Maize’s eyes narrowed as she surveyed the convoy ahead, her grip firm on Violet’s reins as the wind rushed past her. The griffin’s wings beat rhythmically, carrying her just above the line of cars rumbling over the wasteland. From this vantage, she could easily see everything below—the dull colors of the sand, the ragged rocks, and the specks that represented Sabir and the others in their vehicle.


    From her vantage point, she could truly see everyone from above. Right now I’m higher than anyone here. I still see that some nobles carry a sickening superiority complex, Maize scoffed. She stroked Violet’s coarse fur and laid her head on the back of the creature. From the corner of her eye, she could see the Humvee leading the party. Rudiger sat inside, undoubtedly surrounded by the finest comforts money could buy, smugly giving orders as if the world bent to his will. People like him she saw all her life—men and women born with titles who thought they were untouchable because of it had surrounded her. Not that she couldn’t understand where they came from, but their attitudes? Their arrogance? That she couldn’t stand.


    While in that vehicle, she fought the urge to slap Rudiger right across his smug face; multiple times. Just thinking about it now made her fingers twitch with satisfaction. But no, she wouldn’t lower herself to that level. He wasn’t worth the energy it would take to raise her hand.


    Not being able to withstand his callous nature, Maize had retreated to a more enjoyable companion in Violet. She knew she wasn’t like the other nobles, and she didn’t want to be associated with their entitled nonsense. As they flew above the convoy of cars, a sense of freedom rushed over her. She had finally gotten away from her mother’s stifling hold of her life.


    Maize always preferred the open skies to the cramped, musty confines of a vehicle. Even now, the air felt cleaner, less suffocating than the atmosphere of multiple nobles forcing a conversation.


    As they moved, she glanced down at Sabir’s car as Violet drifted nearer. Her eyes lingered on him longer than she intended. Sabir was a mystery to her. She didn’t fully understand why, but there was something about him that felt… off. He was hiding something—something serious. That much was obvious. The way he moved, the way his skin had grown more pallid over time, the shadows that clung to his eyes—it all pointed to one conclusion. He was dying. And from the looks of it, he had no intention of telling anyone.


    She gazed at him from above. “Why are you hiding it?” Maize muttered under her breath. She had no reason to pry, but she couldn’t understand him. Were all duds like him? So stubborn, so full of themselves despite their weakness. She didn’t understand.


    Perhaps he had his reasons—reasons that had nothing to do with her or the mission. She sighed, adjusting her grip on Violet’s reins. Still, she couldn’t shake the gnawing sense of concern. Something about the way he was deteriorating felt like a ticking time bomb, one that could go off when they least expected it. To the rest of the party, it was just another dead porter. But for her, it meant the death of a man with so much potential. It’d be a shame for you to die, Sabir. Without playing with me one more time.


    She smiled, remembering how Sabir fought against the Vinefiends, putting all his effort to defeat a single weak monster. However, Violet’s sudden movement abruptly stopped her thinking. Startling Maize, she desperately tugged on the reins to steady the Griffin.


    “Whoa, Violet! What’s going on, girl?” Maize called out.


    But Violet didn’t respond. Instead, the creature’s entire body stiffened, and it let out a low, anxious growl. Without warning, Violet twisted in the air, her wings flapping frantically, as if trying to pull them in the opposite direction of the convoy.


    “Violet!” Maize shouted, yanking hard on the reins. “What’s wrong? Settle down!”


    The Griffin seemed unphased by Maize’s voice, seeming more responsive to its own instincts. Something had spooked it—a fear deep and primal. Maize fought to regain control, her heart pounding in her chest. Violet wasn’t just panicking; she was trying to flee. She could feel the sheer strength of the griffin beneath her, trying to break free from Maize’s grip on the reins.


    “Violet! Hey, hey! It’s okay girl! We need to stay with the others!” Maize tried to assert herself, but to no avail.


    “What the hell is going on?” Maize hissed. She scrambled in her saddle, trying to peer back towards the group of armoured vehicles. And that’s when she saw a colossal trail writhing in the sand. It was faint at first, almost indistinguishable from the shadows cast by the rocks. But as she squinted, it grew clearer, protruding out of the sand.


