//------------------------------// // Chapter 22 - Interlopers // Story: Parks and Wilderness // by stphven //------------------------------// We’re close. I can smell it. Fresh air. I am Sergeant Glacier, and after the dead, choking air of the mines, the sweet fragrance feels intoxicating. I breathe in deeply. Wanting nothing more than to gallop for the exit and fill my lungs with the stuff. Unfortunately… “How in the world did you manage that, Anon?” I level an unamused stare at my companion. The human looks back sheepishly. Or at least, so I assume; his shirt is pulled over his head, covering most of his face. One arm is tangled up in the twisted fabric, while the other is clinging to a wall, barely keeping him from falling over. I shake my head. The two of us had been continuing our journey through the mines when his shirt had gotten caught on something. A protruding nail, perhaps. Easy to miss in the gloom, with only my horn to light the way. Unfortunately, his efforts to untangle himself have only made things worse. Somehow he’s managed to tumble almost sideways, get his foot stuck in a broken floorboard, and very nearly knock over the water jar. Twice. “You are,” I grasp him with my magic. “The most, -hmmf!- undignified -hrrrgh!- monstrosity I have ever -uurgh!- met.” I step back, panting a little. It's weird. I’d tried to telekinetically yank him from the wall. But despite my best efforts, all I’d managed to do was give myself a horn ache. Feels like trying to lift a boulder! Hrrmm. He’s not that heavy. I’ve already helped him up a few slopes and ledges, earlier in the cave. So why can’t I levitate him? Anon flails about a bit more, letting out a string of human profanity. Eventually he gives up, and turns to me. ”Gray help?” he pleads, muffled by his shirt. “Yes, yes. Just a moment,” I answer absently. Focusing my magic once more, I give his hand an experimental shove. Nothing. No magic glow. Certainly no movement, even as I pour more and more power into the spell, despite my growing headache. Weird, weird, weird. I frown at the offending limb. Then poke it. Cautiously. As though it might bite me. It doesn’t bite. It just flops about a bit. Like a perfectly normal appendage. I poke it a few more times. Then give it a shake for good measure. Anon clears his throat. “Er, right. Sorry.” A mystery to investigate later. I turn to Anon, pondering how best to get him unstuck. Eventually I shimmy around between him and the wall, awkwardly clambering beneath his arms. Then, bracing myself against the stone, I push. “So -hrrrg!- are you humans related to -hrrp!- dragons, by any chance?” This works a lot better. Anon’s still too heavy for me to lift alone, but between the two of us we’re able to lever him away from the wall, off whatever he was hooked on. With his shirt no longer pulled tight, he quickly untangles himself. I gently set him down, taking a seat beside him. “Because,” I continue, catching my breath. “My magic does not seem to work on you. Any ideas why that might be?” He smiles at me, brushing my mane out of my eyes. ”Thanks, Gray.” “Uuuhh, s-sure.” The unexpected bit of intimacy catches me off guard. I feel myself blushing, to my embarrassment. ”Not, er, not exactly what I was asking,” I mumble. He’s just being friendly, I tell myself. Don’t read too much into it. Now’s not the time for… whatever it is I'm imagining. I stand up abruptly, focusing on his stuck foot. Or trying to, anyway. I can’t help but notice how his warmth and scent linger where he’d pressed against me… Ahem. Which is, you know, a completely normal thing to notice. Honestly, it’s amazing I can smell the fresh air at all, with how sweaty the two of us are. The tunnel is beginning to smell like- I pause. Sniff. Turn, sniffing once in each direction. My ears shoot up, alert. “There's something here,” I hiss. Anon notices my change in tone immediately. In a flash he’s readied his spear, metal tip pointing down the dark corridor. I still can't see anything down there. But I can smell it. A faint, organic stench. Certainly not Anon’s sweat; I'm used to that. No, this is different. Foetid. Like a garbage heap, or a week-old carcass. And it’s getting stronger. “We should go,” I whisper. I force a little more light through my aching horn. It hurts. Like grinding my skull against a rock. But I grit my teeth and push through it. Rough stone walls shine back at me, revealing an empty tunnel. Wooden beams hold up the ceiling, casting a network of pitch-black shadows. A narrow track runs along the dusty floor; iron rails on wood. Many of the planks are damaged, deep gouges carved into them. Some have cracked down the middle, as though buckling under a tremendous weight. Anon must have stepped on one of these weakened boards. His foot is sunk between two broken halves, wedged in place by the jagged edges. Fortunately, his raggedy old shoe absorbed most of the damage. Unfortunately, the fabric’s gotten all tangled up among the splinters. I see pain and fear flashing across his face. Trying to yank his leg free is just causing the wood to bite down