Fight the Worms

“They look pretty bad,” Beren said. “In the first place, they’re big—about a foot or more in diameter. And sometimes up to twenty feet long.”

Reb whistled. “Boy, that would be fish bait.”

“And another thing—they’re poisonous. They have an ugly-looking head with horns, and in those horns are poison sacs. They’ll strike at you like a snake, and if they nail you with one of those horns and pump poison into you, well—there’s not much that could be done.”

[...]

He wanted to turn and run, but there was no place to run to. A worm reared in front of him, red eyes ablaze, and he could see drops of liquid on its needle-sharp horns. He held his sword high.

The worm drew back, then lunged. Josh felt the jolt as his sword caught the head of the monster. It drove him back a step, and the sword was nearly wrenched from his hand. But he held on, and the worm writhed fiercely, then grew limp.

[...]

“Be careful, Dave!” Sarah cried out.

And even as she did, a worm came at him from the side, thrust forward, and caught him on the right forearm with one of its horns.

Dave cried out, and Reb leaped forward to pierce the head of the monster with his sword.