Teryn sighed in relief that his plan had worked, then he let go of the spell and they dropped the last few inches.
Talon looked like he was about to retch, but he said nothing and activated his glow-sword, urging Teryn to do the same. He followed suit, wondering when the next patrol would come for them.
* * * * * * * * * *
Talon looked all around, but the tunnels all looked about the same. There wasn’t much to go off of by sight alone. So he did the only other thing he could think of – he sniffed the tunnels. The queen had a distinctive scent. If he could make it out, they’d find the way onward. He went around to the entrance of each tunnel and took a giant whiff of each while Teryn looked at him dumbfounded.
“This one!” Talon yelled out, pointing at the opening in front of him.
“Are you sure?” The young mage was glaring at him with his hands on his hips.
Talon growled. “Of course I’m sure! The queen is this way. Come on, we have to hurry!”
Teryn still looked doubtful, but he nodded and followed after him.
The two wandered for what felt like hours through the maze of tunnels. Several times, Talon had to stop and sniff out the path forward when they came to more intersections.
Every few minutes, the mage asked him again if he was sure of the direction. Each time, he glowered at the young man and kept going.
The tunnel before them gradually became wider and taller until it was easily three times his own height and wide enough to march a small army through.
“Finally, we’re getting somewhere,” Teryn muttered.
Talon shook his head and kept going, knowing they must be getting close now.
All at once, the tunnel opened up into a massive cavern that towered over their heads. The Maktuul Queen stood in the center of the chamber. She was both glorious and grotesque in her own way. The queen was easily three times as tall as a standard Maktuul, with a giant backside that went so far into the room he couldn’t even make out the far end. She had two giant mandibles that looked to be the size of a small human and two giant antennae that stuck out of the top of her skull. A pair of silken wings graced her back as well. It was like staring at the biggest ant anyone had ever seen.
There by the queen’s side, not five feet in front of her, was an altar with a human strapped into it.
“Valeria!” Teryn called out, rushing forward.
The sound caught the queen’s attention. The creature roared back and raised one of its giant appendages as if to strike out at them.
* * * * * * * * * *
Almost without thinking, Teryn reacted. “Sihg tang fla diung pe!” he yelled, channeling his energy into the megablast spell.
Instantly, a big ball of energy formed in front of his hands and it shot forth, slamming into the queen’s body. The force of the spell knocked him backwards as the shockwave hit both him and the queen.
The next part happened so fast no one was quite sure what happened, only that all that remained of the once massive queen was a bloody, broken mess in the far wall of the chamber.
Teryn ran over to the altar where Valeria was held prisoner and started to undo her bonds. “Valeria!” he cried again, not sure what else to say.
“Oh, thank the Jheriem, it's my saviors, Teryn and Talon, here to rescue me! I had given up all hope,” she replied. She shook a little as she spoke and weaved her head up and down.
“I’m here to save you, alright, but let’s hope this doesn’t happen too many more times,” Teryn teased, walking over to her.
“If you insist,” Valeria shot back. Her eyes gleamed in the dim light.
“Oh, I do.”
Talon growled at them. “Just shut up and cut the ropes so we can leave!”
“Sorry!” the two said in unison.
Teryn took out his glow-sword and cut through the ropes, then he helped Valeria get down from the altar. The two embraced, then they kissed ever so briefly before following Talon back out of the complex.
The trio sped through the halls, occasionally stopping to hack apart a Maktuul warrior, steadily getting closer a side exit. After fifteen minutes or so of wandering, they found it and stepped through.
Outside, they found the Great Dragon was still fighting the Maktuul, mainly by throwing them off the side of the mound with his long, sinuous tail. The magnificent creature seemed to be having fun toying with them.
The Great Dragon spied the three humans out of the corner of his eye and motioned for them to climb on its back with one of its paws. The three of them ran through the army of Maktuul to no avail. The sea of Death Beasts was just too great to pass through.
Right as Talon pulled out his glow-sword again, the three companions felt the heat of flames brush up against them. The Great Dragon had seen their plight and used more of his flames to torch a path through the Maktuul for them.
The humans ran for it, and they barely made it to the Great Dragon before the Maktuul horde could close in again. Seeing that the humans were on board, the Great Dragon took flight, headed for Coontan.
Feeling safe for the first time in days, Teryn collapsed onto the dragon’s back. Valeria put one arm around him and laid down next to him. She kissed him again and he felt like he could conquer the world.
“Now that we’re back together, everything will be fine,” she whispered in his ear.
Teryn relaxed at the sound of those sweet-sounding words and
