The ghost worms stared Hero's scrumptious body with hungry malevolence. Their legs created clicks as they struck the stone. Their ghostly bodies partially phased through the cave walls.

They were hideous centipedes, lengthy like rope. Their ectoplasm churned with anticipation beneath their translucent turquoise carapace. Their eyeless faces sported antennae thick like wires and vicious mandibles that could crush bones to dust with ease.

Hero grit his teeth and morphed his blade into a claymore. Magical flames wreathed his blade.

The ghost worms tried to step forward, but they found Hero's aura not letting them through. They opened their mouths and began munching upon the fiery aura that dared to impede them in their way. Hero felt his consuming aura lose cohesion as it entered their maws, becoming not his but part of the worms.

Bile full of abhorrence flowed in his mouth. He charged to the largest centipedes that munched on his aura, and brought down his claymore to their heads.

The ghost worm munched without care. It was a ghost, what could a mortal weapon do to entities like them? None. But alas, they should've been worried, for the blade Hero wielded was no ordinary bronze, but one that was quite enchanted. The blade cut the immaterial carapace, but instead of being painless and harmless, the wound it inflicted brought searing pain. Its ethereal ectoplasm evaporated from the blade's heat.

The large worm released a shrill cry of pain. The ghost worms paused in their buffet as they stared at Hero in surprise. It had shaken them to their core to see his mortal weapon be in truth a vorpal blade capable of cleaving their spectral flesh. Even the bats paused in their grinning.

All the worms present, all three of them, stared at Hero; hate filled their visage. Hero was no longer mere prey helpless to combat them; he was a threat to be dealt with quickly.

The largest ghost worm, the one Hero gave a burnt wound, turned to the bats and gave them orders with grating shrill speech. The vampire bats shuddered at the commands, their eyes widened and afraid.

The bats' stepped forward, to face Hero where ghostly force cannot get close. The bats were large, larger than normal bats. They stood upright and four feet from the ground. Their bodies were thin from starvation and malnutrition; their bones poking at their meagre hides. These ones were old, unlike the many that charged to the fray almost blindly before. Those were young, small children compared these elders.

One charged at Hero with claws and fangs bared. Hero dodged their attempt, but the others followed suit. They charged with calculated strides, all slightly out of sync, with well calculated chaos. Hero had a hard time dodging their attacks. Many of them Hero had barely dodged. Blood profusely leaked from his wounds from the encouragement of their WET auras.

Their tongues lolled in delight as they tried to taste the blood he shed. Saliva dripped from their starved mouths.

One jumped on Hero, tackled him, and he wasn't able to dodge. The bat had shoved him to the ground. His sword was wrenched from his hands and was thrown far away. All five of the bats pinned him down, pressing their weight on his limbs so they may not have any freedom to move. Hero struggled to move, weakened from their insidious sopping magic. The bats manically fought over him like siblings fighting over the last morsel. They saliva flew as their tongues and fangs lashed to keep other from getting a chance on the freshest pint of blood.

A cry from the centipedes silenced the bats. They wished to partake in the flesh of this strange beast; the flesh of this creature was theirs and theirs alone. The aura that once was like stone now was being dug through like it was chiffon cake.

The centipedes loomed over Hero, exuding superiority over Hero. Absolute malevolence and antipathy tainted their eyeless stares. Their mandibles twitched in excitement. Their antennae swayed subtly in silent conversation. The bats avoided their visage like the plague. Their limbs shook. Although their grip had weakened through fear, but their weight was sufficient to sap the freedom of movement from Hero's limbs.

Hero glared at the ghost worms with his angriest glare. He bared his teeth like angry dog; his teeth shining with saliva and vicious like a spring trap ready to snap an unsuspecting animal's leg. His eyes burning with angriest fires, an inferno burning and roaring behind glass lens. They shone like torches in the deep darkness.

The largest ghost worm, neared its head towards Hero's neck...

And injected a venom.

-xXx-

... Hero... lost?

Yes. He did.

We're screwed. He was the most martially oriented amongst us.

We still have Tree, the second fiddle.

What's a second fiddle?

Nevermind.

That's going to throw a spanner in Prometheus' plans.

That's going to veer the plot into a detour.

I'm broadcasting this news to the queen.

~***~

A lanternlight flashed in the darkness, banishing the darkness from the vicinity. Nar and Buddy's eyes squinted as the bright light blinded them. They turned their eyes to Tree's grave eyes. The golden stars that were Tree's eyes alone could convey the grimness of the situation. Smoke twiddled its hands in nervousness in the background.

"I assume that you have known of the grave incident that had befallen Hero, Ms. Rator and Mr. Buddy," Tree said to which Nar and Buddy nodded.

"We must find him," Tree declared. They turned towards the location to the cave at large. The smell of blood and burned flesh wafted towards them. Scratches made by claws and battle made themselves evident in the stone walls and pebbly floor, and splotches of blood befouled and stained the cave surfaces.

Buddy stood up and began sniffing for clues he could get from massive amounts of evidence left behind from the heat of battle. He felt upset, worry and anxiety pertaining to Hero's condition wormed into his mind.