“EEEEKKKK!” Owain immediately was alert as soon as he heard Chiara’s shriek. When he saw what frightened her, he knew why she screamed. An enormous creature, which somewhat reminded him of a hermit crab except it didn’t have any claws, stood in their way; he estimated that it was around ten meters tall. Its large, black eyes moved this way and that as it examined them with intense scrutiny while its thousand tiny tentacles wiggled in the air. However, he wasn’t concerned about that – he was more worried about the spikes on its yellow-speckled spiral-shaped tower shell.
His assumption was right. The monster must have finished sizing them up because it suddenly spun like a top and charged at them. “Get out of the way!” Talic ordered and dove out of its path. Owain didn’t need him to tell him that; as soon as he saw that it was heading straight toward them, he ran. He noticed with great relief that the others were safe as well though Chiara barely escaped on time. The spinning top nearly nipped her feet. Seeing that it missed its targets, the creature buried itself beneath the sand and disappeared. However, no one relaxed at all.
“What in Samara is that!?” Tristé demanded, standing up quickly as she looked around the desert.
“It’s a mutouh,” Armita replied with a grim expression. She drew out her weapons while still eyeing the desert floor so everyone else did the same. To be honest, Owain thought it was rather pointless; he couldn’t determine where the weak points of the creature were so he would be wasting arrows if he shoots at it.
“A mutouh?” Talic stared at it before he looked back at Armita. “I remembered reading somewhere that they are considered an Ishan delicacy. This one is huge!”
“Their babies,” the Isharan corrected. “This one is an adult. Most likely there is a nest nearby so it probably trying to protect its young. It thinks that we’re trying to steal them.”
“No wonder it attacked us. I would be pissed too,” Tristé muttered underneath her breath. Owain echoed that sentiment. While he didn’t blame the mutouh for its aggression, he still didn’t want to get killed by that thing. Forcing himself to focus, he scanned the desert for any strange occurrence when he saw it – a barely thin thread moving in the sand. He pointed at it and shouted out a warning.
“Over there!” As soon as he said those words, the mutouh quickened it pace and burst through the sand. Realizing that it would be futile to face it head-on, everyone ran.
“Climb on those rocks!” Talic yelled as he led them to some boulders sticking out from the ground. Armita and Owain were the first ones to reach them so they stood at the lower level to help the others up. Tristé came up right after them followed by Cuzo, who didn’t need their help and deftly leapt onto the rock. On the other hand, Talic and Chiara were still a few meters away. From his viewpoint, Owain could see Talic was running straight toward but abruptly turned around and sprinted back.
Confused, he was about to yell at him that he was going the wrong way until he noticed that the Eireneridan was heading toward Chiara, who was hobbling. All of a sudden, she fell and rubbed her left ankle; her face grimaced in pain. That was when Owain realized that she must have twisted it when she dodged the mutouh’s previous attack. Talic luckily reached her in time and scooped her up as he hurried back to the rocks. Unfortunately, there was no way they could reach the safety of the rocks on time. The mutouh was catching up to them.
Knowing the urgency of the situation, Owain hurriedly climbed to the highest point of the rocks, got his arrow ready, and aimed at the approaching creature. “Armita, do you know its weak points?” he asked quickly.
Armita nodded. “There is a hole on the top of its shell where it can breathe. You have to aim through there to hit its body, but I’m not sure if you can reach it from here.”
“I might as well try!” he retorted. He aimed his arrow up in the air and shot. The arrow launched in a projectile motion but came up short as it landed in the sands. Cursing, he changed his aim slightly and launched another arrow. This time it bounced off the shell. Dammit! He almost got it. This was getting frustrating.
“Come on, Owain! You got this!” Tristé encouraged him before she turned her attention to the Talic and shouted, “Hurry! You’re almost here!”
Knowing that everyone was depending on him, Owain took a deep breath and regained his composure. He concentrated really hard and aimed at another spot where he estimated the mutouh will be. Focus, Owain. Don’t rush it, he said to himself. He could see the monster was almost upon Talic and Chiara so with no time to spare, he launched his arrow.
He watched with abated breaths as the arrow soared in the air. Based on its path, it looked like it was going to hit its mark. Below him, Armita or Tristé gasped once they realized it as well. Meanwhile, Talic continued running toward the safety of the rocks as the mutouh pursued them. As the arrow continued to fly, it began to tilt and moved downward. It’s going to hit, Owain thought as he gazed at his arrow heading straight down at the desert creature. I got it this time.
Unfortunately, fate wasn’t on his side. Instead of hitting the mutouh’s weak point, the arrow just hit the edge of the opening and bounced off. Upon seeing that the arrow missed, Owain cussed underneath his breath while Armita and Tristé groaned. On the other hand, the mutouh continued his pursuit, unaware that it was almost killed. It had almost caught up with Talic and Chiara, who were slowing down.
