Three days had passed since the fiasco with the giant insects. They party's progress had been slow, but mostly uneventful. Once out of the insects territory, the caves became more difficult... the walls and floor became rough and jagged. In some places, the cave was no more than a small crack in an otherwise impassible rock. Ancient cave-ins had all but sealed up some sections, forcing the team to either go back and find another route, or use magic and muscle to force their way through. Unfortunately, digging tools were in short supply... a few picks and a hammer were all that they had left after a load of equipment had fallen to unknown depths days ago. Still, everyone took a turn with the tools they did have. And, with Krycek's magic softening the rock, even the most stubborn blockage was removed within a few hours.

When they were not digging, Thonia the Amazon walked at the front of the party... keeping her senses sharp and aware. Her three slaves, Seerig, Egry, Pientrov, were immediately behind her... each man carried a third of Thonia's rather large cache of hunting equipment and supplies. They did not speak... not to Thonia, not to each other, and certainly not to the other members of the party. They simply walked and sweated. Thonia carried only a torch and her weapons... harpoon/spear, boomerang, and a few hunting knives. The only person in the party carrying less than her was Princeton Park, but there was clearly no further comparison between the two. Thonia was keeping herself unburdened in case of the sudden need for combat. Park was just weak and lazy, an opinion shared by everyone in the group except for Park himself.

Not that Thonia spent that much time worrying about the others. With the exception of Lara, the group's only other female, the rest of the party were non-issues. They were males, and as such, they were not worthy of her attention. She had no trust, faith, or loyalty to them... the very concept was absurd. She tolerated their presence only because they could get her closer to what she wanted. Except, perhaps, for the Rune Missionary. The large, dark-skinned man was truly an impressive physical specimen. He was brave, and had strength of both body and spirit. No doubt he could father many fine warriors. Too bad he had tainted himself with magic. Still, if he could be separated from that magic...

"I smell something," said Rath. The secretive mercenary walked up front with Thonia, an arrangement that pleased neither of them. The man reeked of dark magic. Whereas the Missionary was merely tainted by it, Rath's whole being was corrupted. It was a part of him, and in Thonia's eyes, that made him less than a man... it made him an abomination that by all rights should have been hunted down and killed long ago. Rath stopped in his tracks and pointed at the passage ahead. "That way."

"What is it?" Princeton asked. The very sound of the man's voice annoyed Thonia.

"Smells like-"

"Water," Thonia said. "The air is growing moist. And where there is water, there may be animals."

"Everyone on your guard," said Rath. The merc continued walking, a little faster than before. Thonia let him get ahead of her... if he was foolish enough to disturb some dangerous creature's lair then he would die and she would be rid of him. She followed a few yards behind, but they found nothing except increasing humidity. A half-hour later they saw the first traces of water.... a thin trickle cascading down a wall and into a crack in the floor.

"That water's warm," said Rath. "Must be a hot-spring nearby."

"Should we fill up our canteens?" said Sutton, one of the workmen.

"No," said Princeton, Rath, and Thonia. All three of them knew the dangers of drinking strange water.

"Well we only got a couple of days worth left," Sutton replied. He turned to Dokan Maxwell, "and YOU said we'd find water down here."

"Water will not be a problem," said the Rune Missionary. He didn't explain any further, he just placed his hand on Sutton's shoulder and ushered him away from the wall.

"If you say so," said Sutton.

Over the next hour they encountered more water, and it became obvious that they were near some kind of heat-source. The temperature climbed into the mid 80's (according to a device that Dokan carried, called a thermo-meter), and the humidity was near 100%. The walls, formerly blank stone, began to sprout plants and other growing things. But, instead of green, most of the plants were black and gray and all manner of other dull colors. Some even glowed with a dim light of their own. Thin black tendrils worked their way up the walls and across the ceiling. Patches of purple moss sprouted from moist places in the rock. A few pale mushrooms dotted the floor and walls ahead. The air became thick with the musky scent of vegetation.

"Feels like we're in a swamp," said Hendrix.

"Yeah," added Slick. "A swamp in hell. What is this stuff?"

"Fungus and moss," Princeton replied. "Growing in the warm moisture and feeding off the minerals in the rocks."

"Like the bugs," said Sutton.

"Something up ahead," Rath announced. Then he added: "Something moving."

Thonia's bladed boomerang was in her hand before Rath even finished his statement. She looked into the darkness, but saw nothing. She did hear something, however.... and that's all she needed.

She threw her weapon-

WHOOSH!

