by Sarah Noffke
Sophia rolled her eyes. “Of course the reception is spotty in the freaking Sahara. How did I not guess that?”
“We just have to keep trying,” Wilder offered, searching the area.
The path they had taken was well mapped by the darker sand that ran the length of where the giant worm had sprung up from the ground.
“So that thing,” Wilder started, running his hand over his face, which was completely covered in red sand. It made him look like he had a bad sunburn.
Sophia could taste the sand in her mouth, making it gritty when she spoke. “It’s a worm-like monster that eats flesh.”
“I sort of figured out it wasn’t friendly when it thundered after us.” Wilder narrowed his eyes. “I think it’s coming back.”
Sophia knew what he meant by the way the ground moved under her feet. Growing up in Los Angeles, she was used to minor earthquakes, which is what this felt like, but she didn’t think it was caused by seismic plates shifting.
“So we portal out of here,” Sophia suggested.
Wilder shook his head again. “I already tried that. The magnetic field or whatever it is…”
Sophia rolled her eyes. “How convenient. No dragons. No portals. It seems like we are going to have to slay this beast to survive.”
“Looks like it,” Wilder agreed, watching the ground around them as it started to swell in places, like waves in the ocean. “Running isn’t a long-term option, I’m thinking.”
“What we need is Kevin Bacon,” Sophia mused, considering their options.
“Please explain,” Wilder encouraged, tensing as the swelling sand got closer to them. The thing was trying to figure them out or trap them. Maybe make another grand entrance.
“Actually, we need bombs,” Sophia decided, recalling the movie Liv made her watch, stating it was a classic and her education wasn’t complete without it. How strange it might be exactly what saved her in this situation.
“I’m a weapons expert, but bombs aren’t really my forte,” Wilder explained.
She nodded. “But you can use spells. Fire magic will be extremely helpful.”
“On it,” Wilder said, holding out his hand, drawing energy to him for a spell.
“Now what we need is a structure,” Sophia explained, realizing summoning something so large was going to significantly drain her powers. Staying on the ground was a really bad idea since it was the giant worms home turf.
“It can tunnel through sand…” Sophia said, thinking through her options. “But rock would slow it down.”
“Rocks!” Wilder exclaimed. “That’s brilliant.” He pointed in the distance, maybe a mile off. It was hard to tell in the desert where the sandy terrain went on for miles.
Sophia gave him a tentative expression. “Do you think we can make it?”
He flashed her a grin. “I have no doubt.”
As if the monster had been eavesdropping on their conversation, it burst through the sand roughly fifty yards away. Its mouth opened, and weird hooked fangs unfolded from its jaw as another snake-like thing exploded from its mouth, licking the air as it screamed.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Wormy, as Sophia decided to call him, towered high above them, over the height of a two-story house. Sophia desperately hoped that was as long as it was, but she also hoped not to find out.
“That’s our cue to run!” Wilder exclaimed, throwing a fireball straight at the monster and hitting it in the side.
It was a very effective attack and knocked the monster, which was about five feet wide, to the ground. When it fell, the ground trembled violently under their feet, nearly throwing Sophia off balance.
Even though the attack had been well placed, Sophia knew it wasn’t enough to stop the beast, but it would slow it down. She was about to launch her own attack, but before she could, the monster began to slip back down into the hole it had come from, quickly slipping out of view.
The ground rocked so hard and began to split in places that for a moment, Sophia thought they might get sucked under the sand. She used the momentum to push herself in the opposite direction, running again so fast her feet hardly felt as though they touched the ground, Wilder on her heels.
The attack had hopefully injured Wormy, but to kill it was going to take much more than magic, she suspected. Sophia slid her sword into its sheath as they sprinted, the rock structures in the distance growing closer.
She chanced a glance over her shoulder. As Sophia expected, Wormy was in hot pursuit, although it didn’t appear to be moving quite as fast.
The red sand exploded up from the ground as it progressed, following them with an angry force. Even moving slower from the injury, it was still gaining on them because the heat of the desert and trudging through sand, even with superhuman powers, was taxing on the two dragonriders. At this pace, the creature would catch them and eat them.
Sophia had to do something unexpected to save them.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Sophia halted, spinning to the side.
Wilder caught sight of her, and his face was the first part to register his shock. “What are you doing?”
“I’m buying us some time,” she shouted, pointing in the distance. It wouldn’t work for long, but if Sophia’s assumption was correct, then this would at least give them enough time to get to the rock structure. Or it wouldn’t work, and she’d have lost valuable time. It was a risk she was willing to take. She had to rely on her greatest asset—strategy.
“Stay absolutely still,” Sophia urged, hardly parting her mouth to talk.
To her surprise, Wormy froze under the ground.
“What is happening?” Wilder asked in a whisper.
“As I suspected,” Sophia began in a hush, talking so low only another dragonrider could hear her. “It tracks us by sensing motion.”
“Was that in the movie?” he questioned.
“Think about it,” Sophia started. “It doesn’t have eyes or probably smell. Its ability to follow us is based on vibrations.”
