--- Kat ---
Kat looked around the empty tunnels uneasily. Despite walking for five minutes there wasn't any sign of the worms they were here for. Hunter seemed unaffected by their absence but Kat couldn't help but think she was missing something. "Um... Hunter where are the worms? I don't think I ran that far... and there's just... nothing. Am I missing something?"
"You are indeed correct. If you look just ahead you can see the spot where the moles you fought came up to attack," stated Hunter as she pointed towards a patch of what looked like undisturbed ground. Kat frowned as she looked over the dirt and found no obvious trace of what had happened.
If Hunter hadn't said anything, Kat was certain she'd have missed it... because she was still missing it even though Hunter seemed quite certain.
"Um... yeah I'm not seeing anything," returned Kat.
Hunter glanced at Kat and then back to the dirt. "It seems rather obvious to me, if you notice there are clear circles where the dirt is a slightly difference shade of brown. Additionally, it is not as compact as its surroundings even if it has been smoothed down," stated Hunter. Continue reading on m v l e mpyr
Kat looked at the spot they were approaching. Kat could guess the area was just a few steps away based on where Hunter was pointing... but it all looked the same to her. "Sorry, even with you pointing it out to me it all looks the same," admitted Kat.
"Ah... I am aware that my tracking skills are quite substantial but the marks on the ground are truly obvious for me. I mean no offense when I say that your affinity for tracking might be so low as to be negative. I suggest having Lily pick up the skill in your stead if you cannot make out the difference despite being right next to them and having me point them out to you," stated Hunter.
Kat wanted to pat the lamia on the head. Sure her words where a bit insulting but Kat found it oddly adorable. "I'll keep that in mind," said Kat. "Though I HAVE tracked people in the passed so I'm not completely hopeless... yeah I'll still keep it in mind. Lily is better at it anyway,"
"Sure," stated Hunter, clearly not believing Kat had 'actually' tracked someone. Followed the sounds of fighting? Possibly. Tracked? Hunter was doubtful. Kat pouted to hide her smirk as they kept going.
"So... where ARE the rest of the worms?" asked Kat. "I mean, we got attacked here before, and before we were fighting them off in constant waves... so what's with the lack?"
"I suspect that they are trying to turtle up at the central chamber. I suspect they will wait a short time for us to attack again, and if we failed to show up they would simply try and dig an alternate tunnel out of this area. They likely consider this tunnel to be too deadly at this point. If we just left I doubt they'd use it," stated Hunter.
A moment later both the ground and ceiling exploded in the area just ahead of where they were. Worm infested moles burrowed up from the ground, at the same time as a seemingly endless stream of monster corpse fell down from the ceiling. Hunter hurled fire a them, but the flood seemed unstoppable.
Even with Hunter releasing a continuous stream of fire from her body, the worms and their corpses seemed endless.
Kat watched on, facing away from the fire as she kept her eyes pealed for any sign of a flank, trusting that Hunter would let her know if she was at her limit. The screeching of the worms became background noise at some point as Kat's earns learned to tune most of it out. It took a full two minutes for the silence to return.
Kat turned back to Hunter and saw a pile of ashes stacked as high as the tunnel was... no, higher as it included the holes the 'moles' had made in the ground. Hunter turned to Kat and said, "Do you have some way of generating large amounts of wind? I wish to disperse some of this ash,"
"Um... I can try to blow it away with wings? It's not ideal, but it will work somewhat," suggested Kat.
"It will have to do," stated Hunter.
Kat shrugged and moved forward. Bracing herself against the wall with her tail Kat flapped her wings rapidly, throwing some wind at the pile. It wasn't anything too significant but for the loose ash it was enough and soon the pile was spread more evenly out along the silent corridor. Kat eventually stopped her efforts once the ash ceased its movements.
Hunter looked over the pile of ash with a frown before saying "I wish I had a clearer idea of if we have taken out most of the worms. I worry that some are hiding in the ash... but none of it seems to be moving and I do not believe the worms possesses the intelligence to remain still. Of course... even if I can accept that I worry about the holes in the floor making it unstable,"
Kat glanced at the ceiling, "I think this place is large enough for me to fly, so I can try to carry you?" suggested Kat.
"I will accept this attempt," stated Hunter. Kat nodded and picked Hunter up into a princess carry. Once the lamia was situated she started to try and take off and found it was... doable. Just. Kat wasn't really gaining any height so she kicked off the ground. It worked somewhat.
Kat still wasn't gaining height but she wasn't losing any, or if she was it was too hard to tell. Considering this good enough Kat flew over the ash while keeping an eye out ahead of her as Hunter watched the ground.
Two turns later and they broke out into a massive cavern containing the largest of the worm pits. It was easily half a football field in length and filled with worms. But with no corpses to even start an attempt at defence they were easily dealt with. Once they were cleared though... there was something that obviously didn't belong.
A large, clearly reinforced door was set into the back of the room... and small holes were dug into the walls around it.