Chapter 336 (1/2)

Book 3, Chapter 72 – City Within the Volcano

Cloudhawk's arrow had blasted its head apart, but still Maght of its body had dinificantly, and it tre An oozing mass dribbled from the hole where its throat had been Fluid and meat rained on the tribesmen below, as well as a powerful stench

Cloudhawk had seen all sorts of incredible things as he traveled the wasteland, but never anything like this A creature this large, headless, jerking like some demon puppet

This creature had been feared and deified by the indigenous people of the Blisterpeaks for who knoyears didn't er as its food was provided by the tribes, after possibly thousands of years of worshi+p, had so without a head?

A torrent of ruined organs and fetid discharge continued to ooze out of it The bits of nizable, bits of shredded organs and intestine probably But no – as they continued to watch the bits of meat writhed and twisted Cloudhawk's hair stood on end as he watched thee, spotted the outline of a limb here or there

More insects About the size of a fingertip, hundreds of them

The continuous sludge expelled by Magmesa's corpse were its babies, and the monster's killers watched in horror as everaround and over one another with the saer was directed toward Cloudhawk and the others

Meanwhile Mag Somehow, it sees

Cloudhawk figured this was a reproduction system of last resort A monster like this wasn't eneration on its own When its bodies were destroyed it set off a chain reaction to release its brood Given several centuries or a row into a creature just as terrible as the one they crawled out from

When the huround was covered in its progeny It was a dire fate for the mountains, which in the future would be covered in these awful things Even newly hatched, they were vicious and aggressive, and ry for a meal

But they were living things, and all livings things died eventually Mag, however that was just as a host for its children The enorht The swar like the threat its mother posed

“Deal with the like a lava and called out to Coal “Knock them into the lake!”

The creatures of the Blisterpeaks had evolved to deal with intense heat, but it didn't matter the methods or s were h lava, but even he couldn't stay immersed for more than a short time

The newborn insects were no exception No natural thing was going to survive after being thrown in a lake of lava It was i and became a pestilence on an already inhospitable environment

Several of the tribes it into the lake as well The insects that had already burst free bit at the enough to pierce their stone-like skin Those that were injected by the toxins fell to the ground and began to twitch uncontrollably

Magrotesquely as another burst of insects prepared to ee If the tribesmen were left where they were, they would be picked apart by the swarm in seconds Cloudhawk flicked Heavenly Gale back open and waved it towards theust of air knocked them away

With an angry roar, Coal ran up to where his brothers had fallen and started to shove Mag, the mindless yet still mobile remains swayed and bucked to deny him

The rest of his fellow tribesathered round to help, but as they came close cracks in the chitinous armor of the creature beca onceSacks where the young were kept bubbled under the ar water, ready to burst and release their horrific payload

Once that happened millions of mutated centipedes would rain across the area They all would be eaten alive

Cloudhawk knew the danger, but there wasn't much he could do to stop it

He rushed forward, joining Coal and the others as they heaved against the enorer than all of thenificant But he gritted his teeth and called on the e that always boiled deep inside hied and turned his vision red while the blood in his veins started to boil Steam rose up from his skin and seeped from the pores

In an instant Cloudhawk becaer than normal

Heave!

Magmesa's body caved in at the point where he shoved

It was just enough, the final straw to break the centipede's back It collapsed into the lake with the upper fourth of its body first, immediately trapped by the ropy threads of molten rock that splattered over it