I hate the desert. I really do. Unfortunate that I have no choice but to live in it now.

Ugh.

We're traveling fast, Ragnar setting a grueling pace in the hopes that we'll be able to close the lead Ryuth has. He, Bashir, and Melchior all look none the worse for wear, even hours in. I, on the other hand, feel like complete and utter doo doo. Even though I'm the only one being helped.

I've sweated buckets all the way until now, my clothing soaked. I have my flask in hand the whole time, drinking from it constantly in an effort to keep up with how much fluid I'm losing. But I know it's an uphill battle.

I've stopped sweating and can feel the familiar effects of heat stroke. My head is pounding, I feel weak. I have to hold my breath as we run up and down the sand dunes, dizziness and nausea hitting me hard. I am past dehydrated at this point.

But there's nothing to be done about it.

Without the epis to counteract the environment, to help me adapt to the harsh conditions, my body simply can't handle the pounding suns and the extreme temperature.

At this point, Ragnar is basically carrying my full weight, his face grim as he looks down. "We are almost there," he reassures me gruffly.

I can do this. I pour a little bit of the water over my head to cool down and take another gulp. Without epis, Tajss might be hell. Probably the real reason the Vulcans had to suppress all that rage. I feel plenty of it myself right about now.

Luckily, Ragnar is right that we're almost to the oasis. When I see the green come into shimmering focus past the waves of heat rising from the sand, I almost sob in relief. At least the trek-across-the-desert portion of this adventure is over.

Too bad there isn't a nice recliner and lemonade waiting for me at the end of it.

A girl can dream.

Just as Ryuth did, Ragnar and the other Zmaj slow down as we reach the lush foliage, their movements cautious and alert, heads constantly swiveling to keep an eye on everything. But this time, the ground is already trembling beneath us before we even reach the compound. That can't be good.

"Was it this bad when you were here?" Ragnar murmurs, frowning as he looks up at the shaking leaves.

"No," I say as we continue to move forward cautiously. At least the shade provides some relief. "It's gotten worse."

When we reach the ruins, the tremors are even stronger. Though I don't know if we can call them tremors when there's no break between them. It's more like one long one at this point. And it's much stronger than any of the ones we felt before.

When we get to the compound, the effects of the continuous earthquake are readily apparent. It makes me feel sad to see it. So much history crumbling right in front of us. But it isn't like we can do anything about it.

Much more of the structure has broken down, and half of the roof is already caved in. There are mounds of rubble and the floor is cracked under us, deep, jagged cracks with networks of finer ones leading out.

A particularly hard roll of the ground has all of us stumbling. Another deep crack opens up in front of our eyes.

Not good at all.

Deep inside the ruins, muffled by what's left of the structure and the rubble, we can hear what sounds like . . . digging? And stones shifting. Though maybe that's just the destruction from the earthquake?

Ragnar, Bashir, and Melchior look at each other, their faces tense. Do they know something I don't?

"This is bad. Very bad," Melchior says quietly, his head constantly shifting, watching the area. Just as Ryuth had during the tremors.

"What is?" I ask. "Apart from the obvious," I add wryly, using a still-partially-intact wall to steady myself.

"The ground shakes because of the zemlja," Ragnar explains, his eyes sharp as he too keeps an eye around us. "With this much movement . . . " he shakes his head. "There is definitely more than one. Though I don't know exactly how many more would cause . . . this."

Wonderful. I look down at the ground uneasily, taking in the large cracks. No wonder Ryuth was always so freaked out by the quakes. And why he always wanted me to be still and quiet.

Another wall crashes to the ground only feet away from us, the stone cracking as it tumbles.

We cough, covering our faces with our shirts as the air is filled with the dust from the rubble. The hunters lead us deeper into the compound as the ground continues to shake. At least we don't have to worry about making noise.

That silver lining is so weak I can barely even see it, but there you go.

Beggars can't be choosers.

It's true though. There's so much cracking and rumbling from the structure falling apart, our voices and footsteps are completely drowned out. Still, it feels counterintuitive to go deeper into the compound, when what my body wants to be doing is running away from the danger while screaming at the top of my lungs. Not struggling towards it.

But Ryuth is in here somewhere and I'm not leaving without him.

He's not getting off that easy.

Besides, if he succeeds, I'm as good as dead anyway. I don't care what Ragnar says, Ryuth is stronger than anyone I know to have survived everything he has. I wouldn't put it past him to be able to accomplish whatever he wants to accomplish. I'd rather go down fighting than succumb to the nightmare of epis withdrawal and heat stroke.

