The Worm That Wasn't

by Mike Maddox

"Miss Carleaf, you need to be absolutely and completely certain of this, because if you are wrong, then what I am about to do will get us all into a great deal of trouble."

  "I'm sure," said Leah. "This is the thing we saw last night. Gentle Worm. Right there."

  "The Gentle Worm is poisonous, Miss Carleaf. It delivers a complex poison through its bite. It also has a less-venomous sting on its tail, which is fearsome enough on its own." Grefno gazed at the image, slowly shaking his head. "But the very worst thing about a Gentle Worm is that it is covered in a toxic coating of venomous slime, which renders it utterly inedible. The creature is a savage and ferocious predator, which cannot be eaten by any other creature on the planet."

  "But if it's in the well," said Leah. "then it's been in the water supply."

  "Yes. I believe we have found the source of the illness, at least. The toxic slime given off by the beast must have found its way into the water supply."

  "The Head Gardener. He changed the irrigation routes to the garden. He saw the worm himself. I know because he left a message." Leah felt hope surge within her. "So if you can find this beast and capture it, then can you create an antidote?"

  "If we find the beast, yes. I can create a serum that undoes the damage caused by drinking water contaminated by the worm."

  "But how did it get here?" said Leah, all fear now gone, as she found herself wrapped up in the mystery. "If they don't live here, then how did it get here?"

  "I think it is being used as a weapon, Leah. There are all kinds of warfare," he said, counting them off on his fingers. "Psychological, conventional, nuclear, biological, magical, botanical," and here he turned to face her, "And zoological."

  "But why now?"

  "I don't know. But this worm is not a native of these parts. My guess is someone placed it here for a reason."

  "If you say so. But again, why now?"

  Grefno sighed. "Leah, there was a fluctuation in the magical fields surrounding the Castle last night. The magical energy that sustains us, emanating from the Mage, stopped. For a whole thirty seconds. That may not seem long to you, but had we been in a state of war, then it would have been enough of a window to allow for our total destruction through magical means, had our enemies noticed it. And there are one or two still bearing huge grudges from the last war. Tell me, is there anyone here you can trust? Anyone in the barracks?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean what I say. I need you alive, Miss Carleaf. Is there anyone here you can trust with your life in my absence?"

  "Yes. Wallas. Old guy out front? He was a friend of my father."

  "I know Wallas very well. And you are right to trust him. If at all possible, don't let him out of your sight, and make sure he has his gun with him at all times. He is an excellent shot. Follow any instruction he gives you, to the letter."

  "Why? You think someone will come after me?"

  Grefno paused. "Miss Carleaf, unless I am mistaken, we are all being played for fools in some far deadlier game than worm hunting. I will send help as soon as I can. I am off to tell news of your worm to General Vale, who is quite possibly the only man in the country right now with the power to stop this madness that we seem determined to march straight into. Should anything happen to me, you will need to go to General Vale yourself."

  "What? Sorry, I work in the Gardens, how the hell am I supposed to bend the ear of a general?"

  "He may not listen to you, but he will listen to Wallas. Talk to no one, trust no one, except Wallas."

  "Why is he so important? Wallas, I mean?" asked Leah, suddenly suspicious. "Why should I trust him just on you word?"

  "I fought alongside Sergeant Wallas long ago," said Grefno. "He was a good soldier. As was your father. I shall be back soon as I can, Leah."

  With that Grefno was gone. Leah slumped on her bed, suddenly tired, wishing that she could sleep.

  Sergeant Wallas stiffened to attention as Grefno and his men came down the corridor towards him.

  "Please Wallas, you do not need to salute me," said Grefno, placing a hand on the old soldier's shoulder. "We have been through too much for that."

  "It's not the person, but the office," said Wallas, simply.

  "And you are worth far more than the office, my friend. I owe everything to you. You know this."

  "Begging your pardon, but Miss Carleaf? Leah, I mean. What's going on? She was in the well, breaking curfew, and going on about worms. I mean, we all like a drink now and then, but the middle of a curfew isn't the best time. Especially with the sickness and all."