    It was moving towards the convoy. Moving fast.


    The trail slithered in the dirt like a gigantic snake. At first she thought it was following them, but she soon realised it was gaining on the vehicles. Maize’s breath caught in her throat. Her heart pounded in her ears as the realization struck. Whatever was heading towards them was going to wipe out the entire party.


    “Oh, no...” she whispered.


    Before she could react, the earth exploded.


    From the cracked surface of the wasteland, a monstrous creature erupted—its body writhing and twisting like a serpent as it shot into the sky. It was worm-like, but far larger than anything Maize had ever imagined. Its skin was pale, slick with mucus, and its massive, circular maw opened wide, revealing rows upon rows of jagged, spear-like teeth.


    It speared itself towards the convoy, letting out an ear-piercing screech.


    “No!” Maize screamed. She tried her hardest to wrestle against Violet’s jerky movement, but the lion bird hybrid wouldn’t budge. She could only watch in horror as the worm descended upon the car’s below, its mouth gaping wide.


    The convoy didn’t stand a chance.


    The worm struck with terrifying speed, its enormous body crashing down onto the cars. The force caused a plume of dust and debris to explode upon impact. Metal screeched as the creature’s weight crushed it, and the beast swallowed the car’s whole, one after the other, into its maw.


    The force of the monster exiting and entering the ground caused a huge whiplash of sand and rocks. Maize couldn’t see anything among the cloak of dust that was cast inadvertently by the unidentified monster.


    Maize felt her stomach lurch. She could barely breathe, her mind struggling to process what she was seeing. It happened so fast, so brutally, that there had been no time to react. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the worm was gone. Its massive body burrowed back into the earth.


    How could this have happened? Some of the finest hunters, including two nobles, wiped out in a second. The face of her childhood friend, Elektra, raced through her mind. Along with two of her peers, she went to school with. A gnawing guilt bit at her conscience. She should’ve died too.


    Maize’s heart raced in her chest, her body trembling. The cars were gone. The party was gone. Swallowed whole by that… thing.


    “Violet…” Maize’s voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. “What… what was that?”


    But Violet was still panicking, her wings flapping furiously as she tried to pull away from the scene. The griffin’s instincts had told her something dangerous was nearby. She had sensed the danger long before Maize had, and now Maize understood why. Whatever that creature was, it was powerful enough to send even Violet into a state of terror. The strength to put fear into a griffin? I’ve never seen a monster like that in any encyclopedia. It could be a four-star danger level. In the back of her mind, she noted the monster’s existence. Could it be even stronger? She shivered at the thought.


    Maize struggled to regain control of her mount, finally steadying the griffin’s flight after several tense moments. She stroked Violet’s trying to calm it down as well as herself, but she was still struggling to comprehend what she had just witnessed.


    She gazed at the desolate land beneath her, the location of the convoy a few moments ago. There was nothing there now, no sign that any vehicles or even a solitary human had been there. As if every hint of their existence had been wholly wiped away. Just a profound gouge in the earth left where the worm had come up.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Maize felt her chest tighten as she realized the entire convoy was gone. Elektra. Sabir. Warren. All of them eaten alive. She felt a lump in her throat, and for just a moment, she let herself consider how hopeless this was. No one, not even Elektra, had a plan for such a scenario. Maize just stood there, mind moving in too many directions at once to settle on what to do.


    “Oh God, no…”


    She had been so focused on controlling Violet, on trying to understand what had spooked the griffin, that she hadn’t seen the danger coming. And now everyone was gone.


    But there was no time to dwell on it. Violet, still agitated and wide-eyed with fear, circled the air, refusing to fly closer to the ground. Maize didn’t blame her. She didn’t want to go near that thing either.


    Maizes’s mind raced as she tried to think of what to do next. She had to stay positive. She came to complete a dungeon expedition, and that’s what she’ll do. All she had to do was keep going forward. That’s all she could do.


    Slapping her cheeks with the palm of her hands, creating red imprints. She channeled all the determination she could muster.


    Someone must have survived. She was sure of it.


