Free Dearest Mother of Mine (Overworld Chronicles) by John Corwin

infant.
    I heard a slithering noise from ahead, and two smaller red eyes coming straight for us. A much smaller leyworm appeared, mouth open as it roared. Elyssa snatched the infant from the floor, and ran.
    "Defensive circle!" I shouted.
    Elyssa blurred to the side as jaws snapped at her. She tossed the baby in an underhanded motion toward Bella.
    "Don't throw the baby!" Shelton yelled at the top of his lungs.
    Bella caught the small form without trouble, cushioning the momentum by swinging her arms with it. Since the baby had survived being shot from the mouth of a dragon, I highly doubted landing on the floor would have hurt it.
    The leyworm chasing Elyssa wasn't much larger than a car. Which still made it more than we could handle. Shelton growled a word, and a shield sprang up around us. The leyworm smacked into it, coiling in on itself like an insanely large snake. It hissed and roared, snapping at the barrier.
    The baby, for its part, continued to cry at the top of its lungs.
    I figured the leyworm was a baby itself, judging from the size. I watched as it slithered the perimeter of the shield, as though probing for the way in.
    "It's intelligent," Adam said. "Look at it. Like it knows what it's doing."
    I noticed two puckered scars where scales had inadequately covered some old injury, and wondered what could have hurt the leyworm like that. The only time I'd seen an injured leyworm had been—I gasped. I'd seen this creature before. I'd rescued it from the clutches of Dash Armstrong, Maximus's pet Arcane. He'd been using the creature to power an arch along with some kind of funky Tesla coil, using cruel barbs which he'd stabbed into the leyworm's scaly side. I'd freed it, and it had promptly eaten Dash.
    "Can we move with this shield with us?" I asked.
    Shelton shook his head. "Not easily. This is a lot bigger than what I'm used to. If I tried to maintain it while we move, I might lose it, and junior there gets a full meal deal."
    "Options?" I asked.
    "I have Lancers," Elyssa said, adjusting something strapped on her wrist. "They might knock it out."
    I watched the leyworm snake around, its glowing red eyes fixed on Shelton. It seemed to know the Arcane was straining to maintain the shield. Noticing the beads of sweat gathering on my friend's forehead, I knew he had to be giving it his all.
    "Elyssa, be ready just in case," I said, and took a gamble. I walked to the edge of the shield, and waved my arms to attract the leyworm. Red orbs narrowed to slits. "Remember me?" I said. "I saved you from Dash Armstrong? The crazy guy using you for experiments?"
    The leyworm roared in my face. The shield saved me from a face full of dragon breath and spittle.
    "Don't you have any gratitude?" I said. "I saved your life."
    The "little" dragon made a low growling noise, and regarded me for a moment.
    "We're not here to hurt little babies," I said. "But we want to know what's going on, and how in the world your, uh, parents are making angel babies."
    The leyworm tilted its head ever so slightly, as if trying to judge my character.
    "I can't…hold much longer," Shelton said, his face glowing red.
    "I'm ready," Elyssa said, quarterstaff spinning.
    The leyworm looked at Shelton. It looked at Elyssa. Then it let out a hiss that sounded more like a sigh, and motioned with its head.
    "Promise me you won't attack," I said to it.
    It made another hissing noise.
    "Lower the shield," I told Shelton.
    The hum of the shield faded, and Shelton bent over, panting. Bella and the others held their staffs in defensive positions, various hues of deadly energy glowing atop them. The leyworm simply turned and trundled away, straight toward the giant dragons in the center.
    "Maybe we should take the baby and run," Adam said, glancing curiously at the little bundle of joy.
    Bella had calmed it down, stroking its cheek affectionately as it stared at her with wide eyes. "She's adorable."
    "Something ain't right about dragons upchucking angels," Shelton