Caspar smoothly jumped down from his camel, landing with his body alert and ready for attack. Sarina jumped off right after him, not quite as gracefully. She stepped closer to him and whispered
'What wrong?'
Caspar brought one finger to his lips, signaling for her to quiet and stared at a patch of sand a short distance away from them. Sarina could feel each breath leave her body as she tried to breathe quietly and steadily. She aimed her gaze at the spot that Caspar was glaring at intensely, completely unsure of what was about to happen next.
Suddenly the sand erupted and Sarina couldn't believe her eyes. A creature that resembled a ginormous fish jumped out of the sand and lunged it's body towards them! Caspar quickly jumped into action, crossing his arms behind his head and drawing 2 swords from his back while leaping toward the fish-like creature, making it keep its distance from Sarina. The fish was slender and the length was of two carriages pushed together, it's color bone-white. It's teeth were visible through its mouth that hung open and they looked razor sharp. The fish's eyes were a horrifying glowing red. Sarina jumped back towards the camel which was completely spooked, anxiously pacing back and forth, not sure how to get away from the terrifying creature.
Caspar went to slice the fish that was still lunging through the sky towards him, but the creature leaned its bulk just out reach and dove back into the sand. Caspar hunched low to the ground, using every sense to try to guess where the creature would emerge next. He turned slightly to the left and the fish leapt out the sand once again, one dune away from where Caspar was, but he was ready for the evil looking beast. He jumped to an inhuman height and with one sword and made a long slash against the fish's body. The animal hissed fiercely and dove into the sand once again.
There was a longer time now where everything was still and Caspar went back to listening and trying to feel the vibrations the fish made while swimming in the sand. It must have went much deeper, he thought to himself. Maybe he had scared it away after he had injured it. Caspar stayed hunched over for a minute longer, and then decided that the fish had at least paused it's attack for now. He turned towards Sarina and his belongings and began to make his way towards them. He was a few steps away when he suddenly felt a strong vibration, coming faster than it had before! He ran quickly towards Sarina, knowing now that the beast had tried to trick him into letting his guard down so it could go for her. Caspar got to her just as the fish emerged from under her feet, grabbing her roughly and shoving her away from harm.
Sarina landed harshly but still looked up and let out a large gasp as she saw the creature sink it's teeth into Caspar's left shoulder. Caspar grunted in pain, but used the opportunity to take his sword in his right hand, raise his arm high and plunge the weapon into the fishes eye. Black blood poured out of the wound and the fish went limp, it's weight pulling Caspar to the ground. He shoved the dead fish off of him and stood up, being careful with his shoulder that had been injured. He stretched and then looked at the beast with disgust before turning back to Sarina. He wanted to make sure she was okay, but was worried he had frightened her.
He approached her slowly and asked her in a low voice,
'Are you hurt?'
Sarina stared at him, her mouth slightly open and and her eyes as wide as the moon.
'Thank you', she finally replied.
Caspar looked at her with a confused expression,
'For what?' He asked softly.
'That's twice that you have saved me' she replied and gave him a small smile.
Caspar's eyes softened, 'it's nothing,'.
'What was that thing?' asked Sarina, still bewildered that such a thing could exist.
'We who live here call them sand-sharks. They are quite rare, but they like to come out right after the sun sets and will feed on anything that has breath.' he answered, walking to his camel, petting and soothing her while offering her slices of sweet potato he pulled from one of his side bags that were still hanging from the animal.
'Why do you think I didn't see one before now, I've been in the desert at night. And why didn't I know about them while living in the city? Are there other creatures like this that live in this desert?' Sarina rattled off her questions, still feeling anxious and hoped knowing more would help calm her.
'You have many questions' stated Caspar, looking slightly amused at her.
'Don't tease' scolded Sarina, rolling her her eyes at him.
Caspar fixed a serious expression and bowed towards her 'yes madam' he joked lightly.
Sarina smiled a small smile, happy to have some of the tension from the frightening experience relieved. She felt tired still, not having slept well on the camel and this event hadn't helped.
Caspar saw that she now looked exhausted.
'Come, let's get back onto Cammy and continue our journey. You can lean on me and try to rest.'
Sarina let out a small giggle despite her exhaustion,
'You named your camel Cammy?' and then giggled again.
Caspar just shook his head and mounted onto Cammy while offering Sarina his hand. He pulled her up where she sat in front of him. Sarina felt nervous all of a sudden. It was hard to believe but this was the first conversation she had ever had with a man. Her parents had heavily sheltered her, only allowing her out of the house to join her father for work. If anyone tried to show her even an ounce of attention, her father would quickly send her home before she could respond, always saying her mother needed her help. Sarina had asked why she couldn't wed, when many of the girls her age had already been given in marriage. Her mother and father would always give confusing, vague answers. She had finally stopped asking, knowing there was no way she could marry without the aid of her parents and scared to jump into a relationship that could end up being more trouble than it was worth. Now here she was, alone with a man in the middle of nowhere.
Sarina sat rigidly in front of Caspar, trying to keep their bodies from touching too much. Caspar saw that she was suddenly tense with him and shook his head. Using his right hand, he gently grabbed her shoulder, pulling it in such a way she was forced to lean on him. Sarina's breath hitched and she looked up and glanced at him.
'Try to rest, you must be tired' he said simply.
Sarina thought to reply and sit back up, but she really was drained. So her back remained pressed against his muscular chest. Her eyes opened and closed slowly until finally she faded off into a dreamless sleep.