Phorda's grin vanished in an instant as the head split into many disgusting worms, contorting their wriggling mass of bodies so that they now faced and enveloped her position almost entirely and closing in fast. She paused in mid air, her face distorted in horror, surprise, and disgust. Although she tried to act in control at all times, she secretly had an intense phobia of all things nasty and would often make up an excuse why she had to leave if she suspected that she would have an unfortunate run-in with a less than pleasant looking alien race or monster. She could handle it if she had proper time to mentally prepare, but this sudden and drastic change happened all at once, right on top of her. She was petrified. A costly mistake.
Her sword was jerked from her hand, which had temporarily loosened it's grip, from a swat by one of the worms. Had she remained cool like normal she still had a chance to come out victorious, but the woman was now in a complete state of panic, jerking around and screaming for the worms to let her go, squeezing her eyes shut in terror. The magic that would have saved her life was lost to her frantic mind. For a moment it looked like she would escape regardless, her limbs thrashing just as powerfully as the worms, but more kept piling on her and wearing down every time she had almost broken free.
Through all of this her body went numb and she began to loose consciousness surprisingly fast. Must have been a toxin or something seeping into her body, or perhaps her sense of time had been distorted in the struggle. Whatever the case her once powerful body went still, her mind darkened completely as death overtook her. Her comrades looked at each other in fear and surprise. They had learned some valuable information on their target, but the woman who would have used that info to win the battle had now become food.
With the previous person in charge clearly deceased, Corporal Thar gritted his teeth and then took command, shouting his orders at the others. "I must inform those back at base what has transpired here. Everyone, focus on holding the monster off as long as possible." He fiddled with his communicator for a couple of seconds, growing increasingly irritated when it was not able to get a signal to the outside world. Could this monster be the cause or was it just bad luck for his equipment to break down now of all times? Whatever the case, he couldn't afford to idle here any longer.
With their mode of transportation cut in two, he had no choice but to begin sprinting towards the nearest base at top speed, his legs carrying him at around 25 miles per hour even on the rocky terrain. He called this place home, so he had the best chance of navigating quickly enough to deliver the message. Hopefully the rest would still be alive by the time reinforcements arrived, but he doubted it.
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