“Threadfins!” Agni woke us all with a bloodcurdling scream, enunciating the word over and over. “Threadfins! Threadfins!”

I bolted awake, snatching my axe and shield that lay nearby. Keke was already on her feet, bow drawn and arrow nocked. Cannoli blinked her wide eyes in rapid succession at the groaning Ravyn, then me. Ceres was already halfway out of the tent.

“Goddess damned threadfins!” Agni screamed again. “Get yer asses out here!”

Tristan scrambled to his feet, tugging at the still-sleeping Lara’s shoulder. Destiny stood at the opposite side, yanking her sister’s arm. Lara hummed a sigh, and her head lulled back.

“She’s a really deep sleeper,” Destiny explained.

“We don’t have time for this,” I barked as Ceres vanished.

“Right!” Tristan called back, abandoning Lara to join the rest of us in charging outside.

The sky was alit with the royal blues and light purples of dusk—the sun still absent from its canvas. The dim light framed Agni’s thin frame a few meters away from the fire pit, standing poised and ready to attack. She wielded twin scimitars, white-knuckling one jeweled handle in each fist, the blades shimmering in the fire’s final flames.

Just as Agni opened her mouth to call out once more, there was an explosion of sand mere inches from the toe of her foot. A jet-black, slender form emerged, towering over our caravan leader with shining scales and three aligned fins along its back. Round, beady eyes glimmered from the bottom of its head while a half-dozen pits framing the slit of its mouth searched the air for the scent of Agni.

“What the hell?” I murmured.

“Threadfins. Didn’t you hear her the first five times?” Ravyn smirked.

A second burst of sand erupted from Agni’s left, then her right. The three threadfins waved hypnotically from side to side before all eyes focused on Agni.

“[Spinning Slash]!” Agni cried. She spun on the balls of her feet like a dancer, the scimitar’s blades whipping through the air and slicing deep into the scales of the serpent-like Encroachers. Black blood spilled onto the sand and speckled the swords.

All three threadfins opened their jaws and screamed, revealing multiple tiers of razor-sharp teeth dripping with spit.

Tristan hissed in a breath. “Like an Arrakian sandworm.”

He’d have to explain the reference later. The threadfin on Agni’s right quickly recovered and was taking a dive at her shoulder.

“[Provoke]!” I screamed. The familiar sensation of the roach’s enmity coursed through my veins as it turned its hundreds of teeth on me.

“[Pinpoint Weakness]!” Keke cried. Seconds later, she loosed a volley of arrows into the threadfin on Agni’s right. Another blood-curdling scream escaped its throat before it dropped to the sand and went still.

Agni drew both blades across her remaining attacker’s throat, slicing two more gaping wounds and spilling viscous black liquid to the ground. The one I’d [Provoked] slithered toward me with terrifying speed. I raised my shield and readied my axe.

The threadfin stopped at my feet and lifted its head high above mine. It roared, giving me a better look at all of its tiny teeth. Its breath smelled like blood and decay. Just as a serpent would a rat, it struck forward at my head like lightning.

But I was ready.

I thrust my shield high, catching it beneath its upper row of teeth with the metal’s edge. Spittle dribbled down the backside of my shield, mixing with the black blood from its wounded gums. It thrashed against the sudden barricade, and I wasn’t about to give it time to get away from me. I swung my axe with all my might, burying it into the threadfin’s side once, twice, three times. It shrieked and went limp at last.

A new blast of sand sounded behind me as a second threadfin burst free and immediately moved to strike. I only had time to glance over my shoulder. My shield was still caught beneath the mouth of my prey, and the axe stuck in its corpse. Fuck.

“Sir Matt!”

Ceres darted to my side, lowering the point of her polearm, and thrust forward without hesitation. The spike buried deep inside the threadfin’s gut, and a thin, glittering layer of ice encased the surrounding scales. She gave her weapon another shove with a frown and a furious growl. A wet tearing sound preceded the spike bursting through the threadfin’s back. Ceres choked up the handle, then yanked it upward, leaving more icy remnants in the wake of the cut. Black entrails sloshed from the wound and spilled to the ground.

“Thanks, Ceres,” I murmured, freeing my shield and axe while I blinked in awe of her quick work.

“Of course. However, do not let your guard down just yet.” She kicked the frozen threadfin free of her weapon and turned to the others.

“Another wave!” Agni called.

Three more threadfins burst from the sand, barely a stone’s throw away from Tristan and Destiny.

They must travel in threes.

Destiny glanced at Tristan, rolling a glass bottle between her fingers. A shy smile played at her lips, and she gave him a quick nod. “Allow me first, young master. [Enchant Bomb]!” She chucked the bottle at the center of the three roaches. The glass broke against the threadfin’s head, and a white light encapsulated them before it could react. Like Cannoli’s [Illuminate] all over again. After the light was an explosion that made everyone flinch, followed by a tall wave of fire.

