Day 14:
Armor
“Well done,” the man mock praised. “An excellent show of ingenuity and reflex.” An impression started to trail from the top of the man’s dune, curling around the front face sending sand cascading down the slope. He watched it unsure if he wanted to know what kind of creature was doing that. He thought of snake at first but the impression in the sand was so large, he could lie down perpendicular to the impression left behind and fit within it with ease. “Now let’s see how well you hold your own against something you should see.”
His headache flared but he thought he heard a hiss and the thought of snake didn’t seem so wild anymore. Dlmor yanked him sideways as an invisible force impacted with the sand. A startled cry escaped his throat at the sudden change of direction. Ir died quickly as Dlmor’s actions had him keeping the point of impact in sight. The sand shifted about for a stretch before settling. His feet hit the side of a dune and the force knocked his knees out. He found his gaze on the sand beneath his hand before it snapped up to the point of impact.
“It’s burrowed into the sand.” He stood up. “We need to get into the air. Now!”
Dlmor’s form shifted around him before yanking him skyward.
The sand beneath his feet exploded as they gained altitude. Despite not being able to see what was coming after him, he knew it was headed straight for them. Dlmor’s form melded into a new one mid flight and solid legs kicked into the invisible creature after them. Or maybe it was just invisible to him. If it was, that meant he had to rely on Dlmor knowing where it was when it wasn’t on or in the sand.
Dlmor banked left hard, leaving Artemis’s stomach behind. He clung to the part of Dlmor still wrapped around his torso till the sensation went away. Dlmor’s change of angle put them in line to landing on the man’s dune. He glanced back to see the sand shifting. He couldn’t tell if it was because the creature was burrowing again or something else. “Better land quick.”
The dune was a good drop beneath him when Dlmor jerked to the left, dropping him. The piece around his eyes held tight, separating from Dlmor’s shape. He landed heavily in the sand but managed to fall forward into the sand rather than backwards down the slope. He scrambled to the top of the dune, demanding, “I thought we were in a hurry! The hell!”
“We are in a hurry,” the man drawled, annoyed. “However, my tolerance level for impotent children seems to be nonexistent now.”
“A chi-I’m 23!”
“And very much a child to me!” the man snapped. “In every aspect of the way. So unless you start acting your age, we are going to be at each other’s throats more often than not.”
“Aren’t old people not supposed to get so petty?”
He deserved that smack. And it wasn’t a simple back hand smack to the cheek. No. This was some massive creature’s whose entire back hand was the same size as his torso. He was smacked off the dune by a weaker force this time. He was suspended in the air for a brief second or two before gravity grabbed him and he hit the side of the dune, rolling down the slope in an uncontrolled sprawl.
He came to at the bottom of it with his head pounding too much for him to even try and move.
“Are you quite done now?” the man asked. He opened an eye to find the man had joined him at the bottom of the dune. Dlmor was pinned to the side of it by a very massive snake.
“I can’t promise anything,” he informed the man.
The man rolled his eyes. “You are insufferable. Why I am even doing this is beyond me. Get up. We will keep going.”
The man flicked a wrist towards the two creatures in the sand freed Dlmor from the snake’s coils. The creature was around him before he could even contemplate how he was going to get up. The spike barely registered as Dlmor offered to move him. He frowned. “You’re not doing any better than I am, though.” He noticed the second spike and rolled his eyes. “You do realize I can feel how heavy you are right now, right?”
There was a huff of a mock breath - he was fairly certain Dlmor didn’t need to breathe - as the creature got him to his feet as if the action alone would be enough to prove him wrong. He tried to will the world to stop moving without him. Dlmor’s weight was to be expected. “Come on,” he encouraged. “Best to just catch up with him and get moving again.”
Dlmor moved and he moved with but there wasn’t much support from the creature. It was more like he was wearing armor than carrying along a shape shifting creature.
The trip back up the dune was the worst. By the time they made it to the top, the man had been there for quite some time just watching them. The man let out a sharp breath. “Ridiculous.”
The snake creature slithered over and from one moment to the next, he found himself straddling the snake’s back. The man was behind him, a hand fisted in the back of his shirt to keep him steady. Dlmor slipped from around him and he flinched from the sudden brightness. “Honestly.” The man’s coat wrapped around his head again. The man’s arm crossed his chest. “Do not let your creature fall off. I will not help it nor you if you do.”
