“Anywhere,” he says, throwing his hands up.
“There’s lots of shade up your ass,” I snap.
“Who in the hell put you in charge?” he yells with a surprising burst of energy.
“When it became clear I’m smart enough to know that if we stop here, we’ll bake to death because there’s no shelter,” I tell him.
No one speaks, but everyone resumes walking so my point is made.
“How much farther can it be?” I ask.
“About a half day, my treasure,” the creeper Zmaj says helpfully.
“I’m not your treasure,” I say wearily.
Half a day. Shit. Good news, we’re almost there. Bad news, I can’t feel my feet. Or my legs. Or my butt, come to think of it. Do I still have an ass? I hope so. I’ve always liked my ass. Nice, curvy, fills out a pair of pants well.
“You are,” he insists, cutting into my disarray of thoughts.
“What’s your name?” I ask. I don’t look at him only because it’s too much effort to turn my head.
“I am Khabri,” he says.
“Well, Khabri,” I say. “I don’t know you, and I’m sure as hell not looking for love. So let’s get this cleared up. I’m not your treasure, your mate, or hell, even your friend, at least not yet. I don’t know you, get it?”
“You will,” he says with a smugness that pisses me off.
I’m opening my mouth to tell him just how much he is pissing me off when his overly large hand clamps down over my lips. Instantly I’m in fight mode. I bite down, but he moves his hand out then back on, holding my mouth shut. I kick him as hard as I can in the shin. I’m happy he grunts, but he doesn’t let go.
“Quiet,” he hisses.
The Zmaj have formed a circle around us, facing out. I nod understanding, seeing that he’s not being rape-y or something. He moves his hand, and moving in slow motion he kneels, placing a hand flat on the sands and closing his eyes.
I look at the others, trying to comprehend what he’s doing and why they’re all acting on edge. The ground vibrates under my feet, and the sand slides down the dune we came down a moment ago.
“Run,” Khabri says, rising and pointing behind us. “We’ll hold its attention. Run to the City, take the humans.” I’m staring wide-eyed, not comprehending in my exhaustion. “Run!”
When he yells, I snap to and turn to the others. I motion with my hands, and they stumble into motion. It’s far from what I would call a run, a lumbering slow shamble describes it better, but we’re moving.
As I watch over my shoulder, the Zmaj fan out into a semi-circle and draw their lochabers.
Suddenly the ground in front of them explodes. Dirt and sand fly high into the air, obscuring my vision. I can’t see the Zmaj at all. Emerging from the cloud of filth is a thing of nightmares.
“Zemlja!” someone screams, and then it’s on.
Full panic grips all my fellow humans, and they’re running while screaming. I try to run, but something hits me in the back of the head. Stars dancing across my sight, I’m thrown forward. I stumble several steps before I lose it and fall to my hands and knees.
I put my hand to the back of my head and touch something wet and sticky. Blood stains my fingers trembling in front of my face. My stomach clenches tight, and for a moment, I’m sure I’m going to throw up. There’s nothing in my stomach to lose, which I’m thankful about.
“Hurry up!” Liam yells, grabbing my right arm. Elijah is grabbing my left arm, and they’re dragging me with them.
I scramble until my feet are under me and I’m running with the group. One glance back, and I realize I’ve really got to quit. It’s not good back there. I don’t want to know.
The Zmaj are fighting the monster worm. It’s a ginormous dick with a gaping maw filled with thousands of teeth. It’s like a space slug from Empire Strikes Back except bigger and more teeth, more cock like.
Damn, how hard did I get hit in the head? I’m insane. Running for my life and coming up with comparisons of a zemlja and a space slug-slash-dick? Get it together, girl!
The zemlja screeches, and then the three of us are flying through the air. The ground was nicely under my feet, as it should be, then next step, it’s not. I’m flailing like an idiot trying to run on air, which is not working.
I’m screaming as I fly forward. The ground races up towards me. This is going to hurt. A dozen possible idea flit through my head, ways I might get out of this, but they’re all stupid or impossible. I close my eyes to brace for the impact that’s going to come any second. I’m on this ride until the end.
The ground is every bit as hard as I expect it to be. I tuck my head and slam down shoulder first, trying to roll and take out the brunt of the hit. It helps, I think, but the wind is knocked out of me, and everything hurts.
Shakily, I climb to my feet. Liam and Elijah lie in heaps to either side, but Liam is moving, so I run to Elijah. He’s moving when I reach him, groaning.
“Get up!” I yell, grabbing his arm and pulling.
He groans but gets up. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end as cold races down my spine.
“NO!” Khabri yells from some distance behind me.
I don’t want to turn around. I know it’s bad. Every fiber of my being is screaming don’t look, run, but don’t look.
I look.
My stomach drops, leaving me shaking as I will myself to run, but there’s no way. The almighty evil dick of Tajss itself is about to fuck me, and there’s no escaping it. I can’t even scream. I try, but a pathetic whimpering sound comes out.
I’m struck from the side, and then rolling across the hard-packed sand. Over and over, sand getting in my eyes, mouth, and nose but still we’re rolling. I bounce up into the air, slam down, and still rolling.
When I come to a stop, it takes a second to realize that Liam has his arms and legs wrapped around me. I struggle to a sitting position looking back.
“Elijah!” I scream.
He’s running, zigzagging, but there’s no hope. The zemlja keeps rising from under the ground, towering over the desert dozens of feet high. It bends impossibly far, mouth opening wide, then it crashes down, burrowing back under the ground—taking Elijah with it.
“NO!” I scream, reaching my hand towards where he was.
Tears stream down my face, but I don’t care. No one deserves to die like that. I fight my way free of Liam and stumble towards the hole the damn worm left behind. I don’t have a plan, but somehow, I have to save him.
The ground rumbles again, and I come to my senses enough to realize how incredibly stupid what I’m doing is. Khabri appears beside me, scoops me up in one arm, and runs. I see the other Zmaj are not far behind, and they’re grabbing up the other humans, including Liam.
The dirt and sand is bouncing, which apparently means the zemlja is still hunting. I wrap my arms around Khabri’s neck and stare behind him.
The armor of numb is cracking, and emotions I don’t want to deal with are slipping through. I sob and shudder as I try to patch up my protective mental armor. This isn’t the worst. If Khabri and these Order guys are right, it’s only the beginning.
We’re at war. This is merely a distraction.