Marshall and Ian had soldiered on down the tunnels. Fortunately, Ian hooked them up with a makeshift torch. They reminded themselves to get Seth to hook them up with some sort of light source. It seemed so stupid that they didn’t have torches with them, although they hadn’t really needed them. The nights were always well lit by the moon and every cave and cavern they’d been in had some sort of bioluminescent or artificial lighting. That was an oversight they aimed to correct.
“Ian, I think we ran into one of your long lost cousins out there.” Marshall said.
Ian just shook his head at that. Although he had been wondering about something. They spent so much time joking about Ian becoming a worm. They’d learned from Andy that there are actually powerful worms out there and now today, they were assaulted by a big ass worm. This reeked of some system generated prankster bullshit.
“Let’s get moving. I don’t like the look of these tunnels and I’d like to find a way out pronto.” Ian said.
“Don’t gotta tell me twice.”
Marshall led their passage through the long, uniform tunnel.
They walked for nearly 15 minutes with absolutely nothing changing besides the direction of the tunnel. Sometimes, the tunnel would head slightly upward and other times it would ramp down, almost too steep for them to keep their footing.
Marshall stopped them both.
“You hear that?”
At first, Ian heard nothing. He placed his hands on the wall and could feel a slight vibration, then the rumbling grew louder.
“Fuck, there’s more of those bastards! Let’s move!”
They sprinted as fast as they could down the tunnel. Getting caught in here would certainly be the death of them.
“Get your portal ready man, we might need to jet.”
“Oh, my finger’s on the trigger. We need to try and find Cal and Amy.”
Marshall nodded at that. He didn’t like the idea of sticking around here, but Ian was right. They pushed on.
“Got one coming on your right. Stop here!” Ian warned.
Marshall planted his feet and the two of them remained absolutely silent, hoping to not draw any attention. They still didn’t know how these things detected them, but their lack of eyes made Ian think it was likely vibration.
Just feet in front of Marshall, the wall exploded in a shower of debris. He’d prepared his Shattering Sanctuary and was prepared to stomp down when he noticed the worm just plowed through the wall on the other side of the tunnel and kept moving.
Marshall looked back at Ian and shrugged.
“Let’s follow it.” Marshall suggested.
So, maybe foolishly, they dove into the freshly carved tunnel in pursuit of the worm. They held on to three hopes. The worm likely couldn’t reverse course, so it probably couldn’t eat them easily. The movement of the worm in front of them should hide their vibrations from others, and this worm was headed somewhere, hopefully out of canyon.
They were right at the ass end of the worm as it barreled through the rock, they both so badly wanted to light this bastard up but then their potential escape would be ruined. They restrained themselves of course, but damn would it be fun.
It only took about 5 minutes for things to change. The worm burst through a wall and sailed out into open air before plummeting face first into the floor of a large chamber. Ian and Marshall skidded to a stop before sailing over the edge themselves.
What they saw was all sorts of bad news. First, they were about 60 feet up in the air with no clear way down. Second, Calvin and Amy were fighting their asses off down below. Dozens of worms lay dead in the chamber and more were pouring through the walls. The stability of this entire place was in question as the worms turned the rocky walls into swiss cheese.
The fight was not looking good. Calvin was bleeding heavily and down on one knee. Amy had her back pressed up against a wall and she was clearly wounded and exhausted. She slammed down a potion and threw a few more daggers out, trying to make her way back to Calvin.
Marshall couldn’t see Freya and he scanned the entire chamber. A pit forming in his stomach.
“Guys! Hold on!” he screamed.
“Ian, I don’t know if I can make that jump.”
Ian popped his head out of the hole in the wall and took a survey of the chamber.
“Alright, we gotta move fast, when you see the spike, move, and keep moving.” Ian said.
He summoned a Stalagmite from the wall just below the hole and they jumped onto it. He continued pulling spikes out of the wall, spiraling around the room and slowly descending. They had to move fast. As he summoned one, he would lose control of the one they were standing on. They sprinted down the spikes, operating on pure faith that Ian would get the next spike under their feet.
When Marshall was sure he could make the jump he leaped into the air, aiming for a pair of worms that were assaulting Calvin. He slammed into one and rolled off its back, stepping forward he punched his fist straight into the flesh of the second one. He drew his hands together and used Force Push to send the two worms sailing back against the walls of the chamber.