  "Miss Carleaf has seen something extraordinary and is, as a result, a key witness to solving the mystery of the sickness. If I am right then her life may be in real danger. As things stand, a cell may yet be the safest place for her. However, if things get complicated, I will need you to protect her. Do you understand me, Sergeant?"

  "As always, Sir."

  "Good. I need to go to the Castle and organize our affairs. As soon as I'm sure it's safe, I want Leah Carleaf brought up to the Castle. We also have to switch off the water supply to the village and the Castle at once. Whatever else happens, don't let anyone drink the water. We need to tell the villagers that the illness is being transmitted by a complex poison in the water."

  The two old friends nodded to each other, and then Grefno was gone, his retinue scouring for signs of danger as always.

  "How do you know him then?" said a young officer, pointing to Grefno.

  "Battle of Misbone Creek. Two hundred of us went into the swamp. Three of us came out. We had to carry Grefno, mind. He'd fried his brains on stimulants trying to find a safe path." Wallas felt the old wounds ache as the memory returned. "It was the plants, you see? Botanical weapons stuffed full of magic. Crack a man's limbs and suck the marrow straight out. Dreadful thing to see. Now, I'm standing here and not moving from outside this cell, so why don't you run along and get me a bite to eat, lad?"

  With a shrug, the young soldier went off to the kitchen, hoping that one day he'd have stories of his own to bore younger men with.

  In the kitchen, he washed his hands in the regulation manner and began to put together a plate of cold food from the store. Some cheese, some bread, and some herbs. It was while he was running these under the tap that he caught sight of something moving through the thick window. The windows were arrow-slit thin and made of a glass would take the impact a mortar shell without breaking. The soldier looked again, wondering why, if someone were mooching around outside, it didn't set the sensors off.

  Picking up the tray of food, he went out into the corridor, and instead of going back to where Wallas was guarding the cell, he turned instead towards the guardroom.

  It was empty.

  "Where is everybody?" he called. "Someone outside? Come on boys, Wallas will have your nuts for marbles if he catches you away from the post. What's going on?" At the door to the courtyard, his eyes strayed to the communications panel on the wall by the door. It was mangled, wires hanging out. He was still looking at the comms unit a split second later when the door opened and the beast sprang forwards.

  Screaming, he lifted the tray in front of him, fending off the creature as it lunged for him. Scrabbling backwards he hurried out the guardroom, the worm in pursuit.

  "Wallas!" he shrieked, "Help!"

  In desperation the officer hit the fire alarm. At once sprinklers opened up. The soldier ran down the corridor, the creature slithering after him. As he turned the corner, he ran straight into Wallas, unclipping his gun at the sound of the commotion.

  "It's behind me!" he shouted.

  "Drop!" shouted Wallas.

  The soldier hit the floor as Wallas took aim, here was nothing there. The corridor behind the soldier was empty.

  "What happened?" shouted Wallas, his gun darting from side to side as he tried to find a target.

  "Worm, Sergeant! Monster, it is. It looks like it's killed the others."

  "Where was it? This creature?"

  "It was outside in
the courtyard. It must have got the lads when they went outside for a smoke."

  Wallas stayed motionless, his finger on the trigger, knuckles white.

  "Now, I'm going to stay here and shoot the arse off anything that comes round the corner. I suggest you go and get Miss Carleaf out of the cell and get her to safety. The Sage who was here told me to keep her alive, and leaving her alone with creatures that have just wiped out my boys doesn't seem to follow that to the letter."

  The soldier backed towards the cell. "Miss? We need to get you out of here." He said, entering the cell.

  Leah was cowering in a corner, worried by the shouting from outside.

  "Why? What are you going to do?"

  Sergeant Wallas' voice came from down the corridor. "It's alright, Leah, do as Private Shaule says. We've got ourselves a problem and I need to get you away from here to somewhere safer."

  "I'm in a prison cell that's probably been designed to withstand an air strike! I thought that was safe enough?"

  "Tell her what you saw, Shaule."

