Things had started well enough. Yuki followed her pet through the new tunnel, giving a wide berth to the burrow holes scattered in their path. She smelled this faint smell, a scent which she couldn’t place, but it was old. It got stronger the more they progressed into the passage. At the new chamber, it had turned into a nightmare. The now familiar smell of burning wood and blood mixed with this new odor. The only thing that came to mind was those weeks-old road kill carcasses in the before. Worse yet, the scent felt hungry. It seeped out from the monster around the pillar.
“Jenny,” she called out to her pet. “Magic.”
Yuki wasn’t sure if Jenny knew what the word meant, but Jenny nodded. The blonde dropped the bag and lantern, spear already ready to deal with the thing. Yuki watched with anticipation and a tinge of worry. The creature looked disgusting, and in her eyes, anything that looked and smelled that gut-churning couldn’t be a good thing.
The monster moved slowly, a fact Jenny took advantage of. She lunged, the spear piercing the strange, glowy flesh. Then the thing screeched. A high-pitched sound that was like nails to a chalkboard, only higher and worse.
Yuki whimpered. It hurt. She wanted to claw out her ears to make the noise stop. Only it didn’t; it got worse the more the monster was injured. She was so out of it that she forgot to cast the spell to help Jenny.
The monster screech finally died, and a new notification popped up.
Your party have defeated Luminescent Burrower.
Exp: +50.
Yuki didn’t have time to breathe in relief. From the tunnels behind her, she heard a screech, then another, and another. She remembered the many burrow holes, ones bigger enough to fit Jenny. It had been a while since Yuki had been afraid, but the fear returned in full force.
“Jenny!” She cried out in panic. “Monsters, run!” Yuki ran inside the room, away from the noise.
Contrary to her expectations, Jenny didn’t run. She marched toward the entrance and picked up the bag and the lantern. She carried them inside, placing them in one of the many stone benches before she turned again to the entrance. Jenny walked to the side of the passage, spear clutch firm in both hands.
Yuki’s frantic heart did a flip. She realized what Jenny already knew. They were trapped inside this room, and Jenny didn’t want to risk checking the possible magic door on the other side. The woman wanted to use the tunnel to funnel the enemies into a place where she could simultaneously fight as few as possible. Jenny was right. Leaving the tunnel and letting whatever came from there inside the room was a death sentence. Yuki took deep breaths. The noises hadn’t stopped, they had only grown louder. If there was ever a time to abuse her spells, now was it.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
----------------------------------------
Jenny focused on the tunnel. She couldn’t hear anything, but Biscuit seemed spooked enough. She would prefer to fight inside the tunnel, where space meant she needed only thrust forward. The worms wouldn’t have room to dodge. But the tunnel was dark, and she didn’t want to risk losing the lantern’s light in the middle of a fight and be in a worse situation.
The next best place was the tunnel entrance. Jenny couldn’t retreat; lest she gave the enemy room to enter the chamber.
Biscuit’s spooky cries changed to the cursed words of magic. The hair on the back of her head stood on end. She was happy that at least Biscuit was on her side. She’d much prefer to deal with whatever these worms were than face Biscuit’s evil bunny magic. She shuddered at the memory of the demonic thing ripping into the fire monster.
The chanting stopped, and Biscuit hopped closer.
Jenny focused again on the tunnel. Faint sparks of bluish light shone from around the bend in the passage. A worm crawled toward her. It was big, bigger than the one at the pillar. It slithered, the unnatural glow illuminating the passage. Its skin had a slick sheen and the bristle-like feelers protruding from its segmented bodies waved in Jenny’s direction. It made wet slapping sounds with each segment that hit the stone. Jenny’s only consolation was that, given how it approached, it couldn’t attack her with the tail spike, only the mouth. She settled her stance and prepared to stab when the thing reached range.
A demonic translucent rabbit rushed inside the tunnel, its many tentacles waving dangerously above it. The rabbit collided with the incoming worm, tentacles digging into the creature.
The worm writhed and recoiled. Biscuit whimpered again. The worm’s mouth opened, the ghastly thing wide and full of glistening teeth. It bit down on the demonic rabbit, teeth ripping the translucent bunny to shreds.
Biscuit yelped, a keening sound painful to hear.
The worm rose again, mouth open and ready to bite down on the demonic bunny.
Jenny lunged, throwing caution to the wind. She stabbed hard and fast at the open mouth, the soft fleshy inside. The spear perforated the mouth and penetrated through the creature. The worm fell writhing, and trapped Jenny’s spear. Jenny tugged the weapon away, but failed to dislodge it.
Biscuit whimpered again, and the demon rabbit dissolved into thin air.
Jenny’s worry about her pet had to be put on hold; from behind the worm, another one came, smaller, its many malformed eyes trailing her directly. It lunged faster than any of them had moved yet.
Jenny didn’t have time to remove her spear from the fallen creature; she released her offhand, grabbed the dagger, and plunged it deep into the open mouth descending on her.
The dagger’s edge plunged to the hilt, but in its death throes, the teeth raked across Jenny’s arms. The vambrace stopped most of the damage; the teeth still pierced the leather and skin, leaving fire in her wound. Another worm slithered into view. It didn’t lunge; instead, from afar, it opened the vertical mouth and spit a glowing glob of something at Jenny.
The blonde threw herself forward and out of the thing’s path. She released the dagger and pulled on the spear, removing it from the worm’s body. She got up, preparing to attack, only to sidestep another glowing glob.
A spectral rabbit passed her by, rushing directly at the worm. Following Jenny’s example, the tentacles dug into the fleshy inside of the open mouth. Unlike Jenny’s attack, the worm’s mouth closed on the rabbit. Jenny heard a slurping sound, and the demonic rabbit dissipated.
Biscuit keened again. It was erratic and weak.
Jenny chanced a glance back.
Biscuit wobbled on her hind legs. Blood poured out of her mouth, eyes, and nostrils. Her fur was stained red.