Jack sighed deeply. The clouds had parted to reveal a full moon. A gloomy haze clung to the shoreline, twisting among the rocks and brittle grasses. Tendrils of steam were still rising off his magic blade and for a moment he just watched it.
The severed heads of the not so magical worms lay half submerged in the shallows. The stink had already begun to fill the chilly twilight air.
All around Jack the gaunt, ragged men slowly dispersed. Not one of them spoke to him or thanked him. Some wandered down the shoreline or off onto the plain. How long had they been inside the foul creature? Where were they going? What had they come to wish for?
Jack made his way up off the beach, away from the stench. Among the boulders he built a small fire and warmed himself beside it. Beneath the moonlight, over the flicker of flame he watched as the last of the men picked his way through the rocks and disappeared into the night.
Another dashed hope.