    ***


    In one of the rear seats of the armored vehicle, Elektra sat with her legs crossed. Her body shook from the vehicle, jouncing over the rough terrain. Outside, the desolate landscape of the wasteland extended endlessly, with little to see beyond the landscape of sharp rocks and the occasional monstrous skeletal remains that dotted the wasteland. Her eyes, however, were focused on the driver in the front seat. Something about the cloaked figure seemed familiar, but she did not know why. She stayed quiet to not engage Rudiger and Saliba. But she continued to peer at the driver from behind. She noticed a huge briefcase poking out from between their legs.


    Why does he have a briefcase? Elektra thought.


    She sucked her teeth, realizing she was being nosy. She closed her eyes, attempting to focus on the road ahead. Her family, defeating the dungeon—her responsibilities weighed on her heavily. She couldn’t afford to disappoint her father.


    Suddenly, she felt a shift in the air. Her senses detected something was wrong. She opened her eyes, but the darkness persisted, leaving her surroundings unseen. At first, Elektra thought it was just her mind playing tricks, but then the sound of metal groaning and something massive shifting outside snapped her out of her trance.


    “What’s going on?” she hissed, whipping her head around.


    Behind her, Saliba yelled frantically. “What the hell is that?!” His hands clung on to the car door frame, as he stared wide-eyed out the back window.


    Elektra turned sharply to look, her gaze following Saliba’s trembling finger. The blood drained from her face. Something enormous was moving toward them—something far too large to comprehend.


    Rudiger, sitting in the front seat, turned as well. His face paled. “Driver! Step on the pedal! Now!”


    The driver wore large, dark sunglasses, his hood pulled low to obscure his features. Upon Rudiger’s order, he became more animated, causing the hood to slide back ever so slightly. Using the opportunity, Elektra squinted, finally recognizing the man behind the wheel.


    “Frederick?” Elektra gasped. The ancient butler of the Voltaire family, known for his distinctive gray beard and thinning hair, had done an excellent job of disguising himself. Until that moment, Elektra had not understood it was him, hidden under a cloak and sunglasses.


    Frederick didn’t bother to turn his head. His voice was calm but grim. “If we don’t act now, we’re all going to die.”


    The very ground beneath them shuddered. Elektra felt her heart pounding in her chest, a wild drumbeat that matched the sudden rhythm of the worm. Then, with a terrible grinding sound, the massive creature burst up through the ground. It was enormous. Glistening mucus coated its segmented body; its mouth—an unfathomable vacuum lined with rows of teeth—opened wide to engulf the entire convoy.


    Rudiger’s voice broke as he yelled at the driver once more. “What are you waiting for!? GO!”


    The car surged ahead, but the worm was swifter. It closed the distance between them with ease, its vast jaws opening wide and dark, to swallow the entire vehicle.


    “Frederick, do something!” A terrified Elektra shouted as the car rolled.


    The vehicle spun uncontrollably inside the worm’s body, swinging them violently from side to side. Elektra was hanging onto her seat with a death grip. The seat was no safer than the rest of the vehicle amid the writhing chaos. Anything that could have become loose would have done so by now, and all of them were in imminent danger of being crushed in the belly of a monster.


    Elektra couldn’t think with Saliba yelling something incoherent and Rudiger cursing, along with the sound of metal groaning under the pressure.


    Keeping his composure, Frederick directed his speech towards the back of the car. “Get out of the car. Now. If you want to live, use your powers. Full power, hold nothing back.”


    Elektra didn’t require a second invitation. With all her might, she struggled against the car door and practically fell into the warm, wet tunnel that was the worm’s insides. The vile smell clung to her nose, far worse than anything she had ever encountered, and it took all her strength not to gag. The surrounding walls pulsed grotesquely in unison with the creature’s movement.


    Rudiger followed Elektra out, Saliba right behind him. They stumbled and nearly slipped on the slick surface of the worm’s inner walls. The moment her feet hit the ground—or whatever passed for the ground inside the beast—Elektra channeled all the electricity she could muster. Sparks danced across her skin, and she gritted her teeth as she powered up.


    “Do it now!” Frederick bellowed. “Full power! Rudiger, you do it too!”


