After the wurm emerged from the ground, it exploded, scattering meat and bone in every direction, leaving Dink falling. He panicked, his draconic aura was quickly receding.

I won't be able to survive a fall from this height if the dragon spirit returns to its slumber and I transform back before landing on the ground.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of wind rushing toward him while he fell. His main cause for concern was the black scales protecting his skin slowly retreating as the ground got closer.

“Fuuuuck!” Dink shouted, preparing himself for impact.

A shower of debris erupted into the sky as Dink smashed into the earth. It was accompanied by a thick cloud of dust that blew away in the wind. After the dust cleared, Dink’s still form was revealed lying face down in a small crater, partially buried. When it looked like he was dead, his fingers suddenly twitched.

His hands slowly bunched into fists and moved underneath his torso. He softly groaned while bracing his arms under him. Debris fell off him as he levered himself upright. Climbing to his feet, he brushed off dirt into the shallow pit.

He surveyed the carnage surrounding him, discovering a particular bone among the gore. Dink went over to it and moved aside a large chunk of meat to uncover it. The bone was of a similar size to Dink. He could feel it faintly vibrating under his palms as he gently wiped away the blood from the bone's surface with both hands. He picked it up, lifting it to eye level to inspect it.

It’s lighter than I expected. Despite its relation in size to the other bone fragments scattered around. This is the most valuable part of the wurm, the sonic rod. It’s how the wurm could generate sonic pulses to travel through rock.

“Damn, it stinks like an offal pit up here,” Axion complained. Dink turned toward his voice. Axion tossed his great axe nearby while struggling to climb from an enormous pit that stretched down into darkness. It was the hole the wurm had emerged from. “Don’t just stand there, give me a hand.”

Axion dug his claws into the dirt and pulled himself onto the ledge. Dink sauntered over to him, standing just out of reach. Axion glared up at him while crawling out of the hole. He climbed to his feet and dusted himself off.

“Nice of you to join me. I wasn’t sure you were still alive,” Dink greeted him.

“Yeah, no thanks to you. You forgot this,” Axion retorted. He unhooked the iron cage from his waist and threw it at Dink.

Dink caught the cage and looked inside, the Myconid was trembling as it processed the excess adrenaline from the encounter with the wurm. Dink hooked the cage onto his own waist and then started walking toward Burrowton. Axion bent down and retrieved his great axe before jogging to catch up.

“What did you think of the plan? It worked better than I expected. I thought you’d have ended up a pile of goop when Big mama found you,” Dink joked, glancing over at the large lion man with a wry grin, the sonic rod slung over his shoulder.

“What? You said it wouldn’t harm me if I stayed beside the egg,” Axion replied.

“Well, Big mama wouldn’t eat you. But that doesn’t prevent her from aggressively using her sonic pulse on you because wurm eggs are immune to them. How’d you convince her to stop?” Dink asked.

“I just had to threaten to turn the egg into an omelette, that seemed to work. Hey! If you thought the wurm was gonna blast me, did you expect me to die?”

“Hahaha! I kinda expected you to take the egg and run. It’s what I would have done. Big mama doesn’t eat because you’re still close and you avoid the sonic pulses. Simple. Don’t tell me, you tried to block her. Wait, you did, didn’t you? You crazy fucking kitty cat, that probably cost one of your nine lives. I owe you a drink,” Dink said, laughing while clapping Axion on the back.

“You owe me more than that, Goblin. But I’ll take it,” Axion darkly grumbled.

***

The pair arrived back in Burrowton a short while later while it was starting to get dark. Rubble filled the streets with people sifting through it for whatever they could salvage. The Rusty Blade Inn stood untouched among the wreckage. The innkeeper handed over a heavy coin purse to a journeyman Magus outside. Dink could hear the unmistakable clink of gold even at this distance.

"Looks like the town had some trouble of its own," Axion said.

“It’s a bit of a mess,” Dink agreed.

“This will take them weeks to clean up,” Axion added.

“Hey you, magus! Yes, I’m talking to you. Come here,” Dink called out, the Magus pointed at himself in confusion before coming over.

“What do you need, Goblin? I’m not in the business of fitting clothes if that’s what you’re after,” the Magus said, glancing over Dink’s bare chest.

“That’s fortunate because I’m not looking for a new shirt. We’ve just slain a wurm outside of town. That means there won’t be anything else coming to collect her eggs and you can have the first pick on as many as you can transport. But in exchange, I need you to repair the rest of Burrowton. What do you say, deal?” Dink proposed, offering his hand.

“How can I trust your word there are eggs and this wasn’t just some random unprovoked attack?” The Magus asked suspiciously.

“I can assure you there is a nest here. I can even ensure that you do get first dibs if you repair the town,” Flea interjected. She walked out from behind the Inn while adjusting her cleavage, Darby and Murkuk following close behind her.

Dink could smell the scent of sex coming from her. Raising an eyebrow, he looked to Murkuk who just silently shrugged.