103. Eastern Desert, Part 3 (Suka, R-18)

103. Eastern Desert, Part 3 (Suka, R-18)Spoiler

Eating Ass, Sweaty, Personal Odor

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“Run!” Isabella shouts, too late.

The ground shakes and rumbles as the Sand Goblin with shattered legs slams two halves of a strange instrument together repeatedly. The long spike on the end sends the resounding thumps deep into the dunes as if calling for something.

Something responds.

I don’t need to know what the hell it is to know we can’t stay here. I transform into my bestial wolf shape and grab the cute Cactus girl to throw her on my back. Dura isn’t the brightest candle in the bunch, but she doesn’t need instructions to hop onto me behind Isabella. With Flou1 on my neck in scarf form, the four of us bound away from the Sand Goblin.

Just in time.

An enormous maw filled with needle teeth erupts from the desert sands to swallow the Sand Goblin whole. Its body is long and sinuous as it breaches the surface before plunging beneath the dunes again. It reminds me of a worm, though I’ve never seen one that lives in dry sand.

The sand worm continues on in a line away from us as a prisoner of its own momentum. It turns like a train without tracks, gradually honing in on me at incredible speeds. The massive monster breaches and lunges for us with its jaws wide and slavering.

Cinderwolf Rush! Cinderwolf Rush!

I can't go any hotter without burning my passengers. It'll have to be enough. The speed boost allows me to alter my course while the Sandworm reaches the apex of its breach and dives toward us. Looking over my shoulder, I see a pair of glowing red eyes in its throat staring back at me from a figure shrouded in darkness. What the hell lives in there??? I dodge to the side seconds before tons of rough-skinned worm crashes down on the place we were.

I haven't spotted the worm's tail by the time I feel the rumbling beneath us again. I'm doubly glad for the Ogre Strength granted by Alex's Power Bond as I leap aside with an Ogress and a cactus girl astride my back. We'd already be eaten without it. A plume of sand explodes behind us as we narrowly escape the worm's second breach.

"This way!" Lucinia says as she swoops low enough to yell, "Rocks ahead!"

"Can you tell this thing to chill the fuck out?" I ask.

The Lesser Siren nods and opens her mouth to sing. "~Chill the f~"

A roar like thunder rolls across the dunes in response, completely drowning the music of her voice.

"It has zero chill!!!" Lucinia yells as the worm aims its second dive at us.

When I dodge aside now, my margin has shrunk by half. Shit, we don't have much time.

Thankfully, I see rocky pillars cresting over the sandy horizon. At my speed, all I need is a few minutes.

The earth trembles as the Sandworm breaches beneath us. I leap, but I feel the lip of its maw brush my tail.

"We're out of time!" I yell.

Isabella and Dura turn in their seats to counterattack. The cactus girl launches the spines on her wrist into the worm's open mouth and Dura throws her club at the beast with Ogre Strength. The iron-studded projectile bounces off the worm's thick hide. However, the flying needles force the worm to turn its face aside as it makes its dive.

Is it protecting the monster inside its mouth?Upstodatee from n(0)/ve/lbIn/.(co/m

The diversion is enough to buy us a few more seconds as the Sandworm's head disappears below the desert surface. The rocks are looming nearer when I feel the world rumble once again. We're still too far away!

"Dura, grab Isabella! Flou, get up there too!"

The Ogress blessedly obeys me, lifting the cactus girl in her arms. Flou1 flows from garment to Fuzzy Slime and perches atop Isabella.

Cinderwolf Rush!

We pull away by a few inches as the Sandworm breaches directly under where we would have been.

"Dura seat hot! Hot seat! Hot seat!"

"Hey! It's Lucinia and the wolf girl! What are you all doing down there?"

We all both whip our heads around to see a flight of Harpies approaching.

"That's the group Alex sent to help us," Flou1 says from the scarf around my neck. She must be recalling something her other body saw.

“Get away!” Lucinia frantically shouts at them, “It’s going to shoot at you!”

Before our eyes, projectiles whizz through the air targeting the Harpies. The avian monsters scatter in evasive maneuvers, but one takes a thorn arrow to the wing. He falls from the sky to hit the dunes and tumbles to a stop. "I'm okay!" he yells while waving his uninjured wing. Harpy Lightweight just saved his life.

Then a train-sized Sandworm breaches beneath him, mouth agape, to swallow the Eurasian teal Harpy boy whole.

The remainder of the Harpies retreat while dodging missile fire, leaving us stranded. Either we get shot out of the air or eaten by the Sandworm.

