Trap

Kaleb sprang into action at the warning and turned to run back down the dune. Unfortunately, athletics had never been his forte and the sudden decent of the dune was more than his coordination could handle. Kaleb's feet tangled as he tried to gain balance and he fell head first as he rolled down the rest of the dune.

He came to a stop at the bottom lying on his back looking up at the dune he had just descended. He was battered but Kaleb felt, with relief, that nothing was broken, although his scrapes that he had gotten on his landing in this world were bleeding again.

At his landing at the bottom of the dune, the top seemed to erupt as the creature pursuing Kaleb breached the sand with its momentum before crashing back into the sand, beginning its decent toward him.

It's appearance was that of a large worm 1 meter wide, with sections of armored carapace making up its body, that were a slightly darker shade than the sand it moved through. Its mouth was like a closed flower split into four petals and, when it broke through the sand with a shriek, Kaleb was able to see the hook like teeth that lined the inside of its mouth and throat.

'Dune Trap.' Rackshar said solemnly as Kaleb laid there stunned.

He may have been able to understand that he was on another planet with magic and monsters but it was another thing to see one for his first time. But his amazement was short lived and adrenaline surged through him as he watched the worm's trail of sand coming swiftly down toward him. Kaleb scrambled to his feet and started running in the direction of least resistance, staying in the valleys between the dunes.

'Dune Trap? Is that its name? Why is it called a trap?'

'You don't need to worry about this one trapping you, it's still quite young. They got that name because of the adult Dune Traps, whose bulbous mouth can get up to 200 meters wide and 150 long and the overall length of their body is many times that. Because of their large size moving through the sand of the desert alerts all its prey and scares it off long before it arrives. So the Dune Trap's expose their bulbous mouths and let the winds cover them with sand making them look like a dune at which point it will wait for prey to cross it before opening to devour them.'

'You mean any of these dunes I walk across could kill me?' Kaleb said in surprise as he warily examined the dunes around him as he ran.

'No, a full grown Dune Trap would never waste its time on you. You are so small that you wouldn't even be a snack for it. Dune Traps will sometimes wait for years for suitable prey before exposing themselves. Also they are quite rare so you aren't likely to ever come across one.' Rackshar tried assuring him.

'Then my luck is really holding steady at rock bottom' Kaleb thought to himself as he looked over his shoulder at the young Dune Trap steadily gaining on him. 'I can't let this turn into a endurance contest'.

Kaleb situation was looking grim. His breathing was ragged and his legs felt wobbly like jelly, adrenaline was the only thing keeping him going.

'I need to think of a way to lose this worm. If its as long as Rackshar hinted toward than its mobility underground should be low, it will probably have trouble turning.' Kaleb thought as he rounded a dune to see the valley split onto either side of a dune in middle and a plan formed in his mind.

Kaleb slowed his speed as he veered toward the right fork. The Dune Trap came at him quickly and, as it neared, Kaleb turned with his heart threatening to beat out of his chest, and ran directly at the Dune Trap.

Sand sprayed from the ground as the Dune Trap's head sprang from the earth, its mouth flaring open with a screech, launching itself at Kaleb. Kaleb dove to the left with all his might but his lack of agility showed its ugly face once again as his right leg was clipped by the Dune Trap's charge sending him sprawling with some ugly gashes on his leg from the hooked teeth.

As he looked at the ugly lines of his wound Kaleb knew he would have lost the leg if the Dune Trap hadn't been throw off by Kaleb's unexpected charge. It had mistimed its bite leaving Kaleb only wounded.

Crawling off the ground Kaleb began a limping run back the way he had come, away from the two forks, keeping the Dune Trap's still submerged body between himself and the left fork that he hadn't taken. Blood was streaming from his leg and he was starting to feel light headed but Kaleb knew if he stopped now he would die.

He waited until the Dune Trap re-submerged its head and continued its pursuit, making a wide u turn to chase him. Then Kaleb dove across its submerged body and ran toward the left fork. He heard a frustrated screech from behind and took a quick glance over his shoulder to see the Dune Trap's resurfaced head thrashing around trying to turn itself toward Kaleb, but it was unable to as its armored sections bunched in the attempt to continue its rotation.

'Just as I thought', Kaleb thought with a relieved sigh as he kept running. 'Its body is rigid because of its armored carapace and can't make sharp turns, especially underground.'

Kaleb knew that this was only a delaying tactic. The Dune Trap would untangle itself and continue its chase but he had bought himself some time and distance, to hopefully think of a more permanent solution.

It only took a few minutes before Kaleb turned to check his trail and saw the Dune Trap's telltale sand mound in the distance. He knew he needed something and needed it fast, as his speed continued to slow down from the blood loss and exhaustion.

"Nan ci!"

A shout suddenly startled Kaleb from his thoughts. As he looked for the source of the voice Kaleb saw someone on top of a dune off to his left franticly waving their arms.