This would be her last stand, Venom could already tell that all four of them were about to die. As Wake threw a rock and the creature seemingly ground it into dust. Venom had never encountered something quite so terrifying, the horror was enough to break her mind somewhat. She accepted that she was on death’s doorstep, however she wasn’t about to lay down and die either. The worm vibrated and squirmed, sending the wolves scattering.

Corbie took the opportunity to be heroic and charged the worm, instructing the rest of them to run. There was nowhere to run to, however. Stuck between a rock… and a hard place. "There is nowhere to run to. Die facing your foe, instead of being slain in retreat.” She mustered up as inspirational a speech as she could hearten before launching her own attack at the worm. She coiled her limbs and leapt as his as she could, hopefully avoiding deadly jaws as sharp claws and teeth sunk into dirt covered hard flesh.


"Venom"

Surprise plain on Wake's face as the beast chews up the rock with incredible efficiency, he needs... he needs to stew. To cook on an idea, because there has to be something here. While Corbie implores them to run, Venom has a point-- there's nowhere to run to. While Wake usually prefers to run from his problems, it didn't feel like an option here. Through the fog of laudanum, Wake thinks he's onto something.

"We gotta bait the fucker into the walls. If it can burst through rock like that, then we can use it to batter a hole so we can escape." Was he usually one to take initiative? No. But this time... shit, it was crazy, but maybe it would work. They needed a one worm battering ram, and Corbie seemed intent on letting the bastard focus her down. Dealing with it loose on the surface was better than dealing with it down here. Taking away home field advantage from the wormy boy (girl?) should be at the top of their list. Shit, once they're topside, they can also just run. Either is fine.

WAKE UP

Exposed “Artio” Lebraid Truthfully, if Lebraid had of known what was going to happen, she would never have come -- the worm’s cross-stitched pupil suddenly bursts open, slugging the ore whole -- and with it came a shingly, gruff, granulate squelch plagued by olid, sulfuric smells. It’s wet, meaty body lunged at the group, muscles flexing in avoidance of its spinose weaponry. Billows of dust seeded the air, blanched nebula’s bracing a repugnant glare as defences were ironclad; unpredictable herself, predicaments like these nettled a frenzy in the pits of her gut. There was no time to waste, and nowhere to go. A bottomless, gory growl hulled past gaping jowls, purposefully ignorant to orders. She would not regale to a stranger’s plea, of course –– albeit, with dyad launches made, suggestions to use it as a battering ram seemed more, well, feasible. Lebraid may be an estranged, sordid and erratic hellion, but that did not mean she was imbecilic, nor naive to the perils they had yet to see. If it be so, that is. She’d move in-front of the gap from before, jostled jacket jerking in porous pain, magnitude, a means to get the fuck of here as she seized a rock from the crag. Like the boy, she’d attempt to hurl it at the worming beast, hoping to balk its attention; if successful, perhaps having it come this way will stage an opportunity. Mania kindling, it was kept at bay, for now. Action. | “Speech.” | Skill. “Wrong me once, I’ll kill you twice.” Template by Raine <3

The worm showed no mercy as it lunged toward the wolves, but they were equally as merciless, attacking once again with a vengeance.

The worm lunged and the first wolf to return the gesture was Corbie. Her jaws seized around one of the fleshy petals, a bitter substance oozing from the fresh puncture holes into the alpha woman's mouth. Lower down, Venom latched onto a segment of loamy midbody. Exposed tossed a rock from a distance, thunking on the glossy surface of the beast's head.

The worm flung itself upwards, then downwards into the ground, shaking the wolves free. Wake was in its direct path as it slammed down and in his attempt to escape sure death, his back left ankle was caught, crushing against the ground with a numbing crunch and an odd angle.

The worm reared again, undeterred, and screeched in a loud, rumbling vibrato that shook the cave. Now it was angry, and only the wolves were to blame.

(Corbie finds an elixir of agility. It has been added to your OOC account.
Exposed finds a Post-Acceptance Minor Mutation Pass. It has been added to your OOC account.)

Venom managed to grasp hold of the creature, had she not been so desperate she would have been highly uncomfortable with the texture in her mouth. This was a small misfortune considering she would likely perish fighting the behemoth. Though her faith was lost there was a glimmer of hope. Before the monster could attack Wake he offered the group a brilliant idea. Use themselves as bait to have it smash open a tunnel for them to escape out of.

The once Empress did her best to do damage before releasing the worm once more. She couldn’t help Wake as his leg was smashed, but at least he still had his life. She took his place instead, wanting the worm to begin to burrow this way. She just hoped she was light enough on her paws that she could dodge its villainous attack. Perhaps they would get out of this alive?

"Venom"

Corbie's jaws closed on the worm, and her brief flash of triumph was washed away by the shock of the bitter flavor that flooded her mouth so horrifically. She gagged, salivating foamily as her body rejected the taste, but refused to let go. But suddenly the worm was moving violently, viciously, bucking in a way that she was suddenly airborne, ripped free and sent skidding along the cave floor. The boy was injured, it seemed (why didn't you run her mind groaned at them in an uncharacteristic fury, sure that if Venom and the stranger had run back down the tunnel they could have brought the boy with them) and Corbie growled deep in her chest, frustrated. Would they not just go? Leaping forward again Corbie sought to savage the worm's body, trying to get it's attention off the injured yearling. She could only hope that Venom would be fast enough to leap aside when the creature came after them, and that Wake and the stranger would take the opportunity to escape through the tunnel the worm had come out of. It was a long shot, but better than watching a young wolf die because they were too proud to run.