Part 5

Lanari and Kalamia carefully peered over the top of the ridge at the sleeping wurm. Now that they were so close, the prospect of facing the creature in combat was a lot more frightening.

"He's so huge!" whispered the enchantress. "One swipe from those claws and I'd be wurm fodder!"

Nari considered Azdalin carefully. It looked like the fight could be quite a gamble… but they had come so far already… She cleared her throat softly, making sure her voice didn't waver.

"It's going to be quite risky," she conceded, "But it's worth a try! We can't turn back now."

"RISKY!" exclaimed Kal.

Lanari shushed her companion with a frantic wave of her hand. She held her breath as Azdalin stirred, then sighed with relief as he continued to sleep. Kalamia reduced her voice to a whisper, but sounded no less inredulous.

" "Risky" is not the word I'd use, Lanari Xicotl! I look at that thing and start wondering about what I'd like my tombstone to say!"

Just then, the slumbering beast shifted, and metal glinted underneath one of its feet. Lanari grabbed hold of Kalamia's arm in wordless excitement, as the object of their quest was revealed to them for the first time. A long, deadly looking weapon lay beside Azdalin. Power radiated from it – there could be no doubt, they had found the Wurmslayer.

The shadow knight took a deep breath. Fear had no place here. Either she would kill the wurm and gain the Wurmslayer, or die in the attempt. Gently she touched Kal's arm, drawing her attention away from the beast. Swiftly, she went over the battle plan once more.

"We'll use our invisibility spells to sneak in close to him. You stop outside of the range of his claws, and wait for me to engage him. I'll get closer, drop my invisibility, and attack. When that happens, you cast your weakening spells – slow him down, lower his strength, anything you can do. Then get back out of the way."

Lanari paused to make sure that the enchantress understood all that she had to do. Kal was nodding, mentally preparing the spells she would need. Nari continued,

"Hopefully he'll come after you when you cast on him… which will give me time to run round and grab the Wurmslayer. After that, all should be simple."

Kal drew a deep breath.

"Right. OK. Just one question."

Nari clucked her tongue impatiently.

"What!"

"What if that doesn't work. If you don't get the weapon I mean. I doubt we'd have any chance trying to defeat him alone, without the Wurmslayer."

Lanari sighed.

"I know. If something does go wrong… I'll try and taunt him away from you. I've heard that wurms are as touchy as dragons – a few insults about his mother should work. Once he's focused on me again, try and mesmerise him, hopefully that will give us the time to get away."

"There are a lot of "ifs", "shoulds" and "hopefullys" in that sentence." said Kal, grimacing. "What if that plan fails too?"

Lanari grinned at her friend.

"I wouldn't worry about that Kal. If I can't taunt him off you, then you won't be around long enough to care."

Eala tried not to scream as a drachnid passed within a metre of her. Alyindar gently drew her backwards, his hands reassuring on her arm.

"It's ok," he murmured. "They can't see us. Trust in my spells Eala."

The cleric swallowed hard, and nodded.

"I'm sorry Aly. It's not that I don't trust you. I'm just not used to having a spell like this – Tunare didn't see fit to grant clerics with the ability."

The ranger smiled gently.

"That's true. But She gave you other abilities instead. Ones which are worth more than any invisibility spell."

Eala turned her head away, the answering smile fading from her face. Would she always be reminded of that? Without another word, she continued towards the tunnel which lead to the Dreadlands. From there, they hoped to skirt the edges of the blasted area where Karnor's Castle lay, and so come to the edge of the Burning Woods. There, according to the Barbarian from the tavern, they would find Azdalin, an old and wiley wurm, who guarded one of the fabled weapons known as "Wurmslayers."

The Koada'Dal had no idea why Tunare had set her on this path. As a cleric, she could not use the wurmslaying blade, so was this perhaps going to be a new weapon for Alyindar? Maybe he was to use it to continue to fight evil on Tunare's behalf. Yet the ranger was formidable enough with his current weaponry, so even that reason made little sense. Still, a distraction was a distraction… and she certainly didn't want to spend time brooding. With a sigh, Eala trekked on.

The two Elves passed through the rest of the drachnid's hunting grounds without incident, and entered the Dreadlands tunnel. Carefully picking their way through the trees around the edge of the blast zone, they soon found themselves on the borders of the Burning Woods.

Contemplating the dangerous looking area, Alyindar murmured quietly,

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Ealandariel turned to her companion.

"The feeling is getting stronger than ever," she told him softly. "I think if I was to turn my back on it now… I'd go mad. I have to finish this… somehow."

Alyindar nodded, and smiled at her reassuringly.

"Wherever you go, I'll be at your side Eala," he replied. "For as long as fate binds us like this, so it shall be."

Eala returned his smile. Together, they entered the woods.