I recently purchased the entire Mythical Realms collection of fantasy figurines from Safari Ltd., and since many of these creatures appear in the Savage Realms Gamebooks series, what better way to show them off than by also sharing an excerpt.
This little death snippet is from Colin Oatway‘s forthcoming gamebook, Quest for the Gorgon’s Eye…
As you stagger, the creature reveals itself, dropping from the ceiling with an unnatural grace that sends a shiver of pure terror down your spine. It lands with a wet, chitinous thud, its monstrous form illuminated in the lantern’s flickering light.
The creature is a nightmare made flesh, standing tall and menacing before you. Its grotesque head is unmistakably that of a spider, yet larger and far more horrifying, with eight, multifaceted eyes gleaming like shards of blackened glass. The reflections within those orbs seem to mock you, capturing your fear in fragmented flashes that bounce chaotically back at you.
From its maw, extend two massive fangs, glistening with venom that drips to the ground in slow, deliberate drops. The venom sizzles faintly as it meets the rocky floor, the acidic vapour rising to mix with the cave’s damp air.
Its abdomen is a grotesque fusion of arachnid and scorpion, its bristling chitin shimmering with a slick, oily sheen. The front is cloaked in shadowy black, as if it absorbs the very light around it, while the rear glows faintly with a pulsing, blood-red hue ― an ominous heartbeat of impending doom. Eight slender, jagged legs extend from its body, each one tipped with a needle-sharp barb that scratches at the stone with every step. The sound is unbearable, a rhythmic screech that sets your teeth on edge as the creature manoeuvres closer, its movements both graceful and horrifying.
And then your eyes lock onto its tail ― the segmented appendage curling high over its back, impossibly long and ending in a wicked stinger, which is still embedded in your torso. A new wave of pain shoots through you, as the creature retracts its stinger with a sickening sound and you collapse to your knees, clutching the wound as venom floods your veins. Coldness overtakes you, spreading outward from the wound. Your limbs grow heavy, the strength in your muscles fading as though the venom is draining you of life itself. Each breath feels harder to take, and each heartbeat slower and more laboured. The lantern shakes in your trembling grip before falling to the ground, the flame flickering feebly but still clinging to life.
The Scorvenarach advances, its mandibles clicking together in a slow, deliberate rhythm that reverberates through the cavern like the tolling of a death knell. The oppressive air grows heavier and colder, as though the walls of the cave are closing in and suffocating you. You try to move, but your body betrays you, the venom’s icy grip locking your muscles in place. The creature looms closer, its massive form blotting out what little light remains, until all you can see are its gleaming eyes filled with cruel intent. The shadows around you stretch and twist, swallowing you whole as the creature towers over you. It clicks its mandibles one final time, the sound echoing in your ears as your vision dims and your body is no longer your own.
Your fate feels inevitable, sealed in the monstrous embrace of this predator.
Quest for the Gorgon’s Eye, the first book in the Choose Your Own Fantasy Quest series from Savage Realms Press, drops later this year!