Tiger Crocodiles

Galen looked back at Kyron and said, "This river passage is very turbulent. You and I need to coordinate quickly passing through here without disturbing the creatures on the banks. If the raft gets too close to the banks, we'll use the poles together to push away. Whatever you do, don't touch those things. Remember! Just keep the raft moving swiftly and steadily through."

Kyron sniffed, "Those are alligators? They look terrifying!"

"Alligators?" Galen laughed coldly, "I'm afraid those things are more fearsome than alligators."

"Huh?"

Kyron didn't believe it and spent some effort activating the Magician's Card identification ability. He realized they indeed weren't alligators.

This Galen was quite interesting. Did he have some identification skill? Or was it intuition from being a scout?

[Tiger Crocodile Hatchling: Tiger Crocodiles are terrifying predators of the underground, absorbing dark powers to become the first line of defense here. Don't provoke these hatchlings - their parents may be watching nearby.]

Kyron's face paled. He hadn't heard of these before, but had an ominous feeling. If these were just the hatchlings, what were their parents like?

How did Galen know these weren't regular alligators? Kyron stole a glance at Galen's expressionless face.

"Got it? Then let's go forward!" said Galen.

"OK, let's go!" Kyron felt ready.

The two controlled the raft, advancing swiftly without touching the sandy banks - it sounded easy, but proved unexpectedly difficult in practice.

This underground river had turbulent currents and countless submerged reefs. Neither was a professional rafter, just amateurs. The raft was like a disobedient child, swaying left and right as they sweated profusely, carefully maneuvering downstream, nearly crashing into the banks several times and almost disturbing the tiger crocodiles before frantically pushing off with the poles to center the raft again.

The entire stretch of several dozen meters was like this, leaving Kyron panting not so much from exertion as from fright, getting a clear look at the terrifying coiled monsters so close by - far more ferocious looking than alligators, truly chilling.

As they were nearly halfway through the dangerous passage, strenuously controlling the raft, sounds came from behind them.

Startled, they wondered if there were others following. A small motorboat approached, carrying several skeletons, its engine roaring as a spotlight illuminated them from the bow.

It was a small motor-powered boat, moving abnormally fast with a humming roar. Kyron was dumbfounded for a while, unsure where their boat came from.

"They must have a wooden boat card," Galen's face looked grim. "These damn skeletons are going to get us killed!"

He turned to Kyron, "Quick, don't bother with anything else. Let's paddle furiously and get out of here!"

But it was already too late. The motorboat had entered the waterway, its roaring engine echoing deafeningly in the semi-enclosed space.

Kyron looked to the banks - the tiger crocodile hatchlings awoke silently from their slumber and slipped into the water, splashing softly but drowned out by the engine's roar.

The skeletons spotted their raft, a towering one at the bow shouting "Humans ahead, humans! Let's go get them!"

Kyron flinched at the skeletons speaking, finding the unified language in this bizarre world strange, even for skeletons without vocal chords producing a rough, grating metallic sound.

"These clueless boneheads, ignore them! Paddle!" Galen cursed, quickly propelling the raft onward, no longer caring about disturbing the tiger crocodiles.

The few skeletons were preoccupied with Kyron and Galen, completely oblivious to the stealthy tiger crocodiles slipping into the water from both banks. Yelling in panic, the skeletons scrambled to draw weapons, intending to charge forward and tear the two humans apart.

Kyron stared blankly into the clear underground river water. Under the spotlight, dozens of shadows were now surrounding the skeletons' motorboat.

The loud engine had successfully attracted the tiger crocodile hatchlings, along with the skeletons' panicked shouting.

Kyron didn't dare look anymore and turned to furiously paddle the bamboo raft downstream with Galen. The two coordinated remarkably, raising and plunging their poles in unison as they desperately propelled forward.

The towering skeleton was laughing maniacally when suddenly, a shadow burst from the water, lunging at it.

"Ah!"

It reacted swiftly, grabbing onto...a tooth protruding from the shadowy maw! Seizing the fang of a beast more ferocious than a crocodile could only end badly.

The tiger crocodile clamped down with a sickening crunch, pulverizing the skeleton's entire wrist into dust.

Kyron watched in horror as the formerly pristine white bones instantly turned black, dark miasma spreading along the skeleton until reaching and extinguishing its life-force flame. The entire skeletal body then crumbled into brittle sand and blew away.

Shaken, Kyron realized the tiger crocodiles were incredibly venomous and redoubled his paddling efforts.

The remaining skeletons finally noticed the terrifying underwater creatures amidst the two humans.

More agonized screams followed as more shadows leapt onto the boat - the clinking sounds suggesting numerous tiger crocodiles had boarded.

While not weak with their weapons, the skeletons desperately hacked to drive the crocodiles back into the river. But they soon despaired as more emerged.

One skeleton unleashed lightning that briefly illuminated the water, electroshocking and allowing a few convulsing crocodiles to be cut down, their bodies staining the river red. The rest retreated momentarily before more surged back aboard.

These shadowy tiger crocodiles feared electricity!

The skeletal crew unleashed various skills and weapons to fend off the relentless hatchling onslaught preventing them from boarding.

But Kyron paid no mind, his heart pounding as he noticed an enormous underwater shadow passing beneath their raft, headed towards the skeleton boat.