In the middle of the hall, curled up in a nest made of fabric and destroyed furniture, was the monster itself. Its scales looked like they'd been carved from moonlight and opals, and Cimar could just see the crown of spikes on its head that was the main difference in skull between dragons and lindworms.
The damn thing was also vastly more enormous than he'd anticipated. It slept like the dead, only the barest rise and fall of its coiled body to indicate it was, in fact, alive. Cimar did not want to know how much bigger it would seem once it started moving.
Whatever happened, it must have happened fast, that no one had been able to get word out. That no survivors had found their way to the royal castle. But what of all the messengers? That was an easy one, though, even if it further curdled his stomach: they'd probably been hunted. If not for the fact it was asleep, it was entirely possible the lindworm might have gotten to them before they ever reached the castle.
"I've never heard of a lindworm that was this big. This is far more than the two of us can handle. I could shift, but that has risks of its own that I'd rather not take unless unavoidable. Retreat is our best option."
"Agreed," Lee said grimly. "Let's get out of here." He stood slowly, then bent to retrieve his dropped bow—but the string, still taut, caught on a bit of rubble and sent it tumbling between two balusters. It crashed into a pile of skeletons below, sending bones and other debris scattering across the floor.
Waking the lindworm, who growled softly at the noise—and then roared as it smelled fresh meat.
"Fuck," Cimar said.
Lee choked out, "I'm sorry," between sobs.
"Run, Lee. I'm the only chance we've got at facing this thing. Go back to the cabin. If I don't rejoin you by tomorrow at sunset, do your best to make it home without me. Understand?"
Though he looked like he wanted to protest, Cimar had taken Lee as a squire because he was smart, and smart sometimes meant taking the option that hurt.
"I'll be fine. Go."
Lee hugged him tightly, then ran back the way they'd come right as the Lindworm rose up to get a better look at its prey. How, or if, Lindworms could see, at least the way people saw, was still a subject for debate. Like most snakes and serpents, it relied most on its sense of smell.
Cimar discarded all that he could, preferring to ruin as few of his belongings as possible, even if the chances he'd be able to retrieve them later were slim.
When he was mostly naked, the Lindworm drawing far too close for comfort, he took a deep breath—and as he released it, let his magic have him.
The change hurt for a split second before the magic dulled the pain, like a thousand hot knives searing right through him. Then there was only the strange sensations of changing: cracking, tearing, growing, in size and in body parts, as his shifted form had two hearts, two stomachs, and other alterations to accommodate his enormous size.
Most importantly right now, his shifted form possessed a fire sac.
The lindworm launched right as he finished changing, venom dripping and flying from its fangs.
Cimar roared as it latched onto his throat, choking hard enough to bruise but the fangs not quite able to puncture his scales. Not this time, anyway, but it was only a matter of time if he didn't find a way to end this quickly. He braced his back legs on the wall and shoved off with all his might. He didn't get much momentum, as the wall cracked and crumbled, but it was enough to send them tumbling back down into the great hall proper, scattering bones and wood and other rubble.
Snorting hard, Cimar picked himself up and shook. Across the hall, by what was left of the main doors, the lindworm hissed and coiled into a striking pose.
Cimar hadn't wanted to fight this way because it was taxing and would have been dangerous for Lee, and the Lindworm would get through his scales much easier than he'd get through its. But there was no help for it now, so if he had to bring the whole damn castle down, that was what he'd do.
The lindworm sprang, and Cimar whipped around, bringing his tail up and slamming it into the lindworm before its fangs could land. It crashed into—more through—a wall, and the entire castle shook as it lost some vital support.
Guess he was going to bring the whole damn castle down.
As the lindworm disentangled itself from the shattered remains of the wall, Cimar pulled in a deep lungful of air, then hitched slightly, activating the fire sac. As he breathed out, the special fluid in his sac rushed up his throat and caught fire as it reached his mouth, where his rough tongue scraped specialized teeth that sparked.
The lindworm caught the line of fire right in the face, causing it to shriek and writhe as the flames burned—melted—its eyes.
Cimar cut the flames, and as the smoke cleared, he saw he'd also destroyed the lindworm's tongue—most of the inside of its mouth. It shrieked and wailed with pain, but blind now in more ways than one, there wasn't much it could do.
Not that didn't try anyway. It lashed out blindly, shrieking, screaming, venom flying everywhere, swinging its head to try and get Cimar with the crown of spikes, bringing up its tail to get him with the even longer, nastier spikes there.
Cimar spewed more fire, until he had nothing left, and the entire great hall was aflame. The lindworm had nowhere to go, too wounded and panicky to realize its scales would allow it to slither right through them and out into the cooling snow.
Plunging through the flames, Cimar whacked it hard with his tail, sending it crashing to the ground. Then he leaned down and sank his massive teeth into the soft underbelly, right at the throat, ripping and tearing, holding fast through the lindworm's death throes, letting go only when it went still, and the rancid odor of excrement told him the body had voided itself in death.
Letting go, Cimar shook himself, hating the vile taste lingering in his mouth, and looked around. The easiest way out was the main doors, so that was where he headed—then stopped at the last minute and went back to the lindworm. Latching onto its throat again, he dragged it out into the snow, well away from the rapidly burning castle.
Rushing back inside, he leveraged himself up and over the mezzanine, tearing and throwing, until he found his little stash all the way at the back where he'd tucked it behind a statue. Awkwardly, he scooped it all up into his mouth as best he could, though there was a gauntlet that fell that he couldn't retrieve without losing more of the pile.
Forsaking the poor gauntlet, he clamped down tightly on the rest of his gear and scrabbled like mad to get out of the castle. Dragons might be immune to fire, but nothing and no one was immune to having heavy stones fall on their head.
Outside, he spat out his clothes, armor, and weapons near the dead lindworm, then huddled over his belongings protectively as he watched the castle burn.
He dozed here and there, needing the rest if he was going to make it to the cabin to fetch Lee, back to the castle, and then home after that.
By sunrise, the castle had mostly burned itself out. There were some smoldering bits, but the snow and sleet would take care of it long before it managed to burn any of the trees—if it even could, given how frozen they were.
Heaving to his feet, he then launched into the air and flew back to the cabin.
He'd barely landed when Lee burst out of it. "You're alive! Thank the gods!" He looked near to tears as he rushed over to help Cimar as he shifted back. "Are you all right?"