-there was a not-too-distant 'thud,' and then the boomerang completed its arc and came flying back. Thonia caught the weapon in a special manner to avoid slicing off her own fingers. The blade was razor-sharp, and it was now coated in blood.

"Well how do you know you didn't just KILL someone!" Sutton shouted.

"I don't think so," said Rath. He walked ahead, and returned a few seconds later. He was carrying a rodent-like animal the size of a small dog. The thing was white, with no eyes and a short, stubby tail. Rath was carrying the thing in two hands... Thonia's blade had sliced the thing cleanly in half. He dropped both halves at Thonia's feet. "Congratulations," he said. "You killed a baby cave-rat."

The party erupted into laughter.

"HA!" Slick snorted. "She killed a rat!"

"Whooa! Dangerous animal, that," added Red with a chuckle. "Ya want us to have that stuffed for ya?"

"Good thing we brought HER along! That thing coulda nibbled on me toe and run off with me shoe!"

"I bet the rats in Montfort were quaking in their boots when YOU came to town!"

"Rats wear boots?"

"Throw that thing again and see if you can snag us a pigeon!"

"TWO pigeons... I'm hungry!"

"All hail the great slayer of RATS and PIGEONS!"

"Thonia the Great! She who throws curved sticks at small animals!"

"Whooo, I bet that rat don't know what HIT it!"

Thonia ignored their barbs and cleaned the blood from her weapon. Then she looked back at the party... their shouts turned to quiet snickers and giggles. Even the Rune Missionary was giving her an amused look.

"Hey-" Slick started to say. Thonia snatched up the rear half of the rat's body and threw it-

SPLAT!

The rat's rear-end struck Slick square in the face... hitting with enough force to stun him and knock him backwards. Hendrix caught him before he hit the ground. When he came around a second later, Slick was covered in blood and rat entrails and unidentifiable pieces of bloody gore. Fresh blood poured from his newly broken nose.

"Uhhh...." he mumbled. "...uhhh...ouch..."

"Don't mind them," said Dokan. The old master thief approached Thonia. "They're just working off the stress-"

"Do not address me," Thonia snapped.

"Of course." Dokan stepped back.

Thonia glared at Rath, who was doing a good job of not looking at her.

While there were a few giggles and chortles, no one actually said anything about the incident as the party continued on their way. The 'plants' grew larger and more pervasive. Soon there was a thin carpet of mold and moss covering the floor of the passage. They traveled for the remainder of the day without encountering anything unusual... not even a cave-rat. Toward the end of the day, Rath scouted ahead and then returned.

"Passage partially blocked up ahead," he reported. "No other branches, so we'll have to dig through."

"We should rest first," said Sutton. "We've been walking all day. Get a fresh start on it first thing in the morning?"

"I agree," said Dokan.

Princeton Park seemed to have a contrary opinion, but some mean looks from the workmen and the thieves convinced him to keep his opinion to himself.

"Fine with me," he said reluctantly.

"Break out the food and water!"

Everyone ate and drank, and made the most comfortable camp they could on the floor of the moist, musty cave. Thonia and her slaves camped away from the others, as they had always done.

The night was uneventful, save for the unusual amount of fidgeting, mumbling, and scratching from the sleepers. Nightmares touched nearly everyone... even Thonia. She dreamed that the Rune Missionary had used his magic to turn her into a tree... a tree that was slowly being eaten from the inside by termites. After that dream, there was one where she died and was buried... only she wasn't really dead. She was merely paralyzed, unable to do anything as the rats and parasites consumed her still-living body. Then she woke up.

Everything was dark, but not quite as quiet as it should have been. A short distance away, Seerig coughed, rolled over, and coughed again. Beside him, Egry scratched himself and mumbled incoherently in his sleep. The others in the party were similarly afflicted.... mumbling, coughing, tossing. Sutton was on watch... and even he scratched his scalp occasionally... probably unaware that he was even doing it. At first, Thonia thought that perhaps there was an irritant in the air. Her own skin felt strangely numb in places, and it itched slightly in others. Then she noticed that some people seemed unaffected. Her slave, Pientrov, was sleeping peacefully on his side. He lay perfectly still, undisturbed by whatever was irritating the others. His distinctive snore was...

...missing?

Thonia sat up. She grabbed her torch and lit it... it cast its flickering yellow light over her and the slaves. She grabbed Pientrov's shoulder and rolled him onto his back.

What she saw was enough to startle even her.

Pientrov's face and neck were gone. The soft tissues eaten away by the hundreds of tiny white worms that were even now wiggling through his flesh. He looked like a corpse that had been buried in a pile of maggots. Thonia held the torch over her other slaves, and saw that the worms were crawling on them, too... wiggling through their hair... burrowing into their skin. Then she looked at her own arm.

