SunRider

[02] Worm Chase

—Thus awakened! Thus awakened! Glorious King Nelmir has found the prime well of magic! Now our sleep-veil dissipates! Praise to our race! Hear and heed the secret whisper of our King! Come in, come in to the coven, we the Enlightened Few! Let us unite science with the archaic arts!—

-Faded ancient description found in the depths of the city of Pania, estimated to be over 200,000 years old.

     Finn howled, spinning in place and scrabbling for the tunnel. The vat-worm barrel-rolled in place, shattering rocks and shaking the confined space. Its immense body pulsated, and grating sounds crackled from its toxic shell. It snapped out like a predatory bird, trying to suck Finn and Goblin into its tooth-lined gullet. Its mouth was so big, it had a hard time getting to them. Instead, its gut moved forward, followed by its body, dragged in a rippling movement. It wedged itself closer. Chewing through rock and stone, its teeth overextending to dig at the sides of the walls, it widened the chamber.

     Finn, goggles slipping away from his eyes, shoved at Goblin, who'd thrown himself headfirst into the compressed narrow tunnel they'd come from. The boy grunted with strain, wiggling forward. Despairing, Finn knew no matter how fast they moved through the tunnel, the vat-worm would catch up, crunching through everything and swallowing them whole. Their bodies would be crushed between millions of tons of dirt, rock, and ore, shredded by the beast's bite. The only way to survive would be to either kill the beast—a feat no human could possibly do—or outpace it.

     Backed against the chamber wall and watching Goblin's feet disappear, Finn held his arms over his head in protection as stones crumbled about him in the vat-worm's glutinous fury. The creature shoved itself forward again, trying to pin Finn against the chamber, or at least graze him with its Orpiment hide. Finn curled up, making himself as small as possible, his body trembling in horror. The beast let out a monstrous moan and its teeth gnashed in waving patterns, as if begging for Finn to jump inside. Deep within its moist terrible mouth Finn could see the last bits of Mudd sliding into oblivion. Bile rose to his throat and his bladder quivered.

     Goblin was out of sight, finally giving Finn the room to escape. The vat-worm smashed against the chamber wall again, coming so close, that an Orpiment shard jutting from its lower belly nearly poked Finn's eye. As it reared back, contracting against itself in the confined space, Finn got a brilliant idea—a suicidal idea.

     Before the beast could strike again, demolishing and eating another section of the wall to make room for itself, Finn reached into the pouch hanging from his belt. Years of experience working with rocks allowed his fingertips to recognize the chunks of unbroken Miner's Pumice—four pieces of hearty size. As soon as his fist closed around them, drawing the material out of the pouch, he dove into the small tunnel. The enclosed space ripped at his sides, tearing lines into his shoulders, back, and arms. Finn didn't care, nor was he cautious with his movements. He shoved himself forward, meter at a time, grunting with panicked strain. Behind him, he could hear the frustrated bellows of the creature, the stone walls around Finn shuddering as the beast chewed a path forward. Finn knew as soon as the vat-worm had enough wiggle room, it would plow ahead at full speed and there would be nothing Finn, Goblin, or all the miners in Lenova could do to stop it.

     Thought of the creature's immense size urged him on. Finn had only seen the beast's head—the vat-worm was a giant. It had to have been Finn's terrible luck that he'd crawled right into its lair, waking it from its nap.

     As soon as Finn put a few meters between himself and the chamber, he dropped the Miner's Pumice, and as carefully as he could without breaking the pieces, crawled over them. Using small bits of the material was dangerous enough, only called for when there was no air to breathe, but to use four large chunks all at once—it was a guaranteed cave-in. Finn was counting on the vat-worm to chew its way forward and he hoped if the beast moved in a straight line to them, the pumice would be crushed between its teeth and cause a concussive explosion. Would that be enough to stop it, or even throw it off their tracks? Finn doubted it, but all he could do was crawl for his life. He applied all his expertise into moving, body shuddering in time with the walls as the vat-worm tore the chamber apart behind him.