Four Years Later
The sun blazed overhead, a cruel ball of fire that seemed determined to roast the endless dunes below. Each step Kelvin took sent tiny avalanches of sand sliding down the slopes, his boots sinking deep with a crunch that was starting to feel personal.
"Hahhhh… I'm so tired from walking in this forsaken desert," he groaned, swiping sweat from his brow. Heat shimmered in the distance, warping the horizon like it was mocking him. "No water, no shade, no mercy. Perfect vacation spot."
He was halfway through complaining to himself when the ground beneath him trembled. A faint rumble echoed in the dunes. Kelvin froze, every muscle tensing.
The sand ahead of him bulged upward like something massive was pushing from below. In an instant, a gaping maw erupted from the ground—a Sandworm, its segmented body glistening with grit, rows of jagged teeth snapping as it lunged.
"Oh, great. Lunch time," Kelvin muttered, his exhaustion evaporating.
The worm came down like a collapsing building, but Kelvin leapt sideways, rolling across the sand. He drew his short blade in one fluid motion, the sunlight catching on its edge. The beast twisted, sand spraying everywhere, and dove at him again.
He didn't back away this time. As the Sandworm's mouth opened wide, Kelvin sprinted forward, using its momentum against it. He plunged his blade upward through the soft underside of its jaw. The worm let out a gut-wrenching screech, thrashing wildly, but Kelvin held firm until it collapsed in a shuddering heap.
He yanked his blade free, breathing hard. "Whew. Guess I'm the one having lunch."
The Sandworm's carcass still twitched faintly, its crystal core glowing deep inside its chest cavity. Kelvin sliced it open, retrieving the fist-sized crystal before crouching to inspect the meat. He cut away a steaming strip and bit into it. Tough, chewy, faintly salty—like overcooked calamari—but it would keep him alive.
As soon as he absorbed the crystal, a faint warmth spread through his limbs. "Not bad. Now I can actually relax," he said, brushing the sand from his clothes.
Hours later, after wandering aimlessly through the dunes, Kelvin spotted a rock formation jutting up like a stone island in a golden sea. It wasn't much—just a flat, weathered boulder about four meters tall—but compared to the endless sand, it was paradise.
He scrambled up and stretched out, letting the desert wind cool his sweat. Before long, exhaustion dragged him under, and he drifted into a deep sleep.
---
When he opened his eyes again, the light was gone. The warmth of the sun had been replaced by a heavy, suffocating darkness. He blinked rapidly.
"...Where the hell am I?"
The air smelled damp and metallic. His head throbbed, and when he tried to move, blood rushed to it with a sickening pulse. He looked down—or rather, up, since his perspective was inverted—and realized he was hanging from the ceiling, suspended by a thin, almost translucent rope.
"Okay… not ideal," he muttered, tugging at the bindings. They didn't budge.
"Ohhh, nothing much," a voice drawled from the darkness. "Just us… about to become MONSTER FOOD."
Kelvin twisted his head toward the sound. A girl hung a few meters away, upside-down just like him. Her shoulder-length blonde hair swayed gently, catching faint glints of light from somewhere deeper in the cave.
"Whaaaat?!" Kelvin's voice echoed off the stone walls. "Monster food?!"
"Yeah," she replied matter-of-factly. "So maybe stop struggling. It'll only make the rope snap faster, and trust me—you don't want that."
Kelvin froze. "That… can't be right, can it?"
As if to answer, the man dangling between them decided to ignore her advice. He thrashed violently, cursing under his breath. The rope above him gave a sharp snap.
He barely had time to scream before he plunged into the darkness below. There was a sickening crunch, followed by guttural growls.
Kelvin's stomach turned as he peered down. Eight monstrous figures were clustered directly beneath them, each one standing about six feet tall. Their skin looked like cracked sandstone, their faces featureless except for deep, empty sockets where eyes should have been. Every one of them gripped a massive stone club in their right hand.
They didn't move like mindless beasts—the way they shifted and adjusted their stances made Kelvin uneasy. These things were waiting.
"Well," he muttered, swallowing hard, "this is going to be tricky."
The girl snorted. "You think?"
Kelvin scanned the cave, looking for anything that could help—a loose rock, a weakened section of rope, maybe even a handhold on the wall. But the cavern was smooth and jagged all at once, the walls slick with some kind of mineral deposit. The only light came from a faintly glowing moss near the monsters' feet, casting them in an eerie, greenish hue.
"What are those things?" he whispered.
"They're called Sandstone Wardens," she said grimly. "Guardians of the lower caves. They don't have eyes, but they can sense vibrations. So unless you want them to pull you down here and smash your bones into soup, you'd better stay very still."
Kelvin gritted his teeth. He didn't like the idea of hanging here, waiting to be someone's dinner. But charging headfirst into eight armed monsters without a weapon in hand? That wasn't exactly a winning plan either.
He glanced at the girl again. She seemed surprisingly calm, almost resigned. Her piercing blue eyes met his. "Name's Silvia," she said quietly. "If you've got a plan, now's the time to share it."
Kelvin smirked faintly. "Don't worry. I've got a couple of ideas."
She raised an eyebrow. "Hopefully they're better than the last guy's."
---