Worms.

Worms slithered out of the tiny holes they'd eaten into her flesh. They crawled a short distance on her skin, then made another hole and quickly vanished. She could see the moving bulges as they tunneled painlessly beneath there skin...

"WOOORRRRMMMMS!!!!" she bellowed. "FLESH EATERS!!"

Everyone was awake instantly.

"What the hell-"

"SOMETHING'S ON ME!"

"LIGHT!"

Krycek waved his hands, and a globe of light appeared over the party. Then the true horror of what had happened... of what was STILL happening... was revealed.

All of them, every single member of the party, was being eaten alive by worms. Millions of the inch-long worms wiggled effortlessly through their flesh. Whatever flesh they touched went numb almost instantly, with little more than a momentary itch to mark their passing.

Everyone got to their feet and started ripping off their clothes. The worms were everywhere... arms, legs, chest, feet hands, throats... everywhere. Hundreds of them on each person. The things seemed particularly attracted to the soft tissues... they started at the skin and extremities and slowly ate their way through the muscles toward the organs in the chest and abdomen. People spat worms out of their mouths, and a few coughed up bloody clots of worms that had made it into their lungs. A shrill scream burst from Princeton Park's throat and, with his mouth wide open, everyone saw the dozen or so worms wiggling through his cheeks and tongue. Then they saw WHY he was screaming. Princeton pointed to his naked, worm-riddled crotch and immediately fainted.

Soon, almost everyone was screaming. The calmer souls tried to brush and pluck the worms from their bodies, but it soon became obvious that there were far too many. The worms had been feasting on the party for half the night... they'd gotten too deep inside. The ones crawling on the skin were only a small fraction of the number rapidly squirming towards vital organs. People squirmed and scratched and slapped themselves to get at worms that were already inches under the skin.

"HEELLLLLPPPPPP!!!!!!!!" Slick howled. Five worms wiggled out of the meat of his cheek and slithered around toward his ear. He slapped them away... leaving a bloody streak from his worm-infested hand. "AAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

Nearby, Red saw that the worms had infested his lower leg and were rapidly stripping the flesh away. He sat down, grabbed his battle-axe and prepared to amputate his own limb... until he noticed that both arms were infested as well. Worms wiggled in and out of him like maggots on slab of rotten meat.

Zackery dropped to his hands and knees and began to vomit uncontrollably... not in disgust, but in order to void his stomach of the dozens of worms that had taken up residence there. Juzh and Vithor were having convulsions not far away.

Not even Rath was immune. At first he looked untouched, but worms popped out of his flesh just as they did everywhere else. The holes they left quickly sealed, however... Rath's body regenerated as the worms ate at it... a perpetual feast for the vermin that infested him.

"We're too late!" Drayn shouted. "They're eating us from the inside out!"

"What do we do! WHAT DO WE DO!!?!?" someone shouted.

"Krycek!"

"I... I have nothing to even remotely suited for this!" said the mage. Worms were slithering under the skin of his face.

"SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!" Hendrix screamed. "DOKAN!"

Dokan Maxwell had ignored the worms that were burrowing in his chest, dangerously close to his heart. He sat with his arm around Lara's quivering form. The young girl was unconscious... and shaking uncontrollably, with worms slithering out of her nose and mouth in a near continuous stream.

"My supplies!" said Thonia. She shoved Seerig out of the way and began digging through her medicinal supplies. Meanwhile, the Rune Missionary stood, coughed up a mouthful of worms, and began to speak.

"...gather...." he began. He coughed again, and leaned heavily on his staff. "Gather closely... drag the wounded..."

Everyone did as he said. Dokan pulled Lara over to the Missionary, and those that were still conscious did the same for those who were too weak to move... even Princeton. Everyone except for Lara and her slaves gathered around the large man like children around a teacher. The Missionary raised his hands... worms fell from tiny holes in his forearms. He began to speak, but his first words never made it out of his mouth. A fit of coughing and convulsions gripped him... he spat out another mouthful of bloody worms, and then dropped to his knees...

"...too weak..." he groaned. He tried to stand once more... but his eyes lost focus and he fell back.

"NO!" Dokan yelled.

"Gods, he was our only chance!" said Rester.

"AWAY from him!" said Thonia. She found what she'd been searching for... a bottle of an oily liquid. "YOU!" she pointed to her slaves. "Build a fire there-"

Her slaves immediately got to work making a fire from torches and scraps of clothing. As they did, Thonia walked over to where the missionary lay. The large man was still trying to get up.

