Page 16 of The Price of Peace
Half an hour later, we were back in our winter gear, trekking down a tunnel that headed deeper into the mountain.
“How long do you think its been since this place was abandoned?” I whispered, my breath fogging the air. The oppressive silence made my skin crawl, as though the ruins themselves were listening and lying-in-wait.
Xyrox hesitated, scanning the frozen tunnels. His grip tightened on his weapon. “It’s been at least ten rotations from what I read.” His voice was low and wary.Something isn’t right, he said, switching to telepathy.
The hair on the back of my neck prickled. My steps slowed to match his, my head on a swivel. I pulled my blaster out of my holster wishing I had a much scarier weapon.
As we rounded a bend, Xyrox’s light flickered over the ground, revealing a shimmering, slick trail that twisted through the ice-lined corridor. He stopped abruptly, crouching to inspect it. I kneeled beside him, my pulse quickening.
“What is that?” I asked, the chill in the air feeling like a weight pressing against my skin.
Xyrox brushed his fingers across the substance, and held them up for inspection. The substance was unnaturally slick, almost oily, and reflected our lights with an eerie gleam. “Not water,” he murmured. “Not man made.” His tongue flicked out. “It’s from a beast whose scent I don’t recognize.”
As though summoned, a deep, guttural growl rumbled through the tunnel. The sound vibrated through the ice walls, shaking dust and frost loose from the ceiling—a primal vibratory noise that made my back teeth grind together.
I barely had time to react before the wall behind us exploded. A rupture of ice and stone sent razor-sharp shards flying. We threw ourselves to the ground as jagged debris narrowly missed us. Xyrox grabbed me, dragging me away just as a monstrous form burst through the shattered wall.
A serpentine beast, its body like living ice, slithered free from its frozen prison. Its translucent flesh reflected the dim light, making it seem almost invisible except for the way it gleamed with unnatural movement. Eyes—if it had them—were lost in the shifting crystalline surface of its head. But its jaws, gleaming with jagged, frost-tipped fangs, were impossible to miss.
Iceworm.
The name barely registered before Xyrox shouted, “Run!”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. We bolted down the corridor as the iceworm reared, emitting a shrill, bone-chilling screech. The tunnel shook violently. Ice cracked and fragmented above us as two more beasts dropped from the ceiling with crushing force. A trap.
Xyrox shoved me forward as one lunged at us with terrifying speed. I barely avoided the snap of its teeth, rolling out ofthe way as Xyrox lashed at it with a knife I didn’t know he carried, slashing across its crystalline flesh. A high-pitched shriek pierced the air, and the creature recoiled, but another was already lunging.
Xyrox twisted, raising his knife just in time to catch it in the side, but too late to avoid the third one that latched onto his thigh with icy fangs.
Xyrox cried out in pain, his body jolting as the monster’s jaws crushed into his flesh. My breath caught in my throat as I saw blood bloom across the fabric of his pants and splatter stark red against the icy floor.
“Let go of him, you fekking damned beast!” I screamed, pointing my blaster at its ugly head. I fired, the energy bolt slamming into the thing’s face. A crackling burst of heat met frozen flesh. The creature’s head exploded and the echoes of its screech sounded in my ears as fractures spread through its crystalline body, splintering its flesh. It thrashed violently before slamming into the tunnel wall, sending shards of ice flying. The iceworm’s body twitched as it collapsed next to Xyrox before it went still.
I took aim at another of the devils and fired, but to my horror, nothing happened. Of all the times for my blaster to run out of charge! I shoved it into holster praying the charger still worked, my attention refocused on Xyrox as he fell to one knee, gripping his wounded leg. His breath came in sharp gasps, pain carving lines into his face.
“Xyrox!” I kneeled next to him to inspect the wound. “How bad is it?”
“Get out of here,” he growled, pale with pain. “More are coming.”
Behind them, more worms hissed and reared, their mouths parting to reveal rows of glistening fangs. The wounded one stilltwitched, its body cracking apart, but the others were closing in fast. Too fast.
“Not happening.” I gritted my teeth and looped Xyrox’s heavy arm over my shoulder and pulled him forward. My light trembled in my hand as we staggered through the dark tunnels, trying to outrun the horrors behind us.
The iceworms were not done hunting. The monsters’ screeching made my guts feel like water and it sounded more had joined in pursuit. I dragged Xyrox as quickly as I could, my grip tight around his waist as we stumbled over increasingly uneven ice and stone. His leg bled freely, leaving a dark trail behind us. The dim tunnel lights flickered wildly as more ice and rock rained down from the ceiling above. The worms were not just chasing us, they were destabilizing the tunnel.
“Faster!” I urged, but Xyrox was slowing. His breath was ragged, each step heavier than the last. I set my jaw and gripped him harder, propelling us forward. I would not go down like this.Wewould not go down like this.
Behind us, a looming shadow surged forward, moving faster than the others.
“Xyrox, MOVE!” I screamed, but it was too late.
The iceworm lunged, its massive crystalline jaws clamping onto Xyrox’s side. A sickening, wet tearing sound filled the tunnel as the beast’s razor-sharp teeth shredded Xyrox’s coat and then bit into flesh.
Xyrox roared in pain, nearly collapsing from the force of the worm dragging him backward down the hall. He dug in his heels, then slammed his knife into the creature’s jaw, twisting with brutal force.
The monster let out an ear-splitting shriek, writhing as fractures shot through its icy skin. It flailed, retreating for a brief second—enough time for me to grab Xyrox and haul him forward again.
“You’re fekking amazing, you know that?” I grabbed him and pulled him onto my shoulder again. “And we’re going to have a talk about where you got that knife, fugitive.”