As if my thoughts of Ryuth have conjured him up, we all freeze as we hear a deep scream coming from deeper in the compound. Almost . . . below us?

Ragnar glances at the others. "Forward!" he orders, his jaw clenching as we all move straight towards the sound. That scream affected him. He might act like Ryuth is no longer his concern, but he still cares even if he doesn't want to.

As we continue forward, we have to climb over rubble, jump across widening cracks, duck under beams and columns that have already tumbled over. Ragnar helps me, but it's still difficult going feeling as terrible as I already do. Luckily, the adrenaline pumping into my system soon has me rushing forward, my pain set on the back burner as my body readies me to fight. Guess it finally got the memo that I wasn't going to run away.

We find the opening of the tunnel a few rooms in.

The circumference of the thing is huge, a gaping dark hole in the floor, the edges ragged. When I look at them closer, they look like large tooth marks. Like something huge was gnawing on the floor.

Comforting.

We hear another scream, louder now that we're directly on top of the entrance to the tunnel that the sound is coming from.

It echoes, deep and primal.

I feel it in my bones, that scream.

Ryuth.

We have to get to him!

Ragnar must have the same reaction. Without a word, he drops into the tunnel, with Bashir and Melchior following. I go in last, which I have no problem with. They have a much better chance of being able to help Ryuth than I do.

Luckily, it isn't that far of a drop. It would be pretty embarrassing to be out for the count before we even get to the main event. I follow the men, matching their pace and keeping quiet.

The tunnel curves, leading deeper into the ground at a steep decline. The sides, top, and bottom are ridged, rough.

Just like the edges at the entrance.

Probably best not to think too hard about that.

Good thing is, we can move faster now, without the worry of the compound tumbling on top of us. Though I guess there's always the possibility of the tunnel collapsing around us and basically burying us alive.

Maybe it's best not to think about that either. Maybe shutting down my brain right now is the best idea.

The tunnel takes a hard turn to the left and I push harder to catch up with the men when they turn the corner. I almost slam into their backs when I do.

They've stopped in their tracks.

I feel my breath catch in my lungs as I look past them, inching to the side so I can see between their wide backs.

The tunnel ends abruptly, opening up into a massive cavern, the ceiling so high I can barely even make out the top, despite the glow from the epis hanging from the walls and the ceiling. I take a step forward and slosh into water up to my thighs, barely noticing as I stare at the sight that holds all of our attention.

In the center of that cavern is a zemlja so large, so bloated, it looks less like an earthworm and more like a giant, scaled slug maybe.

Jabba the Hutt much? Though there's no sophisticated machinations going on here.

Still, there's no mistaking the queen for what she is. Smaller zemlja crawl along her length and around her, newborn and disgusting like maggots.

Looking away from that sight, I take in the wet scales covering each of the queen's sections, following them as they climb up her towering length. She must be the size of the cliff face where the Tribe built our home. How could you even attempt to fight something that big? She's roughly the size of Godzilla! The lochabers are like toothpicks to her!

And that's when I catch sight of Ryuth.

He's facing off with her, his expression determined as he holds his lochaber in two hands. He's bruised and beaten, a few gashes along his side and leg sluggishly dripping blood. His clothing is ripped, his breathing harsh.

Just seeing the difference in size between him and the queen reinforces just how impossible this fight is.

Shit.

Ragnar was obviously right about this being a suicide mission. We would need a full contingent of soldiers, complete with tanks and heavy artillery. Not just the few of us holding what amounts to toothpick spears!

"Ryuth!" Ragnar calls out in a low voice that carries nonetheless.

Ryuth's entire body stiffens. He looks over to see Ragnar, his eyes wide. And not at all happy to see his brother.

And then the shit really hits the fan.

I watch in horror as the queen dives for Ryuth, her mouth open wide to show concentric circles of sharp, jagged teeth, her throat a scarlet red.

It’s big enough to swallow a building whole!

I gasp as Ryuth leaps to the side with the help of his wings, stabbing at the queen though I don't know if it really does anything. She’s hampered by her own size and girth, she simply can’t move much from her position.

Then I have to focus on not dying myself. One of the smaller baby zemlja rushes over. Though smaller seems like an inaccurate description. Yes, it's smaller than the queen. But it's still more than big enough to kill any of us.

Ragnar shoves me aside as he stabs his lochaber straight into the zemlja's mouth.

It lets out a squealing scream, jerking in its death throes.