"Hold him upright," she said. It took three men to do it, but they managed to get the missionary in a sitting position. Then Thonia uncorked her bottle and poured it over the flame from her torch. Instead of going out, the flame billowed outward as if she'd just poured fuel onto it. The inferno died down... then began to release a thick cloud of dark black smoke. The smoke had a sharp, acrid smell that was painful to the nose. She held the torch so that the foul smoke enveloped the missionary's head.

The missionary coughed and tried to turn away. He held his breath to keep from breathing the smoke-

"What are you-" Dokan began.

"BREATHE!" Thonia demanded. The missionary coughed again, and finally took a breath. The effect was immediate... the huge man began to convulse and shake as if his body were trying to turn itself inside out. Several men tried to hold him still, but they only ended up getting knocked around by the missionary's flailing limbs.

"What did you DO to him!" Dokan shouted... then he, too began to cough.

"Vermifuge," said Thonia. "The potion is a dispeller of worms and parasites-"

"GIVE IT HERE!" Red reached for the torch. Amazingly, Thonia let him have it. Of course, it had already stopped releasing the smoke, so it was useless for anything except light.

Meanwhile, the missionary had calmed down. He rolled over onto his side and began to cough up worms. A few seconds later, scores of worms began to wiggle out of his skin. They dropped onto the ground and quickly vanished into the moss.

"It's working!" said Rester.

"We are ready mistress!" Seerig called. They had a small fire going.

"AROUND THE FIRE! QUICKLY!"

Thonia didn't wait for the others to comply, she went over to the fire and poured the entire contents of the bottle onto the flame-

FWOOOMMM!!!

The horrid smoke billowed up and out of the fire like an evil spirit. She and her slaves got the first lung-full of it. The slaves fell to the ground instantly; Thonia stood motionless... all of her muscles locked... holding back the convulsions by sheer force of will. Then she let loose with an explosive cough that propelled a thick cluster of worms halfway across the chamber. The other party members each took as many breaths as they could stand. They waved the smoke over the unconscious... Dokan breathed in deeply, then exhaled the smoke directly into Lara's mouth. Anyone who could still breathe got at least one breath of the smoke into their lungs. For a few horrifying minutes, it seemed as if everyone were in the midst of their death-thoes. Men flapped around on the ground like fish in dry air... then their wet coughing filled the chamber... then came the screams of shock and horror as they witnessed the hundreds of worms vacating their bodies. By the end of the ordeal, over half of the party was unconscious.

Thonia was taking deep breaths, trying to restore her strength. She heard someone behind her... she spun and had her knife to the missionary's throat in the blink of an eye. The missionary backed away.

"Though the worms are gone," he said. "The damage upon our bodies is severe. I am well enough to heal-"

"Do not touch me with your magic," said Thonia. "Take it elsewhere. I shall live quite a long time yet... without your magic."

"As you wish."

Under Thonia's disapproving gaze, the missionary set to work healing as many people as he could before his own fatigue forced him to rest. He started with those who had the most severe injuries: Lara, Vithor, and Juzh. Then he had to sit down for a moment.

"Heal yourself," said Dokan. "Your own injuries are-"

"I cannot," said the missionary. "The Lord of the Rune's gifts are only for the benefit of others... never for myself."

"I see," said Dokan. The thief produced a small bottle of healing potion and handed it to the missionary. "I liberated it from Princeton Park's belongings. I thought that, being the coward that he is, he might have something like this... "

"Thievery-" The missionary began. He coughed, and spat out a few dead worms and a lot of blood. "I will not condone-"

"Drink the damned thing," said Dokan. "You won't be helping anyone if you die, now will you?"

The missionary nodded and took the potion. He drank it. Dokan looked up at Thonia.

"See,.... even the devout are willing to adapt to the situation. Let him heal you."

"Never," said Thonia.

"How much hunting will you do if you die from internal bleeding?" Dokan replied

"After death, I will hunt forever in the Great Fields... along with all the great huntresses and warriors of my people. Tainting myself with magic would deny me that honor."

"But-"

"My wounds are not severe. Concern yourself with the others."

Thonia turned away and retired to a corner of the cave. She watched as the rejuvenated missionary restored the others to some semblance of health. There were only two... Pientrov and Voefeld that were beyond help. Pientrov was dead long before the worms were even discovered. Voefeld's body was so riddled with worms that he died before they could be dispelled.

"Not a great loss," said Thonia as the others were discussing the deaths. Her comment earned her stern looks from everyone, especially Dokan.

