Last Stand of the World
Volume 1
Pitfall
Chapter Sixteen: Sand wyrm Queen
"Asaa, I'm gonna need some help and probably your bag. Do you have any ideas about how to wrangle these guys?" he asked. Now that the goblins were no longer a concern, he could move on and even if he didn't get to have a conversation with the shaman. There were still three little guides to help them out, and he really didn't want to deal with leaders anyway; there was usually too much red-tape.
The only concern was how to get them out of this very sticky situation and also explain to Ryli what the shaman had said before he'd left, which was easy enough he'd just cast a rewind spell.
That way, she couldn't accuse him of lying, especially that devious little goblin, Gabs. he didn't know what it was, but that one didn't sit quite right with him, the other two were nice, and he quite liked Ryli, she'd make a nice friend.
He got a tail upside his head, "hey Davern, what are you thinking about? Focus. Big nasty, remember?" He shook his head and pulled himself out of his thoughts; it wasn't like he wasn't paying attention. He was just thinking.
"How much of your potion has that thing absorbed?"
"I don't really think it matters much how much it has, it's too big to affect it much, plus it's crazy with grief right now, and both of their masters are gone, luckily the other one seems to have known that his master was going to do something. But wyrm boy is pissed. Weren't you going to burn it earlier?"
"It's not like I really have enough mana to do anything. I got mad earlier and used a lot, plus you said we couldn't use that many mana potions." He said, rubbing his forehead and slightly regretting his actions though it did bring the conflict to a close, and it looked like just in time since it didn't appear as if they would have had time to talk to the shaman at the rate that the conflict had been escalating.
'It also appeared that some controlled had more autonomy than others. He'd have to ask Ryli for more clarification, though she had tried to explain it before he seemed to have not understood everything." There was another cave-slide. The entrance they'd come from was now completely blocked off.
Ryli, see if the shamans beast is willing to get in the beast bag, or just go with you. Either way, we're going to have to leave this area. That wyrm is crazy.
Hey crazy wyrm, if you want to see your owner again, you should calm the hell down. He's only temporarily sealed until we can heal the venom from the monster out of his system. the tremors stopped for a second. Does this crazy thing understand speech? he mumbled, the Wyrm slammed against the wall.
"Jeez, guess so, I'm telling the truth, ask your buddy,"
For a while, the two beasts roared back and forth before the Wyrm calmed down enough to come back to Davern. Who told it, "you can go in the beast bag. It will be safer because I can't transport you otherwise."
The Wyrm dithered around for a moment then disappeared into the ground, and Davern just shrugged, "I guess he's staying then." He shrugged and walked over to the others, then sat down for a second, "just give me a moment to recharge some of my mana, and I'll show you what The Shaman said Ryli so that there aren't any questions from anyone saying that I'm not telling the truth or that I'm hiding anything."
"Okay, I could do with a rest anyway. I feel a little weird," Ryli said and took a few steps away before she too sat down and put her head on her knees, clenching the golden bag tightly between her fingers.
He took a deep breath, ready to draw in the mana, but felt almost choked; it felt filthy, wrong the wrongness choked him to his core. He opened his eyes, "Asaa, can I borrow a mana potion? I'll replenish whatever I borrow; I can't meditate here."
"of course you can, but why? What's wrong with meditating?
"The mana, The mana here feels dirty. I don't know how else to describe it. I noticed a while ago that the Nuller changers the mana around it, and while we were fighting, I noticed that something seemed to be running some kind of spell.
'Well, whatever it is has polluted the tunnel or at least this section so badly that I can't meditate enough to replenish my store and have to rely on potions until we can get out of here I can only hope that I can retrieve my gear at some point.
'He brushed his hand down his waist and past the silken skirt. This doesn't make for very safe fighting. If I don't have better gear, aginst tougher opponents, I'll worry about protecting the lot of you and keeping my promises."
"That is worrisome. she bit her lip and looked out into the darkness. I wonder if it was just the inheritance that made my ancestors go crazy; maybe it was being contaminated by this poisons mana as well." She took out a potion and handed it to him.
"It's possible."
"I hope that the other tribes still have more time."
"I hope so as well. It seems like we don't have a lot of time either. " He drank the potion, sat down, and refocused on gathering the mana molecules into his core and isolating it from the outside. Purifying what he'd just drawn in and expelling it from his body. He'd have to be more careful for the rest of the time he was here.
