War Beast

Book Three: Chapter 8

Two giant white eyes flashed within the tunnel. The thing crawled as her claws scratched the tunnel walls.

By the time she appeared in the green shimmering light from the mushrooms, Jenny’s entire skin completely crawled. The Queen Wyrboo has a skeleton bat face instead of a hammerhead. Her pale eyes bulged within her empty eye sockets, gleaming like flashlights. Sharp quills rose on her humped back, and her webbed wings folded beneath her long boney arms. Her stringer curled over her back like a scorpion tail. On her upper jaw, her drool dripped down from her tusk-like fangs, showing her hunger.

“Ssssssssh!” The monkey hissed. “She’s blind, but she can hear you.”

Jenny gulped.

The Queen sniffed the ground as she circled around the pillars. She crawled close, but she didn't notice Jenny.

Basju sneezed, and snot dripped from his small nose. When he sniffed the boogie back into his nostrils, the Queen shot her eyes toward him. His mouth slowly fell open. "Oh, crap…"

The Queen hissed with joy and clambered toward her prey. She opened her mouth over Basju. He screeched in his panic. 

Jenny couldn’t bear to watch the monster devour the monkey. She has to do something! "Hey!"

The Queen paused and glanced at her.

Jenny nodded her head back. “Over here! Come get me first!”

"What are you doing?" Basju shouted.

"I'm saving your butt!" Jenny watched the creature clamber toward her.

The Queen opened her massive mouth. Drool dribbled down her fangs, and her breath smelled like rotten salami waste.

Jenny’s entire cold body shivered, but she kept her face straight. She focused her mind on powering the heat through her entire body.

Inside the Queen’s mouth, a long piston-like tongue slithered out with four fangs around a suction mouth. It reached toward Jenny’s face, and Jenny knew the thing will either suck out her brain or drain her blood dry.

“Suck on this!” Jenny puffed her cheeks and blasted her light energy from her body like a bomb. Her attack exploded around her and pushed the creature off her. 

The Queen screamed until she hit the ground.

Jenny fell too, landing on her hands and feet. The webbed organic matter crumbled off her, although she smelled like a frozen turd popsicle.

“Damn!” The monkey shouted. “How in this world did you manage to do that? Are you a sorceress?”

Jenny giggled. “Sort of. Hold still!”

She grew a white energy orb on her left palm and tossed it up like a baseball. Her attack struck the monkey’s right side and exploded on the sticky muck. The webbing cracked off Basju, and he fell off freely.

His long tail wrapped around a knob on the pillar before he hit the ground. Once his tail slid off the rock, he landed on his prehensile feet. “Whoa! Talk about an explosive fall!”

“You're welcome.” Jenny heard a growl and turned around.

The Queen rose onto her folded wings and glared at her prey. Her flesh sizzled from Jenny’s explosive flash, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Queen down.

“Uh-oh!” Basju took cover behind Jenny, shuddering. “Kill her! Kill her!”

When the Queen charged, Jenny threw another light orb toward the monster. Her attack exploded against the Queen’s face, and it miraculously blew the creature’s head off. The headless corpse collapsed with a smoking headless neck stump. Now that thing shouldn’t stand up unless the queen has nerves to keep her in motion like a headless chicken. Fortunately, her corpse remained still.

“Ooh ooh ah ah! That was amazing!” Basju howled.

Jenny’s head spun a little, and her body felt a little heavy. Only a few strong attacks had already drained her a bit. Still, she hasn’t passed out yet. “We should get out of here now. Her children will not be happy about us killing their queen.”

Basju nodded his head. “Right! Right!”

*****

Further down the cave, Jenny and Basju strolled through the dark tunnel, stepping as quietly as possible. Jenny hoped they weren’t deep underground. In the worst case, the Wyrboo hive might be so big that it might take forever for the two to escape with their lives. But exploring was the only way to find the way out.

They entered another massive cavern with tall stalagmites across the ground. Oval-shaped pales rose between the tapering columns, which looked like eggs. It must be the Wyrboos' nest without the Queen.

Basju placed his hand on Jenny's shoulder and shushed her with a finger on his lips. "Look up."

Jenny glanced at the ceiling. Her legs shuddered as her eyes grew wide. 

Between rows of thin spiked stalactites, folded wings and scorpion tails hung high above the entire nest. The creatures slept like bats, clustered together quietly. Almost like the ceiling was alive.

"It must be daytime," Basju whispered. "They only sleep when the sun is out."

Jenny grinned. "Good to know."

If they make it outside the hive, the Wyrboos won't dare try to touch them. Either the sunlight will blind them, or roast them into crispy charcoal.

"Okay, watch your step." Jenny proceeded through the nest first, keeping her eyes on the ground. 

There was an opening, far on the other side of the nest. It should be the way out, although Jenny could only see the darkness within the tunnel entrance. 

She stepped slowly as she circled past the giant eggs. By the time she reached the tunnel, something cracked behind her.

She turned around and saw Basju pulling a sword from a Beastman skeleton. When he noticed her glare, he smiled. "Sorry!"

The Wyrboos on the cavern ceiling palpated as their wings stretched out. It looked like they were about to wake up.

Jenny swallowed hard. "Run!"