“Hey Cal, figured we’d catch you guys just lazing about. Need a heal?” Marshall said.
Calvin was too tired to respond and just forced himself up with his spear. Seconds later, healing energy washed over him.
“Thanks, Ian with you?”
Before Marshall could answer, the mouth of another worm exploded in bright flames as its head was completely burned away.
“Speak of the devil.” Marshall said, “Where’s Freya?”
“I lost her back toward that pile of worms. They swarmed her. She’s fine.” Calvin said, wheezing in between words. His stamina was slowly recovering.
The pile of worms Calvin had indicated exploded upward. Worm corpses were sent flying in all directions as the group dodged out of the way, unclear on what the hell was happening.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
A monstrous dog erupted from the mass. She was god damned huge right now.
Freya snatched a worm out of the air that had just broken into the chamber and flung it hard against the opposite side of the chamber. Her monstrous form gave everyone a breather as Marshall tended to Amy.
As if in direct challenge to the massive Aetherwolf now in the chamber, the largest worm they’d encountered yet busted through at floor level. Freya was on it in an instant. She wrapped her powerful jaws around its neck and ripped it from the hole.
This was not a worm to be trifled with. It was easily three times her size and was not a fight they were confident in winning.
“We need to get the fuck out of here!” Marshall screamed, “Into the hole, let’s move!”
The group didn’t hesitate for a moment. This was their Hail Mary.
Freya come!
All five sprinted into the hole the massive worm just erupted from. Calvin dropped runic snares and mines as they sprinted through the tunnel. They moved as if their lives depended on it, because if that damn worm found them in here, they would be toast.
Distant booms echoed behind them, the worms were hot on their trail.
Ian sucked down a mana potion and began closing the tunnel behind them with Attuned Wall.
He didn’t think the earth walls would do shit to slow these things down so he alternated fire and lightning. His resources were draining fast.
“Save some juice in the tank. We might need a portal out of here fast. I don’t want to use it just yet, we need to beat this quest.” Calvin said.
Ian nodded and slowed down his casting.
For good measure, Calvin activated Storm Legion. Three storm legionnaires sprang into existence in front of him. They were mighty humanoid beings wrought entirely of lightning. They stood nearly 8 feet tall and carried massive electric bulwarks. In unison, they stomped their feet down and leveled their shields, completely blocking the tunnel. Their spears were positioned parallel to the ground and were thrust forward at regular intervals.
Calvin could hear the enormous creature approaching and sprinted back toward the others. Within seconds, the group heard and felt the impact from the worm smashing into the storm legionnaires. It was like a freight train smashing directly into a solid steel wall. The entire tunnel shook violently, causing debris to rain down from the walls, and then everything was white.
The worm came to an immediate halt when it hit the shields. The sheer momentum it possessed caused the shields to give way immediately, redirecting all the damage into a powerful lightning blast that traveled down the tunnel.
The group’s hair stood on end, wild and electrified, as the explosion charged the air. Several experience notifications let them know that they’d just barbecued several of those worm bastards.
A dim glow materialized in the distance ahead of them. The opening to the outside was partly covered in debris, and worms were closing in from behind. Marshall dashed in front of the group and positioned himself, preparing to unleash a powerful Force Push. As he extended his hands forward, a powerful blast from his palms cleared the way, and the group emerged into the open air.
A collective sigh of relief followed by some high fives would be in order right about now, if only the worms weren’t still riding their ass. Oh, there was one other glaring impediment to their celebration, a massive fucking dinosaur bird.
They found themselves standing in a vast arena, surrounded by towering canyon walls. On the left side, they had a view of the entrance, possibly the canyon that had caved in. Debris filled the pathway out, and it would not be an easy retreat. Furthermore, hundreds of those winged creatures lined the entire rim of the arena, screeching their horrible war cry. It was dinner time.
“God dammit!” Marshall screamed, “Are we for fucking real right now?”
The group tried putting as much distance from the canyon wall as they could, knowing that piles of sand worms were about to burst out at any moment.
They kept a wary eye on the massive bird perched high up on a rocky ledge.
Corrupted Quetzelcoatlus, Plumed Apocalypse - Level 44
The oddly proportioned ‘bird’ towered nearly 40 feet tall. With its short hind legs, it balanced itself upright on its massive wings, which served as its front legs. The creature’s neck stretched out before it, ending in a menacing obsidian beak that could effortlessly impale any of those damned worms.
