--- Kat ---
Kat looked around the empty tunnels uneasily. Despite walking for five minutes there wasn't any sign of the worms they were here for. Hunter seed unaffected by their absence but Kat couldn't help but think she was missing sothing. "Um… Hunter where are the worms? I don't think I ran that far… and there's just… nothing. Am I missing sothing?"
"You are indeed correct. If you look just ahead you can see the spot where the moles you fought ca up to attack," stated Hunter as she pointed towards a patch of what looked like undisturbed ground. Kat frowned as she looked over the dirt and found no obvious trace of what had happened.
If Hunter hadn't said anything, Kat was certain she'd have missed it… because she was still missing it even though Hunter seed quite certain.
"Um… yeah I'm not seeing anything," returned Kat.
Hunter glanced at Kat and then back to the dirt. "It seems rather obvious to , if you notice there are clear circles where the dirt is a slightly difference shade of brown. Additionally, it is not as compact as its surroundings even if it has been smoothed down," stated Hunter.
Kat looked at the spot they were approaching. Kat could guess the area was just a few steps away based on where Hunter was pointing… but it all looked the sa to her. "Sorry, even with you pointing it out to it all looks the sa," admitted Kat.
"Ah… I am aware that my tracking skills are quite substantial but the marks on the ground are truly obvious for . I an no offense when I say that your affinity for tracking might be so low as to be negative. I suggest having Lily pick up the skill in your stead if you cannot make out the difference despite being right next to them and having point them out to you," stated Hunter.
Kat wanted to pat the lamia on the head. Sure her words where a bit insulting but Kat found it oddly adorable. "I'll keep that in mind," said Kat. "Though I HAVE tracked people in the passed so I'm not completely hopeless… yeah I'll still keep it in mind. Lily is better at it anyway,"
"Sure," stated Hunter, clearly not believing Kat had 'actually' tracked soone. Followed the sounds of fighting? Possibly. Tracked? Hunter was doubtful. Kat pouted to hide her smirk as they kept going.
"So… where ARE the rest of the worms?" asked Kat. "I an, we got attacked here before, and before we were fighting them off in constant waves… so what's with the lack?"
"I suspect that they are trying to turtle up at the central chamber. I suspect they will wait a short ti for us to attack again, and if we failed to show up they would simply try and dig an alternate tunnel out of this area. They likely consider this tunnel to be too deadly at this point. If we just left I doubt they'd use it," stated Hunter.
"Wait… isn't that good for us?" asked Kat carefully.
"It is yes. I find it unlikely they can muster a truly deadly offense at the central chamber, but they are instinctually trying to make the attempt, suspecting that I have left to return later with backup," stated Hunter.
"Um… why is that?" asked Kat. "Ur… I an… why turtle up when we can more easily take them out like that?"
Hunter shrugged, "It is simply proof the possess no true intelligence. If we were a more normal threat then turtling up to make a final stand to ensure that they can defeat the threat, or in the worst case, so of the worms can survive. If I wasn't so powerful compared to them, perhaps this would have worked.
The fact that I retreated, or rather, I ran out of energy and you saved , probably implies to them that the fight is not completely hopeless,"
"Right… so there's nothing to worry about?" asked Kat.
"Have you already forgotten the possibility of soone or sothing controlling the swarm?" asked Hunter.
"No, but you said it was unlikely," returned Kat.
"And you implied there was nothing to worry about. I admit to not being particularly worried but so worry is still prudent Kat," stated Hunter looking slightly more serious then normal. Seeing this, Kat gave Hunter a firm nod and turned her gaze back to the empty tunnels.
After that the tunnels were empty but normal for a ti. Hunter knocked down a few more walls to get at the worms in the walls, but eventually those started to be replaced. Instead of hidden alcoves for worms there was the obvious open areas cut into the walls that contained… nothing at all. "Um…" Kat started to say but Hunter just shot a look back at Kat that made the question die in her throat.
Kat was a bit confused, until Hunter made the gesture for silence and started to move even more slowly. Kat was still sowhat confused, but she trust that Hunter knew what she was doing. They continued like this for a few minutes, Hunter getting more and more on edge as empty caverns were passed by while Kat found herself starting to tense up as well.
Finally, Hunter's watchfulness paid off. Kat couldn't see the difference. She heard nothing, saw nothing, slt nothing… other than the normal rot. If she was by herself she doubted she could've reacted in ti. Hunter on the other hand was ready. She jumped backwards yanking Kat with her.
Kat let herself be pulled backwards with no hesitation, trusting in Hunter, and was glad she did so.
A mont later both the ground and ceiling exploded in the area just ahead of where they were. Worm infested moles burrowed up from the ground, at the sa ti as a seemingly endless stream of monster corpse fell down from the ceiling. Hunter hurled fire a them, but the flood seed unstoppable.
Even with Hunter releasing a continuous stream of fire from her body, the worms and their corpses seed endless.
Kat watched on, facing away from the fire as she kept her eyes pealed for any sign of a flank, trusting that Hunter would let her know if she was at her limit. The screeching of the worms beca background noise at so point as Kat's earns learned to tune most of it out. It took a full two minutes for the silence to return.
Kat turned back to Hunter and saw a pile of ashes stacked as high as the tunnel was… no, higher as it included the holes the 'moles' had made in the ground. Hunter turned to Kat and said, "Do you have so way of generating large amounts of wind? I wish to disperse so of this ash,"
"Um… I can try to blow it away with wings? It's not ideal, but it will work sowhat," suggested Kat.
"It will have to do," stated Hunter.
Kat shrugged and moved forward. Bracing herself against the wall with her tail Kat flapped her wings rapidly, throwing so wind at the pile. It wasn't anything too significant but for the loose ash it was enough and soon the pile was spread more evenly out along the silent corridor. Kat eventually stopped her efforts once the ash ceased its movents.
Hunter looked over the pile of ash with a frown before saying "I wish I had a clearer idea of if we have taken out most of the worms. I worry that so are hiding in the ash… but none of it seems to be moving and I do not believe the worms possesses the intelligence to remain still. Of course… even if I can accept that I worry about the holes in the floor making it unstable,"
Kat glanced at the ceiling, "I think this place is large enough for to fly, so I can try to carry you?" suggested Kat.
"I will accept this attempt," stated Hunter. Kat nodded and picked Hunter up into a princess carry. Once the lamia was situated she started to try and take off and found it was… doable. Just. Kat wasn't really gaining any height so she kicked off the ground. It worked sowhat.
Kat still wasn't gaining height but she wasn't losing any, or if she was it was too hard to tell. Considering this good enough Kat flew over the ash while keeping an eye out ahead of her as Hunter watched the ground.
Two turns later and they broke out into a massive cavern containing the largest of the worm pits. It was easily half a football field in length and filled with worms. But with no corpses to even start an attempt at defence they were easily dealt with. Once they were cleared though… there was sothing that obviously didn't belong.
A large, clearly reinforced door was set into the back of the room… and small holes were dug into the walls around it.
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