Now… Thomas and everyone could have exited the manor through the main door and cut across the courtyard to the interior watchtower door. But there was no way that we could risk that with that acid wyrm writhing about out there. So, it was decided it was safer for them to cross the northern bridge and run along the top of the outer wall to get to the watchtower. Honestly… acid wyrms are the worst type of wyrm. Even an abyss wyrm would have been better.

  I now realise that you may not be aware of the various types of wyrms. Obviously, there is the rock wyrm that we fought years ago. As well as this giant acidic monstrosity. The largest wyrm type is the abyss wyrm. Which are bigger than this entire estate. They can level whole cities just from digging their tunnels under the ground. The saving grace with them is that whilst they are sizable, they are easy to kill. Their flesh is soft and you don’t have to be worried about being sprayed with acid or anything when you damage them.

  Then you have the elemental wyrms… inferno, frosted and lightning. They are all roughly the same size. Bigger than a rock wyrm, but smaller than an acid wyrm. They are pretty self-explanatory. The inferno wyrm sets fire to things; frosted wyrm freezes everything around it, and the lightning wyrm emits lightning.

  Finally, you have the jelly wyrm. You may well be thinking that this is a sweet confectionery that is made using pig gelatine and various fruits for flavour. Well, that is the jelly worm. A jelly wyrm is kind of a cross between a wyrm and a slime monster. They are bigger than acid wyrms, but still only about half the size of abyss wyrms. They are incredibly resistant to non-magical attacks. And they aren’t exactly weak against magic either. Fortunately… it is the only docile type of wyrm. Unless attacked that is. If one is heading for your city then it is best to just redirect it rather than initiate confrontation.

  So, acid wyrms are the third largest wyrm type. Which doesn’t sound too impressive. But that is only because the larger two are insanely big. They are however incredibly problematic. Close-range fighters are at risk of being covered in acid and melting. And long-range fighters like myself can’t really do much because an arrow in the side of something that big would do as much damage as you or I getting a splinter. Ideally, you need a large quantity of explosives.

  Thinking about it though, Wynrun’s rapid stone throwing arm thing might be able do enough damage to it. Small wounds mount up, and that rate at which that thing looses stones is astonishing.

  As we emerged from the northern manor door and crossed the bridge… yes, we made sure to fully cross the bridge this time. We turned to look at Wynrun. He had killed all of the horde’s ground forces and was trying to take out the imps as they were taking swipes at him.

  Charlie: “Wynrun!”

  Wynrun was unable to shift his concentration in that moment however, as an imp was attached to the front of his mech and was trying to claw at him. We looked to where the voice came from. Charlie had opened the inner courtyard door in the watchtower. He darted out of it and hid behind some rubble. I saw Sean quickly close the door behind him. He must have left Rose with Sean while he attempts to help Rosario.

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  The acid wyrm is getting closer and closer to where Rosario is lying… shit… this isn’t good.

  Thomas: “He needs help. What do we do?”

  Knight 3: “Get moving to the watchtower. You can do nothing from up here.”

  Kiyui: “Evacuate the children. Trust Wynrun and Charlie to handle this.”

  Thomas: “But Charlie’s just a child.”

  Dwynfel: “Trust me… he’s more capable than you think.”

  Gladys: “My lord, the children are our priority.”

  Thomas: “You’re right… lets go.”

  They started running around the outer wall. Wynrun now had two imps on his mech, causing him problems. I drew my bow and took out the one that was trying to pull him out of it. He was then able to control it properly again. He used the mech’s hand to grab the imp from his back. He ripped its head off and threw it to the ground.

  He then turned his focus to the wyrm. It raised itself up in the air and looked as though it were about to spray acid again. Charlie rushed to Rosario, raised his hand in the air, and did that weird dome shield thing again.

  Charlie: “WYNRUN!”

  As it let loose another burst of acid, Wynrun started loosing stones into its side.

  Wynrun: “Get the prince out of here! That big squirming git is mine!”

  Knight 3: “We should go.”

  Dwynfel: “Just wait until the kids get to the watchtower. I need to know they’re safe.”

  I was right about the stones causing it problems. The sheer number of them tore through its flesh. Due to the Mouseketeers focussing on the imps, Wynrun was able to focus entirely on the wyrm now. He was precise with his aim and created a massive gash in its side.

  In that moment however, the arm stopped firing.

  Wynrun: “Shit… need to charge the battery.”

  The wyrm stopped screeching and turned to Wynrun. He had clearly pissed it off. Which was his intention. As it was distracted, Charlie was able to pull Rosario to the watchtower door and yank him inside.

  Wynrun: “Everybody! Either get inside or get away from here, now!”

  The Wyrm started to charge towards Wynrun.

  Knight 3: “You heard the man. Time to go.”

  Kiyui: “But…”

  The hammer guy grabbed Kiyui by the hand and started dragging him inside the northern watchtower. As I made my way inside the tower, I saw Wynrun grab one of his Mouseketeers.

  Wynrun: “Porthos! Emergency protocol alpha!”

  As we ran down the watchtower stairs, I caught glimpses of what was going on outside through the arrow slits. I saw Wynrun dodge to the side as the wyrm charged him. I saw him ram the Mouseketeer in the gaping wound that he had caused with the stones earlier. Then nothing… everything out the window went blue… there was a deafening sound and the ground shook… even worse than when the wyrm emerged.

  Once we reached the bottom, I wanted to open the internal courtyard door to see what had happened. But the hammer guy is right. We don’t have time to linger. We should have just left when he said. I shouldn’t have delayed things.

  The hammer guy opened the external portcullis and we exited onto the Vox estate. We just need to get across here and we’ve made it. One final hurdle.