46
The noise gets louder and, if possible, more horrible as you progress. Turning around is seeming more and more sensible, but you’re here for a reason.
You round a corner and come to a dead stop, Tarquin almost running into you from behind.
Ahead of you, the tunnel widens out into another chamber. And there, in the chamber, so huge that together they almost fill the entire space, are two gigantic worms.
Well, that explains the slime.
Tarquin makes a choked, disgusted sound and the worms must be able to hear or sense it in some way, because they turn toward you—and, suddenly, they’re lunging at you.
Ashur dodges to the left and the larger worm, which glows blue-green, follows him. A maw gapes somewhere near its front end and you can just about see thousands of long, needle-sharp teeth inside.
But you don’t have time to think about that now, because the other worm—a deep red, well-camouflaged against the poorly lit walls of the catacomb tunnels—is heading for Tarquin.