57 The second day of the wave part 1
■THE SECOND DAY OF THE WAVE HAS BEGUN■
■CANDIDATES LOST: NONE■
The lands across Ludum Mundi had some scars littered all over the world as the wave ravaged the planet in an attempt to wipe out the candidate's races.
There had been some casualties which were, of course going to happen but overall most of the races did okay with some even seeing it as a benefit.
That was until the second day started and the waves started to come as the sun rose and the moon lowered with almost no rest in sight.
This was why the wave was so hard to fight against since if you weren't organized or close together then the execution would get to you eventually.
Currently, the Jackrixis tribes were all trying to recover as much as they could by remembering and eating while there was a small amount of time when they could rest.
They were hunters and understood that they couldn't just recklessly keep attacking and hope to win in a war of attrition which they would finish horribly.
So all they hope to do was survive for the three days and get the pride and honor they all craved from either their people or gods or even themselves.
In the boiling deserts biome, the sand striders formed a plan that would be hard but would help them beat their enemies easier.
It was quite a simple tactic which was for one or two rixis to get the wave to follow them while the other stayed hidden within the sands.
They would then follow the wave of monster who was chasing the rixis and slowly pick them off one by one as they ran out of energy and slowed down.
The rixis didn't have much more stamina so when they could they set up areas in which they could switch with one another and hide within the sands.
The areas were normally around small caves or dead plant life that was mostly dried and barren but could hide a single Jackrixis just fine.
So this is what they did and it worked well with the only times there were problems was when an animal got lucky and spotted them while they changed positions.
Or when it had more stamina than others and kept on following the rixis so they had to make sure to focus on that monster in particular.
They decided to keep using this technique it worked so well on the first day but sadly they weren't as lucky this time as the monsters changed.
For them on the first day, it was the usual wolves, bears, and other crazy flesh-eating animals but some weren't exactly native to the desert.
But now as they waited in the sand for the wave to come they felt a shift in the sands that felt different somehow and it worried them.
They started to get more nervous as none of them could spot any animals coming towards the bait rixis waiting in the open.
Before they could react the rixis who were meant to be the bait could tell they were being swallowed whole while hundreds of tiny teeth priced their skin.
Their bodies were crushed while passing through the creature and were to be digested in its stomach and later released into the desert.
The creature that did this was a large sandworm that burst out from the sand below and before the sand strider's eyes swallowed their tribe members in an instant.
One Jackrixis immediately got up from its position and started to attack however he was crushed by the worm's body once he got close.
The other rixis stayed in their positions trying to understand the prey that had come forward and claimed their ally's lives.
The side of the worm's skin seemed to open up as its flesh with seemed to vibrate and pulse before it slowly returned under the sands.
The striders didn't move in case they were caught as it seemed the creature didn't know they were there but they were unsure how long that would last.
The hours went on by as they could tell the same worm was still below them wasting to strike and eat them alive.
The hours went by and because they didn't want to move in case they were spotted by the worm they couldn't call for reinforcements.
Luckily for them, they could test out the theory they had when a lone animal came running through the sands and stopped a few meters away from the rixis.
The poor animal didn't know what was in store for it and not long after it stood still to rest the large worm burst through the sands and eat the unknowing victim.
The worm once again open the skin on its side and did the same thing as before and then sunk back into the sands.
The rixis then through slow gestures and mouthing of words managed to form a plan between the eight of them.
They would wait for another creature to come before bursting out of the sand and attacking the creature while one of them used a horn they had to signal for backup.
A female rixis chose to take up the task of calling the reinforcements which would lead to her death if the creature hunted by sound.
So another hour passed before an animal came by once more and as the worm came up as swallowed the creature the rixis burst from the sands.
They all quickly charged at the worm while throwing the weapons they had at the creature hoping to do some damage before getting to it.
The form tried crushing them like their brother before but they managed to doge and grapple onto the worm's body using their claws.
They then clawed and scratched and even used their teeth to damage the worm as much as possible causing the creature's blood to spray out covering the sand in dark red blood.
The female rixis who was still on the ground got her horn and slowed into it alerting her brother and sister to the enemy attacking them.
This seemed to enrage the worm as the skin on its side shuddered as the wails and roars that boomed out of its teeth-covered maw rocked its surroundings.
The rixis on its bodies had to grit their teeth and hold on to the creature while their ears rang and some burned with blood tracking out of their ears.
Unfortunately for the female rixis the worm quickly faced her and open its mouth from which a blast of acidic bile came flying at her and covered her body.
The female rixis body quickly melted in front of her tribe members' eyes as she roared in pain and agony but she didn't regret it.
Feeling honored in saving her tribe members and distracting the worm and she knew the gods would be proud of her act of self-sacrifice.
The rixis went on clawing at the worm trying to do as much damage as possible the only reason the worm didn't try to escape was because of the wave.
The worm was lucky and managed to fling one of the Jackrixis off hard and far enough that he was killed upon impact.
After ten more minutes of fighting, backup came in the form of a group of eleven warriors with Spears and rock throwers.
They waited while another rixis got off the worm and ran towards them before giving them the necessary information.
They then worked together using the spears and rock throwers to weaken the worm while the other rixis on the worm made sure to stay out of the way and not get hit.
Eventually, the worm was weak enough that they charged in a slayed the great beast that had taken the lives of their tribe members.
They then roared in both relief and excitement but also sadness at the ones lost and once they were done they left the body in its place.
They didn't want to eat the body of such a disgusting creature that had eaten and killed their fellow sand striders.
They paid respect to the remains of their fallen brothers and sister and went back to the tribe letting the sands take their fallen and become one with it.