"Interesting that you just happened to have a vermifuge potion with you," said Krycek.

"The Eastland swamps are home to worms such as these... no one dares hunt there without protection. The medicine in the smoke will protect us from the worms for several days."

"Then I suggest we vacate this area before then," said Dokan.

"We need to start on that cave blockage, then," said Rath. He coughed... then coughed again. Several live worms wiggled out of his upper lip. He wiped them away, and his lip healed.

"Rath?" Dokan said with concern.

"The fancy smoke didn't work on me," said Rath. "I'll be fine, though."

"Perhaps the missionary can-"

"This man's body is cursed of evil magic," said the missionary. "The Lord of the Rune will not help one such as him."

"He should be put out of his misery," said Thonia. "Before he becomes a burden to us."

"You just come and try it," said Rath. "You'll find out how much of a 'burden' I am."

"The worms will multiply in your flesh," said Thonia. "Soon their numbers will be such that your body can keep up with them. You will weaken and die."

"Not likely," said Rath. "My body can keep up with more than you think. I'll be fine... and I'll be keeping my eye on you."

"We will find a way to help you," said Dokan. "There's always a way."

"Meanwhile we gotta get out of here." Rath got up and walked away, grabbing a pick and heading into the darkness. A few minutes later, the ring of metal against stone echoed through the chamber.
---

As usual, Thonia sat back and did nothing as the males worked. She wasn't alone this time, however, many of the group were still too weak for hard labor. Rath, Sutton, the missionary, and Thonia's slaves did the majority of the digging, and the obstruction was cleared in just a few hours. Some found it ironic that Princeton Park chose that exact moment... when all of the hard labor had been completed... to awaken from his fear-induced coma.

"Wha-what happened?" he groaned.

"Nothing," said Slick. "It was all a dream."

"Oh, thank the GODS!"

"Except for the part about the worms," said Red. "THAT was real."

"AIII!"

"...somebody hit him so he'll go back to sleep. Please."

The party didn't want to see any more worms. Ever. But they did. The creatures were everywhere... all sizes, ranging from barely visible to as large as a man's arm. The wiggled of the numerous cracks in the moist stone of the walls and floor. Some even crawled along the ceiling. The further they went into the underground pseudo-swamp, the larger and more frequent the worms became. The creatures wiggled out of the party's way as fast as they could... which wasn't very fast... so either none of the worms were of the flesh-eating variety or they were being driven off by the residual scent of Thonia's potion. Still, the group was more than willing to kill he creatures on sight. Even Krycek used his magic to set a few of the things on fire. Grown men clapped and cheered like children as the things exploded from the heat... spraying their stringy entrails over the floor and walls. However, it became obvious that as they continued downward, they'd soon find themselves spending more time killing worms than they did walking. So it was decided that, as long as the worms left them alone, they would leave the worms alone.

The day wore on, but no on was in any particular hurry to set up another camp. They marched through the night and into the next day. Besides encountering bigger, longer worms that took their sweet time moving out of the party's way, the passage itself began elicit some suspicion. The diameter increased to about twenty feet, and it made a slight downward turn. As it went deeper, the jagged walls grew smoother. The passage took on a smooth, round shape similar to the one where they first encountered the insects. And of course, there were always more worms.

"Where are all these things COMING from?" said Princeton. He'd just stepped nervously over a slow-moving worm that was bigger than his leg.

"We are in their home..." Thonia said from the front of the group. "they come from HERE."

"Oh.... good point." Princeton mumbled.

"The REAL question is, who or what created this tunnel," said Dokan. "We've had to do very little digging on this trip... not as much as I'd anticipated. It's as if there was a straight path leading directly where we wanted to go."

"Maybe it was the Cthrain," Sutton offered.

"The Cthrain wouldn't need a tunnel," Princeton snapped. "Their power was such that whatever method they transportation they used wouldn't be so crude as a simple tunnel."

"On the other hand," said Krycek. "Perhaps they were smart enough not to waste their power on theatrics when a simple tunnel would suffice."

"OR," said Red. "Maybe the BOTH of you are talkin out of yer arses."

"I suggest we table this discussion for a future time," said Dokan. He pointed at the passage head. "There are developments that may require our attention."

"Water," said Thonia. She and Rath, who were walking several yard ahead of the others, were now standing ankle-deep in murky water. The dark tunnel continued ahead of them, with worms crawling along the walls and ceiling.

"It's warm," said Rath. He coughed up a few worms and spat them out as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "Almost body temperature."

"WHO'S body?" said a very concerned Sutton. "And what's swimmin' around in that water?"