  Leah turned to the solider. "What? What's happening?"

  "Great big worm? About thirty feet long, ugly bastard. Lots of teeth, pointy tail."

  Following the soldier out into the corridor, Leah reached over to the wall and detached a fire extinguisher. The soldier looked at her, quizzically.

  "Better than nothing," she said.

  Wallas appeared down the corridor, his handgun replaced with an impulse rifle, something more substantial and packing more firepower. He had another weapon slung over his shoulder, which he handed to Shaule. "I suggest we run for it," he said. "As soon as I open the main door, we run forward. I'll release a volley to the left, you spray the right, Shaule. Leah, you keep in the middle. Whatever happens to anyone else, you keep running. On my mark. One, two, three!" The door hissed open and the three figures sprinted through into the guardroom, Wallas and Shaule letting loose bursts of impulse fire. Still running they hurtled through the now open door to the courtyard.

  There was nothing there. Wallas kept his weapon pressed to his shoulder, scouring the rooftops and the perimeter fence. "Right, here's the plan. You take Miss Carleaf here, and make for the village. Try and get her to somewhere safe. The inn's usually a safe bet. I'm going to try and get to the Castle to raise the alarm."

  "The Sage, Grefno? He said I was supposed to stick to you like glue. I really think we should stick together," said Leah. "Like glue."

  "So do I, Miss. But we need to keep you safe, and we need to get help from the Castle. I think taking you with me is too risky, and so the safest thing is for the two of you to try and find what refuge you can in the village. I think this thing was sent to kill you. I think you saw something when you were in the well. Something that they didn't want you to see, whoever they are. Now go. Go now, Leah."

  With a nod to Wallas, Leah and Shaule ran off towards the village, eyeing every tree and bush as they went for signs of trouble. Wallas covered them with his impulse rifle until they were out of sight, and then set off towards the Castle.

  Wallas' thumb brushed the safety catch on his weapon. He knew he was capable of killing another man, so a beast would be easy, if only he could get it in his sights.

  At the junction with the main road Wallas stopped to get his breath back and work out some kind of plan. Leah and Shaule should be able to reach the Inn easily enough, and would hopefully raise the alarm from there.

  The outer perimeter wall of the Castle had a gatehouse. It was surrounded by powerful spells, and bristled with arcane energy. As he ran towards it, Wallas felt the hairs on his arms and neck prickle, as they began to rise. Deciding it would be a bad time to be mistaken by the sentries for an armed madman and shot, he slung his weapon over his shoulder and slowed down to a fast walk. A hundred yards from the gatehouse he began to get cross with the guards on duty for not challenging him. At fifty yards he was mentally composing the dressing down he would give them when he confronted them. At ten yards, he realised that something was very wrong and unslung the weapon from his shoulder, his finger covering the trigger.

  "Guardroom!" He called out. "Guardroom to the gate! Friend approaching."

  There was no reply. Again he called out. "I say again, friend approaching!"

  Nothing.

  Wallas advanced slowly, viewing everything through the sights of the weapon.

  He entered the guardroom looking for signs of trouble. It was inconceivable to his mind that the worm had reached the outer wall of the Castle without being seen, but all the same it paid to be wary.

  A magical picture hung in mid-air, showing the Castle layout. He brushed it aside and opened up a new channel. A blue uniformed Castle guard swam into view. He looked at Wallas with some surprise.

  "Castle Control. Go ahead, Gate Nine?"

  "Castle Control, this is Sergeant Wallas. The post is deserted, repeat. I am armed and holding the position, awaiting further instructions, over."

  "You're saying they've deserted their post, Sergeant?"

  "Saying nothing of the sort. But whatever's going on, they're not here." Wallas stopped, suddenly alert to the sound of movement from outside. "Didn't you think it strange that you hadn't heard from them recently? It's been a while since I had to pull guard duty, but we had to check in every twenty minutes back in my day."

  "The comms have been on and off all day. One minute they're up, the next they're down. No idea what's happening. We've got people looking at it now. I'm sending a squad down now, sergeant, they'll be with you in five minutes."