He couldn't afford to keep depending on Asaa, he didn't know how many she had in supply, and he could tell that she was worried every time she handed him one.
Just as he'd expelled the last of the contaminated mana, he felt a rumble beneath his body. He opened his eyes and looked up into the maw of the titan wyrm. Well, hell, I just had to ask what could make the day worse, didn't I? just as he was preparing to launch an attack, something heavy wet, and slightly gross smelling landed in his lap.
Then the Wyrm moved back a little, looking slightly contrite if a wyrm can look that way. Davern picked up the object with two fingers and a wrinkled nose, closed his eyes, and shuddered. You want to come? The Wyrm wiggled, but you want me to bring you in this the whole body Shook very well, is there anything else you want to fetch, or did you get everything? The Wyrm made a cooing noise, and a flood of wyrms began erupting from the floor.
Davern quickly closed his eyes and connected to the dimension in the slimy bag that had been dropped on his lap, funneling the baby wyrms into it as they crawled up from who knows where. He could see why the being had thrown such a tantrum earlier.
Still, this bag was kind of gross. He was defiantly not keeping it; it was going where it belonged; he gave Ryli the stink eye. Then looked at Dugger. Probably him, he seemed about right. Nasty goblin things were not his cup of tea and never had been.
When the rumbling pressure on his mind stopped, he opened his eyes and looked at The Wyrm, "your turn." It nodded for a second, paused, then looked at Asaa. Davern thought for a minute to figure out what it wanted. "It probably wants the wyrms we stored earlier."
"I'll let them out." She opened the beast bag, and several groggy wyrms slithered out and rubbed faces with The Wyrm before Davern opened up the dimension again, and they went inside. This time The Wyrm followed behind them peacefully.
Davern sighed with relief that that unpleasantness was over, "Hey, Dugger, heads up. " he called out and tossed the bag over, just as Dugger looked up.
"Ew, ey why me?"
"What you expect me to look after your tribes' pets?"
"No, I suppose not."
"Good, because that's not in the job description. I was asked a favor, not babysitting pets."
Just then, the shamans beast leaned a bag over Ryli's shoulder; she looked up at it, "you sure?"
It nodded its head.
Ryli sighed, "Davern, how do I use this thing?"
"You've never used a storage bag?"
"No."
"Are you able to feel mana?"
Ryli nodded though somewhat hesitantly, as if a little unsure of the question. "well, bring it here, and I'll help you the first time.
Davern put his hand on the bag and his hand on Ryli's third eye in the center of her forehead; this place is the center of your inner vision. There is a lot more explanation than that, but we don't really have time for classes right now. Close your eyes and follow the path my mana takes as I open the pouch and close it. Do you feel it?
"Yes."
"Okay," Davern looked over at the Shamans mount. "I'm going to have to ask you to come and help her for the first time."
The beast nodded.
"Alright, Ryli, we'll do it again; follow the flow of mana, and pay attention to how it feels to open the dimension within the pouch and draw in a beast." The beast went in the pouch without a hitch. "Now do it one more time, but in the opposite direction and take it out. Think to the beast that you want it to come out, and it should appear before you, and now try it on your own."
"Okay, I'll try" He could see fine beads of sweat pooling on Ryli's hairline. It was obvious that she wasn't used to using and controlling mana.
Davern stood aside and watched her make the cycle again by herself, and the beast came out and was put away again. "You did good, " Davern said, clapping her on the shoulder. "Now that that stuff is out of the way let's cast my spell to see what the Shaman said to Ryli and the others so we can get out of here. How does that sound?"
Asaa came to stand beside him; "that sounds like a plan." the lights wrapped around her tail had dimmed, and the darkness surrounding the group seemed almost absolute.
Davern cast his spell. It took longer than most of his spells and required a bit more mana than he'd like, but the dazzling lights of the spell the shaman had performed were cast once more before their eyes, and then suddenly, it was the tense moments right before he'd lifted into the air. He'd looked at Davern and spoken the words for Ryli's ears.
She sunk to her knees. "What did he mean? What library?"
"I don't really know; we've also been tasked to find a library today. I suspect that it's the core of whatever is going on with the world."
Ryli looked up at him, her small face set in determination. "Well, then I guess the only course we can take then is forward. Now that the 'controlled' are gone, we should be able to get out of the tunnels we were held in.
Davern looked behind him at the collapsed and sunken earth; before walking forward. "Yep, there's nothing for it now; but to keep moving forward. "Ryli lead the way."
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