Another Skill that blinds all of us. Gonna need a warning on that one, Destiny.

The smoke cleared, revealing the triad of threadworms lying on the sand, weakly hissing and gasping for air.

“[Fire Ball]!” Tristan cried next. Brilliant flames engulfed his hands and wrists, culminating in an enormous sphere before launching from his arms. It swallowed the powerless threadfins whole, reducing them to little more than ash.

“Nice job, kouhai.” Ravyn flashed him a smile.

That’s a new one.

“A compliment? Are you feeling okay, Ravyn?” Keke called.

“Never better,” Ravyn replied, eyes narrowing.

“There’s more coming!” Cannoli wailed, pointing to a building wall of sand in the distance. “What do we do?”

Agni moved closer to our group. “We need to throw ‘em off our scent. So long as they can smell us, they’ll keep comin’.”

“A bath would help,” Tristan murmured, shielding his eyes and looking around. “But I haven’t seen a drop of water anywhere.”

I glanced over his shoulder, suddenly remembering our one avenue out of this hell hole. The gigashanks were where we’d left them, leashed to a series of wooden stakes that Agni had pounded into the ground.

“Threadfins don’t attack the gigashanks?” I asked. The threadfins were certainly big enough to eat them just fine.

“Nah. Their scales’re too damn hard for threadfin teeth. Just gotta worry about our own skin right now,” Agni said. She jerked her head toward the tent. “They don’t usually attack this early in the mornin’. We can’t leave without our stores.”

“I have an idea.” A groggy Lara appeared from the tent, rubbing the sand from her eyes.

“Nice of you to join us,” Ravyn snapped.

Lara yawned, either deaf to Ravyn’s statement or flat out ignoring it. “Wind? Are you feeling okay today?”

“Mattaku.”

“Here we go,” Keke muttered.

“It is very hot. You’re right. Um, can I ask you for another favor? Please? This one’s for real…Oh, well, the other one was for real, too. But, like, my friends wanted to see you and…Yes, this is pretty urgent,” Lara continued, gesturing wildly at nothing.

“What in Saoirse’s name is she doin’?” Agni grumbled, eyes flickering from Lara to the approaching cloud.

“Magic. Apparently,” I said.

“I could not imagine if I had to barter with ice like this,” Ceres mused.

“They’re getting closer!” Cannoli squeaked, dancing from foot to foot.

I stepped forward, readying my shield and axe once more. That was a big cloud on the way. I wondered if even Ravyn’s magic could hold that many back.

“No, really, I’ll ask Earth or Water next time. Promise. Just one more,” Lara said. After a long, painful pause, she turned to the rest of us and clapped her hands. “Bunch up together! Please!”

Tristan and Destiny didn’t let us ask questions. They herded all of us close together, shoulder to shoulder, in a clumped huddle.

“Okay, close your eyes!” Lara cried. “[Whirlwind]!”

A tornado of sand spun at our feet, then whipped high into the air. I slammed my eyes shut just as the first wave of hot grit struck me in the face. The cyclone sped, and I found myself grabbing for whomever I could hold onto, afraid the storm would rip me from the ground. The howling wind was deafening. I’d never experienced a tornado before, but I could confidently say that I’d like to never do it again.

The sandy cyclone shifted away from us, leaving only a ringing in my ears and sand in every crevice of my skin and armor.

“Wind! Wind! Go that way!” I heard Lara yell over the rushing wind and dull ring.

I brushed the dirt from my eyes and shook as much as I could from my hair before gaping up at Lara’s tornado. The zenith disappeared high into a gathering of dark clouds. It swirled forward and drifted slowly over the desert in the direction of Lara’s frantically pointing fingers.

“The hell was that for?” Ravyn snarled, pushing away from the huddle. She brushed the sand from her dress and sleeves.

Cannoli gasped. “The storm’s carrying our scent!” She pointed at the floating clouds of sand kicked up by the threadfins. “Look! They’re following it!”

“Well. I’ll be damned.” Agni cackled.

“Nice going, Lara!” Tristan cheered. “Way to think on your feet!”

“Don’t thank me. Thank Wind!” Lara smiled and turned toward the tornado growing smaller and smaller as it traveled into the distance. She waved and cried at the top of her lungs, “Thank you, Wind!”

“Good job, Lara,” Keke complimented. “Oh. And Wind.” She cleared her throat and glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. “Yeah. I think I’ll carve up the roaches now.”

“Good idea,” I said, still trying to process what had just happened. “Smart thinking, Lara.”

Lara smiled sheepishly. “I think Wind will want a break from me after this. That spell took a lot out of her.” She looked around the camp. “So! What’s for breakfast?”

Matt has gained: 70 XP!

Keke has gained: 83 XP!

Ceres has gained: 41 XP!