harder. If he’s not careful, he’ll tear his foot to shreds on the way out. But carefully working his foot free will take time. Time we may not have. I spare another glance down the tunnel. Still empty. Quickly grasping my sword with my mouth, I set the tip down by the edge of the plank. Anon’s eyes widen as he sees the blade align with his ankle. ”G-Gray?” I roll my eyes, and simply give the handle a sharp tug. Acting as a giant lever, the blade presses against one half of the broken plank, lifting it a quarter inch. Not quite enough to get off Anon’s foot, but enough to loosen it. A look of understanding comes over him, and he starts wriggling even harder. I continue pulling on the blade, neck straining. Locked in place like this, I can’t quite see what he’s doing, or how close he is to escape. I can’t even see behind me. But I can still hear. Scchrrrk… Beyond my muffled panting and Anon’s desperate scrabbling, there’s… something. Scchrrrk… Not just an echo. A low, irregular grinding. Like something heavy dragging over the cave floor. Scchrrrk… It’s getting closer. My tail lashes nervously. I feel myself sweating. Muscles starting to shake. Fear, adrenaline, the strain of pulling against the sword - whatever it is, I can’t hold on much longer. Scchrrrk… I need to turn around, to see what’s coming. I don’t have time to focus on Anon! With a panicked whinny, I begin to release the blade… only to feel it suddenly press towards me. Blinking, I look up to see Anon towering over me, long arms easily manipulating the enormous weapon. He’s pushing down against it, adding his considerable weight and strength to my own. Scchrrrk… Screwing my eyes shut, I yank back down on the handle with everything I’ve got. Slowly, slooowly, I feel the wood yield. Scchrrrk… Then, with a sudden CRACK, it gives way entirely. I stumble back, teeth rattling in my skull. The snapped-off plank bounces away, clattering. Anon quickly disentangles himself from the other half. As soon as he’s free he leaps up, readying his spear. I lose a few precious moments repositioning my sword, the unwieldy weapon too big for these narrow tunnels. Finally I manage to spin around, sword floating at the ready. Nothing. The tunnel is still empty. I breathe a sigh of relief. But when I inhale, that gutter-stench is even stronger. Scchrrrk. And that’s when I see it. A twinkle in the depths. I’d assumed it was just a patch of magicite, ignited by my magic. But this patch is moving. Scchrrrk. Not magicite. Eyes. Glinting in the dark. It’s impossible to make out anything else. The glow of my horn is barely enough to see the walls around us, let alone anything further away. But from the way the more distant constellations of magicite wink out, one by one, the creature must be big. Really big. Scchrrrk! The grinding is closer than expected. It echoes down the tunnel, startling me with its volume. My magic flares up instinctively. The old unicorn fight-or-flight reflex, gathering enough power to ready a spell. Bad move. A lance of pain hits me between the eyes as my overworked horn finally gives out. The glow of my magic sputters and dies. The tunnel plunges into darkness. I hear my sword clatter to the ground, followed by a scream. Anon’s or mine, I can’t tell. Scchrrrk! The grinding picks up pace. Scchrrrk! Scchrrrk! Closer and closer. I stumble back, blind, disoriented. Half deaf from the thunderous echoes. Dizzy with pain. Terror threatens to take hold. Primal instincts spur me to flee. But another part of me - the part I spent years honing as a Parks and Wilderness Guard - warns me not to be a fool. Running blindly in the creature’s lair will just get me killed. I have other ways to make light. Use them! Whipping my head around, I tear open the flap on my saddle bag. The gem pouch is on top, right where I left it. A quick flick of the neck and I pour the contents out in front of me. I can’t see the aquamarine or the thunder quartzes, but the sunstone glows with an inner light. Scchrrrk! ScchrRRK! ”Gray!” Anon’s voice rings out in panic. I look up to see a vast, black form looming over me. Blotting out the meagre light of the magicite. I close my eyes and pour everything I’ve got into my burning horn. “Aaaghh!” There’s an explosion of light and pain. ”UURRRAAAUGGHH!!!” Followed by a deafening roar, slamming into me with concussive force. I stumble back, body feeling like jelly as the noise reverberates around me. My ears are ringing so loudly that I feel more than hear the next few sounds. A great thumping and scrabbling. Shouting from Anon. Through the white-hot pain in my horn, I force an eye open. The passage is dazzlingly bright. Every stone, every plank, every mote of dust shines as though under a floodlight. By my hoof lies the sunstone. Ignited by the last of my magic, it blazes like its namesake. Blinding. Overwhelming. I quickly look away from it, squinting to see beyond the glare. Teeth. Beyond the glare is teeth. Rows and rows of them. Nestled in a cavernous, stinking maw. Large enough to swallow me whole. The head housing it is long and narrow. Armoured in thick