Chapter 116: Zaydra Infiltrates the Centipede Lair

Chapter 116: Zaydra Infiltrates the Centipede Lair

It is now Day 8. The heroes have rented out a hotel room in Telecouch City.

Zeth lies asleep in one of the beds, but his condition is clearly worsening. His breathing has become heavy and uneven. Sasha, now back to her non-true power state, sits nearby, while Emily and Joe stand close, watching over him.

“Hang in there,” Sasha says softly.

“Keith and Kurt better not take too long negotiating with Commander Moss,” Joe adds.

“And the same goes for Zaydra in the centipede lair,” Emily says.

***

Meanwhile, with Zaydra.

Zaydra moves through the tunnels of the centipede lair carefully, so as to not make too much noise.

“So far, no centipedes,” she mutters. “Why am I not running into any?”

As she goes farther in, she spots small centipedes crawling along the tunnel walls. They pose no threat, so she leaves them alone.

“Hopefully, these tunnels don’t go too far,” Zaydra says quietly.

Eventually, she reaches a large room with a spring at the bottom. Without hesitation, she jumps down into it.

“How could there be no centipedes here?” she asks, scanning the area.

“You need not worry about that,” a voice replies.

Zaydra stiffens, instantly alert.

She does not notice the giant centipede hanging above her until it suddenly drops, attempting to land on her. At the last second, she reacts, diving out of the way.

“Where are the rest of your kind!?” Zaydra demands.

“Doing stuff,” the centipede answers flatly.

“Tell me,” Zaydra presses.

“Only if you stop me from eating your brain!” the centipede roars as it lunges at Zaydra, but she dodges again.

“Great,” she mutters. “I have to stop it without killing.”

“Too bad for you,” the centipede replies. “You won’t be able to do either.”

Zaydra shifts tactics, moving from pure evasion to attempting to grab the creature, but it slips away from her grasp each time.

She thinks, “If I’m too aggressive and grab it too hard, I will kill it.”

Her gaze drifts to the ground for a moment. She quickly picks up a small rock just as the centipede lunges again.

Zaydra throws the rock with force. It slams into the centipede, knocking it backward and flipping it onto its back.

She rushes forward and grabs it, pinning it down.

“Talk, or I will kill you,” Zaydra says coldly.

“You wouldn’t!” the centipede shouts.

Without hesitation, Zaydra rips off several of its legs.

“Okay! Okay!” the centipede cries. “Our ruler, Kitipede, has launched an offensive on Telecouch City with most of our forces!”

“Why?” Zaydra asks.

“She fully believes that this is her chance to win the power struggle.”

“Are they traveling underground?”

“Yes. The tunnels they are making are connected to this lair.”

“Is that so? How do I get to it?”

“That tunnel was started in the tunnel that connects to Kitipede’s room.”

“One last question,” Zaydra says. “Did she take the Kraysheen?”

“Not that I am aware of,” the centipede replies. “Now let me go!”

Zaydra releases her grip. The centipede scrambles away as fast as it can.

***

Zaydra makes her way into Kitipede’s room.

“Well, no Kraysheen here,” Zaydra says. “He must have been telling the truth. I have to hurry! I’m going through that tunnel to try and catch up to the centipedes before they get to Telecouch City!”

***

Deep within the tunnels, Kitipede and her forces continue digging a path to Telecouch City.

Worker centipedes dig relentlessly while Kitipede and her attacking forces follow close behind.

“We are almost there,” Kitipede declares. “The downfall of Spay and Commander Moss will be soon.”

The centipedes don’t have the Kraysheen, leaving only one possibility left.

Chapter 116 END
To be Continued in Chapter 117: Commander Moss’s Secret Weapon