Reflections on the Worms of the Earth

Hi! It's Claire, again. My boyfriend is drunk - so drunk that he's actually watching Adam Sandler films - and I'm, well, keeping him company. Somewhat. And since he's been asking, and I'm sure some of you have been wondering, I'm going to say a little about the Worms of the Earth.

Don't ever, ever cross them. Seriously. Not that it'll ever be an issue for most of you, I hope - they retreated under the earth, and then deeper still, so long ago that not even legends remain. Once, they were part of my people - hybrids, worshipers of the Father of Serpents - and sometimes we still see them in dreams. But their retreat from humanity wasn't just geographical. As they moved from under the earth into the spaces that aren't spaces, they changed. They turned in on themselves, and they became something... else.

Look, my grandfather has scales and sheds his skin every few months. So when I say that the Worms of the Earth are foul, loathsome, and degraded... just take my word for it, okay? I'm not talking about any simple physical abnormality. I'm talking about a deep and profound sort of wrongness that even bothers their distant kin.

We still do favors for them. It's rare, but it happens. They don't care much about the surface world, but there are certain places that they still cling to, certain items they still covet. And in exchange, sometimes they do favors for us. Like taking care of the bodies that the Walker had taken, and removing them in a way that would carry all traces of its presence out of our world and into... somewhere else.

Under the circumstances, I can't blame my kin for calling on them. I'm sure none of them expected me to be out there with my, um, boyfriend and his people. Still, we were lucky: we got out of there before they turned on us. And they were too busy with the Walker to turn on us immediately. But I'm afraid it's going to cause trouble - five of their Watchers, dead? Maybe more? I don't know. Maybe their Elders will understand. I'm not sure ours would, but maybe they will.

But I wouldn't bet on it.

You know this is all made up, right? Good.