Page 16 of Tusks & Saddles
“What’s that mean?”
But Boone didn’t have to answer. The horses whinnied out in panic, the cattle calling out into the night as the sands beneath them rumbled.Sand slither.Boone exploded into light, his armor wrapping around him with large whips of flames. His sword appeared with a snap of his finger. Rushing to Kaffa, he threw her saddle back on…not realizing that it was the same saddle as his dreams. He strapped her in just as the first row of dead broke over the nearest dune.
“Shit,” Roger snorted, throwing out the golden line. A glittering rope that when tied off put all things inside it under protection. Problem being, it only lasted an hour. While they could protect the cattle for a small window of time, that protection did nothing about whatever was still charging after them when the shield came down. Will was already up on Betty, wings and talons out, her crossbow knocked back and a bucket quiver at her side. The horse familiar matched her with glowing red eyes and a set of wings of her own.
“A sand slither is chasing them, once it realizes we’re here, it’ll charge us!” Boone clicked his tongue to his teeth, Kaffa charging the horde of bones.
“Ain’t shit we can do about the slither now till it comes up from below!” Will fired off bolt after bolt, flaming arrows that thudded deep into the collection of bones before exploding. Sparks fizzled around him as Kaffa lowered her head, charging headfirst into the crowd. His sword swung off her sides, cleaving through gurgling undead. Their bones cracked against the golden glow of his great sword, turning to hissing dust as he passed through them.Where is it?Their problem wasn’t the skeletons. It was the several-mile-long, sand worm snake monster thing that chased after their thunderous steps. A beast guided only by sound and hunger.Andrage, like a pissed off cottonmouth.It would chase down a sound for days and only stop when it hit hard earth.
Which meant he needed to kill it now or else it’d swallow up all the cattle and them. Through a dizzying amount of skeletal bodies, he charged through the early morning haze toward the endless sands. He saw the first crest of the sand slither over a dune a mile beyond him. Pulling on Kaffa’s reins, he slowed them to a stop at the end of the horde. While many of the bones clacked at him, shuffling in his direction, neither he nor the horse were bothered by them. Kaffa bucked, knocking some aside, but Boone’s attention was on the shivering sand headed their way. Then, slowly, the first of its spikes broke the surface and he flung himself off Kaffa. The horse screamed, knocking one more skeleton away from it.
“Run!” he commanded, but the horse didn’t need to hear it. Not as the massive face of the sand slither breeched the ground before Boone. Flames of brilliant orange, red, and yellow swirled around him as the beast rose above him. Face like a cobra with fringe and spikes all around its face to allow it to push through the sand fast, all stood at attention to block out the sky behind it. Body made of long muscle and writhing spikes, scales a dark, poisonous purple that glinted in the firelight. Boone steadied his feet against the hissing sand.Not a great place to make a stand when the very sand is at the beck and call of the beast…But he’d fought worse in water. Nothing worse than a Paladin of fire and light going up against a kraken in the middle of the ocean.
At least Sand Slithers burn.
It unhinged its jaw and roared, shaking the air around him. Boone leapt into action, knowing the longer he stood still, the worse the swirling sands would get. Despite the mindless horde of bones that lunged for him,just because he moved, he raced across the shifting ground. His steps grew uncertain the closer he got as the beast writhed below. Then, it snapped at him. A jaw that could easilysnatch him up and swallow him whole rushed his way. He brandished his sword.You gotta die today, motherfucker.If it so much as lurched further than him, it’d catch the scent or sound of cattle. Then it’d be a special kind of hell trying to protect Roger and Will when it bit at the protection sphere. Nothing like the bite pressure of a pissed off wyrm with the venom of a cobra to really add to the adventure.
If we get out of this…I will personally pay for more cowboys to join us on every push from here on out. I don’t care; we’re getting a full band of Paladins if I must.
Boone swung for all his worth, cleaving through one of its fringes. A spine fell off its chin and stabbed into the sand. It stood just as tall as him, skinny with ridges like a saw. Sap-like blood oozed out of it. Boone spun away from it, headed for the belly of the beast. Most Sand Slithers were soft on the belly and inside the mouth.And I’m not trying to get eaten.Carving up along its bottom scales, he heard the shriek before he felt it. The world around him vibrated as the beast recoiled.
Then all Boone saw was sky as its barbed tail ripped out from under the sand and knocked him through the air. He stared up into the hazy morning light, the sting of barbs that found their way under his armor long forgotten. Especially as he hit a solid patch of sandstone, skipping across it like a river rock. It knocked the air from his chest. Left wheezing and desperate to get back up on his feet, he didn’t see the slither snap forward. Not till he was sword to fang with the thing, keeping himself outside of its maw.
