Chp.5: Fish in the sand

The march resumed the next morning, but as Zamor had said he increased security, tripling the number of guards traveling either side of the huge group of beastmen and taking more frequent night shifts. Zamor had conferred with his most loyal subordinates and other beastmen leaders and they had all decided that such measures were necessary. Someone had proposed not to say anything to the others, as this would have only created panic, but hiding the increase in security would have been impossible, so Zamor had decided to play in advance and reveal everything rather than making doubts spread. He had made the news as easy to accept as possible, focusing on the positive aspects (more water and food) and stating that if there was ever a predator in that desert they could easily deal with it. People had believed him and, although worried by the presence of animals whose nature they did not know, they were convinced that everything would be fine.

And in fact for a while everything went well: for five days the march continued without a hitch, not encountering a single danger on the road. The biggest 'close encounter' they had had was another giant scorpion, smaller than the one Serengal killed, which had approached the camp one night and was easily tracked down and killed. Because of that calm, people soon forgot the danger and most of them convinced themselves that they would never come across anything really dangerous.

Sadly, they were wrong.

On the morning of the sixth day, in fact, it was immediately clear that there was something strange. Zamor had noticed that Haku and his siblings moved more cautiously and kept their eyes and nostrils wide open, as if they were trying to pick up even the slightest signal of danger. It was clear that they sensed something nearby and were tense about it. Zamor knew that the dragons were so alert there must be a reason, but he still hoped that they would calm down after some time; instead after noon they were still in that state. Even the other beastmen couldn't ignore it. "Hey, did you notice how restless dragons are?" Gord whispered in his ear so no one else would hear.

Zamor just nodded. He had already tried to talk to Haku to find out what was happening, but the dragon had replied that he didn't know what was coming either and to get ready to fight. He hadn't given him much information, basically. "Go to your friend Darbi and ask him what's going on" he ordered Gord, hoping that Darbi would be more talkative than his brother.

Gord nodded and trying not to be noticed went to find Darbi. He found him on a nearby hill, and he too was visibly tense. Apparently dragons got really restless when they sensed something they didn't know. "Hey buddy, what's..."

"Ssssh!" Darbi didn't let him finish the sentence. "It is close"

Gord didn't know what Darbi meant, but he drew his weapon anyway and looked in the direction where the dragon was also looking. Suddenly the sand seemed to move, and a strange pointed structure began to emerge from it. "Is that... a fin...?"

Darbi didn't even listen to him; as soon as the fin appeared in the sand, he lunged forward and leapt upon it, grabbing it in his jaws and pulling it away. A large area of ​​sand heaved up and a head emerged from beneath it, and it tried to bite Darbi with its toothy jaws, but the dragon planted violently its head into the ground with his paw; the animal thrashed violently, but the dragon was stronger and finally crushed its skull.

Gord gasped when he was able to see what Darbi had just killed. It was clearly a fish, at least five meters long, with large fins including one dorsal, an elongated snout and a mouth bristling with teeth. "Are you kidding me!? A shark swimming in the sand!?" the lizardman exclaimed.

"Be careful! More are coming!" Darbi yelled at him, and Gord just had time to duck out of the way before a gaping mouth with sharp teeth arranged in multiple rows emerged from the sand beside him and tried to grab him. The lizardman swung his sword and struck the inside of the shark's throat, opening a large gash up half its snout; unfortunately he couldn't hit the brain, but surely the wound he had inflicted was very painful. The fish writhed, moving like a snake, and tried to take cover under the sand, but Gord leapt onto its back and slashed it again, this time driving the sword into the right spot, killing it.

"Now I understand why you were so tense!" Gord exclaimed as he pulled his sword from the beast's skull. "Are there more to come?"

Darbi nodded. "I can feel their movement in the sand. I count at least a dozen"

"So what are you waiting for? Raise the alarm!" Gord told him as he readied himself to fight again.

Darbi seemed to remember that detail only at that moment. "Right!" he exclaimed, then opened his jaws and let out a loud and long roar. His cry echoed for miles across the desert, and the beastmen hearing it drew their weapons too. They knew this was the signal that the dragons had found something dangerous.

Suddenly the sand exploded in several places and several shadows shot out of it. Gord had to squint to recognize that these were other sharks. "Damn! How can they jump so high!?"

Darbi, on the other hand, asked no questions; he didn't waste time questioning how the enemy acted, he attacked. He took a running start and leapt, aiming for the closest shark; but while still in mid-air, the fish spread its fins and flapped them as if they were wings; its direction changed completely and Darbi missed it altogether. On the other hand, two other sharks emerged from the sand and, taking advantage of the fact that the dragon was still jumping and could not get out of the way, they attacked him, biting him on the side and the back. Darbi let out a pained sound: the sharks' jaws weren't strong enough to injure him badly, but they hurt a lot nonetheless. He lost concentration and fell to the floor with a tumble, rolling very ungracefully.

