While the Wyrm was no master swordsman, the sheer force and speed behind its attacks was absurd. There were no openings, no opportunities. All Ezra and Rion could do was run, blurs of red and yellow chasing them the way a cat would a mouse.
"What—" Rion dodged. "Do—" He ducked beneath another swing. "We do!?" he just managed to shout.
"No clue!" Ezra grunted as he launched another Nail at the Wyrm, only for it to be swatted aside with a clang, slamming into the cavern wall.
Rion clicked his tongue and hopped back. "Do you think you could hold him off for, like, ten seconds?"
Ezra glanced at the screeching Wyrm charging toward them, the massive Nail clutched tightly in its claw.
"No," he admitted. "But I'll try!"
Ezra lunged forward, threw a Nail upward, and drove it up into the ceiling. Even the Wyrm looked confused, until there was a rumble and a rain of stone came crashing down from above, burying the beast beneath an avalanche of rock. It shrieked in shock, batting away chunks of rock with its Nail, but not before several more boulders slammed into its head and back.
Rion chuckled. "That's my captain. Always thinking on his feet..."
Now, floating above his head, was a massive sphere of water nearly ten feet across.
"Take this!"
He hurled it forward. Just as the Wyrm tore its way free from the rubble, the water sphere crashed into it, exploding into a cloud of steam. A satisfying hiss echoed through the cavern as the molten glow of the Wyrm's Nail fizzled out. The bright red scales coating its body faded.
"Not so dangerous now, are you?" Ezra asked.
The Wyrm fixed them with a focused stare, muscles tensing as though it were about to lunge.
Instead—
It hurled its Nail backward.
Straight at Maria.
And she couldn't use Force to dodge!
Rion's eyes widened, but Ezra was already moving.
"SHITTTT!"
Whilst in motion, he fired a Nail of his own. The Wyrm's Nail flew closer and closer to Maria until, at the last possible instant, Ezra's caught up, and the two Nails collided, bursting off each other in a shower of sparks.
Ezra grinned, but his smile quickly faltered once he saw the Wyrm's massive claw looming over him.
Another trap.
This thing was smart!
Ezra winced.
He had no time to dodge. He filled his body with Force, prepared to take the hit, when—
An unfamiliar melody echoed through the cavern.
A combination of notes neither Ezra nor Rion had ever heard before.
Time seemed to slow as Ezra watched the Wyrm's claw slam into the ground just to his right, missing him by inches.
He didn't hesitate.
Quickly, he hammered a Nail up, straight through the Wyrm's neck.
The beast stumbled backward with a pained growl, snarling and gasping as it clawed desperately at its neck.
"What was that!?" Ezra asked with a laugh.
"A new song!" Maria replied. "I wasn't sure it'd work, so I didn't want to use it before, but—"
She tilted her head towards the Wyrm. "Y'know."
Ezra chuckled then nodded. "Thanks. You saved me."
He paused before grinning.
"Let's try it again."
"But—"
"Trust me. It'll be fun."
Maria could only sigh as she prepared to go along...
—
After yanking the Nail from its throat, the Wyrm sluggishly made its way toward them. Then, in an instant, like a switch being flipped, it burst into motion, its eyes practically glowing red with fury.
Ezra answered by planting another Nail into the ground.
A thick smokescreen erupted.
Without hesitation, the Wyrm charged in, that strange song still echoing throughout the cavern. It slowly scanned the swirling smoke before—
There! It saw Ezra...
Immediately, the beast rammed its claw down only to find it... impaled?
Confused, it looked closer.
What it had mistaken for Ezra wasn't Ezra at all.
It was an upturned Nail.
Before the Wyrm could react, Ezra burst from its left, ready to strike again.
But the Wyrm resisted...
It clenched its nail-pierced claw and swung back.
Caught off guard, Ezra didn't have enough time to dodge as the Nail scraped across his chest, hot red blood flying into the air.
(And thus, Lost Keep's adventure continues...)