  "Advise you cancel that order. Whatever this is about, it could be that they're trying to get you to open the main gate. Given what's happened here I'd say that wasn't a good idea."

  "... Are you asking for quarantine?"

  Wallas edged towards the door, never taking his eyes from his sights.

  "Repeat, are you requesting quarantine? Sergeant, is there any sign of the guardroom detail? Any sign at all?"

  "Nothing. They've just gone." Wallas slowly edged away from the screen, his eyes on the door, the weapon pressed firmly into his shoulder. "What's your name, soldier?"

  "Mykaze."

  "Right then, Mykaze, here's what we're going to do. You're going to contact your duty officer at once, and tell him that we have a dangerous beast outside the Castle wall. Under no circumstances are you to let anyone in or out until we're sure the coast is clear."

  "Done," said the soldier, manipulating data buds floating in front of him.

  "Secondly," said Wallas, "I need a message carried through to one of the Sages. Yes, I know it's unorthodox, but believe me he'll want to be informed. Contact the Sage Grefno, and tell him that Sergeant Wallas would like a word, urgent like."

  "Really? What, I just send that message off, and he'll get back to me?" He laughed. "Sages don't do that."

  "This one will. You need to send it on code Auburn 72. Just that. Sent to the office of the Sage Grefno."

  Putting the gun to his shoulder Wallas edged his way around the door, fearing the worst. The worm had killed the men in the gatehouse, of that much he was certain. But how had it just vanished again? Furthermore, why had it not attacked him? And if he was safe, for the moment at least, did that mean that Leah was now in trouble?

  Wallas backed slowly into the room, pulled up a chair facing the door and waited.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  "You want us to do what?" The Mayor stood in front of Leah, his face white and hands balled into fists on his hips.

  "I said that we need to arm ourselves. We need to find this beast and either kill it, or else capture it until it can be transported away from here safely."

  "And why in the fifty-nine buggering hells would we want to do that? Why would we want to go out there and do a thing like that?"

  The meeting was not going entirely as well as Leah had hoped, all things considered. On making her way to the village, she had ran to the market square and had rung the alarm bell, used only in times of national d
istress and for the occasional emergency wedding. One by one, people had opened windows and peered out warily. One or two had armed themselves, fearing the worst.

  During the war, there had been established protocols for use in an emergency, and many of those who had been air raid wardens or civil defence volunteers found themselves falling back into well rehearsed routines at the sound of the alarm. The children of the town were gathered together and led away to the village shelter, a large underground bunker with a heavy iron door. One or two others began digging out their old equipment for use in emergencies. Axes, shovels and blankets were found and carried outside, although many preferred to wait in their own homes until they knew for certain what was going on.

  Calling from street to street, Leah and Shaule had summoned a large crowd of villagers to the Inn.

  "Look, I'll try again," Leah said. "There's this thing in the well. It's a sort of worm, a great big monster. It's called a Gentle Worm, and it shouldn't be here."

  "Bloody right it shouldn't be here," muttered a red-faced farmer. "Who brought it here anyway? Was it you?"

  "What? No it wasn't!" She blustered, trying to make them see sense. "Look, the worm is almost certainly the cause of the sickness, according to one of the Sages. I mean, it's a bit too much of a coincidence isn't it? Sodding great beast roaming the streets while we all go down with a mystery illness? Which reminds me! Don't drink the water. It's poisoned. Best if you stick to bottled drinks."

  A small woman in glasses held up her hand. "Excuse me? Why don't the militia take care of it? Isn't that what they do? We have enough of them in the barracks, after all. Why don't we get them to go and shoot it?"

  Leah looked over at Private Shaule. "Everyone at the barracks is dead. All of them. The worm killed them. I made it here to warn you. Captain Krillan, wherever he is, will hopefully be here as soon as Sergeant Wallas can get word to him. In the meantime we arm ourselves, barricade the village and hold the thing off until the army get here. If we put people on the rooftops, and block the roads, shutter all windows we can turn the town square into a fortress."