Wraith(60)

Breathing hard, I tried again but the Death Worm wasn’t giving up. This time, it started to roll; if it couldn’t throw me off, it would use its bulk to squish me flat. The Worm flipped and darkness descended as its body covered me. I punched my way through, feeling for the artery and pulling it upwards. As the Worm’s body crashed down on top of me, scalding hot liquid gushed out of it. The Worm had scant seconds left – but then, so did I.

The weight of its body pressed me down. With hard cement against my back and the flesh of the heavy Worm on top of me, I could no longer breathe. I tried to squeeze my head to the left to gulp in air but it was no good. The damn thing was too heavy.

Its body convulsed, deep in sudden death throes, but that didn’t help me, pinned as I was. I couldn’t see anything. I braced myself to separate my shadow; it was just possible there was enough of a gap through which my wraith form could slide out and shove the Worm away.

I squeezed my eyes shut then abruptly I was free. The Worm’s body rolled off me. Covered in slimy gunk and warm blood, gasping for air, I used my legs to push myself to safety.

Standing at the side, with crossed arms and a smug expression, Gabriel smiled at me. ‘You’re welcome.’ There was a nasty gash on his cheek where the Worm’s teeth must have slashed him but otherwise he appeared unharmed. He was also annoyingly clean.

Pulling myself to my feet, I shook off the worst of the dripping blood and scowled. I smelled like a sewer. Worse. As something disturbingly viscous slid down my forehead and threatened to blind me, I used my sleeve to wipe my face. Yuckity yuck yuck.

‘I think you’ll find,’ I said with a huff, ‘that I was the one who killed it.’

Gabriel’s smile widened. ‘You did. You were fabulous.’

Somehow his praise made me even more uncomfortable. ‘I’ve never seen a Worm that big before,’ I muttered.

He walked over to me. ‘Indeed.’ He turned to eye the Worm’s corpse, which was lying flaccidly against the gigantic fissure it had created. ‘But at least it’s proved good for something.’

I couldn’t possibly see what. ‘I’ve tried Worm meat before,’ I said with a sniff. ‘It’s inedible.’

Something dark and horrified flickered in Gabriel’s eyes before he masked it. ‘That’s not what I meant,’ he said stiffly. ‘Death Worms of this size live far below the surface. They don’t tend to come this close to us unless they have a very good reason.’ He gave me a meaningful glance. ‘The goblins must have driven it out.’

‘Why on earth would they do that?’ I said, without thinking. A Death Worm would kill goblins just as quickly as it would kill the rest of us. Then I realised what he was referring to. ‘They’re drilling underground,’ I breathed. ‘They think the Stone of Scone is buried somewhere.’

He nodded. ‘It would make a lot of sense.’ He grinned suddenly. ‘But they’re not as smart as they think they are.’

A guttural voice sounded behind us. ‘Who?’ Ghrashbreg enquired. ‘Who is not as smart as they think?’

Oh shit. Bring back the damned Worm.





Chapter Fifteen


‘Well, that was a conveniently timed arrival,’ Gabriel said, although the friendly smile on his lips offset his sarcasm.

The Dark Elf had a point. I wondered whether the Filit lord had deliberately hung back, watching our fight from a safe distance and hoping that the Death Worm would win the day. It would be a convenient way to dispose of the pair of us without having to lie to the Prime Minister about how his Envoy expired. Ghrashbreg had to be suspicious about what Gabriel was up to by now. Not to mention that Gabriel had supposedly told him I was dead.

Regardless of what Ghrashbreg was really thinking, he’d brought a veritable goblin army with him. They stood silently at his back, maintaining relaxed-looking positions that were anything but.

‘Indeed,’ the goblin Lord murmured, matching Gabriel’s smile. ‘Although if you’re suggesting that we deliberately waited until you’d killed this gruesome creature, then I’m disappointed.’ He bowed in my direction. ‘Saiya Buchanan. I’m pleased to see you alive and … well.’ His slitted eyes roved up and down my gunk-covered body. With any luck it would encourage him to keep a safe distance from me. ‘Tell me. Did anyone else escape from the Tolbooth with you? You dashed in there with undue haste. Generally it’s considered safer to run away from collapsing buildings rather than running into them.’

I wondered whether the desk goblin had managed to escape for long enough to tell him about Erica Quiddle. I hoped not. I shuddered deliberately and met Ghrashbreg’s gaze head-on. ‘I couldn’t help myself. The thought of all those people trapped inside…’ My voice trailed off. ‘Alas, I couldn’t save a single soul before the walls starting collapsing around us.’ I bit my lip. ‘Why have the Gneiss goblins started bombing us again?’ I injected a pained entreaty into my words, as if I trusted the Filit Lord to offer an appropriate answer.

Ghrashbreg shrugged as if the matter were of little consequence. ‘Goodness only knows. Gneiss goblins are vicious bastards as you well know, having been trapped in this city for three long years. They have no care for the well-being of others.’ He displayed his teeth. ‘Unlike us.’