"Cover the children's eyes!" Clara screamed to Fishy who had no idea how to cover 3 pairs of eyes so instead ran and put them back down in their house.
"What happened?" He asked Clara who adventurously looked into the giant gaping wound in the fetid dead body.
"He was eaten." She said, "Grandad said this place was dangerous right? You know what lives under here."
"The giant worm thing?" Fishy almost didn't want to say as he had hoped that thing left ages ago.
"Yup, a Destroyer. Its babies must have crawled to the surface. Be on guard." Clara ventured further into the house with no light, using the sounds around her as her guide. Even with no light, it was clear that the floor they walked on was wet with blood. Even the walls looked as if they were freshly painted
A squirming of what sounded like an insect begging to be killed came from the back of the house. She approached it cautiously and saw a tiny white destroyer trying to dig its way underground.
"Its teeth haven't grown yet."
"Teeth?" Fishy replied hoping things didn't get any more terrifying than they already were.
"Yup, that's how it drills underground, funnily enough, it eats the dirt and spits it back out so it hides its nest. This one hasn't even grown its eyes. It just looks like a pale worm. It was suicide coming up here."
"How did it kill the guy without teeth?" Fishy asked although he was sure it was a stupid question.
"Well, I kinda lied. They do have teeth but like a human baby, they aren't fully developed. Someone like us is fine against this thing but an old person who has weak skin and can't fight back is as good as dead. All the blood around shows he put up a good fight."
"So what do we do? Do we leave it here?" Fishy said praying he wasn't going to have to carry the body.
"Yup," Clara said pushing passed Fishy who cautiously stepped around the dead body.
"We have to leave!" Clara said to her grandad who rested at the front of his house watching the clouds fly above.
"So it's time is it?"
"It's only a matter of time before the mother comes back up for the little one. We lost enough people yesterday trying to chase it and this time we know it will come up closer than before."
Clara's forceful persuasiveness was something that shocked Fishy. Although he said it as a joke he thought she was the type to idly sit by whilst others do their work, but after seeing her take charge when he can't do anything in this situation, only made him feel strange about her.
"Where do we go?" The elder asked.
"I don't know. We keep going west until we come up to the next village. Worst comes to worst we go to Va."
"Hmm… but this village is our home." The elder argued.
"This village is above a Destroyer nest!" Clare tried to shout to her senile grandad who just seemed to be sitting without worry. "When the mum comes back up we are as good as dead! We have to leave!"
"This village is our home. We can't abandon it. What would your parents think if they heard you want to abandon everything they've built for you."
"MY PARENTS ARE DEAD!" Clara wailed through the pain in her throat. "They were killed because they built this here! You can stay, but I'm leaving with or without you!"
Clara stormed off leaving her grandad on his own, forgetting the Fishy was with them. He stood awkwardly trying to make himself invisible in hopes he didn't have to deal with any more family trouble after his own parent's divorce.
"She's always been like that." The elder said. "Ever since she couldn't protect her parents from the Destroyer she's wanted to leave here. I don't think I can blame her."
"It must be tough…" Fishy said trying to sound as sympathetic as possible. Unsure of how dire the situation truly was.
"It is… but we've survived this long above a nest. Besides, it's not like I can make it to the next town."
The elder sat back down at the front of his house as the rain started to pour. He looked down the gravel path and saw his granddaughter frantically trying to move the triplets and their sickened mother to get them out of the village. Fishy watched with him unable to move his eyes away from her. She did everything she could to get the villagers to move.
"I'll do it," Fishy said as he continued to watch Clara. "I'll get rid of the destroyer for you."
"To ask such a thing of you." The elder said. "I don't wish for our burden to be passed on to you."
"It's ok," Fishy said hoping he can figure out how he got his magic to work last time. "You said it yourself, I'm strong, right? I can get that thing away. Just make sure you move away from the village. I promise I'll bring that thing down and we will then rebuild this village from the ground up and make it a place we can all call home."
"Hm?" The elder snickered. "Words fit for a hero, Fintan. Come with me, I've got some books that may help you understand magic."