"Walk quickly and carefully," said Thonia. "Follow in my footsteps." She used her spear to test the submerged ground ahead of her, and continued walking. Like a blind person with a cane, Thonia tapped the ground with her spear, looking for holes and traps that were made invisible by the water. Much to everyone's relief, the water didn't rise higher than mid-calf level, but that was more than enough to give everyone waking nightmares about what could be swimming around in their boots. Nothing happened for a while, and even the worms began to thin out. The cave walls were slick with fresh mold and slime.

"Maybe we're finally gettin' out of here," said Slick.

"No," Thonia replied. The Amazon eyed the slick walls with suspicion. She didn't say anything else, but the party found out what she meant a few minutes later when the cave opened out into a large round chamber. The roughly spherical cave was about a hundred feet in diameter. with murky water of unknown depth covering the floor. The chamber was an intersection point for several other passages identical to the one the party was in. The passages came in at odd angles, and one was almost directly above the floor. The tunnels were set opposite each other in the wall... forming a matched pair on opposite sides of the chamber. One tunnel was almost completely submerged, and it appeared that this was where the water was coming from. Part of the chamber's ceiling had collapsed, forming a miniature mountain of rubble off to one side.

Without bothering to inform anyone else of what she was doing, Thonia jumped down into the water. It came up to her hips.

"Good," Slick mumbled. "She needed a bath anyway."

"So do YOU," Red added. Slick sniffed himself.

"Yeah... you're right. But not as bad as her!"

"Is it safe?" Sutton called out. Thonia didn't respond. She walked around in the cave, sloshing through the water and looking around. She stopped and watched the ripples in the water for several seconds. Then she waved for the others to move back away from the chamber.

"What is it?" said Dokan.

"Something's coming," said Rath. "Everyone get back."

"But what about the Amazon?" said Lara.

"What ABOUT her? Get back away from-"

Suddenly a large white shape oozed out of one of the other passages. At first it appeared to be an enormous blob of slime... but the slime was only being squeezed out by something moving behind it. A gargantuan worm. The thing completely filled the tunnel from which it emerged... a twenty-foot diameter tube of pale muscle squeezed into the chamber. It used the rhythmic undulations of its body to propel it forward with a slow but powerful motion. The front of it was blunt and rounded... like the worm that it was. The rear end was still lost within the tunnel... even at fifty feet long it didn't appear that even half of the worm had emerged. A thick, friction-reducing slime coated every inch of the worm's skin. The thing sloshed through the water with no indication of its intentions toward the party... if any. Thonia remained motionless in a corner of the chamber. As more and more of the creature emerged, she slowly and silently made her way to the pile of rubble, where she climbed up out of the water and crouched silently on the rocks. The worm ignored her. Its head moved toward another tunnel and it began to slither away

"My gods..." said Zackery. "That thing is huge. We should kill this thing while it doesn't know where here..."

"No, wait-"

"I agree," said Princeton.

Zackery drew his sword... the sound of the blade leaving the scabbard rang out across the chamber.

The worm stopped. The rhythmic contractions of its body turned chaotic for a moment as is quickly reversed direction... its head eased back out of the tunnel. The front of the worm rose in the air... wavered for a second, then curled in the direction of the party.

"Uh-ohhhhh...."

The rounded front end split open in three sections, revealing a large triangular mouth lined with millions of needle-like teeth. It made a low, hissing noise... then the mouth snapped shut and the worm shot forward, straight towards the party!

"BACK!" Dokan yelled. The party stumbled away from the mouth of the tunnel just the worm's head reached it. "EVERYONE BACK!"

The worm surged forward with surprising speed, quickly gaining on the party. The Rune Missionary turned to face the gigantic thing. He pointed his staff at it and prepared to unleash the fury of his god-

Krycek stopped him.

"We're ankle-deep in water!" Krycek yelled. "You'll kill us all!"

Krycek shouted a few arcane syllables and gestured toward the creature. A bolt of fire leapt from his fingertips and enveloped the worm's front end. The worm shoved through the flames as if they weren't even there. The slime that coated its skin sizzled and blistered in a few places, but there was no other effect.

"Dammit, is EVERYTHING immune to fire down here!?!" Krycek shouted as he ran. He prepared another spell... he turned and blasted the creature with a bolt of explosive power. His blast streaked across the few yards separating him and the worm... then it sank into the worm's body, leaving nothing more than a glowing spot to mark the place where it hit. "DAMN!"

