Is It a Bird?

The trio had been walking for a few days now, but they were still in the desert. When it became night and the Ivory Lighthouse summoned the arachnids is when the group slept. Although unnerving to have the spider creatures step by them, it was the safest time to sleep.

Emile was still locked up. In fact, he wasn't quite sure if Blood slept at all because the crystal around him never weakened. Or perhaps once it's hardened it'll stay like that regardless of whether Blood wills it that way.

Jumper has not used his gift since. Either it required an immense amount of essence and hasn't recharged yet or his ability was not as simple as just creating portals to anywhere.

The light returned to the sky not too long ago and they began their journey again. This marks the beginning of day five. Meanwhile, the Hollow Mountains were still nowhere in sight.

Emile's empty eyes were glued to the gray sky. Since he didn't have to walk he didn't really need to pay attention to anything. He just floated behind Blood, sky gazing, without being able to speak or move.

That was until something moved in his peripherals. Emile didn't notice it the first time, but then something moved again.

Emile focused his eyes as he snapped back to reality. Flying far above them, at what seemed like the peak of the world, multiple specks of black fluttered around.

Emile tried to count them, but they constantly intermingled making it hard to tell what had already been counted. In general, it looked to be about twenty black dots.

Emile followed them with his eyes. He finally had something to distract him. An hour passed and they were still flying above.

More hours passed and Emile's concentration dwindled away. Sure he was still looking up at the sky, but he wasn't perceiving what exactly was transpiring.

The black dots suddenly grew larger. They also halted in the sky, like they were hovering in one specific place. Noticing that the black dots stopped moving, Emile was once again pulled back to reality.

The black dots became bigger and bigger, closer and closer. So close that Emile was able to see exactly what the black dots were.

Emile's eyes widened. He looked to Blood and began whining hysterically. He inhaled through his nose and yelled as loud as he could with his mouth closed.

Blood shook his head and continued walking forward. Emile looked back up and the flying creatures were approaching fast.

Emile read about them before, Locusts, but they were nothing like the Locusts found on Earth. These Locusts were huge, averaging six feet long. They had pale yellow scales and four wings that helped them move omnidirectionally.

Their two, pole-like arms were used to skewer their victims. The best way to go about this was for the Locusts to dive from nauseating heights to go as fast as possible and slam directly into their prey.

Emile tried to yell even louder. He began flailing every part of his body that he could move and strained his vocal chords to their limit. Blood finally stopped walking and turned around.

"What do you want?!" He yelled.

Emile continued to scream while repeatedly pushing his head and eyes up. In aggrieved understanding, Blood reluctantly looked up.

Within an instant, the crystal around Emile glowed bright red and launched him back into the dunes. The Locust crashed into the sands and an eruption ensued.

The blood around Emile liquified and flew into the sand cloud.

Emile picked himself up off the ground and looked back to the sky. The other Locusts were closing in. Emile didn't know what to do or where to go. He couldn't brazenly run into the sand cloud. Sure, the Locusts in the sky would not be able to see him, but neither would Blood who's currently fighting in the cloud.

Emile planted his feet steadily on the sand and found the nearest Locust above him. He narrowed his eyes and fully concentrated on the incoming beast. He had to dodge it.

It was approaching inhumanly fast. On the one hand, Emile didn't know if he reacted fast enough to dodge the creature. But on the other hand, Emile believed the Locust was moving so fast that it couldn't change directions easily.

The second Locust arrived alongside an ear shattering screech. With only a couple seconds to spare, Emile pushed off the ground and flung his body backwards, but one of the Locusts' pincers pierced straight through Emile's foot and another eruption of sand occurred.

The sand filled the air, blocking Emile's vision and invading his lungs. He struggled to breath, but more so he struggled to move.

Emile's foot was crushed underneath the sand, a long, golden lance stuck inside of it. Emile tried to pull his leg free, but pulling only caused that much more pain. He was trying to rip his foot apart.

Suddenly, Emile felt the golden pincer wiggle inside of his foot. It swayed from left to right, further tearing Emile's flesh apart. Emile screamed and begged the creature to stop. A river of tears flowed from his eyes.

The Locust seemed to have gathered its bearings as it swiftly ripped its pincer out of the ground. It stretched its four wings, expanding them to their greatest lengths, and screeched into the air.

The sheer power of the Locusts roar acted like a fan and pushed all of the sand away. Emile uncovered his eyes and witnessed this display of power. The Locusts jaw almost looked unattached, it buckled and rocked back and forth while it screeched. Small teeth littered the gums of the creature and its tongue had a gaping hole at its end.

The Locusts' holoptic eyes turned and recognized Emile. It took a step forward and raised its pincer into the air, ready to impale Emile once again. Emile closed his eyes, reserving himself to accept death when it arrived.

But it didn't. Instead, an insanely loud blast reverberated the air around Emile. His ears were shot, a constant ringing now accompanying him. He opened his eyes and the body of the Locust collapsed on top of him, a fist sized hole taking the place of where the Locusts head used to be.