2:10 PM - Thursday, September 5, 1985
Several minutes after Leonek had gone into the undersea cave, Salem saw a large humanoid form emerge from the tunnel. At first he'd thought it must be Leonek returning, but taking a closer look quickly destroyed that illusion. His keen eyes made out every appalling detail. This creature was larger than Leonek, larger than any human being he'd ever met. It was at least eight feet tall, with green scaly skin. It wore a long mesh vest that looked like it was made of string, silver in color. Its huge webbed hands ended in sharp claws, but it was the face that was the most disturbing part. Its features seemed more a combination of species than any one in particular. It had large, bulging eyes and gills on its neck, and it resembled a cross between a fish, a frog, and a turtle. Salem knew a lot about biology, but he'd never heard of anything even remotely like this. The creature looked like it was half man, half fish, and all ugly. The hideous abomination was following the course of the rope, and it was heading right for the boat!
"That's cute," said Salem as his sangfroid composure was masking the fear that awoke in the back of his head. Pulling the pistol out of his back pocket, Salem reclined back into the boat and steadily aimed toward the direction of where the rope began. Salem had done a lot of dumb things in his life, but going to an underground cave on an impulse reaction, was certainly on top of that list. Salem lay inside the boat and controlled his breathing. He had little training with any sort of firearms; he never really understood why you squeeze the trigger instead of pulling the trigger, they both seemed synonymous to him. Salem patiently waited, with a death grip on the pistol.
Before long, a claw gripped the gunwale, followed by another. Then the monster's torso and head surfaced, and it loomed over Salem's prone form...