The plan was fairly simple. Sergeant Edmund would serve as a decoy to attract the sandworm's attention. Once the pursuit began, the first team would launch harpoons connected to the sliders into the sandworm. At that moment, the second team would activate the sliders to interrupt its movements as much as possible. The third team was responsible for throwing the bottles, and with the worm moving slower, hitting it would be much easier.

  Finally, the fourth and largest team was in charge of engaging the beast in close combat and killing it as quickly as possible.

  Since the beast's focus was entirely on chasing Sergeant Edmund, it didn't notice how it was being led into a position where the guards were waiting to surround it.

  "Don't be afraid, this is nothing... just a little creature among the many in your way," Lucius thought as he saw the gigantic creature heading toward him and his group, guided by the sergeant.

  Although it was somewhat complicated not to fear a creature the size of a building rushing toward you with a mouth so enormous it could swallow two or three people in one bite, and teeth so sharp and strong they could crush your bones and organs in seconds if you were caught.

  "Nothing to fear." Though his hands were trembling, at no moment did the idea of fleeing cross his mind, since this could be a decisive moment in his life.

  "ATTACK, FOR THE SUN!" With the team leader's battle cry, everyone was motivated and ran to face the beast.

  They ran in a formation that allowed the worm to pass through the center of them, attacking from the sides. Everyone lunged at the creature and tried to inflict as many wounds as possible. Although the worm hadn't been stopped by the harpoons in its body before, this time it did halt as it was assaulted.

  "Come on, come on!" Motivating himself, Lucius ran toward the beast from the side and prepared his sword to strike the creature's body. When he got close enough, he jumped to bury his sword in the worm's flesh at the same time as his companions.

  ROOOOAAAAGH!

  With a roar of pain, the sandworm demonstrated that it had been hurt and violently shook itself, trying to get rid of everything on its body.

  Lucius was thrown by the worm's sudden movements. When he hit the sand, he felt disoriented. Although the force with which he was thrown wasn't extreme, the pathetic way he landed made him feel disoriented, and he had to take a moment to see what was going on.

  He could see his comrades attacking the worm to inflict more wounds, even though the beast was trying its best to either eat them or crush them with its massive body. So far, everyone had managed to dodge it, although some were on the ground due to the initial shake.

  The worm, though fighting hard, was not achieving much. The soldiers dodged all its deadly attacks, the harpoons buried in its body were slowing it down, and it couldn't attack from beneath the sand because of the bottles. Slowly, it was being cornered.

  Enough rest – Lucius took a deep breath and stood up from the ground, gripping his sword tightly – "I won't let you have all the fun."

  He tensed his body and made the essence flow through his muscles to gain more strength and speed, enough to pierce the tough skin and hurt the creature. Without a second thought, he threw himself into the fray. The worm was making erratic movements and trying to eat anyone who was slow enough or crush them with its enormous body.

  Lucius ran toward the creature but didn't rush in head-on. He circled around it and found a spot to jump onto its back. With a great leap, he positioned himself on the worm's back and attacked it mercilessly with his sword, slashing, stabbing, doing all the damage he could before having to jump off as the beast began rolling over itself to shake off everything on its body.

  -STAY AWAY AND KEEP YOUR GUARD UP!

  With the sergeant's shout, everyone moved back to a safe distance. No one intended to die foolishly to a sandworm.

  When the worm stopped rolling, most of the soldiers saw that it had ripped the harpoons from its body. These quickly pulled away from the creature and headed toward the direction where the sliders were moving. The drivers couldn't understand what had just happened.

  Now free of any speed restrictions, the worm charged at the closest group of soldiers. They were surprised by the change in pace and couldn't completely dodge the attack.

  Though they avoided being caught in the creature's mouth, the impact of the beast hitting the ground so close to them, and the fact that some were hit by the worm's body, made it clear that they wouldn't be fighting for a while.

  The first to react was Sergeant Edmund, who shouted his orders.

  "You three!" He said, pointing at Lucius and two other unnamed comrades. "Pick up the wounded, the rest with me!"

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Lucius barely had time to process the order before he started running toward the worm. In an instant, everyone was charging toward the beast, which was trying to eat the soldiers still disoriented from the previous attack and defenseless.

  "Faster, run faster!" Lucius kept repeating to himself as he pushed his body to move faster.

  As the worm was about to devour the soldiers, it writhed in pain. The sergeant was the first to strike, making a large cut on its body, causing the creature to stop.

  ROOOOAAAAGH!

  This time it roared in pain, and the roar wasn't as terrifying as the first. It didn't affect the soldiers' minds, so they continued running toward the sandworm. In an instant, Lucius and the others reached the wounded and started pulling them away.

  The worm roared again, attempting to intimidate those attacking it, but the warriors, unbothered, kept fighting the beast, forcing it to focus on them and not allowing it any time to finish off those who couldn't fight. Meanwhile, Lucius and the others helped get the wounded to safety.

