glowed a deep blue as she went all out, but there was little she could do against creatures that didn’t need to breathe.

  Headless was almost hugging the creature now, and his feet had left the ground. Small tentacles scouted his body, looking for openings. One found his head. He was about to be destroyed in a horrific fashion, and he was helpless, as his glaive could not be used at such proximity. He’d dropped it a while ago.

  While the creature was busy destroying Headless, Boney ran past them, into the open corridor behind. Into escape. Laura’s eyes widened. She screamed, "NO!"

  Somehow, a sword appeared in Headless’s right hand. He instantly slashed down between him and the creature, cutting all the tentacles binding them, but it was a temporary solution—the creature had many more, and he couldn’t another step back.

  And then, a savior appeared.

  With a shout to silence his fear, Boney turned around and rammed into the creature from behind. Disgust engulfed him as he fell on the wiggling, ever-changing body. It felt like hugging an open bag of cockroaches. He instantly wanted to retreat, but his momentum was still there.

  The creature did not expect an attack from behind. Its tentacles hesitated for a moment, not knowing what to do, and they remained solid under Boney’s body. That moment was enough.

  Boney’s charge pushed the creature forward into Headless, who let himself fall on his back. His feet rose to meet the creature’s waist and pushed at the same time as Boney. With the two working together, the monster lost its footing and flew off the ground, over Headless, and right into the mass of waiting tentacles.

  It tried to latch onto the zombie, but Boney used his dagger to cut it off. It tried to grab onto the ground, but Laura’s water made its blind grip slide off.

  It fell into the chasm and all hell broke loose. Finally finding prey, tentacles assaulted it from every side, and the creature madly fought back, initiating a battle of hundreds of tentacles.

  But it couldn’t win.

  With a massive, unwilling, slurping sound, the creature’s cloak was torn apart, and its entire body unraveled, revealing a slug-shaped thing in its midst. The tentacle monsters latched onto it from all angles and quickly broke it into pieces. The creature went still as the remains of its body were sucked in like pasta by multiple dark maws at once.

  In a single moment, the tentacle person just wasn’t there anymore. It had been completely devoured. Satisfied, the tentacles receded, letting calmness ensue.

  But not all of them. One tentacle monster was close to their side of the corridor and kept slapping the ground. Everyone backed off to a safe distance, but the tentacles…found Headless’s head!

  It had fallen off while fighting the monster!

  "NO!" Boney cried out, diving to grab the head just as two tentacles wrapped around it. With each side pulling, it was a tug of war with Headless’s head as the prize, and Boney was losing. He was getting pulled into the chasm, but he refused to let go.

  Laura’s arms wrapped around his waist and slowed him down. Headless’s arms wrapped around her waist and brought the tug of war to a tie, neither side able to pull the other, but time was not their ally. If they stalled, the other tentacle monsters would soon realize dinner was not over, and if they reached out, the trio was well within their range. Headless’s head was dangling just over the tip of the dark chasm.

  They gritted their teeth and pulled harder. They were finally making some progress, but a tentacle suddenly wrapped around Boney’s arm, and another around his leg. More crawled up his body, heading for the others as well. The monsters were awakening again, and Boney was in their grasp. Despair got to him. He was doomed.

  "No!" he shouted. "NO! Master!"

  A shadow passed over them. In their moment of despair, a flurry of arrows appeared like divine intervention, unerringly piercing through each and every moving tentacle.

  The trio tumbled back as all resistance disappeared, with Headless’s head safe in their grasp. More tentacles rose to chase them, but a pair of axes fell at blinding speed and cut them down. The tentacles retreated with a series of defeated slurping sounds, revealing the duo on the other side of the chasm, barely within axe range.

  It was Axehand and Horace, standing straight and proud.

  "Hey," Horace said. "So, this is where you were."

  Laura’s eyes were filled with tears, and so would Boney’s if they could. The two immediately jumped over the chasm and hugged Axehand, holding on as if they’d never let go. The double-skeleton grunted in confusion once and stayed still, but the two crying people didn’t let go.

  "Axehand!" Boney cried out. "I love you!"

  "You’re the best, Axehand!"

  "Why’s he taking all the credit?" Horace asked, and Headless, eager to bring justice, jumped over the chasm and fell on Horace, dropping them both to the floor.

  "Oof! What are you doing, you buffoon?"

  But the trio were so happy they could not speak properly.

  "They’re just happy to be alive—or unalive, I guess," came a voice behind everyone as Jerry, Boboar, and Foxy rounded the corner. The necromancer sported a wide smile. "So am I. I don’t know what I’d do without you guys."

  "MASTER!" Boney instantly let go of Axehand and jumped at Jerry. "I knew you’d save us!"

  "Of course, Boney, of course," Jerry said, patting his back. "It was genius of you to make so much noise; we couldn’t miss you if we wanted to!"