67 An useless escape

The arachnidan monster was still relatively healthy, thanks to his sturdy external skeleton. The weapons of the djinns were barely able to scratch the edge of its body, but the reason for the usage of the word relatively was the spear inserted in one of its eyes. It provoked an intense pain inside the head of the animal creature but didn't impede it to counter-attack. The sand people were trying to end quickly the fight after doing this, but unfortunately, some humans appeared right at this moment.

One could say that the desert was big enough for everyone, but unfortunately, neither the djinns or the humans of the Synnada Empire were in an agreement about that. But both suffered under the hands of the Dark Gods and the Lick King Ptolekh, and allied with each other for that small period of time. Afterward, the bloodbath that happened between the two races was caused by the numerous artifacts of great power that dropped from those threats.

Because of that, peace was never actually made and the domineering human empire never forgot what was still present inside the desert. But unlike the djinns that could stay forever in the hot temperatures of the desert or survive the coldness of the night, the army of the empire had to prepare so many supplies just to survive, not even win.So between their inability to even properly attack the djinns and the fact that they would need to win the fight, the Synnada Empire only slightly roamed the outskirts of the desert.

The only rule was to kill any djinns they met but to escape if they couldn't do it. The rate of reproduction of the humans was so enormous compared to other races that throwing bodies for centuries was always a better choice. Until one day, they could do a final assault, putting an end at this stalemate between the two races.

All of this, Kardel was oblivious to it. What he only knew and saw, was that the two groups were hostile to each other and didn't even bothered to talk to the other. Put an additional thing in it, like a monstrous scorpion, and you had a perfect situation for a duvodiad to do whatever he wanted. And to be fair, human flesh was still a lot better than scorpion meat, which was bit chitinous. Gliding into the sand, he retook his place right under the ground of humans.

"Don't get close to the scorpion." That was the only sentence pronounced by the leader of the humans. The rest of the warriors were slowly spreading, but not too far from each other. The tight clothes and fabric protecting their head were reducing their sight and slightly slowing their movements, but they had the advantage of not being targeted by a monster.

Everyone had two sabers, but most only unsheathed one. Since they were dealing against some spears, anything more would be useless and only the best archer would be able to target such a precise thing, the heart of the djinns, in the desert. And they weren't that type of warriors.

Soon after, Kardel heard some strange noises, not natural ones, and he felt that the scorpion was getting closer and closer to the group of humans. None of the two groups was made of idiots, and because the only variable was the scorpion, it will be the main focus. The monster was injured on one side of its head, but it still had enough eyes to know that it was the djinns that attacked it.

So when the creature felt that it was led between the flesh thing and the sand thing, it got increasingly angry. Seeing one of the flesh thing trying to approach, the scorpion threatened it immediately with its mighty claws, only to realize that it shouldn't have done it.

SKRIEKKKK

Another spear was inserted in one of its eyes, making it mad. Not caring whether one was the culprit, it attacked the human warrior that was too close. The latter barely dodged the claws, but still got hit by them and was sent flying a little further. He was not in mortal danger, but the monster didn't stop at just one attack. Following its prey, it suffered a wave of attack from the other humans. The scorpion only retained its frontal vision, anything in the side being blurred or gone.

Because of this, the sharp sabers of the humans inflicted wounds after wounds, even piercing a bit the durable skeleton of the beast. Shaking its opponents off, the scorpion lost its focus and began to retreat right in the ranks of the djinns that were surprised by the sudden change of event. They were enjoying the sight of their two enemies fighting each other.

One djinn was cut in half by the claws but escaped unscathed because they didn't hit his chest. Another one felt the sting piercing his own head, but like his peer, that did nothing. Repelling the enraged beast toward the middle, the scorpion was violently shaking its body left and right, attacking even imaginary adversaries. This kept going for a few more seconds until a sudden hole appeared under the monster and grabbed it into the depths of the desert.

This vision shocked everyone still alive, and the screams of the scorpion ended brutally. Nothing remained of the monster, besides the broken handle of a spear that was planted on the ground, signaling to everyone where once stood the monster. The leader of the human group, that was attending to the injured warrior, slowly walked toward that location, and looked at the djinns.

"Was it you?" His face was barely visible under the heavy tissue efficiently arranged around his head. But the tone of that sentence made the djinns realized that the humans were as surprised as them. Reluctantly speaking the language of the humans, they answered his question. "No, now go before we kill you all!"