  "Damn it, I didn't want things to turn out like this," Lucius complained as he dragged an unconscious soldier.

  What he had wanted and hoped for was to shine in the fight against the sandworm. Though it was a young one, it was powerful enough to cause disasters to human cities across the desert. If he could stand out in this mission to kill one, it could be the start of his hero's journey with a lot of reputation.

  But so far, he hadn't really accomplished anything important. He was just like everyone else, causing wounds all over the creature's body but not landing a critical blow that would determine the creature's fate by itself.

  With a sigh, he focused on getting the soldier he was dragging to a safe place. From time to time, he glanced at the fight and could see how the creature was getting slower and more desperate because of the many wounds it had all over its body. Not to mention the harpoons had returned, severely affecting the creature's speed and strength. It was exhausted, and it was only a matter of time before it died.

  Carefully, he laid his comrade on the ground along with the other two injured soldiers.

  "I'll go for the last one. I'll be back soon." With that, Lucius left before anyone could say anything.

  The battlefield was a chaos of stirred sand, screams, and the thundering noise of the colossal creature moving in a frenzy. Though the sandworm had changed position, the area where the last soldier was still remained dangerous. Time was a luxury he couldn't afford.

  Lucius ran with all his might.

  –Let's finish this.

  With a swift motion, he lifted the last person and placed him on his shoulders to run back to the "safe" position, his muscles tensing, ready to push even harder.

  ROOOOAAAAGH!

  But before he could get away, the sandworm roared with all its remaining strength and charged with its full body forward, sending several soldiers flying. It continued with all its might, intending to crush everything in its path.

  Lucius was in the creature's trajectory.

  "Shit" – That was all he could think as he saw the beast charging toward him.

  Without wasting a second, he started running with all his strength to avoid being caught by the giant worm, but due to the extra weight he was carrying, he couldn't move very fast.

  "Come on, come on, come on."

  It felt incredibly heavy, even though he was channeling essence through his muscles and was much stronger than an average human. Running on sand with someone on his shoulders made it extremely difficult.

  Running as fast as he could, he didn't look back to see how close the creature was. All he had in mind was to run and get as far away as possible, but by not watching his steps, he tripped over his own legs, causing him to fall forward and sending the person he was carrying down as well.

  "I–I fell!" – Not knowing whether to laugh or cry at the situation, he turned as quickly as possible to see how close the worm was.

  He saw it so close, saw how wounded it was, how it was missing large parts of its body. He also saw it rising as high as the sun, ready to fall and devour him whole.

  DAMN IT! – With no other choice, he closed his eyes.

  In the few seconds he had left, he hoped his death would be quick, as if he were going to die, at least it would be without pain.

  One second passed.

  Then another.

  Something gigantic fell.

  The roar was so deafening that the sand trembled as if the desert itself had exhaled its last breath. Lucius, still with his eyes closed, waited for the final blow, the searing pain of being devoured by the beast. But... nothing came.

  He felt nothing.

  Confusion flooded him. His heart was still pounding in his chest.

  "Am I still alive?" – Since he felt nothing, he should be alive, or at least have died without pain as he wanted. There was only one way to confirm.

  With fear, he opened his eyes.

  What he saw left him speechless.

  In front of him, the colossal creature lay motionless, its serpentine body sunk in the sand. Dead. And standing above its head, like a warrior from legends, was the captain.

  His silhouette stood out against the blazing sky, his posture firm, his expression impassive. In his right hand, his sword still dripped the worm's dark blood. He had killed it himself.

  Lucius felt his whole body relax. He didn't know if it was relief, exhaustion, or disbelief. The captain had saved him.

  The warrior took a few moments to survey the battlefield. The tired bodies, scattered weapons, wounds, and the short breaths of the combatants.

  Then, his voice rang out, firm and clear.

  —Everyone did well.

  His tone was neutral, but there was weight in his words.

  —But in the end, you got distracted.

  The truth hit like a blow.

  —And that almost caused the death of two comrades.

  A heavy silence fell over the soldiers.

  The captain didn't look at them with disdain, but with the look of someone who expected more from them.

  —You all have a lot to improve, but today we triumphed. Today we celebrate because there is one less threat.

  With a decisive motion, the captain raised his bloodied sword to the sky.

  And with a force that seemed to shake the very sand, he roared:

  —FOR THE SUN AND WAR!

  For a moment, exhaustion vanished.

  The soldiers responded in unison.

  Their voices rose to the sky like thunder. The battle was over. Victory was theirs.

  Those who still had strength raised their weapons and shouted, a roar of joy and relief. One less threat in the desert, one more reason to move forward.

  Lucius, however, didn't have the energy to join in the clamor.

  He simply collapsed onto the sand, breathing heavily.

  The sky stretched above him, infinite, clear, so blue and vast it seemed impossible that just minutes ago, he had been on the verge of death.

  A tired smile formed on his face.

  He was alive.

  And for now, that was enough.