The mouth of the tunnel was closing in on them, and the giant worm lay in wait like a living nightmare. The creature lunged forward, its massive head surging toward them, the sound of its rocky hide grinding against the ground sending chills through their bodies.
Ortynos (shouting):
"Spread out! Don't stay in the path of its head!"
Nikos:
"Darius, Pikos! Behind those large rocks—now!"
Ortynos charged forward and, with an acrobatic leap, narrowly avoided the worm's jaws as they slammed into the ground, leaving a deep crater behind. He drew his sword and struck its body with all his might—but the blade rebounded as if it had struck a wall of steel.
Ortynos:
"Its hide is impenetrable! My sword can't harm it!"
Romilius:
"Look for gaps between its scales! Every creature has a weakness!"
Meanwhile, Darius tried to distract the beast by hurling stones, while Pikos trembled behind a boulder, clutching his metal pots like makeshift shields.
Darius:
"Hey, you ugly worm! Look over here! I'm tastier than that old man!"
Nikos (furious):
"Is this really the time to mock me, boy?!"
Suddenly, Ortynos felt intense heat radiating from his pocket. He pulled out the blue feather, now blazing with a dazzling light that nearly outshone the red glow of the worm's eye. The light flowed from the feather into Ortynos's hand, then wrapped his sword in a mysterious blue aura.
Pikos (in awe):
"Look at Ortynos's sword! It's burning with a cold light!"
Ortynos:
"I can't feel the sword's weight… it's as if it's become part of the air!"
The worm charged again, this time sweeping its massive tail, knocking Nikos and Darius aside. As the creature opened its mouth to spew a corrosive substance, Ortynos leapt high, using his newfound lightness, and brought his glowing sword crashing down upon the side of its head. This time, the blade cut through the hide as if it were butter.
The worm let out a roar that shook the ground and began to writhe in madness, smashing everything around it.
As it thrashed violently, part of the edge near the tunnel collapsed. Ortynos lost his footing and fell beneath the shadow of the descending head, about to be crushed.
Romilius:
"Ortynos! Watch out!"
Without hesitation, the mentor Romilius hurled himself forward, shoving Ortynos out of the path of the falling head—and placing himself directly before the monster's jaws as they opened wide to devour him.
Ortynos (screaming in terror):
"Romiliuuuus! Nooo!"
Darius:
"Master! Run!"
Romilius closed his eyes, ready for the end, as the worm's circular teeth drew closer, moments from grinding him apart. A heavy silence fell for a single second, as if time itself had frozen once more.
Then—
the air was sliced by a sharp, unfamiliar whistling sound, unlike the storm or the beast's roar.
Fsssssshh!
A massive arrow, the length of a long spear and forged from a strange black material, shot from atop the high sand dunes with lightning speed. It did not miss its mark—it pierced straight through the worm's single red eye and burst out the other side of its head.
The giant worm's body stiffened in midair. The red light in its eye went dark instantly, and it began to fall like a collapsing mountain, crashing into the ground with a colossal impact that sent a cloud of dust and sand skyward. The lifeless corpse came to rest mere inches from Romilius.
A heavy silence followed, broken only by the companions' ragged breathing. Ortynos ran to his mentor and dragged him away from the body.
Ortynos (breathless):
"Romilius! Are you all right? Speak to me!"
Romilius (coughing as he brushed off the dust):
"I… I'm alive. But that arrow… none of us fired it."
Nikos, clutching his aching side, stood and looked toward the crest of the sand dune from which the arrow had come.
Nikos:
"Who possesses the strength to fell such a beast with a single arrow?"
Pikos (trembling):
"Look… up there. On the hill!"
At the top of the dune, beneath the pale light of this strange world, a silhouette appeared—a figure holding an enormous bow. The features were indistinct, but the figure stood silently watching them before beginning to move toward them.
Ortynos (tightening his grip on his sword, the feather still glowing in his hand):
"Be ready… it seems we're about to meet the owner of that arrow."