Lov lay on the bed, attempting to sleep and get some reprieve from the sounds of a closed in city. The whole room buzzed with it, and the sounds of marching had grown louder. Lov tossed and turned, twisting this way and that, but was unable to fall asleep. Still, it was comfy in this bed.
Lov felt something land on the mattress next to him, something small. He turned, looking to find whatever it was, and spotted a fairy, this one surrounded in a soft yellow light.
"I heard what your grandfather said." She said, walking across the sheet to Lov. "I turned my glow down as much as I could. I remember when Tyrosh went through this, maybe a hundred years ago." Missy shook her head in pity. "I hope you don't suffer as much as she did. She was a hatchling going through this, took Tyrosh a whole year to get used to the world outside the nesting cave."
"Are you from my grandfather?" Lov asked the fairy. "If you are, where's Tinkle? She's the one that usually brings me Tryton's messages.”
"I'm Missy, and yes, I work with your grandfather. But I was sent here to keep an eye on Nord, he may have a funny way of showing it, but that giant idiot is definitely one of Tryton's favorites." She walked across the bed and sat a comfortable seeing distance from Lov. He loved how her dress was made from the scales of a pine cone It reminded him of home. "So, young half-dragon, tell me what ails you, and I will do what I can to help."
"I just want some relief from my grandfather opening my senses." He burrowed the side of his head deeper into the pillow. "I mean, I can hear a fly fart in the next room!"
Missy laughed a hearty laugh. "Oops, I hope that wasn't too loud for you." She said, as Lov winced with the sound.
"It's okay, just sit here and talk to me for a bit." He carefully sat up, attempting not to disturb his new friend. "Just sit here and talk to me, your voice doesn't boom like Nord's. I love my uncle, but he has no idea what I'm going through."
"Okay, just talk and I'll listen."
Lov opened his mouth to speak, then cocked his head to the side, as if he were listening. "What's that?" The young man asked, an intense look of concentration upon his face.
Missy shook her head and gave Lov a questioning look. "What's what? You're not going insane already are you?" She backed away slowly from Lov, her arms outstretched as if to push him back. "Wait, no, I don't sense your dragonhunger, or the fear." She flew up and around to stand on his shoulders. "What are you hearing?" She asked impatiently.
"It's like a hissing and grinding. It's coming from that direction." Lov pointed towards the ceiling in a corner of the room. Missy looked in the direction he pointed, and thought where that might be in this immense city. She was small, and had snuck around a lot of the lower levels, including the birthing chambers, where eggs were hatched. Lov had pointed towards the merchant district, but the merchant district was in a separate chamber from the rest of the hive. Whatever was coming wasn't from the Anuunaki.
"Stay here, don't move." She started to fly from the room.
Lov snatched her from the air, not realizing what he was doing until he did it. Startled, he released the fairy, and muttered out a, "Sorry." Looking away from her with shame.
"Oh boy." She glared at him, then softened her look before saying, "You need to get a hand on that dragonhunger of yours, kid, before it takes control of you." She turned and shot from the room.
Nord leaned against the statue in front of the Temple of Many Faiths, eyes glued to the door, looking for Sanche. He couldn't believe that an elf like Sanche, so stoic and honorable a presence in elven society, was in a temple in grief. Sanche had been the instructor who pushed Nord the hardest, always getting on him for sloppiness and general laziness, was taking a vacation when the elven people needed him most.
He heard the rustle of shoes on the stone floor, and turned, slapping Jaxon lightly across the face. "Where have you been?" Nord asked anxiously. "I thought you were joking about the priests in there, but two of them threw me out on my arse." Jaxon laughed as Nord rubbed his shoulder. "It's no laughing matter! I landed funny, now my arm tingles."
Jaxon stifled his laughter and asked. "You want me to fix it?" An evil smirk replaced the laughter.
"No, no, I think I'm good." Nord replied, moving away from Jaxon, only Dalanar knew what the halfling would do.
Jaxon shook his head. "Some fearless leader you are." He turned and looked down the road, back the way he had come, and thought of how much gold he had just spent. As he was contemplating his trader nature, the halfling noticed a change in the air. A stillness settled over the cavern, sending a chill down his spine.
