The Hive Mother continued to uncurl from the pillar, stretching herself out to her full, sinuous length. The dirty iron-colored armored plating covering her bulk was pitted and scarred with age. As she turned her head towards the interlopers into her cavern she let out a horrific hiss, sounding more like an antique steam train than a living creature.

Gwilym snapped into action, ordering the group back into formation. To take advantage of the larger space Tavish strode forward, whirling the Lochaber as though it weighed no more than a willow switch. Zofia and Ingunn flanked him, standing behind and to the side, ready to take advantage of the carnage the massive axe caused. Gwilym, Yan, and Micky tucked in behind this front line.

Gwilym spoke quickly, trying to get the information across before the Mother could close the distance and engage with the group.

“We need to get rid of the immature worms before we can deal with the Mother, otherwise we won’t be able to close with her. Tavish, go full burn mode. I want these things dealt with as fast as possible. Ingunn, I need you to keep her turned away from as us.”

Crouching low with his feet spread wide Tavish sent a pair of slashes towards the onrushing worms, blue slashes of light flying from the end of the Lochaber. As the hardened light sliced through the wave of worm spawn, Ingunn took flight. She sailed over the horde towards the Hive Mother, nightsticks held high above her head as her thick blonde hair sailed behind her.

“Gwilym, what do you need from me?” Asked Micky, Vaixell held loosely before him.

“I want you keeping the buffs up on Tavish and Ingunn until we’ve got the smaller worms under control, then switch over to throwing lightning at the Hive Mother. We need to get this handled as quickly as possible.”

“Got it, mate”

Micky picked up the rhythm, plucking out a quick, choppy melody. As he began to sing the music echoed around the cavern.

One for all and all for one

The future time has come

Faces filled with torment

Your heart beats like a drum

Appearing from the shadows Zofia leaped into the fray, planting one foot on Tavish’s back then propelling herself skyward. As Tavish swung the Lochaber into the swirling mass she threw a hail of daggers into the three larger worms. The daggers punched through the tough armor plating, sending gouts of grey-green blood from the punctures.

Never you will look back again

You'll fight until the end

Together we will live on, forever more

Seeing the front line holding strong, Gwilym stepped forward to aid them. Clasping his hands together and then drawing them apart, he summoned a mass of thick green vines into being. He turned his palms towards the worms and thrust them forward. The thick vines became spears of hardened wood, vicious barbs appearing at the tips. Gwilym flared his fingers widely and the spears shot forwards to impale the three larger worms.

In this land we have defended

From all things dark and cruel

Now we are defenseless

In a land where dragons rule

While her teammates dispatched the smaller threats, Ingunn attempted to turn the Hive Mother away from the party. Moving in rapidly to strike and then retreating away. Enraged by this tiny creature striking at her bulk, the enormous worm struck back. Her barbed jaws spread wide, she shot her body towards the whirling dragebarn.

Ingunn flared her wings, dodging sharply to the side. This sharp motion pushed her just beyond the reach of one barbed jaw, although gobbets of spittle did splash forth to coat her legs.

The spittle began to harden, becoming grey and opaque coating that fouled Ingunn’s stride.

“Little help over here, guys,” Ingunn shouted as she beat her wings in an attempt to get back into the air.

“Zofia, lure the worm! Tavish, how much more time do you need?” Gwilym shouted as he cast another barrage of spears.

This time he focused on the thick plates protecting the back of the Hive Mothers’ head. The spears, which had so easily impaled the immature worms seemed totally ineffective against the thicker armor. They bounced off with a scraping rattle like a nail dragged over a stone.

“We’re aboot dun 'ere gaffer,” Tavish replied as he sunk lower into his fighting crouch. With a powerful thrust of his hooved feet, the engineer launched himself into the air. Unlike the easy grace of Ingunn or Zofia, the daimh flew through the air with all the subtlety of a rock flung from a catapult. Reaching the apex of his leap, he hoisted the Lochaber high above his head. Swinging the axe to change his positioning, he dove towards the floor blade first.

The thick cutting edge of the axe smashed into the raw stone of the cavern floor like a meteor. The stone shattered into vicious shards and sailed outward from the point of impact. These missiles shot outwards, piercing into worm spawns and immature worms like arrows. Thick sprays of blood and viscera splashed outwards, coloring the stone green.

“Git that in ye, ye wee beasts,” Tavish laughed, shaking his head and torso to rid himself of the stone dust.

“Bloody hell mate, that was mental” Micky exclaimed.

“Admire later, lightning now,” Gwilym admonished as he ran towards Ingunn, his hands glowing blue.

“Right, gotcha. Lighting time.”

Chastened by Gwilym’s words, Micky focused on the battle before him. Slowed down by the coating on stone, Ingunn was finding it harder and hard to dodge the enormous blows. The Hive Mother was getting closer and closer to Ingunn with every snap. Zofia was doing his best to distract the creature, slashing desperately between the thick armor plates. Each slash left a thin line of green blood, stark against the red plates of armor. Despite this, the worm ignored the rogue, focusing on the already slowed warrior.

Raising the plectrum high he began to drum downwards, a spear of lightning fired towards the worm. As he fired, Micky was joined by Yan, who began to roll his hands around a glowing sphere of air. The lightning bolt struck home, blowing a chunk out of one armored plate and boiling the blood away in a haze of foul steam.

Stunned by this sudden pain, the Hive Mother spun towards Micky. Its jaws spread wide around a gaping maw, the beast let out a piercing shriek that echoed in Micky’s ears and rattled his teeth. Before the worm could move though, it was rocked by the sphere of light cast by Yan. The glowing orb impacted the worm with the kinetic force of a cannonball, rocking the Hive Mother back.

Zofia took this opportunity to drive her daggers into the gap beneath one armored plate. Arm’s working like pistons she pumped the daggers deep into the worm's flesh.

In response, the Hive Mother flicked its wedge-shaped tail straight at Yan. Despite its massive size, the tail moved like a whip. Flying faster than Yan could maneuver away, the tail smashed into his side. The slight man flew under the impact, coming to a crashing halt against a rough stone wall.

Gwilym sprung into action, a spray of verdant green light flying from his fingers to coat the still figure. As the light built up around him, Yan began to glow.

Not looking away from Yan, Gwilym shouted at the rest of the group. “I’ll stabilize him, get rid of that thing. Now!” His voice rose to a strident crescendo as he closed the distance between himself and his new patient.

Ingunn took this command to heart, diving towards the worm with her wings tucked tight to her back. The nightsticks in her hand began to darken, seeming to suck the light out of the cavern. The sound of her impact echoed around the cavern, and the force of it carried the worms head to the floor. Sandwiched between the enraged dragebarn and the unyielding stone floor, something had to give. With a sickening crack, the thick plates protecting its head shattered, leaving its pulsing flesh exposed.

Tavish took this as his cue, driving the thick blade of the axe deep into the worm’s brain. The great corpse twitched once, then fell still as silence, broken only by ragged breathing, fell over the cavern.