A low but growing hiss filled the tunnel. Min visibly paled.
"The females," he pointed toward the entrance of the tunnel, where dozens of shadow stalkers were beginning to stir. "We've woken them up."
The effect was instantaneous. The first of the females launched herself toward them, tentacles extended and pulsing with absorption hunger, the air around them seeming to distort with her approach.
Lin reacted without hesitation. With a fluid movement, she leaped over the creature, spinning in the air to deliver a brutal kick to the center of its mass, carefully avoiding any contact with the tentacles.
"Shizu! Taro!" she shouted as she landed. "We need a wall! Now!"
Shizu stamped her foot against the ground, her earth wolverine manifesting. The tunnel began to change as enormous stone blocks emerged from its walls and floor, the sound of grinding stone filling the air.
