21 - What Lurks Beneath the Sand?

My fingers tightened around the haft of the spear until they were white-knuckled. At the same time, I was pushing off the sand, getting my legs under me, and turning around.

Above, the circular maw full of teeth plummeted and blotted out the night sky.

I exploded from my position, but not away from the sand worm — toward it. I ducked, and the mouth missed me. Pulling the spear back with both hands as I charged, it only took a few strides to get close. I rammed the weapon into the monster as hard as I could.

You thought that would hurt the flesh and blood being? Drive deep inside and make it scream in pain? Ha. No. It was like hitting solid concrete with an aluminum baseball bat. It bounced and then vibrated so hard my hands felt like they were gonna fall right off. I kept running, dragging the spear tip across the incredibly tough skin, and watched as it barely scratched the surface. Like dragging a kitchen knife over a raw concrete wall. Ineffective.

Makes sense, right? The thing was the size of a train and existed by tunneling through the abrasive sand of a desert. What was a dinky little human and his pointy stick gonna do? Not even my stats helped. So as I ran past and my spear ran out of worm to be useless on, I kept running. I booked it right the hell out of there.

No no, you’re thinking, you’re badass now. You’re level 42, the answer to life, the universe, and everything. You have inhuman stats that basically turn you into a superhero. You have skills. I know, because I thought that too.

I skidded to a halt. Spear pointed at the sand worm, I pulled back my fist, and charged it with red-and-white fire. I punched and shouted, “[Hadryuuken]!!” The fireball blasted forth and quickly slammed into the monster…doing absolutely less than nothing. It just dissipated harmlessly.

Because, again, it was the size of a train and lived by burrowing through a desert. It didn’t even seem to notice.

“Yep, that tracks. Dumbass,” I cursed myself, and resumed sprinting the fuck away.

Having missed on the first strike, it was already beginning to straighten and turn in my direction.

I didn’t have to look back to know it was coming. I just ran. My legs pumped hard, and my feet churned sand already cooling in the night. With my scorpion-enhanced sight, I could see the tell-tale glow of scorpions scuttling in all directions away from the behemoth. My head whipped back and forth as I scanned the land ahead. I needed solid ground. The worm probably couldn’t burrow through it. I mean, it had to be true or movies had lied to me, and I was totally fucked.

I heard the swish of something big and heavy on sand. Something moving. The sound grew closer. Louder.

Anxious, I turned my head to look over my shoulder. My stomach clenched.

It hadn’t gone back underground. The giant was pulling itself fully up onto the desert floor and slithering after me! Getting to solid ground wasn’t going to help me at all now!

I tried to run harder. Turning my attention forward again, I saw a glowing blue figure in front of me.

The genie was floating just to the side, a big smile on her face. Waving a big flag in the night air, she gave a piercing whistle and cheered, “Go, gormedon, go!”

I threw her a betrayed look as I sprinted past. “Hey!”

She ignored me and continued egging the gormedon on. “He can run and run, as fast as he can, but he can’t escape you; nobody can!”

Guess the all-powerful genie wasn’t going to be any help. Unless I wished for it. I was running for my life, so I felt the temptation, but I refused to give in. I wasn’t going to support her slavery. I ran and ran and kept looking for some kind of respite. When the genie gave another cheer, I glanced back again.

The gormedon had pulled itself entirely out of its hole. Like a freight train picking up speed, it really came for me. Mouth closed now, it looked a lot like an earthworm. You know, if you were an ant. Maybe a baby ant.

The desert was vast and empty. With scorpion vision, the dunes were gray blobs instead of black in the dim light. I spotted a darker something in their midst. A rock? I angled toward it. I didn’t dare look back again, but I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up, knowing the monster was catching up.

Drawing nearer to the rock, I saw a black pool beyond it. A hole or drop! I sprinted up to the rock and leaped into a long jump over it. Only I didn’t get quite enough oomph when I leapt because sand is soft. I fell through the air, arms windmilling for balance. I almost made it over the rock. I landed right on my ass on the lip, then flipped over into the dip beyond. Pain stabbed up from my tailbone, and I screamed. Couldn’t hear myself though.

The gormedon had been right behind. It hurled past overhead, absolutely unable to stop so much mass at that speed, bristly tough skin rubbing against the rock that sheltered me.

I cast [Heal Wounds] and very painfully rolled closer to the rock. The roar of the monster passing by was intense. I pressed closer to the ground. Then I noticed the pits and pieces of rock spitting down on me. Then a larger chunk hit my leg. I looked at the rock.

The gormedon was wearing it down. Already cracked and worn by the sun and weather, the weight and friction were breaking it apart. Another fist-sized hunk snapped off and narrowly missed my skull. I ducked and covered. More and more bits of rock pelted me, burying me in gravel. As the rock was worn away, the body of the worm grew lower and closer to me. In moments, it would touch me and grind me to paste.

I tried to wiggle lower into the sand around me and cried out as more rock chips punished my head and body.

Then the gormedon was past. The roar of it going by ended.