“If we remain still, then it won’t be able to find us?”
The timing was a beautiful and ironic thing. On the heels of Wilder’s statement, Wormy exploded up from the ground, flopping onto the sand, and its giant, disgusting head landed only feet from Sophia.
She didn’t move.
From her peripheral vision, she noticed Wilder tense, like he was about to push her out of danger. However, he followed her lead and remained frozen.
“It can’t find me unless I move,” Sophia stated, watching as the creature writhed, making sweeping motions in the sand.
“Yeah, but it knows we are here, and it’s feeling around in the dark, so to speak,” Wilder agreed.
She nodded. Sweat dripped profusely from her forehead, falling into her eyes and dripping down her chin, then splattering on the sand in front of her.
Wormy froze too.
Had it sensed the movement? The dripping of sweat was ever so slight, but Sophia knew it carried a vibration.
The hideous monster opened its mouth, and a putrid smell spilled out. Wormy’s hooked fangs popped out to the side as the mini-me inside of it sprung out, flying in the air like a gross kite. It flew only inches from her face, but she didn’t budge. It was only a matter of time before the thing haphazardly knocked into her.
She knew it. Wilder knew it. And she suspected the monster knew it.
“Soph…” Wilder said more stress in this voice than she’d ever heard before. “You have a plan?”
Answering him would have been a death sentence. So instead, she lifted her hand and pointed in the distance. Because she learned magic from giants as well as other magical races, she could do complicated Earthquake spells most magicians couldn’t master easily.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she focused all her energy on the spell. This had to work, or at any second, the monster was going to find her, and it would all be over.
Chapter Thirty
In the distance, there was an explosion
, followed by a great rumbling.
Sophia’s eyes popped open to find the spell had worked. There appeared to be a disturbance about a hundred yards away. The ground there was shaking, splitting, and sand sprang into the air, making a huge dust cloud.
Wormy froze. Although he didn’t have eyes or other features to communicate his facial expression, it seemed to say, “What was that?”
It turned its ugly head toward the upheaval in the distance. The ground continued to shake, the tremors spreading all the way to Sophia and Wilder.
She didn’t even dare take a sip of breath as she waited to see what the giant worm would do. It seemed to be weighing its options as well, indecision tunneling in its tiny brain.
Sophia considered her next options if this didn’t work. She’d have to resort to attacking the monster up close, which she had her doubts about based on its size. The only way they were going to defeat this thing was to have an advantage. Right now, standing on soft sand, with few defenses, wasn’t going to cut it.
Thankfully, she’d bought them some time.
Wormy dived, plummeting into the sand like a serpent in ocean waters. Its body arched up high as its head made progress, swimming through the sand in the direction of the earthquake Sophia had caused.
“Don’t move yet,” she urged Wilder.
“Copy that,” he answered. “And that was genius.”
“Thanks. Let’s hope it buys us enough time,” Sophia said, watching the monster moving farther away, tearing up the sand as it progressed.
“Well, we might want to consider making a run for it now,” Wilder stated. “That thing is about to figure out it’s been tricked.”
“You really think Wormy is that smart?”
A chuckle fell from his mouth, earning a warning glare from Sophia.
Wormy froze. The laugh had been enough to signal to it there was something back in the direction it came from.
“Damn it,” Sophia spun around and began sprinting at once for the rock structure.
Wilder took off after her, easily keeping pace. “Sorry, but it caught me off guard you’d name the monster trying to eat us.”
“I always name the monsters I have to slay,” she explained. “I already know what the next one will be called.”
“Wilder, huh?”
“Bingo,” she answered, running fast, trying to force herself not to look over her shoulder, although the sounds of Wormy in hot pursuit were unmistakable.
Again, she tried to reach out to Lunis but got no answer. Whatever was up with the Sahara was especially annoying. No portal magic. No telepathic communication. Maybe that was exactly why Cupid was here. It couldn’t be to create romance among ugly worm monsters. At least, Sophia hoped not. Those things needed to go extinct, not breed more.
The first of the rock structures wasn’t far. It was a smaller one that included an archway made of what appeared to be sandstone shaped by the harsh Sahara Desert winds. Beside it were two towers that unfortunately were just under the height of Wormy.
Farther away were larger rock structures, but getting there would be a risk, and Sophia thought her luck was about to run out.
She felt the sand pushing up under her feet, almost seeming to launch her forward. However, she didn’t for a moment delude herself into thinking Wormy was trying to give her a boost up to the top of the rock formation. He was going to get right underneath her and suck her down with him, swallowing her whole.
Wilder made it to the rocks first and was already climbing up. He was safe, at least for now.
Sophia could feel the monster under her, making her progress slower. In an act of faith, she used her magic to propel herself, combining it with a leaping spell.
She flew forward as two things happened simultaneously.
The beast rose out of the sand springing after her, a familiar scream echoing out of its mouth as it opened wide.
And Wilder threw another fireball straight at the beast, hitting it hard in the body.
