Bodies rose silently, completely absent of the groaning and moaning one would expect from an undead horde. Yet despite their silence, it didn't take away from the horrifying nature of the dead coming to life, instead it twisted it into an even more eery sight. As if there was something absolutely unnatural about their resurrection.

There was no semblance of the former self, no hint of false life giving them a new existence. They were simply empty shells, with no thoughts, no life behind their eyes. No voice of their own to let out even a simplest of groans.

All they were was puppets under the control of their one true master. Their Lord of the Unliving.

On a silent signal they immediately moved as one, charging at the legendary beast of myth from all angles. Without hesitation, they leapt onto it, as if it was any other beast, and started to tear into it with tooth, claw and bony fingers.

The Loch Ness Monster let out thunderous roars as was accosted by the undead horde, immediately starting to buck and wriggle its body. It swung its tail, smacking emaciated corpses across the room and sending them crashing into the wall, where they simply pulled themselves out and charged back into the fray without hesitation.

It crushed them under its flippers, batted them away or bit into them. But no matter what they were relentless. Always swarming it, crawling over its gargantuan body like an infestation.

As mighty and ancient as this beast was, it could not overcome the simple fact that it had evolved for water, not land. It's movements were fearsome, its blows crushing, but they were also clumsy and inefficient, having to expend more energy to move much less than a land beast would.

One of the puppets, a skeleton with the tatters of a high vis vest, clambered onto its back and hooked its bony hand around the handle of a curved dagger. It yanked and twisted, causing the beast to roar in agony as its flesh was torn and soul carved into.

It shook its body, bucking like a wild bull, before it finally launched the skeleton off itself. The skeleton flew through the air, twisting itself as it flew, before landing on its feet with the curved, karambit clutched tight in its hand.

It charged forward, leaping onto Nessie's body once more as it started to hack and slash into the beast, not caring about piercing it deep, simply carving its torso into shreds with the wicked, curved dagger.

Seth summoned the other half of the dagger pair, tossing it into the fray and letting another undead puppet hack at the legendary monster in tandem with its sibling. Every cut, every slash, every splitting of its flesh sent waves of new found, horrific pain through the legendary monster.

It was smart, that was undeniable, but even with its intelligence it was too overwhelmed by the horde and the pain they brought to realise that the best solution was to attack Seth himself, rather than his puppets. But they were the cause of the pain, so it could only bring itself to focus on them.

When the attacking puppets were thrown off the bucking bronco, the daggers were tossed into the air towards puppets that were closer, or still attached, to continue the torture. When there was none nearby, the daggers simply moved on their own, spinning through the air like sawblades as they tore grooves along the length of its torso.

While all of this was happening, Seth hadn't moved from his spot. He was simply standing, leaning on his spear, watching all of this unfold with an expression of... disappointment. He had heard the way the deer spoke about Nessie, how much it feared it. This was a creature of legend, but it was so... weak. Maybe that was just the benefit of taking it out of home and into an environment more favourable to him.

Then again, as Seth stood there cocky as could be, he felt a swirling sensation in his stomach. It was the same sensation he could when he went on a rollercoaster in the loop, or an elevator that was plunging towards the ground floor at wonderfully efficient speeds. Everything in his stomach was defying gravity and almost trying to crawl up his throat.

But before he could puke, the weightless feeling extended to the rest of his body, his feet briefly lifting off the ground before suddenly, in the blink of an eye, there was no ground.

***

Erik's water dripping, azure hand slapped against the rocks as he pulled himself up and over the final obstacle. He hoisted himself up and, with a slight hint of trepidation, he drew himself closer to the tiny hole in the wall.

He had no idea what he was expecting to see. Perhaps he would see Seth conspiring with some unknown enemy, perhaps he would be dead at the hands - or flippers - of that monster. Perhaps he would be growling like a feral dog again and devouring the corpses that remained.

He honestly had no idea what to expect, nor what would be worse of all the imagined scenarios. Yet when he pressed his face against that hole and peered through, what he saw defied all of his expectations. What he saw was.... nothing.

There was nothing. The room was completely devoid of any and all life. Even the corpses were gone. All that was left was the remains of the 'Heaven's Gate' and the useless machines they had used to pull it apart.

But Seth, the countless corpses and the monster of the deep were no where to be seen. There was simply nothing.

'Where the hell did he go?'

***

Seth turned head over heels as he spun in the water which had suddenly replaced the ground beneath his feet, as well as the air around him. One minute he was standing in the cave, the next he was submerged within the Loch above.

His lungs were already burning as he strained to keep what little air he had inside his lungs, inside of his lungs. For some unknown reason, he hadn't expected to suddenly go swimming and hadn't thought to hold his breath.

The puppets he had been fighting with didn't suffer from the same issue, but they too were struggling to orientate themselves in the weightless environment that they suddenly found themselves in. But their lack of breathing, while allowing them to stay under indefinitely, also acted as a curse.

No breathing meant no air in their lungs, for those that even still had lungs. No air meant no buoyancy. No buoyancy meant that while Seth was tumbling and floating, they rapidly sunk to the bottom of the Loch like nothing more than bricks.

Righting himself in the ice cold water, Seth pushed away all other thoughts and simply used his spear to pull him through the water. Water that immediately began to stir and rush past him, as something huge carved through the waves right next to him. It's massive, jagged teeth just barely missing his leg.

The Beast was back in its home territory.

'I should have known. A legendary beast known for hiding and disappearing. It can fucking teleport.'

Not just teleport, but drag its victims along with it. No wonder the deer feared the beast. It was one thing to worry about a crocodile lunging out of the water and dragging you down when you stopped to take a drink. It was another matter entirely to be teleported underneath.

At least with the crocodile, you had the chance of escape. At least you could see what was coming and what caused your demise.

Clutching his spear like it was Poseidon's trident, Seth swerved through the water and dodged another drive by biting from the legendary beast before it vanished into thin air - or thin water - once again.

It wasn't happy with him.

Pointing his spear upwards, Seth willed it to soar through the water. The sharpened point splitting apart the ice cold waves as he rose to the surface, constantly dodging and weaving like a wily fish in order to stay out of the crushing jaws that appeared out of nowhere.

A few times, he had to stop his ascent and immediately reverse, as it appeared above him with its mouth wide open, ready for him to swim directly inside. If he was beholden to inertia like any other swimming creature, that tactic definitely would have worked too.

Dodging to the side, he barely avoided another snap of the jaw, only for it to disappear and immediately manifest itself behind him, its teeth carving into his back. Although instead of a deep crimson mixing with the tranquil blue, his back dissolved into a swirling mass of white smoke. His second last charge, leaving him with only one last mistake to make before it meant his life.

***

"Still nothing to report?"

Cynthia stretched her neck, quite literally stretching it a metre long, as she looked over Astra's shoulder to look at the notepad in front of her. On the pad was a series of notes, written by a pencil that was currently suspended in the air, unmoving.

They were Seth's notes on the cave. Notes that stopped mid way through describing the 'Heaven's Gate'

"No. He's been silent for a while. I just wish I knew that he was alright."

Cynthia's face twitched and jiggled like jelly that had been firmly slapped, as she struggled to keep a smile off of her face. She wanted to make a sly comment, but before she could she was interrupted by the water exploding outwards.

A loud roar echoed out, drawing all their attention to the creature breaching the waves.

"Well, I found where he is. And is that... Nessie?"