Dae and Aquarian traveled through the desert without stopping. They knew they had a place to be and they didnāt have time to rest. They could rest once they were on the ship. For now, they just sipped at the water they carried with them and pushed themselves faster through the damnable desert. Dae couldnāt wait till they could set sail with the wind blowing and water spraying against his skin to cool him off. He was sure Aquarian was feeling the same. He bet that if Aquarian wasnāt tired, heād jump straight into the water and swim beside the boat. They needed to reserve their energy however. The unicorn carcass could potentially become a danger if they didnāt get there in time. At least the sun had gone down so now the world was becoming chillier. Dae found it quite a relief to finally be out of the sun.
Dae paused on a larger mound of sand and pulled out his telescope and peered through it as he scanned the distance and judged their progress.
āAlmost there. I figure aboutā¦. A few more hours of traveling and weāll reach the shore of this desolate wasteland. Weāll reach it before the moon reaches its zenith.ā they were making good time. Dae put away his scope and stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders. He started to move forward again when Aquarian reached out and gripped his arm. Dae looked back at his companion and tilted his head. Aquarian was not looking at him or the shore but darting around in confusion.
āThere is something wrongā¦ā he muttered. He couldnāt quite place the odd feeling however. It felt like it was coming from everywhere around them.
Dae looked around trying to see if he could catch sight of anything when the ground started to shake. Dae gasped and crouched low to keep his balance. [color=0D4F8B]āAn earthquake?ā[/color]
āDae!ā Aquarian cried and grabbed his riderās shoulders and shoved him as hard as he could forward. The two of them rolled down the sand mound just as there was an explosion of sand. Dae covered his face to shield it from the avalanche. When it was over, Dae looked up just in time to see a giant worm the color of burnt wood arching to dive towards him. Heād never encounter this creature before but he could be awe struck another time.
Dae rolled to his side just as the worm landed and slid into the sand again, spraying dust and blinding him for a moment. He tried to stand quickly but toppled over with the quaking earth beneath him. He looked around wildly for Aquarian to ensure he was all right as well. The siren had rolled quite a distance away and was crouched low to the ground as it tried to sense the creatureās mind and somehow get control of it. Every time it dove, Aquarian lost his connection. Aquarian hissed in his frustration. Unlike with the watery depths, the sand was messing with Aquarianās sonar location. He couldnāt locate the damn thing till it was close to the surface.
āShit!ā Dae growled to himself. This was exactly what they needed right now. He had other problems to deal with!
āRun!ā Dae got to his feet and he and Aquarian started to run for dear life towards the shore, hoping they could get away from this desert demon.
The earth started moving again and the sand receded around Daeās foot fall, causing him to slide with the shifting ground and fall forward. He scrambled in the sand pit as Aquarian raised his voice in song, trying to use his Sirenās Call to divert the creature. Unfortunately, the worm didnāt have ears on its outer shell for the song to entice. Dae whirled to his back to try and face the creature just as the worm rose from the sand again and opened up its armored jaw. Dae gripped his dagger and his eyes widened in surprise when the inside of the creatureās mouth was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Had this creature swallowed her to? Before Dae could roll away, the creature and the woman closed in till he was in the wormās mouth. The jaws clamped shut around him, pressing him flush against the woman as it dove beneath the sand.
Dae had to save this woman and himself someway! It was obvious that Aquarian wouldnāt be able to help him here.
āIāll save you, I promise,ā he growled to the woman as he struggled against her and the fleshy folds of the monsterās mouth. Everything was sticking to him making it that much harder to move anything. The woman giggled, her bright eyes roaming over her new found mate. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed harder against the young man and sucked at his throat.
āI donāt need saving, handsomeā¦ and neither do you. You are the most beautiful human I have ever seen. Stay with me. Iāll protect you and give you everything you need. I love you. Stayā she purred, as the enzymes around her began to eat away at his clothing. The fleshy folds started to secrete something that seemed to induce pleasure and Dae found himself moaning against the woman as she rolled against him.
Dae shook his head to clear it and stay focused even as the woman began her motions to seduce his body into giving in.
āIt is okayā¦ let go.ā she moaned. Well then; wasnāt this a fitting challenge? A siren-rider that thrived on seducing others with his siren and enticing them with looks, pitted against the siren of the desert. The water siren was much more subtle but this brunt approached seemed rather effective to. Dae shakily continued to try to lift the hand that gripped his dagger but the folds kept the hand locked down. The creatureās acid had already dissolved most of the cloth on his chest and was now eating through his pants but he had to get his arms working. The creature kissed his lips and forced her tongue into his mouth, her hands gripping his head to keep it still. Dae moaned and pretended to give in then, or at least sorta pretended. Her touch was setting him on fire from the inside and threatened to take over his mind. With the hand he wasnāt holding the dagger with, he caressed her side and pressed up against her to show his excitement.
It worked. The fold that kept his hands in place eased away. Dae pulled the dagger free then and he thrust it deep into her side. The woman screeched and he felt the worm shooting upwards, hopefully towards the surface. He yanked his dagger free and stabbed her again. The creature retaliated by clawing Daeās arm and biting his shoulder to inject her venom. She even managed to leave three long gashes on his right cheek, aiming for his eyes. Dae didnāt relent as he managed to free a second dagger and used both hands to stab the creature repeatedly with his limited movement. Then the wormās armored jaws opened, oozing blood as it screamed. Dae used that moment to slide the dagger upwards through the femaleās side up to her chest and twisted.
The giant worm gave one last agonizing cry as she dropped onto the surface of the sand. The female inner body panted as she glared down at Dae, blood oozing out of her mouth as she lay atop him.
āI couldā¦ have givenā¦ youā¦ e-everythingā¦ The light faded from her eyes as she died.
Dae panted in relief and started to pull himself from beneath her and out of the sticky folds. He slid among the enzymes but at last he managed to crawl free of the beast and onto the cool sand. He coughed and groaned, sand instantly sticking to him and the goo that surrounded him. He never thought heād be happy to see desert sand again. He groaned and reached up to grip his aching shoulder as he panted and inhaled the clean air.
Aquarian was upon him in seconds.
āDae! I thought I lost you when it went below ground!āDae shook his head and looked up at his stricken companion and offered the man a cheeky grin.
āCanāt get rid of me that easy. She bit and clawed me. You need to clean the wounds.ā Aquarian nodded and called upon some of the water inside the flask at Daeās side to clean the wounds. Aquarian leaned down then and started to suck on the bite, tasting for venom. When he did indeed taste the mixed blood, he began to suck out the poison and spit it upon the sand. When he only tasted blood again, he sat up and wiped at his mouth. Aquarian helped Dae stand then. Dae shook his head and groaned in disgust. His clothes and body was covered in that sticky nastiness that had served to keep him immobile and enticed and his clothes were hardly clothes anymore. He struggled to get rid of the tattered remnants of shirt as he wobbled forward towards the shore again.
āCome on. Letās get the hell out of here.ā He was not about to stop and have another lovely encounter with one of these creatures. He was bleeding and he was sure he smelled like that creature to which would no doubt call more of them. Aquarian hurried to stay by his side and kept his senses up in case another beast decided to show itself.