Astral Odyssey: Dying Ember

World 4.12: Vanora

The next space she encountered was a lot smaller than the previous two and the air smelt rancid. It was slightly nauseating for Vanora whose sense of smell was enhanced. She frowned slightly and observed that the area seemed empty. There was nothing hiding in the dark above nor in the corners. She took a tentative step out of the tunnel and noticed that the ground was a little softer than the ground she has been walking on. Am I dealing with something underground?

She took slow and calculated steps towards the other side. Her entire body was tense and ready to jump in case a pit was suddenly created or something came up from below her. One. Two. Three. Four. On her fifth step, several fresh scratches appeared on her exposed legs before she could react. She stopped moving. Whatever caused the scratches moved too sudden and fast that she could not identify what it was. However, she could assume that it was a small creature based on the size of her wounds.

She stood still for awhile and realised that there were no attacks on her again. Could it be triggered by my movement?

When she started moving again, she got attacked on her third step. As she was more prepared this time, she saw the little assailants shoot out from the ground beneath her before entering the soil again. She moved again this time in an attempt to catch at least one. She adapted fast to their speed but it was still down to her reflexes since she did not know when they would reveal themselves. She managed to catch one on her second try and opened her hand to see that it was a maggot looking creature that was about the size of her little finger and has a round mouth with two sets of razor sharp teeth. 

Just as she intended to squish the little wriggling creature, its mouth came into contact with her palm and immediately burrowed into her. Her eyes opened wide in fear, shock, and disgust. Although she set her entire body aflame in the next instant, the speed it was capable of allowed it to travel through her entire arm and had reached her shoulder blade before bursting out of her body in flames. Goosebumps covered her skin. She had felt it shoot through her arm like it was eating her from the inside. Her gut instinct told her that if she had not reacted fast enough, it would have consumed her entire heart. So it really follows vibrations. 

She looked at the still burning carcass on the floor. At this moment, she realised that she had only been lucky none had shot up and into her leg thus far. These creatures were deceivingly harmless. 

I could slowly lure them out by using myself as a bait and kill them with my hellfire like this. She recalled the sensation of being eaten from the inside and it gave her goosebumps again. 

Or I could go hunting for stones again. But... 

She closed her eyes and focused on her hearing. Apart from Vlad's and her breathing and hearts beating, everything else was a dead silence. I don't know how many there are. Doing this is hardly any training and is more like pest control. 

Deciding that it would be an inefficient use of her time, she jumped as far as she could towards the other end. She knew that her landing would be heavier due to jumping and was prepared to tolerate more attacks at once than the precious times. Suddenly, she felt herself get scooped up and carried bridal style before she even got close to the ground. Her head snapped up to look sharply at the culprit to find that his face was full of displeasure.

He flew them to the other end which Vanora would have reached in around two or three leaps. Upon setting foot on solid ground again, Vanora immediately pushed herself off of him with the intention to tell him off for interfering. Yet before she could open her mouth, he said his piece first. "What were you thinking?! Do you know how many of that worms you'd have triggered to come jumping out at you?!"

"Of course I do. You didn't need to interfere." She replied him coldly. Does he think so little even of my intelligence?

"I didn't need to? Even if you won't die, you'd be riddled with holes." He said through gritted teeth.