Wraith(58)

‘We were assured repeatedly that the citizens remaining in Stirling received weekly rations.’

I laughed bitterly. ‘Sure. We all receive rations – if we’re good.’ I patted my tummy. ‘We get bread which has been bulked out with sawdust and the odd tin of mouldy beans. Maybe, if we’re truly lucky, we’re given half a turnip. We used to get meat but if you pay attention you’ll realise that there aren’t animals round here any more. You might find the odd rat in Marrock’s sewers but there are no horses. No cats. No dogs.’

‘Not everyone is starving.’

‘No. Such is life.’ I shrugged. ‘But don’t try to convince me that you thought everyone in Stirling, regardless of their connections, was fat and glowing and happy. I’m not going to believe you. With respect, Gabriel, you’re not that na?ve and you’re not that stupid.’

‘I have tried to help.’

I smiled sadly. ‘You’ve not tried hard enough.’

He took my hand and squeezed it. ‘You are right. I’ve not.’

At least he didn’t try to plead ignorance or suggest that he’d spent the last three years hassling the government to do more, but I still pulled back my hand. He was smart enough not to reach for it again.

We jogged in silence for several uncomfortable seconds until the awkward atmosphere was interrupted by something far more sinister. At first I didn’t think much of it – it was just an odd prickling on the back of my neck – but Gabriel clearly noticed too and slowed to a walk. A lone starling, perched on top of a nearby tenement, flew off with a startled squawk. I didn’t know what was wrong but the air didn’t feel right.

I stopped moving and realised that there was an odd vibration underneath my feet. Gabriel stopped too, a small line creasing his brow. ‘Have the Gneiss goblins ever tried any other kind of bombardment?’

I shook my head. ‘Just air missiles.’ I gnawed on my bottom lip. ‘You don’t think they’d be tunnelling underneath the city, do you?’ It would be one way to get past the barricades without anyone noticing.

‘No.’ Gabriel looked unhappy. ‘It would be strategic suicide. If anyone noticed they were down there, they’d be sitting ducks.’

The earth rumbled, shaking this time with tiny undulations. ‘You feel that, right?’ I said to him. ‘I’m not imagining things?’

Just then, a small fissure opened up by my toes. It was only a crack in the tarmac but it was enough to make me yelp and spring backwards. Unfortunately it wasn’t the only one; as I scrambled back onto the pavement, hundreds of little cracks appeared, a gigantic spider’s web of destruction forming at our feet. A loud rumbling noise rent the air and, instead of gently shaking, the ground began to sway violently.

It was the smell that really gave it away. It was like guano with an edge of blue cheese; it was a familiar, distasteful scent but I’d never experienced it so strongly. More cracks appeared in the walls of the buildings around us; their foundations were crumbling before our eyes.

‘A Mongolian Death Worm,’ Gabriel yelled over the racket.

I nodded, my blood chilling. ‘A freaking massive one.’ I clutched his arm to stop myself from falling. ‘We have to get it. The others are underground – if it comes across them before they get back to the surface…’ The Worms were subterranean creatures. Up here they were vulnerable but underground they were king.

‘Agreed.’ His eyes scanned ahead. ‘Back there near the shops. I’ll force it up at that point.’

I breathed out. ‘Okay. Give me thirty seconds to get behind it so it’s cornered.’ I sprinted forward without waiting for his answer. I heard him yell out something about being careful and rolled my eyes. This wasn’t my first encounter with a Death Worm though it was the first time I’d not been in shadow form.

Despite their name and predatory nature, they were fairly easy to kill once you forced them out into the open. With sightless eyes because of their underground existence, and soft bodies that could be penetrated easily with a sharp weapon, they were more of a nuisance than anything – unless you were part of an unsuspecting group travelling underground with children and injured people. I’d never seen one larger than the size of a small car but, given what was happening under our feet, this particular Death Worm was far larger.

I scooted towards a crossroads and whirled round. Gabriel was standing stock still, his arms outstretched and his palms turned towards the sky. Even from this distance, I could hear him chanting, his deep voice echoing down the road towards me.

The ground continued to rumble before heaving open with a loud crack that reverberated under my feet. I only just managed to stay upright. The beige head of the Death Worm suddenly reared up in front of me.

It was massive. Even though the fissures in the ground had prepared me for its size, I was taken aback. The rotting smell almost overpowered me but it was the Worm’s vast mouth swinging towards me, with its rows of tiny sharp teeth, that really affected me. Imagine the mouth of a great white shark multiplied at least threefold. The Worm’s jaws hung open as it snapped and I only just managed to throw myself out of the way. I heard Gabriel shout again from behind its rearing body but I couldn’t focus on what he was saying. Right now all I could do was worry about myself.

Breathing through my mouth, I rolled right and forced myself to calm down. I’d dealt with Death Worms before; this creature might be bigger but that didn’t mean it was invincible. As it sensed my movement and its head careered down towards me again, I leapt to my feet and ran, sailing upwards and round until I was behind it. Then I twisted in mid-air so that I landed on its back.