With Minki supporting him, Sparrow limped down the tunnels to the Barrows one short step at a time, rasping for breath that’d yet to recover since Kuraku detonated a cloud of explosive ants on his chest.

  Minki asked, voice tight with worry.

  he whispered back.

  Minki wasn’t looking so good herself—her brows and cheeks where shrapnels of her shattered obsidian knife had cut into were still bleeding, and the skin on her palms were just as bloody as his, but they were soldiers of the Attini Empire. This much wouldn’t keep them down. As long as their legs could still walk and their arms could support each other, they could get down to the chasm in the Barrows.

  A crowd of a hundred Worm Mages surrounded them the entire time, walking alongside them, each shooting off with their own burning questions as to what had happened down at the slope—the elders tried their best to ward the younger children away so the two of them could have some space, but when they emerged into the open cavern and came face to face with the chasm, it was a familiar voice who snapped at everyone to quiet down.

  Sparrow glanced briefly around, eyes black-rimmed and weary. It was Utu who’d spoken, with a wet rag pressed over his charred left eye and the triplet brothers trying to pull his arms back.

  Utu choked, before glaring at the two of them, resisting the triplet brothers’ attempts to drag him back up to the village for bed rest.

  Ammu shouted, the eldest of the brothers. Nammu said, the middle brother, whacking Utu over the head with an empty basket.

  Immu growled, the middle brother, dunking an empty basket over Utu’s entire head.

  Utu snapped, and his warping voice tore a hole through the basket, throwing Immu to the ground.

  

  The Elder Worm’s voice reverberated throughout the cavern as Sparrow limped to the edge of the chasm, a physical sound that knocked off their feet. If it weren’t for Minki supporting him with an arm under his shoulder, he would’ve fallen, too—but instead he glared across the other side of the chasm, eyes brimming with cold fury as the giant worms craned their heads to stare at him, their gazes indecipherable.

  he breathed, without turning to look at the younger boy. bring Ninmah back safe and sound.”

  The rushing chatter and the worried whispers and the chaotic arguments around him died down the instant he made his promise, and he felt—even with his eyes staring straight forward—that the only thing Utu did was give him a fierce, fervent nod of trust.

  That, in itself, wasn’t likely a blessing to break whatever tradition he wanted—but with Minki’s help, the two of them took a step forward and warped a combined twenty metres across the chasm, emerging before the tall fields of crystal weeds.

  Immediately, the giant worms around them reared their heads back, letting out unholy, demonic screeches. Their warping voices made his eardrums rumble, but he didn’t let them faze him; he took a second, third, and fourth step forward, Minki supporting him all the way, and eventually, they pushed their way through the fields of crystal weeds to reach the very end of the Barrows.

  The Elder Worm was already waiting for them—not like it could go anywhere being as large as it was—but before he could say anything, it craned its head and opened its mouth, shining two columns of silver light upon them. Invisible weight immediately crashed down upon their shoulders, making Minki’s knees buckle. She almost brought him down along with her, so he tensed every muscle in his arms, his legs, and against the weight to keep her on her feet; their roles were now reversed, but he didn’t mind the exertion on his end.

  She’d supported him thus far, and now, it was his turn to pay her back.

  

  The two columns of light flicked off. The invisible weight lifted off Minki all of a sudden, and she was allowed to fall onto her rear, gasping for breath, but that just meant the Elder Worm could focus on Sparrow—the colossal worm swirled so close around him its crown of teeth was hovering just inches before his face.

  Cold, air billowed out the worm’s mouth, but Sparrow’s glare barely shifted.

  he said slowly.

  

  Sparrow twitched an eye. including Immanu. War would have come to this village regardless of what we do.”

  

  he said plainly.

  –

  

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  he said, a quiver to his voice.

  

  Something in Sparrow went taut—chest, throat, stomach. The Elder Worm noticed his hesitance and pounced on it.

  

  Minki said, her warping voice calm and somehow remaining even.

  The Elder Worm stopped curling around them for a second. The two of them were still standing, surrounded by its colossal body, but no longer did Sparrow feel they were being ‘contained’ in any way, shape, or form.

  Minki raised her head and spoke of a free world.

  she said, her steady voice somehow soothing.

  The Elder Worm’s silence was deafening. Sparrow kept his head low, his chin tucked-in; he cherished the serenity while it lasted.

  Minki continued, drawing a diagonal line in the air.

  

  she said plainly.

  

  she whispered.

  

  Minki looked up, catching the head of the Elder Worm curling past her face, and he froze in place. Then she tilted her head, real confusion in her expression.

  

  The question was strange, and, as such, he tilted his head up at the Elder Worm.

  he said curtly. am here, half-organic, half-inorganic, and I must do what I must as both a weapon of the empire and a Child of Immanu. I believe you are no different from the two of us in that regard.”

  The Elder Worm turned its head slowly.

  Minki cast a soft, befuddled look at him from behind, but he couldn’t turn around and explain right now. His focus was solely on the Elder Worm.

  he said, shaking his head slowly. to believe humanity can still be ‘good’, no?

  So, he reached inside his cloak and held out a broken wooden handle of his rifle.

  he said.

  

  Silence for another good half a minute.

  Then the Elder Worm pried his crown of teeth open, snapping forward at Sparrow’s arm, making him flinch and close his eyes and reel away—and then the Elder Worm retreated after swallowing his broken rifle, the handle bubbling and floating around inside the Elder Worm’s glowing silver blood.

  

  Sparrow’s lips thinned into a line.

  

  He blinked. That sounded… powerful.

  

  This was no request. It was a demand, and Sparrow knew he’d pushed the Elder Worm’s buttons hard enough for long enough. He grabbed Minki by her hood and started dragging her back, cracking his neck, his heart pounding in his ears.

  he said, narrowing his eyes at the tiny, tiny Worm Mages all the way across on the other side of the chasm.

  Minki glanced back at the Elder Worm, biting her lips.

  The two of them pushed through the fields of crystal weeds, and the Worm Mages on the other side jumped and waved at them, most of them immediately warping over to wrap them in a massive hug.

  They must’ve been worried.

  And that wouldn’t do as long as he was here.

  he said, eyes flashing cold as he nodded back at Minki.

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