The previous moment of peace and surprise ended as fast as the scorpion disappeared, and the lowered weapons were raised once again. The cocky djinn that said those words were pointing his spear at the leader of the human, taunting him to make a move. A smile was visible on his face made out of the sand, even at that distance. They were a few meters apart, but even getting closer of one step will be hard against a volley of spears.

Even if the djinns only had one spear, they were all made of the strongest material available to them, rarely breaking. Even if they missed their target, who could prevent them to just control the sand to pick it up for them or even best, dashed toward their lost weapon. In the desert, their control over the environment was absolute.

That's why the human warriors were that prepared. Clothes so tight that not a single grain of sand could enter them, glasses to protect their eyes against it and two small plugs to block their ears. The first time the two races fought, a very long time ago, they were killed only by being attacked with sand. That was also one of the reasons to only allow small strike teams to fight the djinns because otherwise, the cost to equip an entire army was too high.

Rumble

The same sound that was made right before the scorpion died resonated once again, albeit closer to the djinns than the humans. The arrogant hunter looked in despair under him, but only saw a dark hole before it was too late. A gigantic serpent head emerged from the sand, gobbing the unfortunate one that was a bit too cocky. Not letting anyone react, the serpent suddenly disappeared under the calm surface of the desert, as nothing happened.

"RUN!" The humans immediately followed the advice of their leader, two carrying their injured fellow in a desperate attempt to escape that new threat. They were quite a few days away from leaving the desert, but a forward base had been built not far from there, allowing them to maybe survive.

The djinns were still stunned by that appearance that they only reacted when the humans were already beginning to run at full speed. One even tried to throw a spear at them, but he was eaten by the terrifying monster beforehand. The slowest human warrior saw that and immediately screamed that information to the rest. "IT ATE ANOTHER ONE! FASTER! FASTER!" Unknowingly, his own speed was suddenly increased and he even bypassed a few of his peers. Fear truly gave him wings.

For a few more seconds, they heard the scared shouts of the djinns, three of them, then two, and finally only one. The final was so full of terror that even a few hundreds of meters away, they were still capable of easily hear it. But in the end, only silence reigned, not prompting them to slow down at all. They didn't know what happened, but one thing was certain, they shouldn't have tried to attack it.

Even injured, a scorpion of that size and age was still a threat, and could, with a bit of luck, even kill one of them. But that thing, it killed it in an instant. Still perturbed by what they saw, the humans weren't as careful with their approach and even attracted the attention of another monster. It was a snake, but one that they easily recognized.

It was less of a monster than a normal creature, only having an extremely potent poison at its disposal. It was currently enjoying to eat a small mammal creature when the leader accidentally appeared right in front of it. Getting in a position to launch itself at the bothering human, it never made it, for the bigger one swallowed it all.

For the next hours, were everyone exhausted themselves in a foolish run, the giant monster never appeared directly to attack them. But each time the leader made a mistake, entered the territory of a monster or even stumbled on one, the unknown threat saved them. Even if it seemed that they got a guardian angel, they were really, really scared of that one.

Barely a kilometer before reaching the forward base, the group of humans found an immense pile of rocks, spreading on nearly a hectare. On it, they finally took a small moment to rest and check their conditions. Everyone was both equally tired and scared, and the injuries of the wounded warrior were worse than at the beginning. The only saving grace was the fact that it wasn't infected yet, but he will have to rest for a few days.

"Team leader, I know that we shouldn't refuse your orders but …"

"But you think that this creature only wants to find where is the rest of us? Right?" Finally calming their mind, everyone could think of the unbelievable situation they were in. A huge monster, never seen before, capable of slaughtering monsters and djinns as it wished didn't attack once the humans. They were not optimistic enough to believe that it was the Synnada Empire that sent this monster.

"And what do you propose? Based on its speed, this snake or whatever it is will find this base one way or the other, because of us or not. And it is better to warn them about that thing than letting more patrols leave the base and die meaninglessly. And there is one magus that could probably help us sense what is hiding in the underground. No, everyone, take another few minutes, and we do a final sprint."

Emptying their gourds of all the water they had, the warriors were getting prepared to run once again with their lives on the line. "GO!" They left the protection of the rocks under their feet to escape the invisible enemy lurking in the shadows. The latter only slightly raised his head out of the sand, looking with an interest at the humans. "A magusssssss? I wonder what'sssssss his tasssssste?"