Meanwhile, Thonia stood atop the pile of rocks and watched the worm disappear into the tunnel. It had passed right by her... completely ignoring her... probably because she wasn't so foolish as to draw attention to herself. But now it was after the others. The length of its body was vanishing into the tunnel with frightening speed. It would certainly catch the party before they got away. It would kill them... and her slaves...

...and probably ruin most of her hunting equipment in the process.

In a single, smooth motion, Thonia grabbed the boomerang from her belt and threw it. The instrument slid through the air... curved around... and sliced across the worm's flank. It made a shallow gash that wept white fluid, but the surrounding slime quickly sealed off the wound. The worm didn't even notice. She caught the boomerang and threw it again, this time at a steeper angle. The razor-sharp blade tore into the worm's hide... but the angle was TOO steep. Instead of skimming off and returning to her hand, the boomerang dug too deep into its flesh... it sank into the worm's flesh and vanished. It did not return.

Undaunted, Thonia lifted her spear and leapt down into the water. She ran toward the creature and plunged the barbed spear into its side. She tore the spear free, then plunged it in again... and again. The worm didn't seem to notice. Its internal organs and nerve endings were so deep inside its body that it didn't even know she was there. It was by sheer accident that the worm happened to twist sharply, throwing its body against Thonia and knocking her to the ground. She started to get up, but the worm rolled over on top of her and forced her back down... under the water... its enormous bulk pinning her to the ground...

...Back in the tunnel...

"SWORDS!" Drayn bellowed. He and the other mercenaries drew their weapons as Krycek and the missionary retreated past them. "TO ARMS! SLAY THIS BEAST BEFORE IT REACHES THE OTHERS!"

Drayn, Borris and Williams lined up shoulder to shoulder and charged. Zackery, Vithor and Juzh followed behind them while Rester used his crossbow to put a steady stream of bolts into the worms blunt, rounded 'face.' It was to no avail. The worm didn't notice the bolts at all. Slashes from the swords either slid harmlessly off of the oiled, rubbery flesh, or they did only minimal damage. Zackery pierced the worm's hide with a straight lunge. He withdrew his sword, the wound oozed white gore for a moment... but that was the extent of the damage.

"Ye've got the right idea, boy!" shouted Williams. He dodged beside the worms head and thrust his sword deep. Instead of yanking the weapon back out, he began sawing it back and forth, cutting a slash into the thing's hide. The worm twitched suddenly... it pulled itself back, then surged forward and to one side, crushing Williams between its muscular bulk and the stone wall.

"AIIIII-"

William's scream was lost in the snap and crackle of his bones.

"WILLIAMMMSSS!" Drayn yelled.

The worm withdrew... revealing the crushed body that had once been a man. Williams was still alive... his shattered ribs reached out of his ruined chest as if his skeleton had suddenly decided to remove itself. His left leg twitched... his mouth opened and closed silently. His eyes were wide with shock and fear. The worm paused... its triangular mouth opened, then the worm shot forward, dragging one of its lips across the ground... it scooped William's still-twitching body off of the ground like a shovel. The mouth slammed shut-

CRACK!

Three streams of blood squirted out from between the three lips. There was a soft 'gulp'... and then the man was gone.

The worm moved forward again, twisting and rolling as it came for the rest of the party-

...

The worm's body rotated, lifting away from where Thonia had been pinned underwater... but she wasn't there. Instead, she was riding on the worm's flank like a parasite, hanging by the claws on her gauntlets. The worm's side was a torn, tattered ruin from where she'd been clawing her way free. Whether it was her efforts or something else that made the worm move... it didn't matter. She was free. Thonia gasped for breath and yanked her spear from where she'd plunged it into the thing. The worm continued to rotate... she was on top of it now, and heading right for the mouth of the tunnel. The worm was going to scrape her off like a layer of old slime.

She hung the spear from her shoulder by it's strap, and threw herself flat against the side of the worm. Her claws ripped long, deep furrows into its body. Again and again she raked her fingers across it... widening the wound... tearing out chunks of oozing white flesh... making a hole in its side just big enough for her to-

Darkness enveloped her. The part of the worm where she'd been hanging had just entered the tunnel. If she'd still been riding on it, the impact with the wall would have knocked off, and maybe even killed her. But she wasn't riding on it anymore.

She was inside it.

...

"BAAAAACK!"

Krycek's blast sizzled the air and exploded against the roof of the tunnel just in front of the giant worm. Tons of rock fell from the ceiling and partially blocked the passage mere seconds before the worm reached it.