“Don’t give up, Owain! Try again!” the Possessor Duermon screamed, but Owain knew that he didn’t have enough time. That last attack was his best chance of saving his friends. He could only watch helplessly as the mutouh was about to descend on them.
Talic could feel the swirling sands upon his back and knew immediately that the mutouh was close by. Cursing in his head, he forced himself to run faster and ignore the pain in his legs. “I’m sorry, Talic,” a teary-eyed Chiara whispered as she clutched the front of his shirt.
“Don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault that you’re hurt,” he told her, forcing himself to sound calm in spite of the panic he was actually feeling. “Everything will be okay. See? We’re almost there!”
“But your condition!”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.” However, he wasn’t all right. He was out of breath and started to stumble. Even though he has recovered from the poison, he was still not in top shape. If he were healthier, he would probably reach the rocks in time. Now…
All of a sudden, he heard a huge explosion behind him and felt the sand hit his back like hails. Startled, he slowed down and turned to look out of instinct even though he knew that wasn’t a wise idea. What he saw caused his mouth to drop. The mutouh was on its side and couldn’t move at all. Its tentacles flailed around the air as it squirmed, struggling to get back up. The explosion must have knocked it over, but who did it?
That was when he heard yelling and before he knew it, a group of desert dwellers appeared. They ran past Chiara and him, ignoring their presence, as they descended on the hapless beast. Their spears were at the ready. As they dashed by them, Talic noticed that there was something different about them – their skin was the color of the tan-colored sand and scaly as an armadillo. As soon as he saw those features, he recognized their savior was from the Grandehi Tribe, a strange people whose skin was made out of scales and only inhabited the Loredan Desert.
The mutouh, upon sensing its impending doom, didn’t give up without a fight. It immediately thrashed its long tentacles at its attackers, sending sands flying all over the place, as it tried to get up. Nevertheless, it didn’t deter the Grandehi tribesmen. They easily maneuvered around its long arms by dashing one way before going another way. A few even jumped on top of them and jammed their spears into the limbs, causing the mutouh to wail out in pain. Finally, it managed to pull itself up and tried to make its escape.
But it was too late. Five of the men already reached its shell and began climbing up by using the spikes as footings. The mutouh tried to shake them off by spinning, but they refused to let go as they slowly climbed to the top. One nimble man was able to reach the top first and without any hesitation, threw his spear into the narrow hole. The mutouh writhed in pain when it felt the deadly blow. Before it died, it tried one last time to get revenge on its killers. As it toppled to the ground, it tried to crush the tribesmen, but this time, the men jumped off the mutouh and ran out of the way. A geyser of sand sprayed up on in the air as the creature crashed onto the powdery ground.
Talic could only watch in awe. The attack only lasted about five minutes! Not only were the Grandehi tribesmen agile, they were sharp-witted. They were able to predict the mutouh’s attacks and avoid them with ease. To say that he was impressed was an understatement.
“Talic! Chiara!” He turned around to see Armita and the others running toward him. Relief was clearly on their faces. “Are you all right?”
“We’re fine,” he reassured them, “though Chiara hurt her ankle.”
Owain looked concernedly at the witch. “How’s your ankle?”
“It’s throbbing, but I think I’ll be all right. I just need to cast a healing spell and it should be all better,” she replied, grimacing in pain. She nudged Talic, gesturing that she wanted to get down so he carefully set her down. She leaned against him as she hopped on her good leg and tried to get her wand out. Unfortunately, she lost her balance and stumbled to the ground, which caused her to yelp.
“Hey, take it easy!” Tristé said, alarmed, and helped up her back up. “You don’t want to aggravate it more.”
“B-b-but!”
“No ‘but’,” Armita interrupted in a stern voice. “You’re going to rest. I think we’re safe from any danger at the moment thanks to them.”
They glanced over at the Grandehi Tribe, who were too busy cutting chunks out of the mutouh and laying the meat on a blanket to dry. Others were breaking the spikes off and placing them into a basket; most likely they were being used as tools. “It was a good thing they came at the nick of time,” Talic commented. “Who knows what would have happened?”
Everyone nodded in agreement. “Maybe they can help us? After all, they have lived in the desert their entire life,” Tristé suggested. Her eyes gleamed with curiosity that Talic wondered if a small part of Adalynn had influenced her.
Before he could answer, he noticed a small crowd of women walking toward them. All of them except one had scaly skin; she was dark-skinned like he. She wore an off-white tube top with pale orange lining as well as matching pants and beige sandals. A belt with rings that dangled when she walked hung loosely around her waist. She covered her head with a pale orange scarf, which blocked the sun’s blistering heat. In her right hand was a khakkhara that hold similar rings that were on her belt.
