Krillworm

  It slithered through the soft hot rock that was too cool to still be liquid yet not cool enough to be solid stone.   The tunnel the creature's passing left behind would slowly collapse to half its size before the hot rock fully cooled.   Not that it cared. What it did care about was following the fumes bubbling within the rock.
These were tasty and their acidic burn was nothing more than a flavor to the creature.   It feasted to fill the long spear shaped glands that ran from its throat down half the length of its limbless body.   Once it felt full, the creature turned and headed back to the cooler rock where it eventually slithered out onto cold hard rock.   Two long curved attennae sprouted out of its front. Now, it was time to hunt for food.  
* * * * * *
  "Say, Lorzak," an eighteen foot tall man said to his companion as they dug through a vein of charred ore.
"What say we hit up the Grinkel Sisters. We got us a some good ore sure to pay for some good times."   "Aint spendin' on them girls, Franch," Lorzak snorted. "Savin' for -- Hey! Look out!'   Franch spun around.   There was a long red and dark striped slug slithering towards him. Its antennae swiveled right to him.   "Thirro's balls!" He swore and, still clutching his pickaxe, dove aside as the creature spat a stream of acid to the place he had just been standing.   "Die ya streamin' krillworm!" Lorzak roared and charged the creature with his pickaxe held high.
 

The Slithering Krillworm

 
A krillworm is a type of slug that lives in volcanoes. Unlike its normal garden variety cousins, the krillworm is not slimy. In fact, it doesn't produce any slime at all. Its skin is malleable but tougher than leather and able to endure great heat and copious amounts of acid. Its belly skin is thick and impervious to any sort of puncturing or slicing. With this belly skin it can slither along in utter silence. This skin is a very dark reddish brown with jagged stripes of crimson, a color the Vulmohn call krill.   A krillworm is about thrity feet long with a rare few groing to fifty feet. Their boneless bodies slither and contort through tunnels as narrow as three feet in diameter, unless they have eaten.
Krillworm do not burrow though they can slither through molten or near-molten rock that is still soft and malleable as they push through it. As the rock eventually hardens, their passing through leaves behind tunnels and hollows. They have no eyes but sense their way along tunnnels with antenna. When slithering through molten rock, they find their way by taste.   The krillworm moves along no faster than a man can jog but makes up for this lack of speed with the ability to spit a stream of acid at least fifty feet. This acid is so strong it can kill in seconds. In just minutes, it can dissolve bone. Its favorite prey are the Vulmohn.


Cover image: Krillworm by miniformat65

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Jul 14, 2021 14:09 by Amélie I. S. Debruyne

Very cool animal! Seems very vicious XD I love the bit of narration at the beginning, hope the krillworm gets to it :D

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