Last Stand of the World
Volume 1
Pitfall
Chapter Fourteen: Round Two
Asaa whipped up a fierce wind, throwing a potion up into it, letting the particles drift down the tunnel mixing into the air currents. After a few minutes, the sound of marching steps could be heard, and a company of spearman appeared out of the darkness, followed by a few rogues and scouts, bombers, and archers. They lined up and stood motionless glassy-eyed as if waiting for further instructions.
Then he noticed that she had the same blue bottle as before in her hand, “I didn’t want to waste it before the bigger ones were also here, the little ones will stay like that for a short time, and they can help us detain the others until the potion takes effect.”
“ Will they get hurt?”
“They shouldn’t, and if they do, I will take responsibility and distribute a healing potion to the ones that do.”
“I just hope that the Shaman will keep his end of the bargain. I need to find out the quickest way through.”
“Me too,” she said, looking down at the bottles in her hand. She didn’t like wasting her people's assets, but if she didn’t, she wouldn’t make it out of this adventure alive, and from their speculations, there would be a lot more things in the future that she might have to use her kingdoms assets on. She would probably have to earn money to get the ingredients to buy more and hope that her studies weren’t too rusty to replace the stock that she used in this expedition.
She fingered the light blue potion, though a few of these, she didn’t think that the ingredients would be that easy to find nor her alchemy skills up to making them. Sighing, she felt the rumble beneath her feet. It wouldn’t be long before the main detachment of “controlled” reached them.
She looked back at her husband. He’d only been her mate for a few hours, and yet he’d already lept into danger for her on more than one occasion. She wasn’t sure how she felt, they couldn’t use all the firepower at their disposal, and she found it strange.
Why had the Nuller taken his brother and left him behind? What did it want from him? Just for food? The Nuller had so much food all over. She looked out over the horde of goblins. There must have been something else it wanted from him.
She pushed the thought aside. There were bigger problems to deal with now, and she could tell that it bothered him that he couldn’t just tear down the entire underground tunnel system and arrive directly at his brothers’ side. The thing was, how did the Nuller move so quickly between places? They couldn’t use magic? Right? All these thoughts made her brain hurt, so she put them aside and focused on the task ahead.
The rumble of tunnels collapsing behind the Sand Wyrms as they moved underground in their direction, her body stiffened in anger. This was her home. She felt a firm hand grasp hers for a moment, then release. She took a deep breath and then released it, controlling how much rage she passed through the bond.
Asaa tried to remind herself that she had to be more careful. She tightly controlled her emotions so that only the bearest trickle passed through so that he could get used to her presents so that they could learn from each other.
She tried to remember all the things she knew of it but couldn’t really remember them all. She sighed. And put her hands out, feeling the vibrations of the wind, the sand, and the earth, the cry of pain from within. She began to channel the force within herself that had been dormant for a long time, interweaving it with the potion. She let out only the bearest whisps of the potions, infiltrating the air so that the stronger monsters would be infected but not realize it. So that while they were fighting, it would start to wear them down.
The problem was what to do about the wyrms. She didn’t know that she had anything that she could use to deal with them? Maybe she could figure out something that could draw them to the surface and make them stay up?
She could only hope that Ryli's traps kept them at bay as long as possible while she made some more preparations. She pulled out her potions book and flipped to the section on large creatures.
They were desert beasts; her people had to have a solution to them somewhere, she thought, biting her lip and flipping rapidly.
An explosion rang out, and suddenly all of the sand wyrms converged on a spot in the center of the cavern.
“What the heck is going on?”
“I put out something they like. However, it won’t hold them for long, so if you have some way of freezing them our something, I’d do it soon.”
“Well, that’s as unexpected as it is welcome,” Davern said. Slapping the small girl on the shoulder.
Asaa smiled an almost feral grin, “well, since they are distracted, and they are beasts, I have the perfect place for them.”
“You’re not?”
“Yep, I can’t think of a better place than that at the moment. In fact, I’ll put all of these guys there, to she said, indicating every beast she saw on the field. I’ll give them back once we know what is going to happen. The bag will control them, and then I don’t have to worry about things coming out to bite us when we're dealing with other things. She sprung into action, throwing a vial of her potion into the middle of the ring of Wyrms.
Then she swept up every animal in the vicinity into the beast bag, separating them into a different compartment from Azer and the things she wanted to keep safe.
When she’d put away the last of the wyrms, an ungodly shriek echoed down the tunnels piercing her ears and making them ring. She shook her head as she became off-balance from the sound. Davern arrived at her side, “are you alright?
“I’m not sure I’m dizzy and off-balance?”
“It’s the Summoner!” Ryli shouted. Pointing down the hall behind them as a mammoth Sand wyrm erupted, charging down the tunnel emitting a subsonic call, Asaa wavered more, and paled leaning against, Davern and breaking into a cold sweat. The walls of the cavern collapsing behind the beast.
“Ryli!” a low shout from far away could be heard from the opposite direction. “I’m back with the Shaman.” Gabs and Dugger shouted, waving towards a large beast and an ornately dressed goblin that road atop it.
A rumbling growl met the subsonic call and bounced it back; the pressure dissipated somewhat, allowing Asaa to push into an upright positing. Davern leaned in and whispered, “are you better?”
“I’m a little recovered.” She whispered back. Her eyes widened as the underground titans squared off with each other.
Somehow she felt somewhat out of her league. Watching as the goblins' leaders met on either side of the cavern, a glow of lights shot up in the air, flittering in a display of might. “Zerkorg, you always were a show-off.”
“Not, as big a show-off as you, Zroldruk.”
“Where are my pets?”
“I don’t know?”
“Zerkorg, I’m warning you. You had better hand over my Sand Wyrms, or you will face the consequences.”
“I’m sure, I will Zroldruk, I’m sure I will.”
“Just what is that supposed to mean.” The sand wyrm screamed its subsonic cry.
And the giant ornate beast answered.