Chapter 515 Fly, you fools! (1/2)

[Worms are stupid.]

[I said I was sorry already…]

[They look disgusting and they eat dirt.]

[I know, okay? I know.]

[They're soft and don't have a carapace which makes them less s.h.i.+ny.]

[Not all ants are s.h.i.+ny! Only you are s.h.i.+ny!]

[Are you talking back to me?! Invidia, I think he's talking back to me!]

[Sssstrange. It should be shame.]

[Yeah, you're supposed to be shame! Aren't you, Jim?]

[… yes. I am shame. Can we PLEASE discuss this another time? Like, when we aren't being ACTIVELY chased?!]

[I suppose…]

As much as I enjoy reminding our resident worm that he and his entire species are ma.s.sive failures who the world would most likely be better off without, we do have something of a situation on our claws. After we popped up outside those ma.s.sive stone gates, we hightailed it back underground but it wasn't long before we started to sense signs that we were being followed.

Luckily, Jim was able to retrace the tunnel that I'd collapsed a lot faster than he could dig through solid rock, but we couldn't follow that all the way back, we'd just end up in the Shaper outpost that we'd started in. Which meant that we needed to dig our way into another Dungeon tunnel, a job for which we needed Jim's now suspect earth senses to try and find.

[Look, I found a tunnel, didn't I?]

[Just not the right one…]

[I was close!]

[Close to a city full of Golgari…]

[I'll be quiet.]

Every few seconds I can feel pulses of magic radiate down through the ground, trying to home in on us. I'm not sure if these are some form of mental attack or if this is just a location spell of some sort? Monster detection? Perhaps trying to sense vibrations in the rock? Either way I'm not a huge fan. Jim and I are using every technique we can to speed up our tunnel digging. He's biting and utilising his earth magic to its limits as I do the same from just behind him. I've put Invidia on tunnel collapse duty so I can focus more completely on a.s.sisting the digging. It's hard to manipulate the mana that far ahead of myself, Jim is a long worm after all, so I need to put real effort in.

Another pulse! They're coming quicker now… Does that mean they're homing in on us or are we getting further away? I wish I knew!

[How far, Jim? We can't be far, surely!]

[Not far! I've found another tunnel, probably… twenty metres dead ahead!]

[Poor phrasing given the circ.u.mstances!]

[Agreed!]

There's a rising panic in the worm that is worrying. The more danger we get into, the more unsettled he becomes. Being a sheltered creature, not having to fight for so long, having his meals brought to him, it must have killed his edge. Although, judging from his history, this guy was never the most aggressive of monsters since his rebirth.

[Hold it together, Jim. We're gonna get there!]

[Right!]

Also, it would be super great if I could not have worm b.u.t.t in my face sometime soon, I'm well over it. It takes a couple of minutes for us to drill our way through and with a joyous cry, Jim rushes into the dark tunnel in front, shouting with glee.

[We did it!]

[Get down, Jim!]

I blast out of the tunnel with Invidia close behind, my mandibles wide.

CHOMP!

The shadow centipede shrieks as my jaws shear it apart and it falls to one side, twitching. Stupid centipedes! They pop up every time I don't want them to!

[What the h.e.l.l was that?!] Jim cries, panicking.

[Shadow centipede. They're new. Stay alert, Jim! You're in the Dungeon now. What do you want to do? Try and hide in the walls or do you want to come with me?]

He hesitates.

[Look, I don't care if you want to go alone, I really don't,] I a.s.sure him, [I've got places to be and you'd rather hide, it's fine. I just need you to make a call very, very quickly.]