Elevate | ONC 2021

6. Rest

Sintra landed an insane blow on Phillip, sending him staggering backwards while holding his nose as blood dripped from his nostrils.

"Follow me and wait for the signal!" She quickly said to her teammates, grabbing the pass from the soldier's hand before taking off in the direction of the death worm.

"Sintra, wait!"

"What the hell?"

"Catch her!"

These were just a few phrases Sintra heard being shouted at her but she couldn't tell who said what as she blazed across the desert once more, the death worm drawing closer as she charged at it.

She ignored the putrid smell that became more prominent with each sprint while imagining the 14 people all chasing after her, silently revising the insane plan that her mind had quickly fashioned.

The voice in her head revolted at the idea but she refused to fail this task and give up her pass—the pass she had almost lost her life for, the pass she had transcended reality to retrieve. They had to get rid of their opponents one way or the other and at the moment, team 5 was outnumbered, outgunned and out of time.

Sintra was close now, so much so that she could finally see the treacherous monster for what it was and regret lurched into her throat with intentions of choking her mid sprint.

Its bright red, ribbed skin appeared dimpled and greasy and its gaping wide mouth became more noticeable as Sintra shuddered slightly at the slime dripping from its razor sharp teeth while a fine, blue tongue wriggled its mouth.

The odor was far from rancid but more similar to that of a dead carcass that had been left in the sun for far too long and this made Sintra gag a few times while running.

It was the living embodiment of rotting decay.

As Sintra stared into the black hole called its mouth, a dash of color began to emerge from the dark depths of its throat and that is when Sintra signaled her teammates. She only prayed they could hear her.

"JUMP OUT OF THE WAY!" She shouted with all her might just before chucking herself to the left of the deathworm,  rolling into the sand as she tumbled on the impact of her sudden movement.

They desert turned into a circus of screams, cries and sizzles as Sintra coughed up the sand that had ventured into her mouth, groaning while she rose from the ground to see the chaos of her erratic trick—all while wildly searching for her teammates.

Thankfully, team 5 and Lena as well as 4 others from their opposition had all heeded her command, each as dusty as Sintra herself. They grimaced as they got to their feet, staring at the steaming pile of yellow acid and bones crackling as it melted into the sand of the path way they had just been running.

"Oh my God," Sintra gasped, clapping a hand to her mouth as she winced at the sizzling pile of remains.

She had used the little knowledge from Felix to lure a trap for the thieves. She charged the monster, watched for the acid she was sure it would spew since it's used for long distance attacks and then jumped out of the way, leaving those unaware of the death-worm's ability or with poor reflexes to suffer the consequences of its attack.

It was a nasty and despicable thing to do. Not to mention reckless since she could have also killed her teammates but Sintra had panicked. She hadn't faced her fears to fail and she didn't come this far to be killed.

"You bitch!" Sintra heard someone say, tackling her roughly to the ground.

Phillip's strong hands clasped around her neck, squeezing forcefully as he tried to strangled her. The sand from his black shirt filled her eyes that had already begun to water as she clawed at his hands while her breath left her, her vision blacking out from the lack of air.