This creature was clearly the result of corruption. This was not like the reconstructed images of the Quetzelcoatlus that Calvin had seen on earth; it was something extraordinary. Had a skeleton of one of these creatures been found pre-system, it could have sparked the formation of entirely new religions.
Every inch of its being was cloaked in feathers as dark as midnight. The feathers appeared to be crafted from volcanic glass, with sharp, jagged edges. The razor-sharp plumage bore a distinct runic imprint of corruption, giving it an ominous and menacing appearance. With its entire body adorned in a striking green pattern, it resembled a creature straight out of a sci-fi nightmare.
As Calvin’s group emerged from the canyon walls, the Plumed Apocalypse fixated its gaze upon them, tracing their frantic movements as they desperately fled from the worms. It threw its head back, its eyes blazing, and let out a deafening shriek that echoed through the air. Its wings burst open, unfurling to reveal an impressive span of nearly 80 feet. Instead of a leathery membrane, the surface of these wings was rough and jagged, reminiscent of cooling magma.
With the creature’s cry, the hundreds of winged beasts lining the canyon took flight and began flying in a massive vortex, circling the canyon.
The worms chose not to follow into the arena and merely peeked their heads out from the canyon walls. From every corner of the arena, Calvin could see their heads sticking out from the rock walls. He swiftly distanced himself from all walls just as more gaping worm maws erupted from the canyon walls behind him. This was a mess, they’d be trapped in the middle of the arena.
As the circling fliers gained momentum, their wings created a rush of wind. As they moved, a powerful downdraft emanated from them, causing the dirt in the arena to spin into a chaotic frenzy. The forceful sandblasting not only stung their skin but also created a hazy curtain, making it difficult to see. It was time to bring out the big guns and pull out all the stops.
Freya kicked off the party by howling up a storm. Literally. The sky grew darker and darker as thunderclouds gathered, unleashing a torrential downpour. The air crackled with energy as the powerful forces fought against the whirlwind created by the fliers.
The rains quickly damped down the dusty hell they’d found themselves in and quickly restored their vision.
Calvin and Marshall marked up the big bastard with Storm Brand and Bio-Mark respectively.
Finishing up the pain train, Ian was about to call up his Supercell. The presence of the storm essence flooding the arena would intensify it, making it a potentially devastating attack. It would be a bit pricey in the mana department. He’d had an idea that would double that cost, but probably be pretty damn cool.
He activated Nanoweave allowing him to merge the effects of two skills. Drawing the energies for Supercell and Combust, he saw the energies twist together between his hands and erupt out into the sky above.
Ian was expecting something cool for sure, he didn’t expect to create a god damned fire storm.
Fire storm was in the literal sense too. Dense columns of cumulonimbus clouds began forming from the atmospheric storm essence. They burned and radiated with intense heat. The sky crackled with massive bolts of flaming lightning, obliterating scores of flying creatures with each strike. Instead of dumping rain, a scorching steam was kicked up into a torrent by the hurricane force winds. Flesh stripped off of the fliers as they were boiled alive in flight.
Due to the effects of Nanowave and the already enormous cost of Supercell Ian had to drop the skill, but holy… shit. He’d essentially pressure cooked every creature in the air. The Queztelcoatlus basically shrugged off the attack though and wow, it was really upset.
The creature soared into the air with a forceful beat of its wings, ascending higher and higher until it became a mere speck in the clouds, disappearing from their view.
A whistling sound pierced the air, signaling the creature’s imminent return. Moments later, thousands of razor-sharp feathers cascaded down upon the arena.
Thinking quickly, Marshall Force Pushed above them, blowing many of the blades off target. One of them sank deeply into Marshall’s shoulder and another slammed into Ian’s foot. Fortunately, Ian wasn’t injured by this. Marshall was another story.
He fell to the ground and quickly worked on repairing the wound in his shoulder.
Another shrill cry pierced the air, and the colossal reptilian bird descended, its wings creating a rush of air as it glided through the sky. The group could see the creature’s wings were now red hot, flames flickering and leaving a scorching trail behind it. The creature swooped low, maneuvering like a fighter jet of the dinosaur world, as it banked around the edge of the canyon towards Calvin’s team. There was no chance of them dodging out of the way.