Ragnar, braces his foot on it and yanks his blade out with a wet, squelching sound that I could have done without hearing.

But there's more where it came from.

A lot more.

Melchior jumps out of the way as two zemlja dive at him at once, one of them managing to clamp onto his thigh. He screams as Bashir runs in and stabs the thing repeatedly in its thick skull, only able to yank it off his friend after its dead.

The water ripples against my thigh.

I whirl around just as a gaping mouth rushes out at me, its teeth bared in that horrifying circle.

I throw myself to the side, just enough so its teeth only scrape against my forearm as it slides by. Though that's enough to open up some gnarly gashes.

I have no idea what I'm doing as I try to evade being eaten or crushed. I get a few more gashes. A hell of a bruise on my hip as I throw myself to the side and bang up against the wall. And a scrape to the temple.

But I'm alive.

So there's that.

When I have a second to breathe, I look over to see the rest of them fighting for all they're worth.

Ryuth has managed to wound the queen at various spots, but nothing that seems to be slowing her down. Doesn't mean he's given up. He just keeps going, his determination like unbendable steel.

Ragnar is looking banged up too as he grimly slashes a smaller zemlja's throat and shoves it aside.

When I find Bashir in the chaos, it's to see him bringing his lochaber up and stabbing down into the water like he's spearing fish, half his face covered in blood and his shirt hanging off his scraped torso in rags.

There’s movement in the corner of my eye. It's Melchior. He turns around and uses his lochaber like a bat as a zemlja leaps at him through the air, from the queen's back. He connects with a crack that I hear all the way on the other side of the cavern.

"You can't win this fight!" Ragnar yells at his brother as he roughly shoves another dead zemlja away. It flops onto a pile of others he's already killed. “End this suicide and leave this place before the adult males comes to protect their queen!”

"I will fulfill my duty!" Ryuth snarls back, twirling his lochaber in his hands, still focused on the queen.

Ragnar's not getting through to him. And I know we won't survive much longer down here. Even the hunters are tiring. The only reason I'm still alive is because I'm hanging back near the exit.

The ground starts to rumble and buck, reinforcements are coming.

"Ryuth!" I call out.

He jerks, swinging his head around at my voice. "Mei?" he says, his surprise giving way to panic. "Why are you here? Get out!"

Sounds like my inner monologue right now. But I'm not leaving without him. I take a step towards him "Ryuth, you don't understand what you're doing!"

He shakes his head at me. "I must do this, Mei! You do not understand!"

Great progress. I look around warily as I keep going.

"No, Ryuth! All the humans here on Tajss need epis to survive! If you kill the queen, you kill us all!" I lick my lips, taking another step towards him. "You kill me," I say a little more quietly.

His panic turns to horror. "What?" he demands, unconsciously stepping back from the queen.

"We—"

"Look out!" Ryuth roars.

I turn to see a larval zemlja arcing down towards me, its mouth gaping.

It's too close!

I swing my arms up in what feels like slow motion, holding my hands over my face. I only have time to scream as it takes me down.

Under the water.

I hit the ground, bubbles escaping me as my arms strain to hold my breath beneath the crushing weight. My lungs are already burning. I didn't have much of a chance to gulp in air before I went down and now I'm burning oxygen fast as I struggle to get out from underneath the monster, my feet slipping off its slick body uselessly as I try to kick away.

The water is both my savior and my doom. The buyouncy is the only reason I’m not crushed, but if I don't get out of the water soon, I won't need the thing to finish me off.

I'll drown.

Just as I'm thinking that, I vaguely make out a shadowy shape darting in. And then the zemlja is knocked to the side hard enough that it’s flung right off me. I jackknife out, gulping in air and coughing, water streaming from nose and mouth.

Air, I will never take you for granted.

I blink to clear my eyes and immediately see the zemlja lying not that far away, its head caved in.

Wow. Really dead. Firm hands grip me by the elbows and pull me to my feet.

"We must leave!" Ryuth urges, wrapping an arm around my waist and dragging me to the tunnel. "Come!"

He doesn't have to tell me twice.

As we slog through the water to the tunnel entrance, I hear Ragnar telling the others to fall back as the tremors intensify.

I freeze as another baby zemlja erupts from the water in front of us. Ryuth roars as he uses his lochaber to all but behead it with one hand. It topples over to the side, its body limp.

I glance back to see Ragnar spear one last zemlja.

And then he and his fellow hunters are all following us out of the cavern and into the tunnel.

Beat up.

But not dead.

Winning.