Chapter 79: Dwarf Convoy
A searing, bone-dry heat slammed into Damien, replacing the cool, dust-choked air of the canyon.
He hit the ground hard, rolling in loose, scorching sand. The shock of the sudden transition made his vision swim.
"Ugh... my head," Isabelle groaned, coughing up sand as she untangled herself from Lyra. "Where... where did we land? It’s burning!"
They had been teleported. The Voss Shadow Medallion, meant to grant a quick escape, had delivered them to a location far more hostile than the canyon.
Damien pushed himself up, spitting out grit. The scene was utterly foreign. They were in a vast, empty desert, the Sands of Drulgar, known for being the treacherous outer rim of the Dwarven territories. The sun beat down with brutal intensity on dunes that stretched to a hazy horizon.
"It’s a desert," Damien rasped, his Dual-Core already screaming under the temperature fluctuation. "The Medallion sends us to a random shadow three kilometers away. It chose the wrong shadow."
"At least Baelor isn’t here," Leona grunted, her lion ears flicking nervously. She knelt, inspecting the ground, her gaze fixed on the sand. "But we have bigger problems."
RUMBLE. RUMBLE.
The sand beneath them began to pulse and vibrate.
Damien looked around. Huge, defined ripples were surging through the dunes toward them, moving with frightening speed, like massive subterranean waves.
"What is that?" Lyra grabbed her bow, her gray skin blending poorly against the stark yellow sand.
"Sand Worms," Damien said, recognizing the attack pattern immediately. "Desert Scourges, Tier 3 Magic Beasts. They hunt by vibration."