A giant scorpion stood before him, it giant claws hovering above his head like a guillotine. It stood at over 3 metres tall with a stinger like a spear.
His body moved before he could think and the sharp tail landed where he was. He did not see it move, it was too fast for him to follow with his eyes, had his body not moved by instincts, he would be dead.
Before it could attack again, a giant of a man punched it side and sent it reeling backwards. This gave him a chance to run towards the others. It turned it head and faced the giant man.
It tried to grab him with it giant claws but he dodged to the side and punched the claw back. The other ability holders attacked as well, all except one, he was also huge, standing at over 2 metres tall and from what he gathered, this man was the leader of this crew.
They had different abilities, Morpheus didn't care enough to try and identify them. All he could tell were that some had more strength while others were fast, one of them could probably harden his skin.
He was hit by the tail, sparks flew but he was fine. The fight went on for over 10 minutes, they were struggling to defeat the scorpion but it could not take them out either.
They had impressive teamwork, it was obvious they had been a team for a while. He was getting sleepy, to him the fight had been interesting for the first few seconds.
Everything after that was just monotone but the other captives eyes were shining. It was not common for people like them to see ability holders fight.
Just as he was about to close his eyes the leader moved. He was fast, not as fast as the tail but he struggled to follow his movements. All he saw was a blur then fire exploded.
The scorpion screeched, a part of it exoskeleton charred black. It attacked the leader with it tail which he dodged. The others attacked it but it ignored them.
It had obviously deemed the leader as the most dangerous so it went after him. All of this was happening at a speed he could barely follow.
He just wanted to sleep but that would be dangerous, if these monsters started fighting where he was, he would surely die. The scorpion kept attacking the leader but with the others distracting it, he could easily dodge it attacks.
Flames covered his arms up to his elbows, he punched the scorpion cracking it sand coloured exoskeleton. It screeched even louder.
This continued for a few more minutes, eventually a hole appeared on it exoskeleton, this a gave a chance to the speedy guy with a sword.
He plunged his sword through the hole, stabbing the scorpions soft flesh. Seeing it situation was dire it went berserk, attacking everything around it mindlessly.
This led it to where the captives were, he moved before the others could even realise what was happening. A moment later, a woman with blonde hair and a scarred face followed him.
The others moved but it was too late, a middle aged woman was hit by it claw, she flew metres into the air, Morpheus could swear he heard her bones break.
They screamed and tried to run but it tail stabbed 2 men killing them instantly. Their corpses turned black from it poison. Before the ability holders could react, two more men died.
The leader arrived next to it and punched it right where the hole is, it screeched loudly then dropped dead a second later. Everybody released a sigh of relief.
We need to go, more of them will come, we're getting close to the sand of bones, the leader said to his men, Morpheus could see the apprehension in their faces.
Sand of bones? That doesn't sound like a place I'll have a chance to sleep at, that not good, not good at all, he thought. GATHER UP YOU MAGGOTS, WE'RE LEAVING.
The usual guy shouted at them, they were still rattled by what happened, they kept looking at the five corpses with apprehension but followed his orders.
Within minutes they had harvested the meat from the scorpion and were already on the way. After walking a few miles, a skinny pale faced woman fell, she could no longer move. She looked hungry and thirsty.
Boss, letting them die without fulfilling their duties would be a waste, said one of the guys. He recognised him as the fast guy with a sword.
The leader clicked his tongue with annoyance. Give each of them a piece of the scorpion meat and a sip of water. Should we lit up a fire? No, they'll eat it raw.
They cut tiny pieces of the scorpion meat, it was pure white and looked slimy. Each person was give a piece only worth a single bite.
After the death of those five, only 34 captives remained, he wasn't certain what their so called purpose is here but he doubted it was anything good for them.
He swallowed the piece and a flood of energy filled his body, a flicker of surprise appeared in his rather blank face, he felt energised but strangely still sleepy. The others were revived as well.
Even the woman looked less pale after eating that tiny piece, she stood up and they continued on their way. They had probably walked for days but the sun never rose in this desert so it was hard to tell.
They stopped, what he saw shook him a little. So this is the sand of bones, he thought. What stood before him was a graveyard. Giant skeletons were half buried in the sand.
Skulls five times as large as humans and claws large enough to make them look like insect. The leader took out a skin patch. The map say it here, he whispered.
He took out a rock and threw it, it flew for hundreds of metres and landed on the sand. A few seconds passed with nothing happening.
The leader was about to throw another when something jumped out of sand where he threw the rock. It was a giant lizard like creature with armoured skin.
It black amour was covered in spikes, it turned it head and looked directly at them, his body shook involuntary.