The Horrors of the Sandworm and the Moth’s Fragile Wings
Vesta stared at the sandworm larva, and for a moment the world narrowed to that single, writhing thing.
If a sandworm was only a half-grown caterpillar, then what kind of creature had matured into this?
At least it couldn’t be a butterfly.
The insect had simply not unfolded into that delicate, flower-drinking form. The sandworm’s hideous, bloated body was nothing like the graceful wings of a moth.
Yet Vesta still believed a person could become better than they were. The human boy who had once been thrown into the arena had become Khan Ashtien’s fiancé. If that was possible, then even this grotesque larva might one day bloom into something beautiful.
The thought, however, was more practical than poetic.
Butterflies lived on nectar. The only flowers the desert could offer were white, withered things. Sand and butterflies were locked in worlds that could never touch.
He had never imagined a fluttering insect could threaten a caravan in the first place.
Ahok’s reaction had already told him the threat was real.
No matter who she was, Ahok was a woman who led entire armies without flinching even when she faced a colossal sandworm.
Of course she was not a monster who felt no fear. As the captain of the Khan’s guard she simply refused to show it. The weight of that resolve had been so heavy that Vesta never expected to see her waver.
When she outlined the plan her posture remained rigid, almost as though the words themselves were painful to speak. It was impossible not to feel the tension rise in his own chest.
Her strategy was strange.
It was not impossible. It was almost too logical. The problem lay exactly there: the plan looked like a drawing for a centaur legion, not for one single, crawling worm.
After listening to every detail, Vesta asked the obvious question. Uushun answered.
“I’m not very good at talking,” she said, “so I may not explain it well.”
She explained the way people who are poor at speaking always do: with absurd metaphors.
According to her, the worm should have come straight from hell.
“I don’t understand.”
“The little caterpillars are nothing like this. Wait—Vesta-nim, do you know gryphons?”
“Yes.”
“If it comes out the size I’m thinking, even a gryphon would be prey.”
She spoke so casually it was almost funny.
“Imagine the ugliest, most complete insect you can.”
“In what sense the most complete?”
Completeness varied by purpose.
If the Keshik was a warrior, Uushun was the most complete warrior.
If it was a huntress, Asmur was the most complete huntress.
If it was a swordmaster, Aruk was the most complete swordmaster.
Uushun did not hesitate.
“Predator.”
“The ugliest, most complete predator you can imagine.”
Exactly.
If such a thing existed, it would wear an insect’s form.
*
Waste was a sin as dangerous as deception in the desert.
Ahok, commander of the elven force, hated waste. Her plan was reasonable. She planned to squeeze every last drop of her resources.
She was not hunting the adult sandworm. She was making the worm come to her.
Already the perfect bait waited—the sandworm’s own corpse, the richest nutrient the desert could offer, a meal too tempting for even the largest predators to ignore.
She had probably finished her big-picture strategy the moment she heard the reports of the giant worm.
She was terrifyingly good at seeing the whole shape.
“Here it comes.”
“Shit.”
Uushun’s assessment. Vesta, standing beside her, finally saw the creature’s true form.
It was nothing like the sandworm.
A caterpillar always becomes something entirely different.
The worm that had crawled across the ground would grow into a continent-spanning butterfly.
This one had done the same—only it had become something far more monstrous.
There was no softness, no tender belly of the larva.
A body harder than any metal.
It looked less like a living thing and more like a lump of iron.
A giant beetle.
Not the fat kind that fit the desert; those were too slow and clumsy.
Yet even while moving with impossible size, it looked weightless.
Lithe like a lion or tiger, but its jaws had grown larger, sharper, crueler.
The jaws had been the larva’s body sliced into nothing.
Vesta recognized it instantly.
“Frontline guard?”
Yes. It looked like a frontline guard.
‘Though a hundred times uglier.’
When he thought of its size, he realized it was not meant to guide the living. It led the dead.
Hell’s frontline guard.
Uushun and Vesta advanced on the beetle.
Click.
The sandworm corpse eater twitched its antennae and turned toward them.
Its antennae were not organs humans possessed. Its senses were far beyond human awareness.
Six legs encased in armor moved in complex patterns.
Bang—
The creature’s massive bulk stopped dead the instant it felt the elves closing in.
Unbelievable speed.
No human could chase it.
“It’s too fast.”
“Yes. But look.”
It suddenly stepped back, then froze.
“Thinking and moving are still catching up with each other. The moment it makes a big move, it will stop like this. Don’t miss it.”
“A mad beast that moves faster than thought.”
An impossible opponent.
It looked as though nothing could frighten it, yet it was strangely sensitive.
Perhaps it had sensed something off in Vesta and Uushun.
Click.
But it could not retreat any longer.
The elves had closed the net.
Uushun twirled her mace and stepped forward.
At that moment—
Thud.
The beetle unfolded its wing case. Beneath the hard shell, translucent wings shimmered into view.
“Eyes on your front!”
Uushun shouted. The creature launched itself.
Whoosh—
Vesta had never heard sound like this. Even a swarm of wasps at once would not have made this much noise.
The wings’ beating did not stop at sound.
A sandstorm erupted.
Visibility vanished.
“Everyone hold your positions—!”
The storm the creature had created was nothing like the dust wind of the larva. It was a true catastrophe that could bury a man.
If such a storm could be summoned, no creature that relied on sight could ever be its enemy.
It possessed compound eyes ringed by antennae and armored plates.
Ahok’s earlier words came back.
“A most difficult opponent.”
“Dragons cannot be killed because they can fly. The adult worm can fly too.”
“Humans cannot kill a dragon because it wears armor. The adult worm wears armor as well.”
Unlike the larva, you could not bleed it with arrows.
“But that does not mean it is a dragon. It is not comparable.”
“The wings are paper-thin and the armor has weak joints. Most importantly, it cannot breathe fire.”
“Elves cannot draw arrows in flame, but in a sandstorm we can shoot.”
“Approach it straight from the front with Uushun. Not sideways. Turn your body toward her and force it to fly at you.”
“Why so insistently?”
“Because it has compound eyes. The side or rear is not a blind spot for it. Only the back. To land a successful ambush, an archer must be behind it.”
“Then you can strike the inner wings without interference from the outer shell.”
Uushun and Vesta followed Ahok’s instructions precisely.
“No need to worry about missing.”
Vesta trusted her.
She always knew who would take the shot.
‘The elves.’
That was enough.
Screeech—
The whistling arrow pierced the sandstorm.
Humans had ears that could distinguish every sound.
Crack—
The insect’s delicate wings shattered on impact.
The beetle crashed to the ground.
They had sealed its most irrational weapon.
“Yes! That’s it!”
The sandstorm began to calm. Vesta spat sand and steadied his breathing.
‘Do not let your guard down.’
They had only just pulled the first thread.
The creature had endured an impossibly long life—longer than any human lifespan—inside an incomplete body.
It had received its due.
It had forged its own body into a weapon the way a blacksmith hammers iron.
A weapon designed for a hundred years of war.
They had not yet reached the point where the fight had been fought long enough.
“Vesta-nim.”
“Speak, Uushun.”
“Keep your mind straight. The creature on the ground is maddeningly fast.”
Uushun said, and vanished.
“......!”
Vesta whipped his head around.
Uushun had clamped the beetle’s jaw shut with both hands.
“Y-you… little—”
Crack.
The massive jaws bit into steel armor. The creature’s compound eyes fixed on Vesta.
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