With the crickets causing the mirage gone, the tortoise was once again trapped in a situation of not knowing where to go. It looked to the earth and found nothing of interest. To the heavens, there was only the sun rising from the East, steadily climbing to its throne. On a whim, the tortoise headed East, towards the origin of the sun and also a direction that would bring the night faster. Not by much, in fact, a barely noticeable amount, but an amount nonetheless. It was the thought that counts.

One step after another, the demon clumsily moved forward. It stumbled a few times as it had trouble keeping its footing. No longer were its legs and claws designed for digging and moving through the desert. They had been repurposed and became weapons. Being a bit slower was not a big deal to a tortoise with no destination in mind. Nowhere to go and nothing to lose, the most dangerous kind of creature.

Along the way to nothing, came a cactus. In the middle of the wasteland with no water, this hardy plant managed to survive. And that survival was about to come to an end to further another's destined path. The tortoise approached it and started scraping off its needles out of habit.

Instead of taking a bite of its now defenseless flesh, it gave it a swipe of its claw. For the demon, eating was no longer a necessity and it came to the cactus to destroy it, not to consume it as before. Cactus flesh and fluids were scattered across the ground, wasted and the death of the cactus was guaranteed.

Before, the tortoise killing the cacti was justified as it did so for sustenance but the demon did so out of spite. The cactus followed a path it didn't so the demon terminated that path. A mix of jealousy and pride swelled in the demon aa it assured itself that it was better than the cactus.

What it hadn't noticed in its thoughts was the water rising into the air and forming the shape of a claw. The claw grabbed the edge of the tortoise's shell and the demon finally noticed this oddity. This claw was the same as the tortoise's claw in appearance. Except, the tortoise had the rest of its body at the end of its claw, not a serpent that coiled around its neck. The serpent's mouth opened as if it was going to bite the tortoise. It could not escape as the serpent tightened itself with impressive strength for something made from water.

Completely restrained, the tortoise fell over and had its leg glued to its neck. The claw became indistinct as it turned back to freeform water, swallowing up a portion of its body and sticking to it like gel. No bite came as the serpent hung directly above the tortoise's temple, decorating it like the statue of a god. Like the pagan gods of old, this god demanded sacrifice and tribute.

Sensing the presence of this being of water, the water within the tortoise was persuaded to join it, passing through the skin. The very thought made the tortoise's blood thin as it became pale-faced and its body started to shrivel up from lack of moisture. Meanwhile, the demon's very energy and life were drawn out in the form of heat as it funneled into the serpent's mouth. Like that, the tortoise's body heat plummeted.

Thankfully, the sun was out and high in the sky, about to hit its zenith. This slowed the process down and helped replenish the tortoise's heat levels while evaporating some of the water that constituted the serpent. Alas, the serpent absorbed more water than it lost and the sun wasn't enough to save the tortoise's life. Or was it?

Seeming to sense something, the serpent looked up and stopped sapping the tortoise. It looked to the skies and saw the sun radiating an intense light that only grew in strength. The serpent let go of the tortoise, freeing it, as it itself hid back in the cactus. Despite the opening, the cactus still offered a mediocum of protection from the sun. Confused but happy about this development, the tortoise got back up and looked to the heavens. There it saw a figure within the sun whose existence shook the demon to its very core. Fear, an emotion it hadn't felt since becoming a demon even with that water serpent, had reared its ugly face once again.

Even stronger than that fear was hatred. It despised that figure within the sun and it despised the serpent that attacked it. Instead of seeking shelter from the sun's iridescence like the serpent, it steeled itself then attacked the cactus out of vengeance. If it would not hide from the sun, what gave that lowly serpent the right to. With a single blow, the cactus and parts of the serpent's watery body collapsed and were exposed to all of the sun's harsh rays.

With no shelter and the sun bearing down on the serpent, it decided to flee. Its body zigzagged as it swam through the very air, its body taking the shape of a snake completely as it flew off. One does not simply run away from the sun.

The entire sky became yellow and the ground was saturated with light and vibrant colors. In the sky, the figure from before seemed to be sitting down while looking over the lands below. An overwhelming presence accompanied by a wave of heat washing over the lands. Being made of pure water, the serpent never stood a chance, disappearing mid-flight as it completely evaporated. Yet, the demon was not unaffected by this. The very light scalded its body and brought forth incredible pain. There was heat but the heat was not too bad. This was something different as the light rejected the demon's existence like it rejected the light and the figure above's path. Mutual rejection and one-sided pain as the other side didn't even notice the demon, collateral damage from just existence alone.

Before any serious damage could be done, the world returned to normalcy. The skies turned blue and no figure could be found in the sun. Which left behind a crispy, mummified, demon tortoise. Lacking the energy to move after such an event, the tortoise laid there for a few hours.