The wurm erupted from the ground, exposing its enormous size. Dink’s eyes slowly shifted upward, drinking in the sight of its emerged body on the horizon. The sheer size of it caused him to hesitate. He didn't allow himself to be daunted, reaching up, he gripped the hilt of his bastard sword jutting above his shoulder.

Dink's ears twitched, sounds of chaos were coming from Burrowton in the distance. No one had warned its inhabitants about the danger they were in. They still assumed it was only a natural disaster rocking the town and that a master Magus from the Arcane Academy would eventually resolve the earthquakes. Axion stood frozen in fear staring up at the towering skyscraper, forgetting the harness on his shoulders.

The wurm may dwarf even the biggest building in Burrowton. But it’s still only a lesser dragon. I am the fucking Sword Saint! I've even slain true dragons. This is nothing, barely the match of a Master realm Attuned.

Dink resolved himself, slowly drawing his sword with a sneer. The sound of screeching metal drew Axion out of his stupor. He had become frozen in terror after the titanic shadow of the wurm engulfed them as it eclipsed the sun. A ray of sunlight flashed past the wurm’s jaws as it retreated back into the ground.

“Stop gawking, we have a job to do,” Dink reprimanded, entering the underground mine.

Axion hesitated briefly without following. He gulped away his fear before leaning into the harness, slowly pulling the wagon containing the wurm egg behind him.

Dink's eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light inside the underground mine shaft while he waited for Axion to catch up. Low-grade mana lanterns burned along the walls, lining the tunnels heading down with light. The creaking of the wagon attracted Dink's attention, Axion had just entered the mine.

"We'll follow the scent trail back to the nest. If it makes you feel better, stay close to the egg. Big mama won't strike from the bottom and risk devouring it. She'll come from one of the sides," Dink assured Axion after catching a whiff of his sweat, it was laced with fear.

"Are you sure? I feel like we're offering ourselves up for dinner. What's the plan?" Axion asked apprehensively.

"Don't worry, we are. Well, I am. You shouldn't even need to get your hands dirty. Remember, no matter what she does, do not let Big mama separate you from the egg. She'll try to intimidate you after she works out that her sonic is ineffective against an Adept Attuned. But she won't do anything that will hurt the egg," Dink instructed.

He motioned for silence and tested the air. The scent of the disturbed nest was getting closer. He pressed a palm against the rock wall of the tunnel. There was a strong vibration that numbed his hand to the touch. He quickly retracted it.

Moving to the back of the wagon, Dink threw back the tarp to reveal the egg underneath. The size of it was big enough to make Axion appear small in comparison. The surface looked to be carved from roughly hewn opal, shimmering with iridescent colour under the nearby mana light.

Dink carefully struck it with the edge of his sword, the metal ringing under the impact. He created a small opening for the yolk to leak out of.

"She's close. I don't think that she's realised we're here yet. She will," Dink said, breaking out in a jog.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Axion shouted in panic, starting to unsaddle the harness to chase after him.

"Stay close to the egg!" Dink shouted back over his shoulder.

He arrived at a large cavern filled with sand, large enough to house several fully grown wurms. It had gigantic tunnels leading in different directions.

Judging by the heat, we're at least a mile below the surface. I've never had to fight a wurm on its home turf before. I can see a few tracks leading through sand dunes, they must belong to miners before they fled. They didn't take all of the eggs, there are still a few more nearby, I can smell them hidden under the sand.

The ground began to vibrate. The crisscrossing tracks of the miners were sifted away in the sand.

In their place, the sand formed shifting geometric patterns that radiated outward from a single point among the dunes. The sword in Dink's hand started to resonate with the vibration, emitting a low keening sound.

He lifted it vertically to examine the humming blade, frowning in concentration. He lowered the sword to his side in anticipation, looking to the centre of the shifting sand.

After what felt like an eternity later, the wurm erupted from the silt. It was accompanied by an unnerving trumpeting that seemed to come from all over its body as opposed to its gigantic maw. It completely emerged from its burrow, landing in the sand with a resounding thud.

That sound must be the wurm's sonic. They travel by reducing the tightly packed earth in front of it into powder. Axion needs to get ready, Big mama is coming for him.

Now that he was closer, Dink was able to properly see the wurm. It was a blue-grey colour and looked very similar in appearance to other lesser dragon subspecies he had seen before, but with a few key differences.

Due to having no limbs, it more closely resembled a colossal serpent with pointed armour plates layering its body. The head had typical draconic features, except instead of the usual pair of serpentine eyes. It possessed a line of six hoodless eyes in a row. They were black and hoodless, rendering them almost unnoticeable in the poorly lit cavern.

The wurm started to move by pulsating the interlocking armour plates forward across the sand, completely different from the expected slithering of a snake. It raced toward the tunnel Dink had emerged from, where Axion waited with the wagon further up. Against all logic, Dink started charging toward its gaping maw, only a spec in comparison to the wurm's enormous size.

I hope Axion listened to me and stayed beside the egg, or this may end very poorly for both of us.