Phaedra could run fast.
Faster then most she knew, truth be told. Easily overtaking most track runners, though she had little interest in joining herself.
That was, however, on flat or mostly even ground.
Sand was an entirely different terrain, especially while carrying a back-pack, and a weapon. While the weapon wasn't quite heavy, it was awkward and made running even more of a task than it already was.
The ground shook beneath her feet, the terrain making a drastic drop downhill.
Her shriek was shrill as she slid down the hill, Jack nowhere in her sight. Struggling to her feet, she whipped her head around, searching her surroundings.
The thundering stopped.
At the top of the hill, features nearly erased by the sun, stood the creature. It resembled an elephant sized horned lizard. It's jaw hung open as it panted, purple tongue lolling out between its large teeth.
It's tail swung, akin to a dog, orange eyes narrowed on her.
Faye was paralyzed in fear, wide eyed and clutching her sword tightly.
Until the massively lizard easily cleared the hill in a single leap, sand spraying in every direction, including directly into Faye's eyes.
She stumbled backwards, rubbing her eyes furiously with one hand, other clutching her sword. Throat too tight to even scream, she staggered blindly backwards, the lizards hot breath surrounding her.
The world dark, her sword flailing blindly in attempt to rid of her attacker, the earth was suddenly removed from beneath her feet.
A ragged scream escaped her throat, pressure constricting around her waist. Tears poured down her pale cheeks as she struggled to open her eyes. She managed to make out what was happening.
Currently, she was dangling midair, clutched in a massive lizards tail, and likely seconds from becoming said lizards lunch.
And her weapon?
Conveniently stranded in the sand several feet below her.
Jack did as he was told.
He ran.
Well, sort of.
Slipping and sliding on the sand, Jack managed to stumble his way down the dune and halfway up the next one before he inevitably fell upon his face.
Jack quickly leapt to his feet. He turned his head, fully expecting to see a rhino-lizard about to make a tasty Jack-kabob. However, no such impaling took place, much to Jack’s relief.
About two second later, he heard the scream.
Jack’s relief left him just as quickly as his good grades when he entered high school.
For a moment, Jack stood frozen. He had a choice- run to safety, abandoning Faye, or try to help and probably die. The moment passed, and Jack’s usual suicidal impulsiveness drove his feet towards the direction of the scream.
Kiem drawn, Jack almost made
himself into a Jack-kabob several times as he slipped back up the dune he had just vacated. Managing not to murder himself, he finally reached the top and stared dumbly at the scene before him.
“HEY!” Jack shouted, a futile attempt to get the megalizard to drop Faye.
The lizard ignored him.
I’m going to die. Jack thought, possibly for the second time in the last hour. Had it been an hour? He didn’t know. What he did know was that he was about to run at a huge lizard and hopefully
not die.
Jack ran forward and slashed his kiem erratically at the megalizard. The lizard, momentarily distracted, dropped Faye and hissed at Jack. He was about to swing again when the lizard whipped its tail around, hitting him, hard, in the chest and throwing him to the ground.
Jack exhaled sharply as he hit the ground and lay there, gasping, as he tried to catch his breath. The lizard approached rapidly, its legs and body moving side to side in the odd gait reptiles have.
My last thought is gonna be about zig-zag lizards. Jack thought in a strangely detached way, watching the creature’s shadow engulf him.
The shadow stopped.
Jack tensed, fully convinced he was about to be eaten. Or at least dismembered, or something.
Once again, those that may hate Jack (such as his 3rd grade english teacher) would be disappointed. The lizard was, in fact, not getting ready to feast, but was listening intently. Jack soon learned why.
The ground started to shake, a shake which rapidly became more intense. The sand was roiling like waves, becoming liquid in the throes of what must have been- an earthquake? More big freakin’ lizards?.. Something worse..?
Two..
things, the size that you’d associate with sea monsters, burst out of the sand. From what Jack could see- and he couldn’t see much, he was still pretty much laid flat on the ground -the creatures were scaleless, eyeless, white snakes. Oh, and they were really big. Did he mention that?
The desert snakes circled dunes, dipping up and down into the sand, their white, pitted bodies brushing against each other as they performed some sort of violent dance.
They seemed unaware of the lizard, Jack, and Phaedra, but the lizard was clearly afraid. It had exited the scene almost as soon as the snakes showed up. Jack sat up shakily, grabbed his kiem, and stared at Faye, at an utter loss on what to do. The snakes’ dance surrounded them, and the way the sand was shifting made escape seem an impossibility.
The snakes were closing in, their circle becoming smaller. Jack soon noticed that the sand seemed to be swallowing him. All his childhood fears of quicksand came back in an instant, and he struggled to stand up and not be engulfed.
Oh no. Was all Jack could think as he gazed around and realized that him and Faye were in the middle of what was evolving into a sand whirlpool. High walls of sand surrounded them, as terrifying as the incoming wave of a tsunami.
“Mother of mothers!” Jack yelped as he truly comprehended the size of the walls around them. They were at the bottom of a huge pit, and that pit was only stopped from collapsing by the giant snakes.
Suddenly, the snakes dove into the sand, thrashing about in the middle of the whirlpool. The sand, as promised, started to collapse. Tails and slithering bodies writhed around and below them, whipping sand into the air and conveniently into Jack’s eyes.
Watching the sand fall towards them like a horrible, dry avalanche, Jack had the worst idea. “Stab or- er- grab a snake!” He yelled. He promptly stabbed his kiem into the nearest piece of snake he could find. He could only hope that Faye had done the same, as he immediately lost sight of her.
Bad idea, BAD IDEA! Jack internally screamed as everything went black. The snake had entered the sand once again.
Jack tried to hold his breath, he really did. But he couldn’t for long. Everything was suffocating. He couldn’t breath, couldn’t think. Still, Jack gripped the kiem, knowing vaguely that it was his only chance.
It was too much. Too much sand. Jack felt his grip loosening as sand entered his throat. The last thing he was aware of was a jerk as the snake changed direction.
…
Jack shot up, gasping uncontrollably, only to find that there was no sand in his lungs. Wait. He had been suffocating just a moment ago- why did he feel fine?
Unknown to him, one of Jack’s three lives was gone. His hands trembling, he gripped the grass below his feet, never even thinking to check his wrist.
(*Edited)
and lowered her halberd.
