The Foolhardies 129 Monster Hunter

In the same movement, I drew my falchion to my right and slashed at the creature's exposed right side.

There was a shower of sparks as my shadowblade—which Zarz, after tuning it up, claimed had risen to silver tier—grazed the hard scales of the ashworm's body, barely leaving a scratch despite its vibro-sword function.

I pushed Myth Chaser to continue forward so we could escape its range, but even that was difficult as the monster's thrashing tail—which had come out of the other side of the dune—caused the sand beneath us to shake.

We traveled the length of its body—at least the part of it we could see—and veered further left just before the tail could take a swipe at my head.

Just to be clear, I didn't just jump into the fray to get myself eaten by a giant worm. But a closer inspection was necessary so Fool's Insight could do its job.

Thanks to that close encounter, I was able to estimate that the ashworm was roughly thirty feet long with a diameter bigger than Shaqs' height. So around ten-foot, give or take.

The creature's head, a giant eyeless thing with a cobra's hood and a mouth that looked like it belonged to a great white shark, turned in my direction as if it was following my scent or something.

And only now did I realize that my initial command to my unit might have been a little foolhardy.

"Wait for it to come for me," I'd said, turning myself into the bait.

But now that the ashworm was coming after me, I expected an imminent attack from my friends was coming. Luckily, Luca and Qwipps did not disappoint.

From the skies above came the fluttering of arrows in flight, and soon afterward, more than a dozen charred arrowheads fell across the surface of the ashworm's body. Sadly, only three of them actually stuck. The rest were repelled by the creature's hard scales.

Although that poor showing dismayed me somewhat, gone were the days where I panicked over every little thing. So, instead of screaming for someone to save me from the incoming jaws of death, I screamed, "Now, Luca!"

Luca's ravagers were all mounted on swiftharts now, kicking up dust as they rode toward the ashworm. They were split in two with ten warriors to each side of the creature.

"Let's do some damage, Ravagers!" Luca drew his greatsword from the sheath behind his back. "Come on!"

Twenty shadowblades sang in unison, each one slashing across the monster's hard scales with just about the same damage as my own attack did.

"Too weak!" I yelled.

"I know!" Luca yelled back.

Then my brother did something he would have called foolhardy if he'd been the one watching. I just called it brave, although he will never hear me say it out loud.

At this point, the ashworm was ten yards away from me and Myth Chaser. Despite our ambush, it had quickly caught up to me with the probable intent of swallowing me and my mount whole.

Luca might have sensed this danger also which is why he did what he did.

He roared in that way he did whenever he activated his Foolish Strength. Then he jumped off Jade Shadow, and with both hands, plunged his greatsword into the ashworm's body.

Luca's shadowblade broke through hardened scales and pierced into the flesh hidden underneath, unleashing a spray of dark blood as he did.

The ashworm shrieked. Its head rose up to the night sky with its huge mouth opening into a ten-foot gaping hole.

Luca, who'd held onto his greatsword with both hands, was dragged up with the creature.

"Reckless attack," I whistled, at the same time as I turned Myth Chaser around.

Luca hadn't just wounded the creature. He also exposed its underside which I assumed was softer than the scales on its back. And while it thrashed its head in the air, it left itself open for another attack.

I raised my falchion forward. "Go, go, go!"

Two winged forms zoomed past either side of me and headed straight for the ashworm.

Qwipps and Pike flew low so they wouldn't get noticed by the monster. Each of them carried a steel lance used specifically for hunting big game.

Yes, we'd come prepared. None of my guys had traversed the desert before but Shanks had and he'd informed us of possible dangers while crossing through the sands, of which, the ashworm was one of them. In fact, I remembered Shanks briefing me that an ashworm encounter was very rare as the creatures usually stayed underground.

Just how unlucky were we that we were in a fight for our lives with one right now, I wondered in my head as I watched the pixies attack.

Qwipps reached the creature first and plunged his lance straight into its inner side.

The monster screeched a second time, nearly drowning out Qwipps own scream of, "Muddamit!"

Pike arrived next, but she seemed bolder than her squad leader as she hadn't targeted an easy to hit spot like he had. She'd flown the length of its underside and up to its neck area. Then, Pike slammed the lance in there and wigged out just as the creature screeched a third time.

Despite the success of the pixies, the ashworm didn't die after that last attack. Instead, it continued to thrash in the air like a wounded beast that was raring to go for round two.

Luca's greatsword was still stuck to its side but my brother was nowhere in sight, and it wasn't until the creature reared its head toward me that I saw Luca on top of it.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked, looking on in horror.

"I have an idea!" he yelled back.

Luca stretched his arms wide and then grabbed onto the scales on the back of the ashworm's neck. Then he took a huge breath and then began to squeeze.

I stood there transfixed, just watching my brother heave with effort as he tried to squeeze harder and harder at the creatures back.

No way would this plan work. Not if you take into account the ashworm's ten-foot diameter. Luca was just too small. He'd barely managed to get his arms across the top of its back.

"Dean, get out of the way," I heard Qwipps yell from somewhere above me.

Only then did I register that I could see Luca clearly because the blind ashworm had just lunged for me and myth chaser.

My swifthart and I were just about to leap out of the ashworm's range when something unbelievable happened.

I saw the scales underneath Luca's hands crack. Then I watched my brother let out a caveman's roar, and with a supreme effort, pushed his hands deeper into the creature's back.

Only then did I realize that his Foolish Strength combined with Aura's Fiery Blessing might just give him enough boost to get the job done. And you know what, he did.

The creature screeched a fourth time. Its head lurched upward once more with Luca riding it, continuing to squeeze the life out of it.

The ashworm's maw opened wide, and then a second uncalculated thing happened. Fire rained down from the sky.

The fireball—which was about the size of a car—exploded onto the ashworm's open maw, showering the surroundings in fiery sparks and momentarily lighting up the night sky.

I glanced in the direction it had come from and saw Aura on a nearby dune. Beside her, astride a swifthart of his own, and with both of his glowing hands raised forward, was the Foolhardies resident pyromaniac, Donar Firemonger.

"Nice pitching!" I yelled.

Then I turned my focus back on the ashworm and was just in time to watch it topple forward.

"Shit, Luca, you better be alright," I said, as I urged Myth Chaser onward.

As we approached, Luca rose from underneath the ashworm's dying form. His face was dark with soot, but he was smiling all the same.

"Congratulations, little bro… you are officially a monster hunter," I clapped.

Luca's grin got even wider.

Pike appeared at Luca's side and gave him a high five. Qwipps landed beside me.

"You two realize that thing's still alive, right," he said with a shake of his head.

Luca and Pike glanced down.

Qwipps was right. It was faint, but the monster's body was still going up and down.

"It's barely breathing though," I noted. "Still, quite an achievement considering all our attacks…"

"It's a freaking ashworm, Dean," Qwipps pointed both hands at the creature's blackened maw. "We're lucky it went down at all."

I glanced over at Qwipps. "Quit your worrying. We managed it fine."

"Three nights left to Samhain and we face off against this thing?" Qwipps shook his head. "It's a muddy omen, I tell you…"

I chose to ignore the superstitious pixie and ordered my brother to finish off his kill.

Luca went looking for his weapon. After he'd found it lying nearby, he climbed the back of the ashworm's head. Then he raised his greatsword high right before plunging it down into the ashworm.

The creature gave one final jerk and then the breath finally left it, stinking up the air around us with the smell of dead worm.

Thus ended our first true monster encounter in the Fayne.

"Um, guys," Pike called to us. "Anyone know which parts of an ashworm we can make use of?"

Chapter end