    Rudiger paused for the briefest of moments. Doubt crept into the back of his mind. He knew how devastating his powers could be at full force. If he used them now, in this confined space, the consequences would be disastrous. Would they even survive the fallout? He looked at Elektra, who was only moments away from fully energized, sparks of electricity dancing across her beautiful, pale skin. Then he looked at the walls of the pulsing worm that confined them.


    If he didn’t act, everyone would die. But everyone might die if he did.


    “Rudiger!” Elektra cried, her voice splitting his indecision apart. “We don’t have time! Do it now!”


    Rudiger called forth his power. The temperature around him plummeted as ice crystals formed in the air. He gathered every bit of energy he possessed and poured it into the fleshy chamber, knowing full well it was the only way out now.


    Elektra and Rudiger unleashed their attacks together. Bolts of searing electricity shot from Elektra’s hands and struck the walls of the worm with violent force. Rudiger’s ice followed, and froze the worm’s slick, undulating flesh wherever it touched. The combined energy tore through the creature’s insides like a bomb, ripping apart the tissue and sending shockwaves through the worm’s body.


    The sounds of desperation and the chaos of an assault that ricocheted everywhere filled the tunnel, striking anybody who hadn’t been fast enough to get out of the way. The other eaten hunters who had been fighting for their lives just moments before were now caught between the crossfire, their bodies left in ashes, some frozen solid, as Rudiger’s ice surged forward towards them, as well as electricity.


    Rudiger’s heart filled with fear when he realized even he might not make it out with the power he had just let loose. Dying to his own powers was a death unbecoming of a noble. Turning toward Elektra, he could barely make out her form in the fog of electric sparks. He had no choice but to steel himself for the inevitable. He could feel the cold of his own ice coming back at him, the certainty of its embrace unmistakable.


    Yet, despite appearances, something impossible occurred.


    Countless bodies manifested around him, appearing almost as if by magic. They were all the same, each a perfect copy of Frederick, right down to the gray beard and serious expression. The Fredericks threw themselves into the path of the oncoming attacks, their bodies taking the full brunt of the energy meant for Rudiger, Elektra, and Saliba.


    Rudiger was taken aback as the clones soaked up the blasts, their forms dissolving upon being struck. The ice and electricity hit them, one after another, with each serving a noble purpose and a valiant last stand, protecting the last few remaining hunters from nearly guaranteed death. Although the noise of Frederick’s clones being eviscerated surrounded him, the ancient warrior’s resolve never wavered. The power of telekinetic cloning. Who would’ve known? Rudiger thought, impressed by the old man’s Esper abilities.


    “Frederick!” Elektra bellowed, comprehending the full measure of what was transpiring. While he possessed a powerful ability, the head butler was still old and past his prime.


    The worm let loose a deafening, unearthly scream, its body convulsing as it tried to deal with the unexpected internal attack. Its insides shuddered, then shot outward. The force of the worm’s expulsion sent them hurtling out of its mouth, like the debris of a furious storm, sent in all directions by the wind. Elektra’s vision blurred, as she felt herself being flung high over a vast, desolate expanse. The wind roared, and for a moment, Elektra felt weightless, but then gravity took over and she plummeted.


    Time seemed to slow as they tumbled back down toward the wasteland, the worm disappearing beneath the earth once more. They hit the ground hard. Elektra felt the impact in every bone of her body as she crashed onto the unforgiving rocks. Pain shot through her, and for a moment, she was certain she had broken something. Her head smacked against the ground, and everything went dark.


    When she opened her eyes, the world was spinning. Blood streamed from her forehead, down her face, and into the sand that cradled her. Her vision swam in and out of focus. The only thing she could hear was the faint hum of electricity still buzzing through the air.


    She couldn’t move. Her body was unresponsive, and the immense pain felt as if iron ingots bound her limbs. All she could do was lay there, staring up at the darkening sky as her consciousness slipped away.


    In her fading vision, she saw Saliba and Rudiger nearby, their bodies crumpled and motionless. Frederick was just behind them, but he appeared to be in way better shape. In his hand, he gripped the briefcase he had taken with him.


    As the darkness closed in, Elektra couldn’t help but wonder how they were going to survive. They were a platter of light snacks for hungry monsters.


    Still, Elektra felt a sense of relief.


    The weight of expectations disappeared, along with her conscience.