tan scales. Bulging with muscle. The beast’s eyes are screwed shut as it recoils, screaming, from the light. I can’t see much of its body beyond a pair of short, heavy forelegs, tipped with concerningly large claws. But I don’t need to see any more. I know exactly what it is. Sand wyrm. I should have guessed. While not true dragons, wyrms nevertheless love caves and gemstones. A magicite mine in the middle of the desert, right next to the badlands? Textbook sand wyrm lair. The wyrm rears back, blinded or at least startled by the light. It begins to shuffle away, surprisingly fast for such a large creature. Its pale belly drags along the floor, making a grinding noise with every step. Scchrrrk! Scchrrrk! ”GRAY?!!” Anon sounds terrified. I turn to him, and nearly get impaled for my trouble. He’s waving his spear around blindly, his other arm covering his eyes. Oh, right. I didn’t warn him about the sunstone. Couldn’t, really. I knew to close my eyes ahead of time, but he took the full blast. Going from pitch-black to blazing daylight in an instant? That’s gotta hurt. He should recover in a few minutes. But so too will the wyrm. I don’t have time to wait for him. “One second, Anon!” Scooping up the scattered gemstones, I toss them carelessly into my pack. Even through the thick fabric, the sunstone provides plenty of light. I quickly grab and sheath my sword, then carefully skirt my way around Anon. Rearing up, I place a cautious hoof on his back. “Come on, this way!” He flinches but thank Celestia doesn’t immediately stab me. An arm blindly gropes towards me, feeling along my leg. I pull it towards my mane. “Hold on!” Pressing his hand firmly down, I begin to trot along the tunnel. Anon stumbles along beside me, holding on for dear life. Behind us, we hear the raucous flailings of the wyrm. Receding, but still uncomfortably close. I lead Anon away as quick as I can. Which isn’t nearly as quick as I’d like, what with him being blind and me hobbled. Pain shoots down my leg with every step, courtesy of the sandipede bite. Worse, I can feel a wet trickle running down my ankle. I must have torn open the wound at some point. I really don’t need to be losing blood right now. The two of us stagger down the passage. Pain, exhaustion, and adrenaline causing me to reel drunkenly. Anon’s just as bad - not only is freaking out about the sand wyrm, he’s also completely blind. But every time he slips, I'm there to help him. And every time I fumble, Anon manages to catch me. The two of us lean together, supporting each other every step of the way. And, slowly, the noise of the sand wyrm fades from hearing. After a few minutes of nothing but panting and clip-clopping, I allow myself to relax a little. Gather my thoughts, ignoring the throbbing headache. “Ok, Glacier. Sand wyrms. What do we know about them?” Desert monsters were never really my forte. Good thing I did a little research back at Tranquility Springs. “Let’s see… Ambush predators. Capable of bursts of speed, but not built to chase prey over long distances. So if we get far enough away, it should give up, right? "What else...? Territorial. So at least we’re not likely to run into any other monsters. That’s something. “And, uh, believed to be nocturnal? They have been known to hunt during the day, but at least the sunstone might make it think twice.” I rack my brains, trying to remember anything else that could prove useful. There hasn’t been a whole lot of research done on wyrms. Probably because the researchers tend to get eaten. “Uhhh… They’re not true dragons. No wings, no fire breath. But they have the same draconic hide. Very tough, very magic resistant. Sooo, once again, it seems like my best option is to run away.” I flash a tired grin at Anon. “That worked out so well for me yesterday, didn’t it?” Anon glares down at me. Or maybe squints? After what I did to him, it’s hard to tell if his eyes are still recovering, or he’s just peeved. Could be both! At least he can see now. Somewhat. He’s moving more confidently, anyway. Though that probably means that the sand wyrm is also- Scchrrrk. Yep. Looking back, I see movement down the tunnel, at the very edge of the sunstone’s light. The dusty grey scales blend in perfectly against the stone walls. I can only see the wyrm when it passes in front of a wooden beam. It’s surprisingly stealthy this time around - I can barely hear it over my own hoofsteps. I watch as the shadowy brute takes another step, body low to the ground. It’s easily keeping up with us, but seems to be holding back. Avoiding the light? Wyrms aren’t intelligent like dragons (for a given value of “intelligence”), but they’re not stupid, either. Worse, they’re stubborn. Persistent. This one seems to be observing us. It’s in no rush to catch us; it’s seen how slow we are. It’s taking its time, waiting for a safer opportunity to strike. We’ll have to find a way to lose it. And soon! The longer it observes us, the bolder it will become. We can’t outrun it. We’re too injured and exhausted. Weapons? No good. Hide’s too thick. I might do some damage if I had room