Chương 92: Sand Swimmer

"One of those oases have to be where the dungeon core is," Lucas proclaimed as he pointed to several of them.

"Yeah, but which one?" Tray questioned.

"They are pretty far apart. Just getting to one is going to be a chore. If we pick the wrong one, then we'll have to try again and probably again and again."

"There has to be something that sets the right one apart," Lucas reasoned, surprising Damion.

"Do they look any different to you? Maybe one is bigger than the others?" Before Tray could answer his brother the sand dune they were standing on began to shake. Damion realized right away it was because something was moving through the sand beneath them. He grabbed Mage Blythe by the shoulder and held him still. Anything moving underground either relied on sound or smell to locate prey above ground and Damion was betting on sound.

Lucas and Tray started moving around erratically, trying to figure out where the thing was beneath the ground. Damion was not sure if they were trying to figure it out so they could attack it or if they were trying to figure it out so they could get out of the way. Either way, because of them moving about, the Demonic Beast focused on the Fontane brothers' locations.

Just as it appeared that Lucas and Tray were figuring out where the Demonic Beast was, a giant scorpion burst out of the ground, sending sand flying up into the air and both Fontane brothers were sent flying in opposite directions. Damion was far enough away that he and Mage Blythe were not knocked over, but the healer was pelted with hot sand that left blisters on his face. The healer quickly cast a healing spell on himself and then took a swig from his canteen.

As rattled as he was from the Demonic Beast, Damion's firm hand on his shoulder was enough to reassure the healer. Lucas was the first of the brothers to get to his feet and he quickly began searching for the Demonic Beast, but it had hidden itself beneath the sands already.

"What was that? Some type of overgrown Fire Scorpion?" Tray asked as he rose to his feet and looked to his brother.

"We are in a dungeon, you idiot. Of course it isn't a Fire Scorpion, those are Ferocious Beasts," Lucas snapped at his brother.

"That was an Inferno Sand Swimmer," Mage Blythe spoke up unexpectedly.

"Sand Swimmer?" Lucas questioned confused.

"It isn't a fish. That was a scorpion.

"The healer didn't name it you dolt," Tray snapped back. Either the stress of the sun glaring down or their complete ineptitude at fighting appeared to be tearing at the edges of their brotherly affection. Damion was not sure what to think, but as he felt the sand starting to vibrate again beneath his feet, he knew it did not matter right now. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. A moment later the Inferno Sand Swimmer burst out of the sand dune again.

This time the brothers were a bit better prepared and both dodged. Damion found the sight rather amusing, since the brothers were five meters apart and the Demonic Beast only burst out of the sand by Tray's feet, but Lucas dove out of the way as well. After a few seconds Lucas realized his mistake and he sent a fireball towards the Inferno Sand Swimmer, but the beast had already started diving back into the sand.

By the time the fireball reached where the Demonic Beast had been, it splashed harmlessly against the sand. After the fireball hit the sand, Damion noticed the sand had turned to glass. Damion was not sure how thick the glass was, but it gave him an idea. No matter where Damion stood on the sand dune, his boots would slowly sink into the sand. Right now, since neither he nor Mage Blythe could move or risk attracting the Inferno Sand Swimmer, he had sunk to his ankles.

Damion did not think he would sink much further, but just this far was a danger as it would slow his movement time considerably and he was not sure if he could dodge the Inferno Sand Swimmer with Mage Blythe if he needed. Damion pointed his sword at a nearby flattish area of sand and unleased his fire pillar attack. The sudden pillar of fire striking the sand made Lucas and Tray forget about their squabbling and stare at Damion. They were not sure what he was doing. Had he seen the Inferno Sand Swimmer?

Was he trying to get their attention? After Damion ended his attack he grabbed Mage Blythe under the arm and leapt out of the sand, dragging the healer with him to land on the newly made hard glass surface. Mage Hollis and Knight Belcher looked at Damion's actions and could not help but smile. They understood what Damion was doing, and while they did not need to, since the Inferno Sand Swimmer posed no danger to them, they were impressed by Damion's tactical planning.

"Should we do that too?" Tray asked his brother when he saw Damion and Mage Blythe standing on the glass sheet.

"No, focus on the vibrations," Lucas told his brother.

"One of us dodges, the other attacks. Only dodge if you know it's coming for you."

"It is attracted to movement I think," Tray shouted at his brother.

"I'll start running around. You attack it." Damion was quite surprised to hear the brothers working out a plan. So far the two had appeared quite inept and overly full of themselves. What Damion forgot to take into account was that even though the Fontane brothers were spoiled by their father, they were still graduates of a magic academy. Damion did not know which academy, but surely any of them would have forced at least the basics of dungeon runs and fighting Demonic Beasts into them.

Not long after Tray began to run around and make noise, the Inferno Sand Swimmer breached the sand again. This time it was much closer to Tray, but the Fire mage managed to dodge safely out of the way. As Tray was dodging, Lucas was sending out his magic attack that looked like a fire spear. Unfortunately for the brothers, Lucas' attack splashed harmlessly off the Inferno Sand Swimmer's carapace. Either the attack was too weak, or the Demonic Beast's resistance to fire too strong.

Whichever it was the result was the same, the Inferno Sand Swimmer was unharmed and dove back beneath the sand a moment later.

"We have to stop it from going back into the sand," Lucas shouted at his brother.

"If we can keep it out of the sand we can figure out its weakness."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Tray asked, but then his eyes fell on Damion, who was standing with Mage Blythe on the glass sheet he had created.

"Attack the ground where it is going to land." Lucas immediately realized what his brother was trying to convey, but he was not sure how to accomplish it. It was hard enough to target the Inferno Sand Swimmer. Trying to target the ground where it was going to land was going to be even harder. Then he had an idea.

"Stay right where you are," Lucas told his brother.