Red tinted Yuki’s vision, copper filled her mouth. She glanced at the notifications, her ears flattening in frustration.

Luminescent burrower overwhelms your Shaping.

You have succeeded a Willpower check.

Luminescent burrower overwhelms your Shaping.

You have failed a Willpower check.

Two times those damned things had tried to eat her magic; their slimy teeth and grotesque mouth could bite on her spell. She felt the things slurping the magic in her bones, like maggots squirming under her skin, escaping through her eyes, nose, and mouth. It was disgusting, she felt unclean.

Jenny did her best, but they were woefully unprepared for this fight, or any fight, really.

Yuki wobbled on her legs and summoned another bunny. It was fainter than before, and it felt like a piece of her was ripped off with it. She focused on the worm and their screeching. She didn’t have much control over the magic once cast, but she willed the rabbit to dodge when the burrower bit down again. The rabbit didn’t. A new notification appeared.

Luminescent burrower overwhelms your Shaping.

You have failed a Willpower check.

Yuki lost control of the magic, and the spell dispersed. Not like before, when she could conjure the bunny again. The magic ended prematurely, drained. She fell back. The noises from the tunnel increased. Jenny panted harder; the wet slaps of the worms moving were now a constant thrum, some smaller, others bigger, every one of them getting closer.

Offensive magic wasn’t the one-bunny solution to all the problems like she had thought. Yuki went overt the happenings since Jenny and her had entered this room: The worms ate magic, they didn’t go to the forge, burned things at the tunnel entrance, no worm near the door that glowed with fire, the salamander, the worm trailing the lantern, a single worm trying to eat the pillar, the smell of burning wood.

The burrowers ate magic but were afraid of fire. The burnt leather at the tunnel's entrance, that's why the worms didn’t enter the forge; the salamander attacked them when they tried. They’d eaten most of the magic in the pillars but didn’t dare go near the ember door.

Door, magic, fire.

“Jenny!” Yuki rasped, gurgling over the blood in her mouth; “The lantern!” She hoped Jenny would understand because Yuki was about to gamble on something stupid. She turned around and hobbled toward the ember door.

The sounds of the fight intensified behind her, as did Jenny’s breathing and panting. Yuki ignored the kill messages; they wouldn’t help now, and she couldn’t lose focus.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Yuki leaped onto the dais, circling the pew to reach the ember door. It was massive, and the heat it emanated suffocating. The closer Yuki got, the worse the heat, until she stopped a few meters away. This was going to hurt a lot, Yuki realized. She ignored the pain, the discomfort, the sounds from behind. Paws moved, and words chanted. When the spell was ready, she dove toward the door. Her eyes boiled, her tongue shriveled, her fur burned. Yuki crashed against the metal.

The fire ended, and the embers disappeared. The door was only metal now, even if it was still burning hot metal. Yuki’s paw sizzled against it, but she couldn’t let go. She put every single point of shaping into magnitude, hoping it would be enough to neutralize the magic. If she released it, the magic would return.

“Jenny!” Yuki yelled as loud as she could. “The door!”

----------------------------------------

Jenny’s arm burned more with each passing second. Was it venom? A burning sensation crept along her arm from where the teeth pierced her skin. Her movements turned sloppy, her arm harder to control. She stabbed another worm trying to get closer, then ducked from another glob of spite. Jenny didn’t know what those were, and she didn’t want to find out.

The dead worm in front of her moved, buckling, and for a moment Jenny thought the thing was still alive, but it soon disappeared, dragged into the tunnel crawling with its brethren. She stabbed another of the beasts and took a step back towards the tunnel’s entrance; the worms were relentless.

For each of the monsters she killed, two more seemed to take its place. Worse was that the things were getting more intelligent. Some stood out of reach, further back into the tunnel spitting at her, while the others crawled closer, their feelers waving frantically in her direction.

“Eehnny!” Jenny heard Biscuit squeak from behind. The rabbit had stopped using the evil bunny magic, which wasn’t as effective as it had been with the salamander. “De anterrrn.”

Jenny evaded another projectile, but failed to dodge the second. It hit her belly, the disgusting glowing glob smearing her armor and splashing her arms and neck. The burning started soon after.

What was Biscuit on about? The lantern; how would it help? Jenny didn’t want to go for the thing, but she had no choices. Another worm lunged, forcing her to jump out of the tunnel, lest she risk the monster eating her. Jenny glanced back, watching while Biscuit hopped toward the door leaving a trail of blood behind her.

Jenny looked toward the tunnel overflowing with worms and remembered all the times Biscuit had saved her life. The decision wasn’t conscious. She dove for the lantern, the question hitting her only after she held it. What was she supposed to do with this?

The biggest worm yet bulldozed its way to the tunnel entrance. Stopping before it entered the room, the monster opened its maw readying to spit. Jenny threw the lantern at the monster; It sailed through the air before bouncing off of the thing and into the wall. The glass portion of the frame shattered, spreading quickly combusting oil across the tunnel's entry. The worms recoiled as if struck. They pushed each other back, the bigger one, even going as far as to attack the other worms to expedite its escape from the spreading flames.

Jenny ran to the bag, taking out their last two oil flasks before lobbing them towards the entrance. She missed one, but the second broke over the small fire, further fueling the blaze.

From behind her, the constant orange light faded and Jenny heard Biscuit again.

“Eehnny! De ooor!”

Jenny looked back. The door that once glowed amber was now just metal, she couldn’t see Biscuit, but her squeaks came from there. Jenny grabbed the bag and her spear, casting one last look at the tunnel; the two of them weren’t leaving through that way any time soon. She ignored the burning in her arm and neck and crossed the dais to the door.

A charred smell hit Jenny accompanied by whimpering and the sizzling sound of scorched flesh. She peeked over the pew, spying where Biscuit lay against the door with patches of burnt blood-soaked fur, one of her front paws a blackened husk.

“Biscuit!” Jenny ran toward her pet; her spear and bag all but forgotten.

“Oo!” Biscuit yelped.

Jenny stopped in her tracks.

“De oor.”