A fiery bolt zipped past his head and embedded deep in the beast’s throat. Boone chucked himself away from the sand slither as it howled. Little explosions went off within its maw, the sand hissing as hot, molten blood sprayed across it. Splinters of wood were spat out by a mangled tongue as the sand slither rose again to its full height.
“Will!” He called out, feeling the hot wind at his back. A mane of flames and leather landed beside him, hooves black as night, eyes like hellfire, and a cloud of heavy smog coming out of her nose as she snorted. Betty stomped with ire at the sand slither. Willamina jumped off Betty’s back, crossbow in her talons, massive bat wings with obsidian claws at the ready. Her eyes were edge to edge red, glowing with the same daemon flames as her familiar.
“Where’s Roger?” Boone bellowed.
“Cleaning up the bone boys. Killer’s being fed really well right now.” Will knocked back another bow. Her quiver now on her hip, Betty in nothing more than fiendish flame.
“Keep on its mouth, back of its throat is the soft spot.” Boone gripped his sword tight, thinking a small prayer to the Sun Bringer.Please, just keep her safe. I’ll be fine.Betty whinnied and he charged, the nightmare horse at his side. Will’s wings pushed her forward with a boiling hot wind. The sand slither shrieked again, charging him. Betty let out a cloud of thick smoke to cover him before igniting it. Boone broke out of a burning cloud, sword raised and headed for the skull of the beast.
His blade struck true. Just behind the skull, between its top ridge and the fringe, he brought his great sword down. The sand slither wrenched backward, trying to dislodge him. He could feel the heavythud, thud, thudof Will’s crossbows striking deep into the mouth of the beast. Betty broke through the flaming cloud, beating her hooves against the side of the slither’s face. Boone’s grip on his sword held fast. Pulling on his blade, he raked it down through the scales on its back. Exposing the soft flesh underneath the scales like he was skinning the thing, he let it fling him left and right. His only focus was on keeping his sword in his hands and letting his weight drag him down. He broke through its fringe and tore down its back. Blood gushed around him, and soon his blade was dislodged as he hit one of its spikes.
“Betty! Get him!” Will commanded as he fell freely. Before the horse could snatch him up, the barbed tail struck him again. Boone rolled through the air, slippery from hot blood and confusion. It wasn’t till he was flat out on the sand again that he knew where up or down was. His muscles screamed out in pain as he struggled to his feet once more.But a Paladin’s job is never done.Boone stumbled forward, brandishing his sword again. Flames licked up around him once more as the sand slither pivoted from the flying wasps around his head to him.
His boots were heavy. His body was heavy. His sword washeavy.But he raised it to the sand slither, taunting it one last time. He saw oblivion in those angry eyes as the slither lunged at him one more time. Something screamed behind it, the sound filling the endless sky. Boone braced for impact.
Just keep her safe. I’ll be fine.
Chapter Nine
Willamina
“You rat bastard!” Willamina Jones shrieked as she embedded several more explosive rounds into the deep gash her Paladin made down the spine of the beast. Betty ignited them with daemon fire.Pop, pop, pop.Like a gory firework show, the sand slither lashed left and right with every round that exploded. Its blood splashed all over the sand, melting it into nothing. The sand slither dropped to the ground, but the sand muffled any sound. Dust sprayed everywhere as Will raced through it to find Boone.
“Boone Larokson, don’t you fucking die on me, you jackwagon!” she roared through a coughing fit as sand kicked up into her lungs. Her talons hit the dirty sand, wings trying to beat back the cloud around her. As everything finally settled, she found her Paladin dropped to one knee. His sword was embedded in the flesh of the beast, his golden armor decorated in its blood. Will’s legs gave out underneath her and she sank to the sand in front of him. “Boone?”
“Nice shot,” he wheezed, a tired hand reaching behind his head to pull the golden helmet from his sweat-soaked head. All his armor blinked out of existence and he was just Boone again.
“Baby, talk to me.” She crept forward, clawed hands trembling as she scooped up his face.
“Baby?” he chuckled. Her face paled as glassy eyes glanced up at her. All his hair was stuck to his face and neck, and there were three large barbs embedded in him. One in his shoulder, one in his left leg, and one in his side. And yet, he smiled at her. That glassy, far away expression on his face made her stomach clench up.
“You’re okay,” she whimpered as she patted down her sides for her pack. “Shit. Betty!”
Her nightmare galloped over to her side, dropped down onto her flaming knees.
