Calm and Calamity

Chapter 37

Day: 545 (Blood Moon)

Days Left: 4935

Lives Saved: 2

"Can you go any quicker, Klei?" groaned Kai as he looked back at the clay golem slowly trudging behind him; the creature's legs stuck to the ground, and Klei had to pull them back out by force. "I have these short legs," continued the goblin. "And I'm faster than you."

Klei glared back at him with his hollow eye-sockets, his mouth even droopier than usual.

Dex sighed. "I would be faster by myself."

"Unfortunately, that's not exactly possible during a blood moon."

The headless horseman stopped and turned back to the clay golem. "I've got an idea," he said, using his free arm to pull Klei up on his horse. The creature's clay body clung onto the armoured steed. Dex then boosted Kai up too, the goblin desperately holding onto the headless knight for support whilst trying to avoid touching the clay golem, worried that he might get stuck.

"I won't be able to carry any more weight," said Dex as he turned to Corinna's general direction. "Will you be able to keep up?"

The golden knight nodded. "Yes!"

"Good! Let's go!" Dex raised his hand in determination, but his steed stool still, as had Corinna. As Kai was the only one who could move freely during a blood moon, the rest of them could not move as the goblin was on the back of the horse. Dex cleared his throat. "Um... I think we're going to have to start moving simultaneously, at the same pace too. Otherwise, we won't be able to get anywhere."

It took them a few tries to get the system to work, as when one of them fell behind, the other would automatically turn around to meet them. Still, the two armoured knights eventually managed to keep pace with one another and run across the dunes with Reggie bounding beside them, happy from the exercise and in ignorance of the serious situation.

The wendigo had been missing officially for a day now, and they still had not found any sign of her. They all called out her name as they travelled from the grey desert to the marshlands.

After a while, Kai spotted a figure's silhouette through the mist as they traversed the marshes. "There!" he shouted, pointing in the direction. "I see something!"

"Hopefully, it's Wendy," said Klei.

The group cautiously approached until they could see through the mist. Before them was an armless and legless creature, perhaps a snake, a slug, or a worm, that was the length of a bus; it was a crisp white with several small black ridges along its body.

"Okay, that's not Wendy," Klei gulped. "Anyone recognise who that is?"

The giant white worm slithered towards them, and then its faceless head rose and towered over the group.

"Well... they don't recognise us," mumbled Kai, gazing up at the giant worm, the goblin feeling even smaller than he already did.

Corinna darted to the side, evading the white worm as its head smacked down onto the ground. Dex managed to steer his steed away, but its legs fumbled, and the horse collapsed to the ground, sending the clay golem and the goblin skidding across the soggy grass. The worm turned to Corinna and made another attack, whipping its tail out. The golden knight jumped and once again avoided the attack with only her toe clipping against it. As she landed on the ground, the pain consumed Corinna's mind. It was so minor, only lasting a mere second yet something inside of her ignited. She gripped her spear and brandished it, charging at the giant creature. The blade pierced through without any resistance to the point where the golden knight stumbled forwards, and her arm also went straight through the creature's body. It was like- no... it was paper. As she pulled her spear out, black blood seeped out of the wound and spilt out onto the grass.