While the other women went over to help the men prepare the meat, the stranger stopped right in front of them. “Hello,” she greeted them with a warm smile. “I was hoping to meet with you. My name is Marika, and Kejuta had sent me down to see you.”
His assumption was right. The monster must have finished sizing them up because it suddenly spun like a top and charged at them. “Get out of the way!” Talic ordered and dove out of its path. Owain didn’t need him to tell him that; as soon as he saw that it was heading straight toward them, he ran. He noticed with great relief that the others were safe as well though Chiara barely escaped on time. The spinning top nearly nipped her feet. Seeing that it missed its targets, the creature buried itself beneath the sand and disappeared. However, no one relaxed at all.
“What in Samara is that!?” Tristé demanded, standing up quickly as she looked around the desert.
“It’s a mutouh,” Armita replied with a grim expression. She drew out her weapons while still eyeing the desert floor so everyone else did the same. To be honest, Owain thought it was rather pointless; he couldn’t determine where the weak points of the creature were so he would be wasting arrows if he shoots at it.
“A mutouh?” Talic stared at it before he looked back at Armita. “I remembered reading somewhere that they are considered an Ishan delicacy. This one is huge!”
“Their babies,” the Isharan corrected. “This one is an adult. Most likely there is a nest nearby so it probably trying to protect its young. It thinks that we’re trying to steal them.”
“No wonder it attacked us. I would be pissed too,” Tristé muttered underneath her breath. Owain echoed that sentiment. While he didn’t blame the mutouh for its aggression, he still didn’t want to get killed by that thing. Forcing himself to focus, he scanned the desert for any strange occurrence when he saw it – a barely thin thread moving in the sand. He pointed at it and shouted out a warning.
“Over there!” As soon as he said those words, the mutouh quickened it pace and burst through the sand. Realizing that it would be futile to face it head-on, everyone ran.
“Climb on those rocks!” Talic yelled as he led them to some boulders sticking out from the ground. Armita and Owain were the first ones to reach them so they stood at the lower level to help the others up. Tristé came up right after them followed by Cuzo, who didn’t need their help and deftly leapt onto the rock. On the other hand, Talic and Chiara were still a few meters away. From his viewpoint, Owain could see Talic was running straight toward but abruptly turned around and sprinted back.
Confused, he was about to yell at him that he was going the wrong way until he noticed that the Eireneridan was heading toward Chiara, who was hobbling. All of a sudden, she fell and rubbed her left ankle; her face grimaced in pain. That was when Owain realized that she must have twisted it when she dodged the mutouh’s previous attack. Talic luckily reached her in time and scooped her up as he hurried back to the rocks. Unfortunately, there was no way they could reach the safety of the rocks on time. The mutouh was catching up to them.
Knowing the urgency of the situation, Owain hurriedly climbed to the highest point of the rocks, got his arrow ready, and aimed at the approaching creature. “Armita, do you know its weak points?” he asked quickly.
Armita nodded. “There is a hole on the top of its shell where it can breathe. You have to aim through there to hit its body, but I’m not sure if you can reach it from here.”
“I might as well try!” he retorted. He aimed his arrow up in the air and shot. The arrow launched in a projectile motion but came up short as it landed in the sands. Cursing, he changed his aim slightly and launched another arrow. This time it bounced off the shell. Dammit! He almost got it. This was getting frustrating.
“Come on, Owain! You got this!” Tristé encouraged him before she turned her attention to the Talic and shouted, “Hurry! You’re almost here!”
Knowing that everyone was depending on him, Owain took a deep breath and regained his composure. He concentrated really hard and aimed at another spot where he estimated the mutouh will be. Focus, Owain. Don’t rush it, he said to himself. He could see the monster was almost upon Talic and Chiara so with no time to spare, he launched his arrow.
He watched with abated breaths as the arrow soared in the air. Based on its path, it looked like it was going to hit its mark. Below him, Armita or Tristé gasped once they realized it as well. Meanwhile, Talic continued running toward the safety of the rocks as the mutouh pursued them. As the arrow continued to fly, it began to tilt and moved downward. It’s going to hit, Owain thought as he gazed at his arrow heading straight down at the desert creature. I got it this time.
Unfortunately, fate wasn’t on his side. Instead of hitting the mutouh’s weak point, the arrow just hit the edge of the opening and bounced off. Upon seeing that the arrow missed, Owain cussed underneath his breath while Armita and Tristé groaned. On the other hand, the mutouh continued his pursuit, unaware that it was almost killed. It had almost caught up with Talic and Chiara, who were slowing down.
“Don’t give up, Owain! Try again!” the Possessor Duermon screamed, but Owain knew that he didn’t have enough time. That last attack was his best chance of saving his friends. He could only watch helplessly as the mutouh was about to descend on them.
