Eliona's War 3: Lethal Healer

Ch. 29

Valentin was the first to leap at the giant worm head hanging out of the ceiling. He went at it with a wild flurry of strikes. Yet none of his attacks did anything; his glaive only bounced off its scaley skin harmlessly. He dropped after a failed attack, hit the ground in a crouch, and immediately launched himself upwards once more.

As Valentin flew up, the enormous worm head split open into a great mouth, and before Severance could even process what he saw, the knightglaive was gone.

The worm pulled back into its dark and terrible hole. Valentin's name went gray in the party list.

"What the-?" Severance felt like he'd just seen a planet destroyed. How could there be a worm that big? It had swallowed up an entire person just like that!

He glanced at the worms on the ground, slithering along like snakes. A horrible thought struck him. Had they been fighting babies this whole time? Was the giant worm in the ceiling a full grown one?

"Intercept." Jack's cold voice snapped.

It yanked Severance out of his daze. He immediately returned his attention to his teammates. There wasn't anything he could do for Valentin now. Without even a body remaining behind, there was no way to Revive him.

Snow, on the other hand, needed all the help he could get. He was already blinking red in the health list. Even as Severance began to sprint over, Jack was already charging across the room like a battering ram, leaving behind a path of battered critters. Now he shielded the cryomancer, singlehandedly blocking every spit, and slashing everything that got too close.

Severance found a cleared spot behind the tank. With Jack there to help, he'd be able to find a chance to heal-

A furry snout popped out of a hole by Snow's feet. In the next instant, a little rat flew up and kindly wiped out the last bit of red in Snow's health bar. And just like that, Snow keeled over. Or he would have, if he hadn't been rooted to the ground like the pile of rock he was. Instead, he just sort of sagged, head dropping to his chest and his one free arm going limp.

"Ah crap," Severance muttered.

While Jack furiously smashed the offending rat into pulp, Severance came around and lightly touched the cryomancer's shoulder. Beneath his fingertips, he could tell that even Snow's clothing had turned hard and gray. Severance looked at his teammate's face and felt his stomach twist. Even though Snow had died, a fresh trickle of pink fluid seeped from his encrusted, closed eyelids.

It looked far too familiar.

Severance's hand suddenly gave a sympathetic itch. He absently pulled it back, scratching the back of it before readjusting his grip on the war fans. "I'll Revive-"

"Don't," said Jack Coyote. He loomed beside Severance, his shield covering them both. "We've lost this fight."

"Lost? But we're still-" Severance cut himself off, because he'd just noticed the state of Jack's armor and shield. Both had taken the brunt of worm saliva, and the very distinct corrosion of rust had spread across the metal. Small holes had already eaten through the armor. It wouldn't be long before it started to break apart.

"Oh," Severance winced. "That looks bad. What should we do?"

"We leave the dungeon." Jack looked over to Kiah, and raised his voice. "We're out!"

By now, Kiah was down to only a single summoned blade. With a weakened defense, it hadn't taken long for small traces of rock to appear on her legs. In response to Jack's call, she only gave a curt nod and dismissed her last blade. Then she stood still and let the nearest rat do its thing.