[A light grumble emanates throughout the sand]
[Footsteps muffled by the desert rain down from under you]
'Sand worms— massive, worm-like arthropods with a very aggressive nature. Their innate sense of detecting movement through the sand makes them especially dangerous for travelers or large caravans. Be careful, Sarah. Don't get ahead of yourself.'
Sarah kept Arieth's words vivid in her mind as she quickly sprinted across the dunes.
[The once quiet grumble explodes into a violent shake]
BOOOM~
A massive sand worm lunges from beneath the sand, facing the young mage. Despite the danger ahead of her, she never wavered. With one quick flick of her staff, she launches into the air, gliding and twisting her body to better position herself over the sand worm. As though it predicted her movement, the colossal beast slams the sand, spraying it like fireworks, obscuring her vision.
"Watch out! Sandworms are smart creatures, they attack from blind spots despite their massive size." Shouted Arieth, his voice echoing in her ear.
With a quick swing of her staff, Sarah blasts away the flying sand from her line of sight. Still flying in the air, she scopes out her surroundings, noticing the sand worm had disappeared.
"These voice transmitters you gave me sure come in handy, Arieth," She shouted, twisting her body as she made a clean landing on the ground below.
"I know. I transfer essence directly into the crystal catalyst. All you need to do is hook it up to your ears."
"But don't lose focus, you lost sight of the worm. Proceed with caution."
[A light grumble vibrates the sand beneath your feet]
'Below me!'
With a circular wave of her staff, a blue mist envelopes the area around the young mage. The instant the worm breaks the sand's surface, a shield of ice appears before her. The overwhelming strength of the beast as it flies from underground shatters the ice shield Sarah conjured. With a long swipe of her wrist, a long, sharp rod of ice appears on either side of Sarah, piercing the inside of the sand worm's mouth on both ends. The giant beast, flailing in pain, makes a drastic effort to break free of the ice rod, trying to retreat into the sand, Sarah along with it.
As she thrusts her staff forward in the direction of the ice spear, she launches out of the mouth of the sand worm, narrowly missing being crushed by the beast.
Sarah begins to chant something under her breath. As a result, two boots of ice slowly crystallize on Sarah's feet. The landing from being launched out of the sand worm's mouth was not a pretty one, but luckily, the boots helped cushion the impact. The massive beast, now angry at the sudden injury, charges at Sarah, half its body still visible on the surface. With one quick motion, she dodges to the side, narrowly missing the full force of the sand worm. Skating across the sand on her boots around the beast. While doing so, she harnesses essence in her staff, charging it. Before she could counterattack, the beast retreated into the sand.
"Is there any way I can kill this thing?" She mutters under her breath, tired from the sudden, quick movements on her part.
Sarah: "Something that big should not be able to move that fast."
Arieth: "That's why they need to be studied. Something that dangerous remaining unknown is always a big no-no," Arieth stated.
Arieth: "Try to reconvene back at camp, we should try and lose the beast."
"Roger that!"
***
The pair has changed locations a few times so far. The first night they set up camp, just two hours after Sarah went to sleep, they were ambushed by a baby sand worm, which nearly cost them the wagon. After that, they agreed that staying in one place for too long is practically a death sentence, they've been on the move ever since.
A couple of days have passed since then, and Sarah still has the strange feeling as though the essence in the atmosphere is thicker. She describes it to Arieth as though two 5-pound weights have been shackled to her legs, but on the contrary, now her spells are coming out much faster.
'So kinda a win-lose situation here, am I right?"
Sarah: "I'll get used to it after a little while. I'm just glad I'm not going crazy." Sarah said in a mocking tone
Arieth: "You sure about that?- Ow!" Arieth yelps after Sarah kicks his legs in.
"No hitting, I still need these legs for my research."
***
The desert's been getting hotter and hotter. After the first wave of sandworms, Sarah was practically wiped out from exhaustion. Thank god Arieth knows support magic. If he didn't, more than likely, both the young mage and the biologist would be little piles of meat by now. The desert is unforgiving – completely isolated from any nearby civilization, you're practically a sitting duck waiting for the slaughter.
"How much info have you collected so far?" Sarah ponders, looking over at Arieth's notebook.
As she tries to look over his shoulder towards his notebook, he immediately closes it, as though hiding something Sarah isn't supposed to see.
"Hey, come on, let me see-" She reaches for the notebook, but just as soon as her hand grazes his.
"Don't Touch It!" He yells, forcing her hand away from his notebook.
"Woah man, I'm sorry, didn't know that was a boundary I shouldn't cross," she said apologetically, taking two steps to the left, away from Arieth. She notices his eyes, pinpointed and focused, the eyes of someone ready to strike at any moment. It was unnerving, to say the least.
"Sorry… I didn't mean to lose my temper," he said, easing his tone, somewhat apologetic.
"You will see, in due time."
***
Sarah didn't know how to respond, the quiet, awkward silence now deafening as the two carried on walking across the sand. The only sight visible now is the vibrations of heat radiating off the sand, and the muffled sound of footsteps echoing from beneath them. Unluckily, the awkward silence was cut short by yet another low grumble from beneath the dunes.
"Get back!" Sarah exclaimed, forcing both the wagon and Arieth away with a wave of soft snow.
With a massive explosion of sand, the biggest sand worm so far appears, towering over the young mage. It was at least the height of a town church, and as wide as 3 or more wagons side by side. Its massive scales radiated the reflection of the sunlight, as though the very desert itself recognized its presence.