Talic could feel the swirling sands upon his back and knew immediately that the mutouh was close by. Cursing in his head, he forced himself to run faster and ignore the pain in his legs. “I’m sorry, Talic,” a teary-eyed Chiara whispered as she clutched the front of his shirt.
“Don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault that you’re hurt,” he told her, forcing himself to sound calm in spite of the panic he was actually feeling. “Everything will be okay. See? We’re almost there!”
“But your condition!”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.” However, he wasn’t all right. He was out of breath and started to stumble. Even though he has recovered from the poison, he was still not in top shape. If he were healthier, he would probably reach the rocks in time. Now…
All of a sudden, he heard a huge explosion behind him and felt the sand hit his back like hails. Startled, he slowed down and turned to look out of instinct even though he knew that wasn’t a wise idea. What he saw caused his mouth to drop. The mutouh was on its side and couldn’t move at all. Its tentacles flailed around the air as it squirmed, struggling to get back up. The explosion must have knocked it over, but who did it?
That was when he heard yelling and before he knew it, a group of desert dwellers appeared. They ran past Chiara and him, ignoring their presence, as they descended on the hapless beast. Their spears were at the ready. As they dashed by them, Talic noticed that there was something different about them – their skin was the color of the tan-colored sand and scaly as an armadillo. As soon as he saw those features, he recognized their savior was from the Grandehi Tribe, a strange people whose skin was made out of scales and only inhabited the Loredan Desert.
The mutouh, upon sensing its impending doom, didn’t give up without a fight. It immediately thrashed its long tentacles at its attackers, sending sands flying all over the place, as it tried to get up. Nevertheless, it didn’t deter the Grandehi tribesmen. They easily maneuvered around its long arms by dashing one way before going another way. A few even jumped on top of them and jammed their spears into the limbs, causing the mutouh to wail out in pain. Finally, it managed to pull itself up and tried to make its escape.
But it was too late. Five of the men already reached its shell and began climbing up by using the spikes as footings. The mutouh tried to shake them off by spinning, but they refused to let go as they slowly climbed to the top. One nimble man was able to reach the top first and without any hesitation, threw his spear into the narrow hole. The mutouh writhed in pain when it felt the deadly blow. Before it died, it tried one last time to get revenge on its killers. As it toppled to the ground, it tried to crush the tribesmen, but this time, the men jumped off the mutouh and ran out of the way. A geyser of sand sprayed up on in the air as the creature crashed onto the powdery ground.
Talic could only watch in awe. The attack only lasted about five minutes! Not only were the Grandehi tribesmen agile, they were sharp-witted. They were able to predict the mutouh’s attacks and avoid them with ease. To say that he was impressed was an understatement.
“Talic! Chiara!” He turned around to see Armita and the others running toward him. Relief was clearly on their faces. “Are you all right?”
“We’re fine,” he reassured them, “though Chiara hurt her ankle.”
Owain looked concernedly at the witch. “How’s your ankle?”
“It’s throbbing, but I think I’ll be all right. I just need to cast a healing spell and it should be all better,” she replied, grimacing in pain. She nudged Talic, gesturing that she wanted to get down so he carefully set her down. She leaned against him as she hopped on her good leg and tried to get her wand out. Unfortunately, she lost her balance and stumbled to the ground, which caused her to yelp.
“Hey, take it easy!” Tristé said, alarmed, and helped up her back up. “You don’t want to aggravate it more.”
“B-b-but!”
“No ‘but’,” Armita interrupted in a stern voice. “You’re going to rest. I think we’re safe from any danger at the moment thanks to them.”
They glanced over at the Grandehi Tribe, who were too busy cutting chunks out of the mutouh and laying the meat on a blanket to dry. Others were breaking the spikes off and placing them into a basket; most likely they were being used as tools. “It was a good thing they came at the nick of time,” Talic commented. “Who knows what would have happened?”
Everyone nodded in agreement. “Maybe they can help us? After all, they have lived in the desert their entire life,” Tristé suggested. Her eyes gleamed with curiosity that Talic wondered if a small part of Adalynn had influenced her.
Before he could answer, he noticed a small crowd of women walking toward them. All of them except one had scaly skin; she was dark-skinned like he. She wore an off-white tube top with pale orange lining as well as matching pants and beige sandals. A belt with rings that dangled when she walked hung loosely around her waist. She covered her head with a pale orange scarf, which blocked the sun’s blistering heat. In her right hand was a khakkhara that hold similar rings that were on her belt.
While the other women went over to help the men prepare the meat, the stranger stopped right in front of them. “Hello,” she greeted them with a warm smile. “I was hoping to meet with you. My name is Marika, and Kejuta had sent me down to see you.”