"You're hurt, on top of being all sunburnt," Isabella observes as she turns to Lucinia while applying more aloe to her lips and tongue. "There's not much I can do for the scratch, so I suppose I have no choice but to lick you all over to give you some relief."

I roll my eyes as Isabella proceeds to do just that while applying more aloe deep inside Dura's asshole with a finger.

"Flou, put me through. Um, Alex, don’t panic, but I think we’re stuck here.”

“FUCK!!!” Alex shouts before being cut off.

“Sorry, Alex can’t come to the Flou right now, she's dealing with some kind of bee monsters," the Fuzzy Slime explains.

"Damn it all!" There’s no more help coming. I can't fail my first mission! How am I supposed to live this down? Gabby will have me over a barrel for a week if they have to come rescue us!

My eyes are drawn to the Sandworm as it descends below the surface. It attacked within seconds. How far can it sense movement?

"Dura, Lucinia, if you're done playing with my perverted girlfriend, get your asses off the ground. I have a question for her."

They pop up instantly, tryst abandoned.

"I wasn't..."

"P-p-pervert???"

"Dura no play! Dura get'n me-d-cal treat'nt!" I know the Ogress has some weird sense of pride about taking ‘submissive’ positions and needs an excuse to indulge herself.

Isabella pounces on me, fists flying to hammer my collar and shoulders without any real force. "Moron! How dare you call me such a thing after I subjected myself to such a disgusting task! Even though I said she smelled putrid, I kissed all her blisters better! I'm not the one who’s perverted for healing an injury, y-you're perverted for watching! I bet you enjoyed every second. I bet you were masturbating behind my back like a nasty... Did you say g-g-g-girlfriend???"

Another pink flower blooms on her head.

Isabella preens, flipping her fluffy white hair and twining her arms as she sways her hips while mumbling with a deep green blush, "This is so sudden! We hardly know each other, and it's only been a few hours! Am I really girlfriend material? Don't most people start as friends and go from there? What am I supposed to say? Am I pretty enough? N-Not that it matters because I d-don’t even like you that much! You think you can swoop in and make me your girlfriend without taking me on a date or—"

I grab her by the hair and kiss Isabella deeply on the mouth, tasting Lucinia's sweat and Dura’s intense savory flavor on her tongue. My arm wraps around the small of her back as I pull her against me hard. The needles in her tresses and spikes on her flesh refuse to pierce my skin, revealing her true feelings. I release her lips and say, “I’m a wolf. I stake my claim and mark my territory. I’ll beat the hell out of anyone who tries to take you from me.” Isabella’s hair explodes with dozens of bright pink flowers like fireworks as her green skin flushes fiercely. “Now, tell me how Cactus folk avoid the Sandworm.”

“F-first g-g-girlfriend k-kiss...” She remains dazed for a few seconds, the flowers on her head drooling nectar, until my question finally registers. “The Sandworm can’t sense light steps on the sand all that well unless it’s very close. We tiptoe around whenever it’s near and rarely have a problem. Except it knows to expect us now!”

“Got it. Okay, Dura, throw your club in this and that direction. Meanwhile, we’ll slowly make our way toward the Oasis. Lucinia, perch on Dura’s shoulders and extend your Lightweight magic to her.”

“Use me as well,” Flou1 says as she transforms into a pair of long, flat, ruby sand-shoes. It’s a bit of a strange choice, but I understand what she’s going for.

Dura summons a club in each hand and throws them at six o’clock and nine o’clock while we drop to the sand and flee in the direction of two o'clock. The Sandworm immediately hits the six o’clock club seconds after it lands. However, it’s hesitant to investigate the nine o'clock club and pokes the spot cautiously. If nothing else, the monster is intelligent and knows we’re trying to trick it.

Meanwhile, the five of us are taking as much ground as we can while the Sandworm is visible. Dura hardly disturbs the sand with Lucinia decreasing her weight using Harpy magic and my ruby sand-shoes distribute the impact of my footfalls as I carry Isabella in my arms.

We have a tense moment as the Sandworm begins inspecting the area around the rocky island where it originally lost us. The monster seems hesitant to open its mouth ever since Isabella shot at it with her needle spray. The five of us remain frozen as a hump travels through the sands nearby. When the Sandworm finishes passing, we continue our sluggish progress. Eventually, the Sandworm realizes we’ve escaped and starts thrashing and slamming itself against the stones, causing more rock pillars to collapse. We’re able to escape in the ensuing commotion as a loud roar fades into the distance.