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Huh? I push it harder, and it moves a little bit more, then a little more. There’s something underneath it—a dark hole. Sweat dots my forehead, and my skin feels too cold. We’re running out of time. I push with everything I have, and sure enough, it reveals a cavern underneath. This is our chance to get out of here before they come.
As if I’ve summoned them with my thoughts, the hunters burst out of the tunnel up above us in a thunder of footsteps. When they spot us down below, the three roar in unison. Their eyes glow the same purple as the magic worms.
“Lo’zar!” Rimi cries out as the hunters split up and head down the stairs. She races towards me as I reach for my gun with one hand and my sword with the other. When the first hunter is within range, I fire the loaded round, and my bullet eats through the leopard pelt hanging around his shoulders, striking him in the chest. Blood spurts out, and he stumbles and falls to the ground in a heap. The one behind him simply jumps over his body as if he isn’t there.
Rimi!I call out.Hide underneath this rock!
What?!She’s incredulous.I’m not leaving you here!
The hunters close in on me in a pincer formation, one from each side. I have two more rounds on me, but no time to load one. I put the gun away and two-hand my sword, thinking that perhaps I can take both of them on at the same time if I’m fast and careful. But the fearless bloodlust on their faces does give me some doubt.
Then a tiny purple worm goes flying through the air, over my head. When it lands on the ground in front of the closest hunter...
It explodes with an ear-shatteringboom.
Chapter13
Rimi
If the worms can let us speak to each other, what else can they do? I have to save Lo’zar. I can’t let him face these mad trolls alone. He won’t survive.
Please help him,I think hard.Please stop those monsters.
And then I hurl the worm as hard as I can.
When it explodes, Lo’zar goes flying backwards, slamming into the rock.Shit!While he’s trying to get his breath back, I grab onto him, pulling him as hard as I can toward the hole in the floor. I don’t know where it leads, but perhaps he can hide there until I’ve taken out the hunters.
Go, I snap when he resists.I’ll hold them off.
Lo’zar looks like he wants to argue, but I push him away as I grab another worm, reel back my arm, and throw it. There’s an earth-shaking explosion on the other side of the room.
Then, from all around us comes a terrible noise. Grumbling. Shifting. Rocks upon rocks starting to move, everywhere.
“Rimi!” Lo’zar shouts.The pyramid, it’s going to come down!
But those damn hunters are still coming for us, covered in their comrade’s blood and their own, glowing eyes shining out from underneath it.
I told you to go!I holler back at him. Grabbing the torch off the floor, Lo’zar finally does what I ask and jumps into the cavern underneath us. I pick up yet another worm and hurl it, wishing again,Stop them. Kill them.
There’s another immense bang that seems to rattle every last stone in the pyramid. That’s when the first rock falls from the ceiling. One crashes into the stone floor with a terrible sound, and the whole pyramid shakes.
Rimi!Lo’zar is calling to me, one hand outstretched.Come on! Please!
Another massive stone tumbles down, then another. It’s collapsing right on top of us.
I have no choice. I leap down into the cavern, landing in Lo’zar’s arms. He clutches me tight as the ground shakes and trembles.
Overhead, there’s a deep groaning sound. The stone above us is moving again of its own volition. The worms swarm over it, faster and faster, their bodies leaving glowing purple tracks in and out of their tunnels.
Just as the ceiling starts to collapse, the hunters screaming, the stone closes—leaving us in darkness.
Whoa, I say as it snaps into place, and a deafening roar fills the air: a cacophony of rocks tumbling down as the ancient structure crumbles. The stone walls around us shake, and I cling to Lo’zar, hoping that they don’t give way to the pressure.
We stay like that in the darkness, huddled together, until the terrible rumbling finally stops.
Uneasily, Lo’zar releases me. He feels around on the ground, his hands running over my feet as he looks for something. Then he goes,A-ha!and his fire-starter snaps as it lights the torch.
He holds up the flame, revealing a cramped cave. It looks like it was here already, but somebody carved it to be usable. It continues on ahead, narrower, and the sight of that infinite blackness makes my chest seize.
