“What's wrong?”
Shane's unusual reaction was obvious, so Elon naturally asked with concern.
Instead of answering immediately, Shane closed his eyes, facing deep into the desert. After a moment, he furrowed his brows. “The skeletal hound I sent out found a group of creatures being chased by a large beast. They are heading our way.”
“What kind of creatures?”
Elon also looked in the direction Shane was facing, his tone tinged with curiosity.
“The larger group looks like humans with lizard heads, covered in yellowish-brown scales. They have slender limbs, move very agilely, and are running incredibly fast.”
“The one chasing them is massive, about three meters long, with a dark brown shell. It looks like a giant scorpion.”
Shane described what he saw piece by piece through the skeletal hound's vision. True to his experience, Elon immediately recognized them. “Those are sand scalers and an earth stinger!”
Shane looked at Elon. Although vague concepts of these two creatures existed in his memories, that was the extent of it, so he waited for Elon to explain.
“The larger group must be sand scalers, a branch of the beastkin race that lives in desert regions. They usually gather in groups near pools, are extremely drought-resistant, and possess a natural instinct for finding water.”
“The one chasing them is called an earth stinger. The hook on its tail can fire a petrification ray to turn its prey into stone, making them easier to consume.”
Shane couldn't care less about the earth stinger, but when he heard Elon mention that sand scalers were adept at finding water, his eyes visibly lit up.
The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and his tone rose half an octave. “According to what you're saying, does that mean they can find groundwater as well?”
Elon nodded and continued, “Exactly. The sand scalers migrate and survive in the Golden Sea precisely by relying on their natural water-finding instinct.”
“Then we can't let them die.”
As he spoke, Shane was already on the move. With a casual wave of his hand, he summoned a skeletal warhorse and swung himself onto its back.
Seeing Shane about to leave, Elon quickly called out, “Aren't you going to bring a few more people?”
Shane took another look toward the depths of the desert, then shook his head. “No time. Judging by the signals from the skeletal hound, if we're any later, we'll only be collecting their corpses.”
Before he could even finish his sentence, he wheeled his horse around and galloped into the depths of the desert.
Elon stood in place, watching Shane's departing back. He couldn't help but shake his head before turning around and hurrying back to the camp.
Before long, he led a camel out. Then, with a wave of his hand, a light blue phantom of an owl appeared, quickly flying off to pursue Shane's departing figure.
“I didn't realize he was such an impatient fellow.”
Elon sighed, nudged his legs gently, and the camel set off to follow.
Meanwhile, among the sand dunes about five kilometers away from the oasis, seven slender figures were sprinting through the yellow sands.
Ksaz Sanddust felt as though his lungs were on fire, every breath of inhaled air bringing a searing pain.
He was a hunter of the Golden Sea's Lifepulse Tribe, accustomed to trekking through the sandy seas in search of water and prey. He shouldn't have been in such a pathetic state.
But a few days ago, a Golden Sea sand spirit had emerged from the depths of the sands without warning, easily swallowing their entire tribe.
Powerless against the monster formed of sandstorms and resentment, they could only flee with their fellow tribesmen. In the end, only the seven of them managed to escape.
“Ksaz... I can't run anymore...”
A tribesman behind him let out a raspy gasp, his voice distorted by exhaustion.
Ksaz swept a glance back. His six companions all had dull scales, their bodies beginning to sway unsteadily.
And a hundred meters behind them, a massive, dark brown silhouette was moving rapidly across the sand.
“Don't stop!”
Ksaz roared loudly, “The earth stinger won't let us go! Stopping means death!”
No one argued with Ksaz, because he was right.
In the Golden Sea, prey targeted by an earth stinger rarely escaped. Its powerful pursuit capabilities and rock-hard carapace left it with few rivals in this sea of sand.
Although Ksaz's legs were already cramping, he still didn't dare to slow down.
The wide feet of the sand scalers were naturally suited for walking on shifting sands, allowing them to run faster than most desert creatures.
Yet even so, facing an earth stinger in full pursuit, their endurance was far from enough.
Seeing the earth stinger draw closer and closer, Ksaz knew that if this continued, none of them would make it.
Gritting his teeth, he halted, letting his companions rush past him as he shouted, “Go! I'll hold it back!”
“Ksaz, are you crazy?!”
His companion stared wide-eyed at Ksaz's back. Ksaz had already drawn his bone blade from his waist, his voice devoid of fear. “Otherwise, it will chase us until we all collapse.”
The remaining companions exchanged glances, their eyes filled with bewilderment and terror, unsure of whether they should leave Ksaz behind.
“Go, quickly! There's no time!”
Ksaz bellowed, his eyes locked onto the approaching earth stinger.
The creature's tail hook was already raised high, its tip gleaming with an eerie green light, ready to unleash a fatal blow at any moment.
Yet Ksaz remained fearless. Though his body trembled slightly, his feet were pinned to the ground, refusing to take even half a step back.
However, just as the earth stinger's tail hook was about to fire, a pale figure suddenly lunged out from the dust, slamming straight into the beast's flank.
The earth stinger let out a strange shriek, its entire body stumbling half a step to the side.
The pale figure rolled twice on the ground before standing up again, its bony frame rattling continuously.
Witnessing this, Ksaz's eyes widened instantly, his three eyelids snapping open at once as he froze in place.
“What is that?”
The tribesmen behind Ksaz were also stunned. Looking at a canine cobbled together from bones baring its teeth at the earth stinger, they couldn't help but ask.
“Never mind that, this is our chance. Run!”
Ksaz was quicker to react. Not dwelling on his shock for long, he turned, grabbed his companion's arm, and started running again.
Behind them, the earth stinger was thoroughly enraged by the skeletal hound. It originally hadn't wanted to bother with this completely nutritionless thing.
But the creature was simply too annoying, making it impossible to pursue its breakfast.
Thus, it could only swing its giant pincers and tail hook, continuously attacking the skeletal hound.
But the skeletal hound was unexpectedly agile, hopping left and right to evade the strikes, causing the earth stinger's attacks to miss every time.
During this time, the seven sand scalers ran nearly two kilometers in one breath. Only after scaling a sand dune and confirming the earth stinger wasn't following did they collapse to the ground, panting heavily.
“What... what on earth was that thing?”
“It looked... like a dog made of bones.”
“A dog made of bones?”
“Yes. I heard from a merchant who once came to our tribe to trade that there's an existence called a necromancer who can summon such things.”
Nearby, Ksaz propped himself up by his knees and stood straight, his gaze fixed on the direction they had just fled from.
A necromancer?
He had indeed heard of the term. In the mouths of merchants, they were a bunch of lunatics who hid in dark corners, kept company with corpses, and enjoyed eating people.
Since necromancers ate humans, they probably wouldn't eat sand scalers. After all, they were of different races.
“But that skeletal hound seemed to be helping us. Does that mean the necromancer is a good guy?”
One of the sand scalers suddenly came to this conclusion. Not only did no one refute him, but they actually agreed, all of them nodding their heads.
However, before they could say anything more, the ground began to tremble violently once again.
The next second, the earth stinger burst out from the sand, appearing before them once more. They watched as its tail hook rose again, green light condensing.
There was no escape!
Looking at the earth stinger right in front of him, Ksaz's mind went blank.
But this time, the sand beside the earth stinger suddenly bulged, and two human skeletons emerged, restraining the tail hook just as it was about to fire.
At the same time, Shane's figure appeared on a nearby sand ridge.
Rate on N.U.
