Gwin was trying to hide it but he had been quite shaken up by what had happened the night before. The fact that an abomination had free reign over his mind as well as the fact it had seemingly removed some of his memories was a truly awful feeling of helplessness and he was still reeling from its effects.
He could hardly remember what his sisters looked like and could not remember his life before his first nightmare took place at all. What did he like? What had he disliked? What was he even like?
These thoughts were haunting him as they descended down the obelisk through its many tunnels. He had discovered a new smell as they did. It was pungent and acrid. Each whiff of it flooded him with a strange feeling of longing. Like trying to regain something he had lost. It was a strange feeling.
A ways away from the obelisk was a notably tall part of the coral that was above sea level. Their goal was to make it there before nightfall by using a flexible route Elena had charted while he was unconscious. Gwin would serve as the scout with Elena following close behind. Their plan was to communicate silently with hand signals and would avoid as many fights as they could to minimize the risk of being swarmed.
Just as the sea had departed they exited their stone haven for the first time. Stepping into the black mud they quickly headed into the crimson labyrinth hoping to avoid the feeders who usually populate the base of the obelisk and get away from the open area.
Heading into the coral-like growths, now armed with a spear memory resembling the blade on the feeder's tentacles that Elena had given him after having received it from one of them, they remained vigilant and tense. Getting caught by multiple awakened nightmare creatures was a death sentence for two sleepers armed or not so they had to be cautious.
Moving in the mud was not pleasant as they sank to their ankles with each step but they were still making progress nonetheless. Just as the base of the monolithic brick faded from sight amidst the vast crimson labyrinth they encountered their first problem. Out there in the mud Gwin could hear and smell something moving. He quickly realized it was a feeder from smell alone and hurriedly searched his surroundings for more. After realizing it was alone they decided to avoid it.
But just then Gwin smelled two more groups coming their way from either side. They hadn't seemed to have noticed them yet from their slow speed but it would not be long until they did. They were completely cut off. Gwin turned to face Elena.
{We have to fight and fast}
They both had a grim look as they knew a direct confrontation would be much more dangerous than their other encounters. Until now they had essentially been cheating to slay creatures above their rank which was something even saints avoided attempting. Now they had no other choice but to face it head on. Quickly they came up with a plan. They had fought enough of these to figure some things out, like the fact that they couldn't easily attack behind them. Their plan was simple and similar to what they had been doing already.
Elena would gain its attention while Gwin would deal the blow to its head. She was uniquely suited to evade its attacks which Gwin couldn't do in this mud. Her aspect and skill would not make her an easy target to hit. Gwin's job was just as dangerous, he would have to remain vigilant for any rogue tentacles and attack from behind. In truth they had never seen whether or not the back half of the squid could attack solely because their method of hunting never let that much of them get in the cavern but now he had no other choice but pray they didn't. They had always fought these things while they were essentially blind however so this wouldn't be easy.
Approaching the feeder they got into position.
Elena drew its frenzied gaze, its two black eyes on either side of its head shown with demented frenzy as it immediately rushed towards her using the mass of human-like arms under it to pull it through the mud at frightening speeds. Its tentacles shot forward at the same time like deadly spears. Elena dodged these, her feet floating above the mud as she burst to the side to avoid its barrage. Red coral and mud flew in all directions splattering her face and armor.
Gwin had circled around them quickly using the labyrinth to stay out of sight. He was now behind the feeder and closing in quickly using the feeder's muscle through his aspect to quicken himself. Its body lay flat on the ground yet even then it was taller than him. Summoning his strength he jumped just high enough to be able to see it head. Its fury was still being focused on Elena when his javelin struck the weakest point of its head and sank deep inside from the force of Gwin's pounce sending a fountain of blue blood into the air.
They quickly gathered the soul shard with experienced efficiency just after it had stopped moving and just barely managed to avoid alerting the two other groups in the process. Seeing the squid in all its aquatic glory for the first time was humbling. They were only one mistake from being crushed or impaled by it. They had pushed themselves too hard and could not keep up their same pace, well Gwin was confident he could sprint all the way to the other waypoint but Elena could not. She was an important part of his survival and also knew rushing forward would be a reckless death sentence. They had no other choice but to go slow and steady.