Chapter 13: I am a Worm’s Lunch

So. I could see a very long living thing under ground... wrapped in coils... surrounding us as it was moving underground, slowly constricting tighter and tighter towards us.

'That's a giant underground snake/worm thing. Of course it is. And we're already trapped in its coils.'

Korven shivered. [Oh fuck. Okay, second it tries to ambush us, blast it with as much fire magic in its face as you can.]

[Sure, but why fire specifically? I could try lightning-]

[NO! Are you stupid?! Air magic of any form has a vulnerability to earth magic!]

Oh. Well shit. So if I had to guess, Fire is the weakness of earth, earth is the weakness to air, air is the weakness to water-

Actually yeah lightning being water's weakness makes a lot of sense.

And then water obvious weakens fire.

Meanwhile I dunno how to categorize light and dark. Maybe they're the weakness of one another?

Sorry refocus on impending doom.

Where is this thing's head now-

I turned to follow the coils with light vision, freezing as I found them rising out of the ground hidden by the trees to regular sight...

And looked up as I followed them to the head rising above the trees in plain sight.

'Oh WOW you are ugly! Ew!'

It's head split 6 ways! SIX!

Like it had 3 mouths with teeth crossed over one another and all intersecting at the middle!

It opened its mouth like some macabre, gruesome flower with 6 petals that had many, MANY sharp teeth lining the insides.

And then it had eyestalks. Like... a snail. Snail eyestalks. 6 of them. Again.

Some part of me faintly wondered if the number 6 was significant considering there are apparently 6 elements not including the "spirit magic" that allows me and Korven to talk.

But even that meandering train of thought in the back of my terrified mind flew away when that thing SCREAMED IN OUR FACES.

You know the Godzilla roar? Think that but through a wood-chipper filter, and then with a massive wave of SMELL.

I could smell the rotten flesh hung on its teeth decomposing and covered in soil, I could smell the death and earth thing this swam through like water, and can I just say?

Ew. Ugh. I would be sick if I weren't absolutely fucking terrified of this thing being about to eat us.

In a rare moment of intelligence, I sent out a mental message to the worm-thing.

[Hey! Don't eat us! Let's talk this out?]

And then it actually stopped swaying around and directed its gaze at me.

[Oh? A hatchling who knows the speech-of-no-tongue?]

Holy shit this thing can actually talk and is intelligent? I mean I knew it must be a magic creature and therefore I guess it only makes sense, but still!

Monster prejudices be put aside!

[So you won't eat us?]

[Oh I will definitely eat you, lunch.]

A great crashing sound ripped through the forest around us as trees were toppled by its coils ripping out of the earth to surround us in scaly walls.

[I don't like that idea Mr... worm?]

[I do not consign myself to the two-legged yoke of names Lunch. I am naemed.]

What...? Where the actual hell is the difference?

Name? Naeme? I don't get it.

Also has he named me LUNCH?

[Too young to know of a naeme... I am Hraezalier.]

[Her-ray-zah-lee-ay?] I carefully sounded out.

[Yes.]

Well that is a mouthful of a name, or naeme, I dunno what the freakin difference is but it sounds like it means a lot to this worm guy.

[If you were juvenile even, I wouldn't dare touch a wyrmling... but a hatchling... I shall enjoy knowing the taste of your flesh, Lunch.]

[Wait! If I'm such a delicacy, then you oughta prepare me properly right?]

[Excuse me?]

My mind raced, trying to figure out a way to delay death. [You ever hear of spices? You put herbs of certain flavor on a piece of meat to add greater flavor and enhance the meal!]

[A wyrmling recommending a two-leg idea to me?! Hraezalier?]

[Well yeah, were you just going to eat me raw? No wonder the other dragons call you worms savages.]

An interesting purple shade spread from its face down its brown scaly body.

Korven who had been listening in shot me a look of "are you FUCKING CRAZY?!"

[SAVAGES?]

[Yeah. Honestly, I get it. You could kill me easy, but to just eat me raw... how barbaric. To think cooking is something only two-legs do, tut-tut.]

[What wyrm COOKS THEIR MEAT?]

[Us fire dragon's have been doing it longer than humans I'd bet.]

It reared it's bus-size head back a bit in thought.

'Holy shit is this actually WORKING?!'

Okay I've delayed death by talking crap, now I need a plan to get out of here. Magic or might, I think my best bet is to run away.

If I rip off some of its eyestalks that will probably severely mess with its navigation, cause I can sense the pulses those things release through the air thanks to air magic.

This thing sees by sonar, not light. So if I could burn or injure two, maybe 3 eyestalks...

Half blind worm giant. That seems more escapable, especially if I use fusion magic to boost my speed and strength in running away as fast as possible, with no fatigue thanks to light magic.

[Okay lunch, tell me of this "cooking". You kill the meat, then prepare it right?]

It began to reopen its fearsome maw.

[Only with some!] I yelped as fast as possible.

[Two-legs do, but most wyrms prefer to perform the kill as late in the process as possible to preserve the blood from escaping. You'd rather some juicy meat than dry, right? Crispy outside, juicy inside. That's well-cooked meat.] I hastily ad-libbed.

Honestly at this point I have no idea what I'm saying, I'm just bullshitting while waiting for a chance.

[How could I cook you alive then?]

[Well you can't use fire magic, plus I'm a fire dragon, so you'll have to use some creativity, but I have a few ideas!]

I gestured with a bob of my head for him to come look as a I grabbed a stick with my flexible tail and used water fusion to help me control it better as I began to draw a diagram of a dragon-dog shape on a spit-roast.

The worm came closer, bending its head down as it's guard lowered.

I was weaker, young, and had been so cooperative the idea I might attack wasn't even in it's mind.

'Wait for it... wait for it...'

I felt the pulses of sonar, timing out the beat in between...

My draconic instincts roared, as I felt the moment come!

Air and fire fueling me I jumped at it, focusing a blade of air and blasting it to cut off one talk as I sent an arc of fire at the left side of its head, hopefully damaging at least 1 of the 3 on that side.

Panic brought a lot out of me as magic poured out of me, and the indigo flames exploding from the swipe of my claws burned away the scales of its face and burnt away all 3 stalks on that side!

The air blade whisked right through its target stalk as if it were nothing!

And as I flew at the one stop it's head I breathed icefire, not a true breath weapon but just a mimicry of it.

And I froze it solid.

Which meant it now had one sensory organ left... on the bottom.

I felt it begin to rear up, screaming as panic and fear hit me-

I reacted without thought, and gathered lightning.

My wings lit up with a web of electricity, zipping and zapping across its scales as I drew it all into myself, my body flowing white from stored power as I jumped up-!

And I released a pillar of white energy and plasma out of my body right into the top of its head.

And then I fell.

After hitting the ground I rolled onto my feet running to Korven to get away-

He stood stock still.

[Korven we gotta go before it... it...]

I gaped.

The worm had a massive ragged and burned hole straight through the top of its head and it continued as a crater of molten rock in the ground with the vegetation around it burned away to ash without a single flame.

[...I thought air magic was ineffective against it.] I asked in shock.

[Weak and inefficient, yes.] Came a reply in a muted tone.

[...]

[...uh... so. How much magic do you have again?] Korven asked with a hint of trepidation.

[More than I thought?]

[NO SHIT!]