'I guess we found our queen,' Scoffed Arieth, communicating through the voice transmitter.
'Guess so-"
Before she could finish her sentence, the massive beast began hurdling towards the young mage. But with a quick swipe of her staff, she leaps to the side, only barely getting nicked by the massive beast. She lets out a groan as she gazes upon her cut leg, blood running down the side as though trying to escape from the confines of her body. The pain was intense, but not unbearable. To gain some distance, Sarah begins to spring around the massive beast, its body still halfway above the surface. Shoving her staff forward ahead of her, she creates a trail of ice leading up the massive worm's back. As she begins scaling the titan, the beast's head explodes from the sand once again, aiming directly in her direction. With a massive leap, she manages to jump over the worm with the help of some wind magic. Out of instinct, she begins to charge up her staff, gathering as much essence into it as she possibly can. Considering her environment, an ice mage is at a severe disadvantage in the desert, due to the significant lack of ice essence in the area that makes up that form of magic. Nevertheless, Sarah continues to gather more and more essence into her staff, preparing to unleash a devastating blast of ice.
As the massive titan barrels towards the young mage, so fast it would put a platinum class warrior to shame, Sarah continues to charge her spell.
'Focus…'
The massive worm speeds up closer and closer.
'Focus…'
Its massive fangs aim directly towards the young mage.
'Stay… Focused'
***
There!"
With a quick motion, the massive beast chomps down on the delectable Sarah Chatsworth.
Its eyes, so sure it had finally secured its prey, confusedly look towards the real Sarah Chatsworth floating just in front of the massive beast, still facing towards her.
'Missed me."
And with one quick thrust of her arm, a massive, powerful blast of pure ice energy is released from the tip of her staff. The recoil is so strong it sends the young mage flying back, but in return, a devastating wave of magic shoots clean into the mouth of the worm. The cold from the insane display of power now lay visible across the sand, as tiny ice crystals lined the immediate dunes surrounding the blast.
What stands before Sarah, now lies a hole burned straight through the massive beast and throughout the sand behind it. The queen, now hollowed out like a freshly made donut, falls to the sand below, the shockwave vibrating throughout the dunes.
The exhausted Sarah Chatsworth, Tungsten class mage employed at the Rampart Adventurers Company.
Had just defeated the queen of the Denosins desert.
***
"Ah…" The tired young mage now collapses on the ground, barely conscious.
[Light clapping rings out in the distance]
[Quick scampering of muffled footsteps shortly follows behind]
"Well done!" Arieth applauded, amazed by the display of power he had just witnessed.
"Oh, that? …that's nothin' you-you just wait." She said, scrambling to get the words from her mouth.
Arieth: "I was terrified! I could have sworn you got eaten by the stupid bastard! Don't ever do that again!" He said, lecturing the poor Sarah, concerned.
"How did you manage that?"
Sarah: "It was too cocky. I used an ice clone as a decoy just before it hit me." She stated, proud of the work she had accomplished, "Gave me the perfect openin',"
Arieth: "Well, bravo."
'Bravo indeed…'
With a grimace, he begins to reach down towards the exhausted Sarah as she lies on the sand in front of him. The same pinpoint eyes as before, focused solely on her. But before he could reach her, a massive boom rang out from behind the pair.
[The surrounding air intensifies]
[The sands shift to welcome home a long-missed friend]
Out from beneath the sand, a towering sand worm, almost twice the size of the one Sarah had defeated, appears from out of nowhere. The tired Sarah Chatsworth, now, mouth gaping in horror, adrenaline coursing through her veins once again, pounces up ready for round two. Her vision is beginning to lose focus, but she cannot give up yet.
The massive sandworm, now towering even higher over Sarah, looks down upon her. Terrified, Sarah falls to her knees, shaking. Cursing herself for taking this stupid job, she aims her staff, charging whatever little ice essence she can into it.
Aiming, praying.
The massive beast is now falling towards her, teeth baring down. She closes her eyes, preparing for the worst.
BOOOM~
***
Scared, she slowly opens her eyes, imagining what horrors lie beyond. But upon doing so, she notices that the sand worm lies next to her, motionless. Confused, she quickly gets up, aiming her staff at the beast. With slight hesitation, she gently pokes the beast, hoping for a reaction.
Twitch~
—Out of pure instinct, she blasts her spell directly into the beast, blood spraying all over her. No reaction comes from the creature.
"Is it… dead"
She pokes it again, curiously. Firing another small shot, just for safe measure.
Baffled, she begins to walk towards the end of the massive worm. Its long, scaly body, now lined with massive cracks, exposing the soft tissue that lies beneath the exoskeleton. It was unsettling to be this up close to one. Its winding corpse could line a small stadium from head to tail. Truly a grand monstrousity.
***
[Munch, munch]
"Is that… chewing?"
She hears an echo of flesh ripping coming from close by. She gazes over the body, trying to locate the source of this sound, and out of the corner of her vision, she notices two pairs of horns sticking out from above the corpse.
Materializing her staff once again, she cautiously pokes her head over the worm. Immediately, she sees not only the horns, but bright red hair poking from inside a little hollowed out section of the worm.
***
"Hm?" [Solan] muttered, curious about the commotion, looking over the sand worm he had just killed, mouth still full.
In front of the young dragon, lies a girl, shocked and frozen, lying on her back, facing him. After taking another bite of the worm, he makes eye contact with the girl. Both of them were shocked at the sudden arrival of a new guest; the only acceptable response for this kind of situation is,
"Huh?!!!" I