Chapter Thirty-One
The blast of heat flew right by Sophia. She couldn’t imagine feeling hotter, and yet, she thought she’d catch on fire as the flaming ball soared by.
The monster screamed as the fireball hit it, again knocking it in the opposite direction, and sending a great cloud of red sand into the air that rained back down on them. Sophia was momentarily blinded as she landed on the rock structure, her chin knocking hard into it.
She didn’t allow the blunt hit to slow her. Instead, she continued to move, her hands and feet working hard to find holds. Wilder, who was nearly to the top, spun around and held out a hand for her. She took it, allowing him to yank her up to where he stood.
Sophia was impressed by his strength. Never in sparring had he shown that kind of power against her, but he never really pushed himself against her, not wanting to actually hurt her.
She rocked back from the momentum, catching herself before tumbling back in the other direction. One thing was clear to Sophia from her vantage point on the top of the rock structure—Wormy was pissed.
It jerked in the sand below, a weird green substance oozing from its body. Wilder had really wounded the thing with the fireball, but he hadn’t killed it, and now the monster was madder than hell.
Sophia was surprised by how well she was able to discern the emotional state of the sightless creature. It was as if in such a short period of time, they had come to know each other. Hopefully, it knew how much she despised him. She pulled Inexorabilis from its sheath and brandished the sword her mother had used until the day she died. Sophia hoped Wormy knew these were its final moments on Earth.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“What is the strategy?” Wilder asked, holding a protective hand to steady Sophia as Wormy thrashed around and made the rock structure shake.
Several times, the creature tried to lift itself up, but the injury seemed to be preventing it.
“Well, how about we reverse roles from the Cupid mission,” Sophia suggested. “You’ve got that fireball attack down.”
“But I don’t think that’s going to kill it,” Wilder observed as Wormy rose up slowly, teetering dangerously and close to crashing down on them from its instability.
“I don’t think so either,” Sophia agreed, having studied enough of Bermuda Lauren’s book Mysterious Creatures to know how a beast of this sort had to be killed. “We have got to sever its head, I believe.”
“You want me to distract it while you do that?” Wilder asked.
Sophia could hear the reluctance and uncertainty in his voice. “I get you are stronger and have the larger sword but—”
“But you are the better choice for it,” he interrupted, dodging an attack from Wormy as it swung and nearly knocked Wilder off the rock structure.
“Really?” Sophia was surprised to hear him say that.
“One hundred percent,” he insisted, kneeling and grabbing a handful of rocks at their feet and throwing them. Like a dog, Wormy swung around, sensing the distraction at its back. “Your magic reserves have to be low after pulling off that earthquake. More importantly, I think you are nimbler than me, and your size will make it easier for you to get into position.”
Sophia had been prepared to argue with him, but Wilder was surprising her at every turn.
The distraction was short-lived. Wormy swung back around, facing them straight on. It was go time. They had one chance to get this right and end things before the giant beast ended them.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The beast opened its mouth, revealing darkness worse than any nightmare. The second head shot out, reaching for them.
Sophia was about to swing her sword and sever the little head, but something told her that it was a bad idea. It was like when she faced Hydra and learned severing one of the heads only made another one grow back. She pictured three heads replacing the single one and making the monster somehow stronger from the inside.
No, she needed to cut off the main artery, but getting a clear sh
ot would be a challenge. Currently, Wormy was too far away, making it impossible for her to reach him. Even Wilder, with his longer sword and arm span, couldn’t reach the monster that swiveled, trying to find them.
“Another fireball?” Wilder asked, backing away from Sophia, sensing she was preparing for her attack.
“No, you need to bring it closer, not farther away.”
He nodded, reluctance heavy in his eyes, although it was soon replaced with determination. “You got it, Soph.”
Wilder held his hands in front of his face, cupping his mouth. “Hey, you ugly deformed maggot!”
Wormy, who had been rotating back and forth trying to find them, halted. Robotically it swiveled until it was facing them directly.
It had found them. Wormy knew it.
The monster seemed to be overwhelmed with excitement, salivating for the meal it was so hungry for.
“Yeah, that’s right, you horrendous smelly worm!” Wilder yelled.
Sophia shook her head. “We really need to work on your name-calling skills.”
The monster struck, making Wilder dive to avoid being dinner. “Later,” he roared, rolling forward and nearly falling off the rock structure.
The beast crashed into the archway, nearly breaking it in two. It threw Sophia off balance, making her fall on her back. Thankfully she kept her sword in her hand. Unlucky for her, the worm sensed her only a few feet away. It opened its mouth and the other head slithered out.
Wilder was trying to climb back up into place on the other side of the monster, but the formation he was on continued to break apart, making him slip back down with each attempt to secure his footing.
Sophia rolled to the side and jumped to her feet.
The second head rose into the air. She could feel its delight about what it believed was an inevitable win. It might be. Behind her was a stone wall. She could jump down, but that would involve running, which she knew wasn’t the way to survive. Wormy would be on her in seconds and it would all be over. It rose up higher, now towering above her. If she was going to strike, now was the time, but getting around the smaller head to sever the larger one was impossible.
