Tipping the Scales

9

The silent scuffle in the consuming wet mud, like some sort of hellish tug-of-war, seemed to persist with no end in sight.

Ronan had lost consciousness at some point, from pain or blood loss, Lukas was unsure. All he could focus on was stopping this creature gain further up the boy's leg. Lifting Ronan or pulling at the creature only resulted in more spurting blood. Lukas couldn't even form any words, his entire body screaming from strain. What's more, he had seen clearly its many rows of inverted teeth, pointing downwards as if directing its food down to what seemed like an endless stomach.

His eyes met Leo's briefly, who looked to be in a similar state of panic and helplessness. Neither knew what to do, but neither were prepared to let go.

After what felt like an eternity, Ellis appeared from nowhere. Without a word he was in the mud with them, having already assessed the situation. Lukas lost sight of him as he knelt by the creature, almost disappearing in the mud. There was an inhumanly high-pitched squeal from below and the pull on Ronan's body seemed to weaken. Without rushing, Lukas and Leo began to ease Ronan out of the entrapping earth with the help of Ellis.

"Get out the mud," Ellis said, no urgency in his tone, only a directness which moved the other boys to follow suit.

The ground underneath them began to shift. Like something out of a nightmare, the pink creature began to emerge from the sludge. Rows of milky white teeth, fluorescent in the glimmering moonlight, lunged at the struggling boys.

Without communicating, the three reacted. Lukas pushed Leo, who gripped tightly onto to Ronan's limp body, the pair tumbling out of reach. Ellis swung a heavy fist at the giant worm-like creature, avoiding its deadly mouth and connecting with soft pink tissue, knocking it slightly off balance. The creature swung its head back, using it like a club to knock Ellis down. Now looming over him, it pounced again, plunging downwards at Ellis.

There was a rush of air and flash of steel, halting the monster's attack inches from Ellis's face, drops of saliva dripping from its cavernous gob into a pool on his chest. Lukas had swung with all his might, hoping to take the creatures head clean off, though the blade had barely broken the skin, the worm shrugging it off as nothing more than an annoyance. The seconds allowed vital time for Ellis to crawl back and scamper away.

Lukas also backed out of reach, seeing his mud-drenched companion out of harms way. There was finally a break in the action. Leo, having laid Ronan on one of the rocks, joined Ellis and Lukas in studying the giant worm-like monstrosity. It was a good three metres long, its back end still submerged in the ground. One could only imagine how deep this creature sunk into the ground. Other than its hideous mouth, the creature was featureless, a long round tube of hairless body, thick as a tree trunk.

"What-" Lukas spoke between breaths, "is that?"

Leo was speechless, even he did not recall seeing such a monster in the Theirran Bestiary.

"A Wetland Bloodworm," Ellis said, surprising the others. "They normally stay submerged in the mud. If they emerge, they can only attack in a limited circle, so be aware of that."

Lukas and Leo were shocked by Ellis' sudden unfurling of information. It was true, the worm seemed unable to reach them now, a fair few metres from where it was protruding from the ground. "How do we kill it?" Lukas asked.

"We don't. They're incredibly tough to kill, much easier to just avoid. Anyway, it won't be able to reach us from here," Ellis continued, "but once it goes back into the ground, it will be able to move and attack from anywhere again so-"

The bloodworm began to rapidly retreat into the slush.

"Now's our chance," Ellis said hurriedly running towards Ronan, "I'll grab the boy, you two get clear."