Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty-Three

Our small group stared blankly at the ball. Ware frowned and prodded the orb against with his finger. The result was the same. Lots of nothing.

Ware wrapped his fingers around the orb and picked it up so he held it in his palm. The red strands that swirled about inside its depths flickered a little but did naught else. “How very strange. I expected some sort of reaction.” Vargas smacked the back of his head. He winced and whipped his head around to glare at her. “Why did you do that?”

“If you expected something to happen then you shouldn’t have touched it!” she snapped.

“Well, it is touched now and nothing happened,” he countered as he stood and held up the orb. “Now what do we do with the thing?”

“You hold it,” Will suggested as he turned his attention to Blake and Saber. “How far is it to the girl?”

Blake nodded at the way ahead of us. “Not more than a mile. She should be there, too. She doesn’t like going out in the dark.”

Ware pocketed the orb. “Then let us be on our way before our two companions here discover some of the orbs hidden beneath the ground-”

Enna’s high-pitched scream interrupted the dragon lord. She jumped back and drew out her sword. “Something touched me!”

A crooked smile curled onto Blake’s lips. “Why would anything want to do that?”

She shot him such a glare that he withered beneath the look. “Something came out of the ground and touched me, you fool!”

Ware, Allard, and Vargas all flung up a hand and fire burst out of their palms. The dancing flames illuminated the ground and everyone’s eyes searched for the source of Enna’s discomfort. The other two hunters drew their weapons and scoured the ground.

Saber yelped and stabbed his sword into the ground. “I got something!”

Allard raised his palm and revealed the squirming figure of one of the black worms. The thing was pinned beneath Saber’s sword but still thrashed about. Its hideous eyes rolled about in its round slimy head before it came to a stop on me. I shrank back from the malevolent darkness in that black depth.

Will lit up one hand with his fire and slammed his flaming fist down on the thing. The worm shrieked and shriveled to a gray ash.

We all froze when more shrieks answered that of the dying one. Vargas screamed and spun around to illuminate the ground behind her. A dozen of the slimy worms slithered toward her. Ware rushed to her side and unleashed a wall of fire that vaporized the worms.

The dragon lord then looked her over. “Are you unharmed?”

Vargas clutched her fire-less hand to her chest and nodded. “I. . .I am fine. It did not touch me.”

“There is more!” Allard shouted as he took a step toward another point in the woods. His light spread across the leaf-strewn ground and revealed dozens more of the worms, all slithering toward us.

Blake shouted and stabbed his sword repeatedly into the earth. “They’re coming out of the dirt!”

Indeed, many dozens more sprang from the soil and snapped at us. We hopped and skipped about while the dragons used their fire to turn the creatures into ash.

“Can’t you guys fly us out of here?” Enna snapped.

Vargas glared at her. “Have you ever tried to fly through the canopy of a forest?”

“We must separate!” Ware shouted as he incinerated another large group. “That will stretch their resources!”

“And ours!” Enna pointed out.

“Do you have a better idea?” he countered.

Enna slashed at a bunch of worms, decapitating them, before she used her sword to point in the direction we had come. “We get back to the house-hey!”

Allard had lifted her and swung her over his shoulder. “Let us separate and return to the house!”

“But what about the girl?” I reminded them as I stuck close to Will. “What if they go after her, too?”

“She will have to fend for herself with her fiery balls!” Ware insisted.

I yelped and stumbled back away from a worm that crawled out of the dirt beneath me. Its disgusting body brushed against my ankle and I felt the hot air of its putrid breath. Will was on top of it in an instant taking care to burn it into oblivion. Another dozen worms took its place and I could see the effort of being a flamethrower was taking its toll on the dragons.

“Everyone get back to the house!” I insisted as I grabbed hold of Will’s arm. “We’ll keep going!”

Vargas shook her head. “We will not allow you to do this job on your-”

“Behind you!” Ware shouted as he pushed her out of the way.

One of the worms snapped its jaws around his leg instead of the one belonging to Vargas. Ware let out a small cry and dropped to one knee.

“Leo!” Vargas shouted as she vaporized the creature and dropped to her knees beside him.

Ware’s face was a picture of agony but he managed a small smile for her. “You. . .you must run before. . .before I am turned.”

She shook her head. “No! I will never leave you!”

“We have to get out of here!” Allard insisted.

Enna slammed the hilt of her weapon against his back. “Just start running! Any place is better than here!”

I rushed over and clapped my hands over the bite wound. The flesh had already begun to putrify. My beautiful cleansing light emanated from my palms and I felt a damp cold evaporate beneath my fingers. I drew my hands back and revealed a mere bite.

Vargas and I helped Ware to his feet. “Now we run!” I shouted to everyone.

Will grabbed my hand and we all took off in the same direction but the worms had other ideas. They popped up in our path and forced our small group to disperse in all directions. The last I saw of many of my friends they were racing into the darkness with dozens of shadows slithering at their heels.

Will and I were left alone with our own slimy problems. The worms chased and snapped at us. My traitorous feet dripped over the uneven ground and I ended up falling to my knees. Will kept his hand around mine and immediately spun around where he bounded between the worms and me. He spread his arms apart and a huge inferno erupted between his outstretched hands. The fire was so warm that the hairs on my arms singed at the ends.

Will let out a great cry before he pushed his body against the flames. The fire shot forward in a rolling column of destruction. Nothing was spared, not even the brush as the fire rampaged through the woods. The worms were completely obliterated and the fire died to a smoldering mess of burnt twigs and ash.

Will’s body trembled before he crumpled to his knees.

“Will!” I shouted as I scrambled over to his side. I grasped his arms and looked him over. His face was hideously pale and he held his hands out in front of him. The palms were blackened. Tears sprang into my eyes as I shook my head. “You shouldn’t have done that!”

He gave me a wry smile. “They left me with little choice.”

“Can you stand?” I asked him.

Will tried and winced. “Not without help.”

I draped his arm across my shoulders and helped him to his feet. We turned in the direction of the house and kept our eyes on the ground.

That’s when a soft sniffle caught my attention.