130 Monster Hunter (2/2)

Luca's greatsword was still stuck to its side but my brother was nowhere in sight, and it wasn't until the creature reared its head toward me that I saw Luca on top of it.

\”What the hell are you doing?\” I asked, looking on in horror.

\”I have an idea!\” he yelled back.

Luca stretched his arms wide and then grabbed onto the scales on the back of the ashworm's neck. Then he took a huge breath and then began to squeeze.

I stood there transfixed, just watching my brother heave with effort as he tried to squeeze harder and harder at the creatures back.

No way would this plan work. Not if you take into account the ashworm's ten-foot diameter. Luca was just too small. He'd barely managed to get his arms across the top of its back.

\”Dean, get out of the way,\” I heard Qwipps yell from somewhere above me.

Only then did I register that I could see Luca clearly because the blind ashworm had just lunged for me and myth chaser.

My swifthart and I were just about to leap out of the ashworm's range when something unbelievable happened.

I saw the scales underneath Luca's hands crack. Then I watched my brother let out a caveman's roar, and with a supreme effort, pushed his hands deeper into the creature's back.

Only then did I realize that his Foolish Strength combined with Aura's Fiery Blessing might just give him enough boost to get the job done. And you know what, he did.

The creature screeched a fourth time. Its head lurched upward once more with Luca riding it, continuing to squeeze the life out of it.

The ashworm's maw opened wide, and then a second uncalculated thing happened. Fire rained down from the sky.

The fireball—which was about the size of a car—exploded onto the ashworm's open maw, showering the surroundings in fiery sparks and momentarily lighting up the night sky.

I glanced in the direction it had come from and saw Aura on a nearby dune. Beside her, astride a swifthart of his own, and with both of his glowing hands raised forward, was the Foolhardies resident pyromaniac, Donar Firemonger.

\”Nice pitching!\” I yelled.

Then I turned my focus back on the ashworm and was just in time to watch it topple forward.

\”Shit, Luca, you better be alright,\” I said, as I urged Myth Chaser onward.

As we approached, Luca rose from underneath the ashworm's dying form. His face was dark with soot, but he was smiling all the same.

\”Congratulations, little bro… you are officially a monster hunter,\” I clapped.

Luca's grin got even wider.

Pike appeared at Luca's side and gave him a high five. Qwipps landed beside me.

\”You two realize that thing's still alive, right,\” he said with a shake of his head.

Luca and Pike glanced down.

Qwipps was right. It was faint, but the monster's body was still going up and down.

\”It's barely breathing though,\” I noted. \”Still, quite an achievement considering all our attacks…\”

\”It's a freaking ashworm, Dean,\” Qwipps pointed both hands at the creature's blackened maw. \”We're lucky it went down at all.\”

I glanced over at Qwipps. \”Quit your worrying. We managed it fine.\”

\”Three nights left to Samhain and we face off against this thing?\” Qwipps shook his head. \”It's a muddy omen, I tell you…\”

I chose to ignore the superstitious pixie and ordered my brother to finish off his kill.

Luca went looking for his weapon. After he'd found it lying nearby, he climbed the back of the ashworm's head. Then he raised his greatsword high right before plunging it down into the ashworm.

The creature gave one final jerk and then the breath finally left it, stinking up the air around us with the smell of dead worm.

Thus ended our first true monster encounter in the Fayne.

\”Um, guys,\” Pike called to us. \”Anyone know which parts of an ashworm we can make use of?\”