He watched as Missy, a yellow streak behind her, shot past him yelling her loudest. "NE-MEZ-IR!"
Nearby Anuunaki all looked around, most softly buzzing. "Nemezir." Before taking off after the fairy. Nord and Jaxon watched stunned as hundreds and thousands of Anuunaki poured after Missy. "Maybe we should check that out." Nord suggested, running before he even finished.
Jaxon shouted from behind. "Hey, wait up!" But Nord ignored him, pushing himself to keep up with the ant beings. They may be shorter than the elven giant but they were quicker.
Nord turned past a large stalagmite and rounded a corner to see a giant worm, swarmed over with Anuunaki. They were stabbing and slicing into the worm as it tried to take a bite from one of the stalagmite light posts, they stabbed and slashed at the beast in an attempt to stop its carnage. It reared up shaking its head, sending warriors flying in all directions. Green liquid splattered in drops around Nord, but none hit him. He counted his blessings when he saw the liquid begin to bubble and smoke. The smoke was terrifying, thick and yellow. The smells induced nausea.
Nord ran back around the corner and peeked around the building. The thing opened its mouth, like a crocodile's. Green fumes curled around the opening as it roared, spraying the Anuunaki trying to attack it. The ones that were hit head on fell to the ground, their chitin melting off their bodies, exposing the meat below.
The remaining Anuunaki took up a battle cry, the entire chamber seemed to buzz with it. "Tchltal Nemezir!" Nord could only assume it meant kill the enemy.
Jaxon came running up behind Nord, heaving for breath. "Don't... you... ever... take off... like... that again." He huffed out, before collapsing against the wall.
Nord shook his head at his friend. "Someone's out of shape."
Jaxon waved the comment away, sucking in air he managed to wheeze out a question. "Now what's all the commotion about?" Gesturing to the Anuunaki who continued to stream by.
Nord pointed around the corner. Jaxon stuck his head out, just in time to see the beast toss its head again, sending warriors and acid flying, causing the rocks to sizzle. The worm took off down the street, dragging the Anuunaki with it.
Nord heard Missy scream above the battle noise. "It's heading for the temple! Stop it before it gets there!"
The worm seemed to forget the ant beings, stopping periodically in its reign of terror to take bites from the rock formations that filled the cavern.
Jaxon and Nord chased after the ant beings, looking to lend a helping hand, but whenever they reached the back of the Anuunaki battle line, the rear guard would push them away saying, "This is none of your concern" before turning back to see what the worm was destroying now. Periodically, the monster would shake its head to clear it of the swarming enemies, splattering acid throughout the cave.
Entire sides of buildings melted away, exposing the interior rooms, and causing more Anuunaki to pour over the worm. A loud crack filled the chamber, and Jaxon watched in disbelief as a stalactite dropped from the ceiling. Anuunaki scattered as the rock split the creature in half. He let out a low moan, and watched as the stone then fell, crushing the thing's back end. Hundreds of Anuunaki had still been swarming the beast when it happened. Their blue green blood mixed with the purple blood of the worm, covering the entire intersection of the street. The head of the worm let out a loud roar, before twisting and turning to disappear into the hole it had entered from."Oh, dragons above, that was something you don't see everyday." Jaxon said as thousands of Anuunaki tried to force their way into the tunnel and chase the beast down.
"Thank you!" Missy said cheerfully, splattered in a thick purplish stinky goo. "I must admit, that was the most fun battle I've been in a long time." She flew over to Jaxon and wiped the stinky purple goo from her knife onto his collar. "Let's get back to the inn. The Anuunaki wouldn't let you help anyways. 'Not enough coordination to work with us' they said. Guess that's why I managed to rip out the thing's spleen." She said gleefully, holding up an organ as large as she was.
"Worms don't have spleens." Nord said sarcastically. "It must be the gizzard."
"Whatever, we need to go check up on Lov." She said, flying towards The Purple Mushroom.
"Lov? Aren't we worried about Sanche anymore?" Nord asked, confused. "And how did you get your weapon?"
"I'm a fairy, you think I wouldn't use my magic to keep my weapon? And of course we are, why do you think I had you watching the temple while he was inside meditating?" She sped up a little, making Nord speed up, and causing Jaxon to groan.