The worm plowed through the blockage as if it weren't even there. In fact, it was moving even faster now. Krycek turned and ran, swordsmen and mercenaries were right behind him... their weapons either sheathed, abandoned, or protruding from the creature's hide like jewelry. Nothing could stop it. Their blades were too small, and the worm's flesh seemed to absorb whatever magic was directed against it with minimal damage. And, despite that fact that it was a mere worm... it was faster than them.

Men dropped their equipment and ran for all they were worth. The worm gained on them steadily... either crushing or shoving aside everything that was in its way.

"AEEEEE! WE'RE DOOMED!" Princeton screamed. For a man with such skinny legs, Princeton Park was a very fast runner. 'Doomed' or not, the creature would have to eat through almost the entire party before it reached Princeton. But the worm seemed intent on doing just that.

As Princeton screamed and screeched, Krycek shouted another spell. He turned and cast it. A shimmering magical barrier appeared in front of the worm.

Perhaps, if the worm had been smaller... or if it had been moving slower... the spell would have worked. But the creature's momentum was too great. It tore through the barrier as if the glimmering magic field were thin paper.

"ARRRRGGH!" Krycek howled as the feedback reached him. He fell back, blood streaming from his nose. Rester grabbed him and fired another ineffective crossbow bolt into the worms face. The Rune Missionary shoved both of them aside and stood directly in the speeding worm's path. He raised his staff-

"I told you... lightning will kill us all!" said Krycek.

"My staff is longer than the swords... I may be able to pierce the creature's brain."

"It'll KILL you if you try that!" said Rester. "It's too fast and too big to fight! Even for YOU!"

"Like all members of the brotherhood... It is my destiny to die in the protection of the innocent! RUN and join the others!"

Rester and Krycek backed away as the worm bore down on the missionary. The creature filled the tunnel in front of them... its huge mouth opened as it prepared to swallow the lone morsel that stood in its path.

The Rune Missionary didn't budge.

Suddenly the worm twitched violently. The entire cave shook as convulsions wracked its huge body. The triangular mouth snapped shut... opened again...

The worm surged forward and then back. It twisted and rolled, slamming its head into the wall with enough force to loosen the rock. The convulsions increased to a rock-shattering crescendo... and then they ended. The worm lay still, its mouth hanging half open, oozing gore out into the cave.

Everything was silent.

The missionary stood his ground, either approaching the creature nor backing away. He watched.

The creature moved. One of the lips twitched. It went still... then another one twitched.

Then-

SPLUTCH!

A long, harpoon-like point burst out from the worm's head, impaling its lip from within. The spear ripped down and across, slicing disgusting path across the thing's mouth. Two of the tooth-filled lips fell away, revealing the worm's massive mouth and throat.

Thonia was standing there, with her spear in one hand and her boomerang in the other. White, oozing gore covered her from head to toe... remnants of her journey up the worm's body, through its brain, and out through its throat.

The first thing she saw was the missionary, standing in a warrior's stance with his staff held ready.

"You fight alone?" said Thonia.

"That was my intention."

Thonia nodded and stepped out of the dead worm's mouth.

"Your bravery is exemplary... for a male."

"HEEEYY!" came a shout from further down the cave. Zackery, Drayn and Borris had returned to investigate the sudden silence. Zack called back to the others, and the party quickly assembled in front of the worm's corpse.

"We lost Williams," said Drayn. "He was a good man." He looked at Thonia as if daring her to say otherwise. She didn't.

"The creature is dead," said Thonia. "We may continue now."

"Continue HOW!?" said Slick. "That... that THING is blocking the cave!"

"I sure as hell ain't digging through THAT!" added Sutton.

"There is no need to dig," said Thonia. "I have already carved a path from here to the chamber beyond."

"What? Where is it?" said Sutton.

Thonia pointed at the creature's mouth.

"You mean... Oh HELL no!"

"Suit yourself."

Thonia turned around, stepped into the worm's mouth and was quickly gone from sight.

"Come along, everyone," said Dokan. "We don't want her to get too far ahead... I'd hate to have to find my way through this thing without a guide." He walked up to the worm and, after only a brief hesitation, followed Thonia down the thing's throat. Lara was right behind him.

"... oh please gods... don't tell me were gonna do this," Slick moaned.

"Stay here if you wish," said Krycek. "Take your chances with the little tiny flesh-eaters until this thing decomposes. I'M not going to wait that long."

Krycek was next to enter the worm.

"Ohhhh, the indignity," said Park. Rath grabbed the scholar's hand and had to literally pull him along after the others.

Everyone took varying amounts of time to gather their courage... and their discarded equipment. Sutton was the final man to follow.

"Well... here goes nothin'" he said as he stepped into the worm's mouth.

[To Be Continued]