CYOA Wednesday 2025 #18 [Beyond the Woods 18]

This fantasy CYOA story continues today. Synopsis below:

When Derek, Jade, and Clara go camping, they stumble upon a portal to another dimension filled with strange creatures and sexy seductresses.

The Wanderbeast leads the party as close as possible to the underground generator. Now what? You decide.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/127850276

Read the eighteenth segment below:

18 – Closer to Danger

“Are you ready to go?” the Wanderbeast asked.

“What do we need to do?” Derek asked.

“Climb on to me, for starters.”

“For real?” Jade couldn’t believe her ears.

“It’s safer this way,” the massive creature replied. “I’ll take you as far as I can without alerting the security down there. The rest is up to you.”

“I’m ready,” Clara said.

“Then let’s hurry,” Aethera said.

The Wanderbeast’s massive form lowered itself. Ridged sections along its back smoothed and flattened, creating a series of organic platforms perfect for mounting. Clara moved first, pulling herself up with a practiced grip learned from years of difficult terrain navigation.

Derek followed, his muscular frame less graceful but equally determined. Jade hesitated a moment, then launched herself upward with a surprising agility. Aethera shifted into a form that allowed her to climb efficiently, her molecular structure adapting to provide maximum grip and balance. No one spoke. The anticipation of what was to come was almost too much to handle.

As they settled, the Wanderbeast began to move. Its locomotion was nothing like traditional animal movement – a fluid, almost liquid progression that seemed to flow between dimensions rather than simply walk. The tunnel walls blurred into streaks of mineral light, punctuated by occasional formations that seemed to watch their passage with alien intelligence.

“The generator is deep,” the Wanderbeast said. “And it doesn’t want to be found.”

“You speak as if it’s alive somehow,” Clara noted.

“In a way, it is. Many of the things in the Undercroft are more than meet the eye.”

“Like you?”

“If you say so, young human.”

The space around them breathed with a strange, subterranean rhythm. Crystalline formations cast fractured light across the Wanderbeast’s chitinous exterior, creating a mosaic of ever-moving shadows. The creature slowly picked up pace, and the final descent began.

The initial rhythm was steady, almost hypnotic.

Hours passed in relative silence, broken only by the occasional scrape of rock against the creature’s massive form. Derek periodically checked their equipment, while Jade traced intricate patterns on the Wanderbeast’s ridged surface with her fingertips.

Suddenly, the smooth progression halted. The tunnel ahead simply… ended. Solid rock wall blocked their path, smooth and unmarked as if carved by some impossibly precise instrument. Clara ran her hand along the surface, her fingertips detecting microscopic variations that suggested something was not quite right.

“This isn’t natural,” she muttered.

“You’re right, it isn’t,” Aethera said, analyzing the barrier’s composition. “We’ll need to find an alternative route.”

“We can always go under,” the Wanderbeast suggested. “Can you shield your companions, Aethera?”

“For a while, yes. But if my power fails while you’re burrowing, we’re as good as dead.”

“I’d rather not risk,” Derek intervened. “There must be another tunnel we can use.”

“There is,” the Wanderbeast replied. “but it will add another hour to our journey.”

“So be it,” Derek concluded, and everyone agreed. Better safe than sorry.

With a low, resonant hum, the Wanderbeast’s sensory tendrils probed the rocky corridor, detecting a hairline fracture barely perceptible to human eyes. Its massive form shifted, revealing a narrow diagonal passage that seemed to breathe with a faint, rhythmic pulse. “Here,” it announced.

Aethera eached for a compact nutrient pack, breaking it into segments and distributing quick protein cubes. Derek accepted his portion mechanically, chewing while maintaining a vigilant scan of their surroundings. Jade nibbled her cube with more curiosity, watching how the crystalline tunnel walls refracted the dim light across their impromptu meal. Clara, on the other hand, decided to hold on to her portion a while longer while they started to navigate the new passageway.

The tunnel stretched before them, unnaturally silent. Clara noticed first – a subtle shift in the ambient light, a gradual transformation from mineral-muted grays to a soft, pulsing luminescence. The walls shimmered, panels of translucent rock glowing from within like trapped moonlight.

Without warning, a high-pitched keening sliced through the silence. Translucent shapes detached from the ceiling – bat-like creatures with membrane wings so thin they were nearly invisible, their bodies a ghostly blue-white that blended perfectly with the luminescent walls.

“Defensive formation!” Derek shouted.

The first creature dove, its thin wings slicing through the air with impossible precision. Jade rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding its initial attack. The Wanderbeast rumbled a low warning, its massive form tensing to protect its passengers.

Aethera’s molecular structure began to pulse with defensive energy, creating a shimmering barrier around the group. But the bat-like beings were numerous, and they moved with a coordinated intelligence that suggested they were more than mere animals. They had been trained to kill.

The attack was brutal, designed to overwhelm through sheer numbers. Membrane wings slashed, teeth gnashed, and otherworldly screeches echoed through the crystalline tunnel. Yet for all their ferocity, the bat-like creatures underestimated their prey’s resilience.

Within moments, the Wanderbeast’s massive form had decimated half the swarm, Aethera’s defensive field had neutralized another third, and the three human’s combined survival skills took care of the rest. Blood, luminescent creature fluid, and electromagnetic energy created a chaotic tableau of survival.

As quickly as the attack began, it ended. Panting, bleeding, but fundamentally intact, the group surveyed the tunnel’s new, creature-strewn landscape.

“Everyone alive?” Derek asked, wiping blue-white fluid from a fresh wound.

“Affirmative,” Clara responded, finally allowing herself to relax.”

“I’m good, too,” Jade said, and Aethera hid the same, looking disdainfully at the remains of the last beast that had attacked her.

The Wanderbeast rumbled a low, satisfied acknowledgment. Their journey would continue.

Another hour of careful navigation passed, the tunnel walls gradually transforming from crystalline to a more metallic composition. Strange geometric patterns began to emerge, etched into the surface with mathematical precision. The Wanderbeast’s movement slowed, its sensory tendrils extending forward with increased caution.

“We’re close,” it said.

The tunnel opened into a massive circular chamber, its ceiling lost in darkness, the floor a complex mosaic of interlocking metallic plates. At the chamber’s center stood a massive generator – a towering construct of impossible geometry, its surface alive with pulsing energy lines. This was either their way home or a death sentence in the making.

Defensive protocols came online…

To decide what happens next, head over to my Patreon (you can join for free), and vote on the poll there until next Sunday. 

If you’re new to these CYOA stories, here are the basic rules:

1) You can only choose one option;

2) If there’s a tie at the end of the poll, and the competing options can be combined somehow, I’ll do that. If not, I get the deciding vote to keep the tale going.

3) The process continues every Wednesday until the story runs its natural course.

Have fun.