Two wrapped around his legs, tightening all the way up to his thick waist.
Egara looked over at me before continuing to hack at the vine attached to me.
It snapped and I slid down the sand dune.
The gag in my mouth must have been attached to the main vine as it lost its strength and shriveled from my face.
I yanked it free and spat it out.
I flung my arms and legs out and dug my heels into the sand to prevent myself from sailing further down the incline.
I spun around to face Egara, who swiped at the vines, already latching onto him thickly, completely locking down his legs and preventing him from moving.
He tried to take a step forward but the vines trapped his feet and he lost his balance and fell, hitting the ground.
A dozen other vines slithered toward him but he continued to hack at them one by one.
One snatched his wrist and held it in place.
It wasn’t strong enough to stop him but it slowed him down.
And once he had been slowed, it allowed other vines to move in and catch his powerful arms.
He now only had one arm capable of defending him.
It wasn’t long before his second arm was snatched along with the first and the vines wrapped up his body entirely, lashing him tight so he couldn’t move a muscle.
They pulled him along the ground toward that enormous flower-like alien head and lifted him up into a standing position.
“No!” I yelled from further down the incline.
I got to my feet and stepped forward.
“No!” Egara shouted back at me. “Stay away!”
I froze and peered at the sand beneath my feet and across to the vines that snapped to attention in my direction.
My stomach turned as the giant flower flattened out its enormous petal-like protrusions, forming a giant sail that spread an enormous shadow over the area.
It turned on itself and peered down at the morsel its vines had brought for it.
The petals opened and inside were its dripping wet innards.
Tiny sharp objects I thought were teeth revolved like a churning concrete mixer.
It was going to eat him.
The same way it had been going to eat me.
I needed to do something.
I needed to help him…
But what could I do?
I was a stranger here.
I had no weapons and no knowledge of this creature.
I watched helplessly as the vines unfurled and dumped Egara inside the awaiting giant plant’s “throat.”
It consumed him, the petals slamming shut around him as he disappeared from view.
He was gone.
Dead from protecting me.
I couldn’t believe it.
It was my fault.
I took a step forward as if I could actually do something.
The vines immediately froze and turned.
Oh, great.
I took a step back and the vines shot along the desert floor in my direction.
I ran back down the incline.
I had no idea how long this creature’s tentacles were but if I kept going, I would outrun them.
I hoped.
Egara
I was surrounded by the warm synaptic fluid of the Desert Flower, a hideous and extremely dangerous pest that had spread throughout the galaxy and infested all desert moons and planets.
They burrowed deep in the sand and stretched their long tendrils to search for food it could snatch up and drag back to its mouth, located at the very tip of the sprawling sand dunes.
Once a creature was caught, there was little to no chance of it escaping.
Struggling only encouraged the vines to grow tauter until they snapped the creature’s bones, rendering it weak and unable to shake off the vine.
The only way to escape was if you had enough strength, and failing that, you were doomed.
Unless someone came to the rescue as I had done for Agatha.
That morning, I awoke and reached over for Agatha, expecting to find her clutched in my warm arms. Instead, I found empty space.
I figured she must have gotten up to go to the bathroom. It was light and we’d overslept.
I stumbled over to the edge of the clearing and took a leak.
I groaned and leaned my head back. I peered up at the sky and rolled my neck.
It’d been a long night and the cracking, snapping bones in my neck showed how uncomfortable I must have slept during the night.
I dreamed about Agatha, and each time I opened my eyes, I was pleased to find her wound tightly in my arms.
She was so soft, so warm.
It was only when I did up my fly and turned to head back to our camp that I noticed the line etched into the sand and rose up the steep incline of the nearby sand dune.
The blood froze in my veins.
I realized immediately what must have happened.
“No…” I said out loud.
I should have headed back to the camp to grab my trusty bed pole cudgel but I didn’t want to waste time.
Every second counted.
I wondered how long it’d been since the creature had snatched her.
Was I too late?
Was she already buried deep in the belly of the creature?
I sprinted up the incline and found, to my terrified eyes, that the line continued further.
I bolted further up the incline until I reached the top, praying I would see her when I crested the next rise.
I got to it, not slowing or stopping, and once again, saw no sign of her.
I followed that line, and with each shallow horizon I crossed, I drew closer to the sand dune’s peak.
A cool mist descended over the sandy mountain as the heat of the approaching new day mixed with the cold air from the previous night.
The cold dampness rasped in my throat.
Running up the sand dune alongside me were tiny black beetles. They had special shells that could capture moisture from the air.
I shot up one rise after another until, finally, I saw what I was looking for.
Agatha.
Her body was bound tightly by the long vines.
She didn’t struggle, didn’t try to escape.
It was a good thing as her body would have been crushed to nothing otherwise.
After chopping at the vine and setting her free, I had taken her place and