Gord's jaw dropped. "Of course. Sharks fly... and hunt in packs, it seems!" the lizardman exclaimed, tired of how the laws of nature seemed to have completely subverted, then he threw his sword as if it were a spear and hit the shark that was biting his friend's back, killing it instantly.

Taking advantage of this, Darbi tried to grab the other shark, but it dodged and let him go; the dragon initially didn't understand how the fish had moved so fast, but then he realized that six long legs similar to those of a spider had appeared under the shark, which probably until then had been folded under the belly of the animal. "What!? They can even walk!? What else!?" Gord screamed exasperated.

Darbi prepared to fight the shark. He had no doubts that he would win, and the fish seemed to think the same way too as it backed away: after all, even though the shark was five meters long, Darbi measured more than ten and possessed much more muscle mass and much more defences. In a one-on-one battle, the victory would have easily been his. But as he was about to attack him he perceived other movements, and the sand exploded again and other sharks emerged from it, leaping on him; Gord tried to run towards him to help, but a couple of sharks also appeared next to him and tried to bite him. The lizardman still hadn't retrieved his sword and had no chance to escape; he mentally prepared himself for his death as he observed the black throats of those monstrous creatures.

But the sharks never reached their target; just as they were about to bite Gord and tear him apart with their sharp teeth, something grabbed them by the tails and lifted them into the air, then they slammed them into the sand and smashed their skulls clean. The sharks that were attacking Darbi also suffered the same fate, although some managed to sense the danger and escape back under the sand. Darbi breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her siblings still holding the bodies of the dead sharks by their tails. "Finally! Did you take a break while I was getting eaten!?" he exclaimed.

"They attacked from other parts as well. These bastards are smarter than expected" Haku grumbled throwing down the fish he had just killed. "And they're also very stubborn. Get ready!"

More sharks leapt out of the sand and flew through the air, watching them with their eyes as if searching for a weak spot, and then swooped at them. "They may be smart, but they don't learn what they shouldn't attack!" Rhaegal grunted. "Okay! Let's eat fish tonight, guys!"

"We've never tasted shark meat. I hope it's at least good!" Corgorin screamed, then she leapt and grabbed one of the flying sharks and tore it apart with her jaws.

The battle didn't last long: within a few minutes, all the remaining sharks were killed. Those predators would have a chance against a single young dragon, but there was no way they could defeat many of them. And so, that school of strange fish capable of swimming in the sand was quickly exterminated. In the end, only large carcasses remained of the sharks.

"Mph. It looks like it's over" Haku grumbled. Finally he no longer perceived danger signals, and for the first time since that morning he could relax. He grabbed one of the corpses and eyed it curiously, inspecting it from the toothy mouth to the spider-like legs. "What a strange fish..."

"Flying, walking, swimming, hunting in packs... they knew how to do everything" Darbi murmured looking at the corpse with a little hatred. Even though he hadn't been seriously injured, the jaws of those predators had hurt him quite a lot. "More than a fish, that seems to me the result of a perverse rape of a shark by a giant spider..."

"They've probably adapted to be able to fight in any environment here in the desert, since resources are so limited" Haku said, then he shook his head. "Well, this isn't the time to speculate. Let's collect the corpses and go back to Zamor, so he will know that the emergency is over. Then we can reflect on the nature of these fish"

The dragons quickly collected the bodies, then returned to the beastmen. Also next to them were the corpses of some sharks, completely impaled by arrows and spears, testifying that they had attacked from several sides. Those animals seemed to be very intelligent indeed. When Zamor saw them coming he immediately asked: "Are there more?"

Haku shook his head. "They're gone. And now that we know their smell, sound, movement and so on, we'll spot them right away if they try to get close again"

Zamor sighed with relief, but he wasn't calm yet. "They could attack us from below. If they move through the sand..."

"Fish can't swim vertically" Haku immediately stopped him. "And I doubt these sharks can either. They always moved diagonally, never straight up or down. No, I don't think they can attack us from under our feet"

Zamor at that point was a little more relaxed. Although killing those strange fish hadn't been too complicated, since it was enough to hit them with arrows or spears as soon as they emerged from the sand, he was left with the fear that they might change their strategy and attack them from below. "So... sharks swimming in the sand? Sand sharks?"

"I don't know what their name is. But yes, they swim in the sand" Haku replied. "I still have no idea how they do it, but I'll find out if you give me some time. And in any case, they pose no danger to us, as you surely already understood"

"But there could be something worse" Zamor pointed out.

But Haku shook his head. "I doubt it. These sharks have many adaptations in order to be sure of catching their prey, which means that they don't have to have many chances to find food, since their abilities demonstrate that as soon as they find it they have to take it. Therefore, I don't think there could be a larger predator in this desert. I believe we can say that we have already encountered the apex predator of the Yuthia Desert" he said looking at the sharks. "However, I can't be sure, so it will be advisable to continue to keep an eye out"

Zamor nodded. "Yes, it makes sense to me" he replied, then he went to reassure the other beastmen by confirming that the attack by the strange sand sharks was over. Instead, Haku went to a dune and began to inspect one of the corpses more deeply, eager to understand all its secrets.