to swing my sword properly, but the tunnel’s too narrow. Fire? Wouldn’t hurt it much, but it might scare it away. No time to light one, though. If only I had more fire rubies… Wait. I do have other gemstones. The aquamarine won’t help, but I’ve still got a pair of thunder quartz flares. How would the wyrm react to one of those going off in its face? I was planning on using them to signal for help once we got back to Equestria. But first we have to actually get to Equestria. Surely I can afford to use one of them, right? My nose twitches, interrupting my train of thought. Something’s changed. Blinking, I look around. I don’t see anything different. But I can feel a slight ruffle on my fur. In my mane. As we continue trotting down the passage, a sweet smell fills my nostrils. Cutting through the stale cave air and the wyrm’s stench. We turn one last corner, and there it is. “The exit!” I exclaim, Anon shouting something simultaneously. The tunnel runs ahead for another 20 metres or so, rising gently. At the end, a wooden frame opens out into the night sky, revealing a patch of twinkling stars. We made it! Scchrrrk! ScchrrRK! The instant we turned the corner, the sand wyrm started barrelling forwards. I realise too late that we’ve just left the previous passage in darkness; perfect for the wyrm to close the distance. “GO!” I shove Anon forward, charging after him. The wyrm bursts around the corner, talons raking the floor where we’d stood seconds ago. Either it doesn’t care about the sunstone, or it’s more concerned about us escaping. Even as I leap out of range of its claws, it begins snapping furiously at me, enormous jaws moving way too fast! I dodge instinctively, years of combat experience just barely enough to keep me in one piece. But not quite enough to avoid the spray of drool. Wyrms may not have fire breath, but they still eat gemstones; their saliva is caustic enough to cut through rock. Blinding agony overwhelms me as a few stray drops splash into my eyes. I keep running, body on autopilot, as the pain blots out everything else. I think I might be screaming. I don’t know where the sand wyrm is, or Anon, I can’t think straight, there's a dizzying sensation of falling, then sudden more pain all along my side as I crash into the ground, then the burning in my eyes takes precedence again. It’s all I can do to curl into a ball, sobbing, as I rub furiously at my eyes, tears flowing freely. (Through the delirium of pain, a small part of me notes the irony. I’d just blinded everypony else moments ago; guess it must be my turn.) I don't know how long I lay there, unaware of anything but the hurting. But mercifully the pain begins to dull to something manageable. I become vaguely aware of the noises around me. Shouting. Crashing. Bellowing. Then, without warning, I'm yanked painfully from the ground, and back into consciousness. ”Gray!” Amazingly, it’s not the sand wyrm snatching me up. Pressed against me is the wonderfully familiar warmth and scent of Anon. Blinking in surprise, I'm relieved to note that I can still see. A little. Still burns like bloody Tartarus, but at least I'm not completely blind. Then I realise what I'm seeing. Teeth! Those damn teeth again! The sand wyrm right behind me, roaring in - no, not roaring. Squealing? Blurrily, I see something jutting from its gums. Anon’s spear! Not much more than a toothpick compared to the hulking monstrosity, but apparently painful enough to distract it. Kudos to Anon: the mouth is one of the wyrm’s few vulnerable bits. He’s either a really good shot, or he got really lucky. Speaking of Anon, I find myself slung over his shoulder again as he stumbles towards the exit. We… we might actually make it out of here alive! I could kiss that hairless ape! A bellow from the wyrm distracts me before I can I can follow through with that thought. I look back to see the beast clawing at the spear, still lodged in its mouth. I know that any moment now the spear will be knocked loose, and then the wyrm will catch up to us in seconds. I have to do something! The thought is enough to refocus me. The flare! Now’s my chance! Tearing open my pack, I'm briefly blinded again by the damn sunstone! Grabbing it in my teeth, I hurl it at the sand wyrm, hoping to buy a few more seconds. Without even bothering to see if it worked, I immediately dive back in to my pack, fishing out the nearest thunder quartz. My magic is still weak, but enough time has passed that I can muster up the tiny burst of energy needed to ignite the flare. With a grunt of pain, a bolt of magic leaps from my horn to the crystal. The clear stone turns cloudy, tiny sparks of lightning spitting out from it. It falls from my hoof, upwards, towards the ceiling. I hear it bounce among the rafters, but it’s quickly lost from view. My attention snaps back down to the sand wyrm, which has finally finished dislodging the spear. With a truly earthshaking roar, it turns and bounds after us. “Anon, whatever you do, don’t slow down!” He replies with what I can only assume is human for “FUUUCK THIIIS!” And then everything explodes.