Dlmor’s warm weight pressed into his stomach and he wrapped his arms around the creature as best he could. The snake creature lurched under him. The sound of rapidly shifting sand quickly filled the air, blocking out any other noises.
His headache flared but he thought he heard a hiss and the thought of snake didn’t seem so wild anymore. Dlmor yanked him sideways as an invisible force impacted with the sand. A startled cry escaped his throat at the sudden change of direction. Ir died quickly as Dlmor’s actions had him keeping the point of impact in sight. The sand shifted about for a stretch before settling. His feet hit the side of a dune and the force knocked his knees out. He found his gaze on the sand beneath his hand before it snapped up to the point of impact.
“It’s burrowed into the sand.” He stood up. “We need to get into the air. Now!”
Dlmor’s form shifted around him before yanking him skyward.
The sand beneath his feet exploded as they gained altitude. Despite not being able to see what was coming after him, he knew it was headed straight for them. Dlmor’s form melded into a new one mid flight and solid legs kicked into the invisible creature after them. Or maybe it was just invisible to him. If it was, that meant he had to rely on Dlmor knowing where it was when it wasn’t on or in the sand.
Dlmor banked left hard, leaving Artemis’s stomach behind. He clung to the part of Dlmor still wrapped around his torso till the sensation went away. Dlmor’s change of angle put them in line to landing on the man’s dune. He glanced back to see the sand shifting. He couldn’t tell if it was because the creature was burrowing again or something else. “Better land quick.”
The dune was a good drop beneath him when Dlmor jerked to the left, dropping him. The piece around his eyes held tight, separating from Dlmor’s shape. He landed heavily in the sand but managed to fall forward into the sand rather than backwards down the slope. He scrambled to the top of the dune, demanding, “I thought we were in a hurry! The hell!”
“We are in a hurry,” the man drawled, annoyed. “However, my tolerance level for impotent children seems to be nonexistent now.”
“A chi-I’m 23!”
“And very much a child to me!” the man snapped. “In every aspect of the way. So unless you start acting your age, we are going to be at each other’s throats more often than not.”
“Aren’t old people not supposed to get so petty?”
He deserved that smack. And it wasn’t a simple back hand smack to the cheek. No. This was some massive creature’s whose entire back hand was the same size as his torso. He was smacked off the dune by a weaker force this time. He was suspended in the air for a brief second or two before gravity grabbed him and he hit the side of the dune, rolling down the slope in an uncontrolled sprawl.
He came to at the bottom of it with his head pounding too much for him to even try and move.
“Are you quite done now?” the man asked. He opened an eye to find the man had joined him at the bottom of the dune. Dlmor was pinned to the side of it by a very massive snake.
“I can’t promise anything,” he informed the man.
The man rolled his eyes. “You are insufferable. Why I am even doing this is beyond me. Get up. We will keep going.”
The man flicked a wrist towards the two creatures in the sand freed Dlmor from the snake’s coils. The creature was around him before he could even contemplate how he was going to get up. The spike barely registered as Dlmor offered to move him. He frowned. “You’re not doing any better than I am, though.” He noticed the second spike and rolled his eyes. “You do realize I can feel how heavy you are right now, right?”
There was a huff of a mock breath - he was fairly certain Dlmor didn’t need to breathe - as the creature got him to his feet as if the action alone would be enough to prove him wrong. He tried to will the world to stop moving without him. Dlmor’s weight was to be expected. “Come on,” he encouraged. “Best to just catch up with him and get moving again.”
Dlmor moved and he moved with but there wasn’t much support from the creature. It was more like he was wearing armor than carrying along a shape shifting creature.
The trip back up the dune was the worst. By the time they made it to the top, the man had been there for quite some time just watching them. The man let out a sharp breath. “Ridiculous.”
The snake creature slithered over and from one moment to the next, he found himself straddling the snake’s back. The man was behind him, a hand fisted in the back of his shirt to keep him steady. Dlmor slipped from around him and he flinched from the sudden brightness. “Honestly.” The man’s coat wrapped around his head again. The man’s arm crossed his chest. “Do not let your creature fall off. I will not help it nor you if you do.”
Dlmor’s warm weight pressed into his stomach and he wrapped his arms around the creature as best he could. The snake creature lurched under him. The sound of rapidly shifting sand quickly filled the air, blocking out any other noises.