“Lookat me!”He emerged into an open space of the courtyard, surrounded by brokenskulls and crumbled boulders.“Look at me!”
The wyrm bent itself down, its ring of mandibles beginning towrithe, its bed of teeth undulating around a flexing tongue.Noxious breathstruck him like a storm.Isaac knew, from his studies, that the wyrm possesseda network of fine hairs between the scales of its carapace, all of whichfunctioned as a shell of transmitters.To the sandwyrm, his shouting was like ablaze of light in the darkness, something it felt across its entire body.Hehoped it would be enough to drown the stampede of fleeing pirates.
“Comeon!I’ve faced bigger than you!”
The wyrm chuffed, like a clap of thunder.Another breath roaredacross the courtyard, blowing his robes, watering his eyes.With an alarmingamount of dexterity, the creature reared back, tensing itself for a strike.
Isaacrushed through the mnemonics.
Just asit widened its mouth, he pointed his finger, firing a burst of sound directlydown its throat.A shower of blood erupted from the maw.The sandwyrm reeledback, spraying an arc of green viscera across the rib cage above.The groundtrembled and broke as the dragon flailed, blinded by the noise.When itscreamed, the buildings of the necropolis trembled and shook.
Zariawas grabbing him again.“Isaac, you fucking twit!”
“What?”
“Run!”
“Youwere supposed to run!”
“Whythe fuck—”
The wyrm roared again.
By now,it had caught itself, its senses returning, like a man momentarily blinded bythe sun.More of the segmented body slithered from the earth.It reared itsmouth again, its snarl dripping with blood and teeth.
“Shit,”Isaac said.
All theother times Isaac had faced a sandwyrm, he had managed to scare them away.Allanimals avoided risk, where possible.Most predators would not injurethemselves to secure a tiny meal.But, of course, this was different now,because the singing skulls had convinced the dragon that a rival wasencroaching on its territory.It was not peckish.
It wasangry.
It waswilling to fight.
Thesandwyrm tensed, unleashed a colossal roar, and shot itself forward.
Forsuch a massive creature, it struck with incredible speed.Isaac fired anotherburst of sound, his aim panicked.It struck the wyrm on the roof of its skull,the sandy carapace cracking like glass, and the creature flinched away,diverting its path, smashing through the debris field of skulls and dirt like alog rolling through a garden.Destruction rained out on the city beyond.
Secondslater, it roared, launching another attack.
Isaacfired again.
Hemissed.
“Fuck!”
Thewyrm flooded across the stone, moving with a terrifying swiftness, and the onlything that saved Isaac’s life was Zaria yanking him bodily off his feet,throwing him like a heavy doll.He crashed to the floor.The wyrmthundered ahead, rushing like a snake, its teeth gnashing the air, its massivesize leaving a furrow in the ground large enough to moat a castle.Windscreamed where it passed.
Zariafell down, knocked over by the pressure.
Asecond later, the wyrm coiled up, even more of its body gorging out from theearth, trailing its segments across the ground like a messy spool of rope.Itwas walling their escape.It was sensing their true position.
Slabberfell from its jaw.
WhenZaria moaned, it locked its sightless eye on her.
“Hey!”Isaac shouted.
The wyrm struck.Isaac ran ahead, casting wind, locking the gustinto a concentrated tunnel.The sudden hurricane caught the wyrm in itsoutstretched mouth, splitting the wounded flesh even wider, though the beastwas barely slowed—by now, it was bracing through the pain, every injury onlydriving it further into rage.Its body slammed into the ground.The writhingmouth continued ahead, slithering over stone like a skimmer over sand.Theforce of his hurricane was only slowing it down.