For a few seconds, I could only lie there and get my wits back while what felt like a ton of stone pressed down on me. But I knew the giant worm would be coming back. I had to get up and get going again. I pressed my palms down and started to push myself up — then stopped.

It was a worm. They didn’t have eyes or ears, couldn’t smell, right? They probably detected movement the same way the scorpions in the cave did: via vibration.

I breathed hard in and out, thinking. Should I get up and run, or should I just remain where I was?

You think it’s hard trying to pick what you want to eat off a menu with a bunch of choices? Try it when your life is on the line. It doesn’t get any easier. I sweated over it, then eventually decided to remain hidden. I very slowly pushed the gravel away from my face so that I could see, but otherwise tried to remain as still as the sand under me.

The gormedon was surprisingly agile for its size. But it still took some distance to realize it had missed me somehow and to slow to a stop. It cast about from side to side, probably trying to sense me. Then it bent back on itself and came back to where I was.

Just like a snake, it wove back and forth, head on the sand to pick up the slightest sign of movement.

It might have been ridiculous because it was unlikely this giant was sensitive enough to notice, but I even went so far as to slow my breathing. I controlled my body so I didn’t accidentally shift the gravel. One falling pebble, and I feared I’d be dead meat. I watched as the massive monster got closer…and closer. Fifty meters. Twenty-five. Ten. Five. Then it was there. I could have reached out and touched it.

I closed my eyes in fear. I breathed in tiny, shallow breaths, air slowly trickling in and out, the effort and earlier run making sweat pour off me. The creature seemed in no hurry, waiting, patient for its prey to reveal itself. Unfortunately, that gave me time to think, and maybe it was the adrenalin, but odd timing or not, a bit of self-reflection hit.

All that rock lying on top of me, pressing me down, nearly crushing me; it was like the weight I’d been living under for my whole adult life. The growing pressure I’d always felt to act and do something with myself and my life, not in an encouraging way, but in a way that felt smothering. It had made it hard to breathe, and it had become harder to take action.

The deadly worm, gigantic and stretching to forever in the distance, was like my future. It was always right there, right in my face, and it was terrifying, like it was just waiting to devour me.

And there I was, frozen, scared, and going nowhere. Unable — or unwilling — to act.

Maybe that’s unfair. Maybe I was being melodramatic about myself. In truth, a lot of it had probably been laziness more than fear or pressure. Lack of ambition could be genetic, or it could be something to do with how I was raised, or both. If you never think you’re ever going to be capable of something, why try? If you never think that happiness is possible, why put in the effort? Or maybe we just hate making any effort.

It was probably a whole bunch of things. What was the term? Reason cluster? Whatever the causes, I’d spent my life with that weight building on top of me, the future growing closer and scarier. Never getting my ass into gear to reach for my potential.

Maybe I didn’t care enough about myself or those around me to become more than I was. If I hadn’t pushed myself to grow for Cerise’s sake, maybe I hadn’t loved her as much as I’d thought. I could have been better, but I’d chosen not to be. Isn’t that selfish? Was I a bad person?

A familiar dark thought crept into my mind again. What if I had worked for more? What if I’d become a proper chef or done something else, and made more money? Would Cerise and I have been living in a nicer place, a nicer neighborhood with less crime? Would she still be alive? Would we still be living together, happy and on Earth, maybe with a child or two now?

What ifs can be painful and treacherous to think about. I pushed them from my mind before they grew worse. Unfortunately, I couldn’t push the worm away.

A seam in the front of the worm’s rounded front end split open. Inside — darkness. A rank stench of hot rot poured over me, like the back of a garbage truck had opened up. I gagged and barely flinched. But it was enough. I felt the gravel around me tremble. I just not to breathe at all and stared at the max opening up in front of me. There were thousands of hooked teeth inside. The head turned toward me. Had it sensed me? Could it smell after all? Was it going to just suck up everything in front of it like a vacuum, hoping some of it was edible?

The head turned away.

I let out a breath, then inhaled fast, desperate for fresh air. More gravel trembled.

A figure glided into the scene: a familiar blue and gold genie with gorgeous looks, a faux innocent expression, and — probably murder on her rotten mind!! You could tell, because she wasn’t coming to help me. She went right up to the front of the gormedon.

I glared at her, thinking nasty things and wishing hard for her to leave.

The genie hovered in front of the worm. Her eyes flicked in my direction.

The worm didn’t respond.

Her eyes glanced my way longer. When the gormedon didn’t respond, she did it again, even nodding her head my way.

I gritted my teeth and silently screamed for her to piss off!

She nodded harder my way, really obvious now.

The worm turned and seemed to face her.

The genie raised a hand like she was hiding what the other hand was doing (she wasn’t) and with the other, she repeatedly pointed at me, like she was gesturing, That Way!

What a bitch!

Ponderously, the gormedon turned back my way. Its mouth opened all the way, a ring of teeth and a one-way tunnel to digestion and death. A long blast of foetid air smashed me in the face.

I vomited in my mouth, then immediately spit it out. I looked up, feeling sick.

The genie flashed me an evil smile.

The gormedon began to inhale.