Chapter 35
Into the Crevice
"It's going to be worse from here, there will probably be bigger baddies," Zo said as we gathered our supplies.
"You think we'll run into the ones I sensed?" I asked.
"Maybe… we should stay alert. Move fast. Kill anything that sees us before it can call others."
She looked at me. "If we get separated, you keep Sadie safe."
I nodded. "And we meet back at that stone shelter we passed yesterday if things go bad?"
"Yeah, but let's try to avoid that," Zo said, her face grim.
We set out, moving cautiously.
"Left here," I said, following the impressions my scouts had given me. "There's a path that leads... no, wait. It's a dead end."
My head was starting to pound from the strain of maintaining the scout worms over such distance.
"Fish, you need to pull back some of the scouts. You're spreading yourself too thin." Mable said.
I listened to her and pulled half of them back.
"There," Sadie pointed. "That looks like a path that might lead through."
We were about to head that way when I felt an alarm from my scouts. "Wait."
"What is it?" Zo asked, her hand moving to her axe.
I concentrated, trying to make sense of the confused impressions. "Something's coming. Behind us. A lot of somethings."
"And there are a couple more ahead of us," I added, as new information came from the scouts. "They’re blocking the path Sadie found."
"There’s no way around them without being seen."
Zo looked between the approaching threat and the two beasts ahead, weighing our options. "How many are behind us?"
"At least a dozen. Maybe more."
"And the few ahead? What are they?"
I focused on the scout worms nearest to the creatures. "I can't get a clear read on them, but they are moving fast."
Zo nodded.
"We take the two ahead. It's our best chance."
I looked at her. "You sure?"
"No… but I'd rather face two than a dozen."
"Same plan as before, I’ll draw their attention. Fischer, you hit them from behind. Sadie, you provide cover and look for weaknesses."
"Will that work on these?" I asked. “...we don’t even know what they are!”
"We'll find out, but we're running out of options."
Zo moved ahead, slipping between ice until she was in position. I circled around, keeping low, using the terrain for cover.
When we were all in position, Zo stepped out into the open, her axe held loosely in her hand. The massive beasts noticed her immediately.
Their horned heads turned towards Zo, and they pawed at the ground, their breath steaming in the cold air.
Zo raised her axe, a clear challenge.
The first beast charged at Zo. She spun, swinging her axe in a crescent and sinking it into its hide. The beast screamed in pain. The second one was moving now too, circling to come at Zo from behind.
Sadie fired a beam of light, striking the first beast in the face. It roared at her, giving Zo a chance to put some distance between them.
I got to the second beast just as it was about to charge Zo. I slashed across its leg. The beast kicked out, catching me in the chest, sending me flying into a wall of ice.
It charged at me, leaving me no time to recover. Its horns aimed at my wounded chest. I rolled to the side just as the beast charged, its horns shattering the ice where I had been. It skidded, trying to turn, but its wounded leg gave out, and it crashed to the ground.
I didn't waste the opening. I pushed myself up, ignoring the pain in my chest, and drove my sword into its eye.
It let out a horrible shriek, then it collapsed to the ground.
I turned to see Zo still fighting the first one. She had managed to wound it several times, but it was tough. Sadie was firing beams of light at its eyes, keeping it disoriented.
"We need to finish this quickly, the mob is closing in," Mable warned.
I ran toward Zo and the beast. Zo saw me coming. She drew the beast's attention, moving its back towards me. I stabbed at the back of its neck, my sword sinking deep into the base of its skull.
The beast collapsed, its legs giving out beneath it.
"Behind you!" Sadie shouted.
I turned to see the group that had been following us had arrived.
They were tall humanoids, with grey skin. Their faces were flat and without noses.
"Run," Zo said, grabbing my arm.
We ran. The creatures followed, their long legs eating up the distance between us.
"Left!" I shouted, following the guidance of my scout worms.
We sprinted through the ice maze. The creatures fell behind as we reached a narrow gap, they were forced to go through one at a time.
It bought us time, but it wasn’t enough.
"There!" Sadie pointed to a dark opening in the ice wall ahead. "Is that a cave?"
I sent a worm forward to check. "Yes! And it goes deep!"
We ran for the cave, the creatures closing in behind us. As we reached the entrance, I turned, forming a worm-shield.
"Go! I'll hold them off!"
Zo hesitated for just a moment, then nodded, pulling Sadie into the cave.
The creature crashed into my shield. I sliced it across its chest, spraying blood across the snow. Another creature lunged at me. I stabbed my sword through its open mouth, my blade cracking its teeth as it slid out the back of its neck.
Another raked back with its claws, tearing into my flesh.
"Fischer! Come on!" Zo called from the cave.
I kicked the nearest creature in the chest, then turned and ran inside. They followed.
"This way!" Zo called.
We pushed deeper, the cave growing darker. The passage widened into a large room. Faint light filtered down from cracks in the ceiling.
"We can't keep running," Zo said, her breath coming in white puffs. "We need to make a stand."
I nodded, my back burning where the creature's claws had caught me.
"How many do you think there are?" Sadie asked.
"Too fucking many, but maybe we can collapse the passage. Trap them on the other side."
Zo looked at the room's entrance, considering. "It might work. How do we bring it down?"
I looked at the ice walls. "See those cracks? If we hit it in the right place..."
"I can do it," Sadie said. She raised her hands, light gathering between them.
"Just tell me where."
I sent worms to examine the passage and look for the weakest points. "There," I said, pointing to a spot where several cracks converged. "And there. Hit those, and the whole thing should come down."
Sadie nodded, focusing her power. The light between her hands intensified, becoming a tight, concentrated beam.
They were almost at the passage now.
"Now!"
Sadie fired her beam at the first weak point, then quickly shot the second. The ice cracked, then shattered. It collapsed, sealing the entrance with a ton of ice.
I sent worms searching for openings.
"There," I said, pointing to a dark crevice at the back of the room.
"...It's our only option."
We moved toward the crevice, the ice continuing to groan and crack above us. As we reached it, a large chunk of the ceiling gave way, crashing to the floor behind us.
"Go!" I pushed Sadie into the crevice, Zo following close behind.