Carpathian 17 - Dark Curse

visually, but hearing more behind them.\"
    \"It\'s only one,\" Nicolas corrected. \"One with tentacles. I think it\'s planning on dragging us into its mouth.\"
    \"We are already in its mouth,\" Lara said.
    There was a small silence while they all looked around the tube. The double rows of bloodstained icicles were teeth. The two curved teeth held venom. The mouth was a breeding ground for bacteria, all kinds of strains, many fatal. The bumps along the tongue were the nesting pods. And the tentacles reaching for them would pull them back where they could be digested.
    \"Vikirnoff and I will hold the tentacles back, but we have to get out of here. Find a way through the shadow warriors, Lara. You\'re mage.\"
    She rolled her eyes. \"Whatever happened to your women-not-fighting campaign?\"
    \"No, we just have to fight a legion of shadow warriors,\" Natalya said sarcastically. \"No biggie.\"
    \"You\'ve done it before,\" Vikirnoff pointed out. \"I think you can handle it.\"
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    \"Are you certain you don\'t want to impregnate me and send me home while you play Superman? Because I\'m all for it,\" Natalya said.
    \"The snake heads have stopped sniffing and they\'re coming for us,\" Nicolas said. \"You might want to get on those shadow warriors right now.\"
    \"As my absolute hero in The Abyss would say, \'Keep your pantyhose on.\' \" Natalya sniffed indignantly.
    \"Come on, Lara, let\'s show them how to fight a shadow warrior.\"
    Lara reluctantly followed her aunt back toward the double rows of teeth. \"Be careful, don\'t step on the pods. I think this is parasite breeding ground, not the microbes. I\'m fairly certain that laboratory was for the extremophiles. He collects them from the ice and tests them in the first few pools, mutates them and sends them into the blood and amniotic fluids so they learn to survive in those conditions. And then he lets the glacier take them down to the soil where the Carpathians rest. This thing, whatever it is, breeds his parasites.
    Look at them wiggling inside the pods.\" She was very suspicious that the yellow-colored venom feeding the pods was the same liquid injected into Razvan.
    \"Oh dear,\" Natalya quipped. \"I do believe we re inside mommy dearest.\"
    The tiny maggots became excited, even agitated when they stepped close to the pods.
    Behind them, the first attack came. Nicolas and Vikirnoff fashioned swords of ice, spreading out to give themselves room to maneuver, hovering inches from the floor in order to keep from stepping on the pods littered all over what had to be the creatures tongue. The huge heads bobbed and ducked, slashing from side to side. The attack was well-coordinated, the heads moving in a mesmerizing pattern, like a cobra hypnotizing its prey.
    Both women steadied themselves and picked their way through the maze of bumps to stand just in back of the bacteria-encrusted teeth. There were flashes of light, swearing, a spatter of blood along the walls that sent the parasitic worms into a frenzy. The floor swayed and bucked beneath their feet. More venom dripped from the fangs and ran down along the floor.
    \"Remind me to call down the lightning to make certain we\'re clean before we go back to the village,\"
    Natalya said.
    Lara was grateful Natalya thought they\'d actually get out of the ice cave alive.
    \"Look out, Vikirnoff,\" Nicolas shouted. He\'d severed a head and blood filled with parasites spewed across the walls and floors. \"Do not let them touch you. Lara, Natalya, keep out of their way.\"
    Lara sent a scowl over her shoulder. \"Were concentrating here. Do you think this is easy?\"
    \"We can\'t kill them, they\'re already dead,\" Natalya said, thinking aloud. \"We can\'t freeze them, they came out of the ice.\"
    \"We should be able to get their attention and wrestle the command away from Xavier. His way is always simplicity. He rips their soul from them and takes command, much like he did to my father,\" Lara mused.
    \"So there\'s no loyalty there. They\'re enslaved against their will.\"
    \"Lara!\" Nicolas called. \"It\'s grown another head. What are you doing up there?\"
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    \"Playing dolls,\" Lara called back, a bite of irritation in her voice. \"This isn\'t easy, Nicolas. I need to concentrate.\"
    \"You can do it,\" Natalya encouraged. \"You have a feel for him and I\'ve noticed the ice responds to you.\"
    Lara hadn\'t considered that. She was at home in ice caves. They felt