Haku flattened even more against the wall he had erected, breathing as slowly as possible to conserve energy and prevent too much sand from ending up in his breathing ducts. He had tried to improve his defenses by expanding the wall and perhaps adding a roof, but unfortunately the rune he had used to create the walls of sand wasn't enough to build a stable horizontal ceiling; when he tried it had simply collapsed on top of him, and by sheer luck hadn't taken the whole wall with it. Unfortunately the sand was not as resistant and compact as the earth and tended to fall apart when subjected to similar pressures. Haku had thought that perhaps he could have tried using fortification runes to make the ceiling more resistant, but he had preferred not to risk it since if he failed again this time he could have made the whole wall collapse and therefore the only defense that allowed him to have breathable air.
Obviously he hadn't been idle and had started looking in his dimensional bag for something that could be useful to him; even if he remembered all the things he had by heart, it was still better to take an inventory in case he didn't remember something. The first thing that had caught his eye was his secret weapon: the giant body with which he had defeated Carrion. It was now repaired, so the cavity inside the belly was also repaired and could have hidden inside. Unfortunately, however, there was a risk: in fact, he couldn't go too far from the wall of sand, and since anything just extracted from the dimensional bag regained its original size, the giant body would have immediately broken through the aforementioned wall and exposed him to the sandstorm. Haku could have tried to connect to the avatar and secure his body as quickly as possible, but he wasn't sure he would have succeeded: his body in fact couldn't connect to his avatar as long as he was in danger, since his consciousness would continually be brought back: it would have been like trying to sleep in the middle of a hurricane. To succeed in that enterprise Haku would have to be able to connect and put his body in the cavity in the belly of his avatar before the sand wall collapsed completely... and this was practically impossible since we would have talked in less than a tenth of a second.
Or he could have used hibernation. Maldor, Sisna, Kotaru and Malchia had managed to connect with their avatars while they were in hibernation, ergo they didn't have to worry about what happened to their real bodies because even in dangerous conditions they wouldn't wake up. If Haku had used it, he could have connected to his avatar and then recovered his real body in peace. However, even hibernation had its risks. True, as long as he was in hibernation he wouldn't have to worry about the sand clogging his airways, as his breathing would also stop… but it would stay there. Haku didn't know if the mana in her body would destroy her like it did the hydra's venom. And in those few seconds needed to enter hibernation, connect to his avatar and secure his real body, the sandstorm would have easily clogged his lungs with thousands of grains that would then have been almost impossible to remove, condemning him never to return to his real body unless he wanted to die of suffocation. He should have been looking for a way to remove the sand from his windpipe and bronchial tubes. Even though there was probably a spell that could help him, Haku preferred not to risk it: he would only use that tactic as a last resort, in case all his other defenses failed. For now, he was content to hide behind a wall of sand and breathe the clean air while waiting for the sandstorm to pass.
After all, all of his defenses seemed to be holding up well for now. The wall of sand was very resistant and Haku checked it constantly: if he started to waver he would have noticed it immediately and he would have just had to use other fortification runes to prevent it from collapsing. The dust storm was unlikely to change direction, so there was no risk of the wind suddenly turning around and hitting him off guard from behind. Even if it was annoying and tiring, Haku could just stand there and calmly wait for the desert to calm down a little, then return to the oasis in peace.
What worried the dragon more than anything else was that one of his siblings might come looking for him; that would have been very dangerous for them, and Haku didn't want them to risk their lives for him. Knowing his family, it was unlikely they would sit back and wait for his return. But still, his siblings weren't naive: they wouldn't have thrown themselves into the sandstorm with their heads down. If they had come looking for him, surely they would have used some means not to risk being suffocated by the sand. He had to trust them, Haku told himself several times. He just had to calm down and wait. His siblings wouldn't do anything stupid and even if they didn't find him he could have safely returned to the oasis once the storm subsided. Everything would be fine… he just had to think positive.
'Shit' he grumbled in his mind. 'If only I hadn't left the communication device with Darbi, I could now warn them that I'm fine. No... come to think of it, I'm probably already too far away. After all, it doesn't work beyond five kilometres. Damn! If these people had listened to me early on we wouldn't have had this stupid plague and Isaac could have improved those items, or at least created more! Stupid newcomers, they always make everything harder!'
Since communication devices were limited, and his own was directly connected to Rhaegal's, Haku preferred not to keep it in his dimensional pouch since Rhaegal could call him in an emergency. But neither could he take it with him, since he was constantly in the company of Zamor and therefore could not answer his brother without revealing that he was looking for the cure, so every day he entrusted him to Darbi or one of her sisters. That had been a big mistake… but again, it hadn't been his fault, but the fact that in order to allow these emotionally too fragile newcomers to talk to their sick loved ones or their children he had had to give up almost all of his communication devices. If he didn't, he would at least bring a few with him just to be safe. Instead he had only one of them now, the one he couldn't take with him in any way, and therefore he didn't have it at the moment. But then, after all, he was technically further than five kilometers from the oasis, so it would have been useless anyway.
He shook his head vehemently. He would get angry later at the people he had to be angry with; for now, he just had to think positive and focus on keeping his defense stable. On average sandstorms lasted only a few hours; he just had to wait and...
His ears suddenly picked up on something different: a rhythmic clicking that was barely distinguishable from the howl of the wind. Haku growled in the direction it was coming from and his body tensed. Suddenly a shadow appeared in the midst of the sandstorm and then a huge sand shark ran towards him on their six spider-like legs. Haku promptly reacted by kicking it with a tail that sent it flying, but the animal moved its fins and began to fly in the midst of the storm. Several more shadows appeared in the yellowish sky, moving nimbly in the raging wind.
'Of course, these bastards fly easily in the desert wind. For them this situation must be the perfect hunting ground!' Haku thought. When he had erected his defenses he had certainly not paid attention to how many vibrations in the ground he had created, and had continued to move for a long time while looking for other solutions; it was this that had probably attracted the ravenous fish. 'This day couldn't be worse!'
Haku certainly wasn't afraid of sand sharks; they were not adversaries who could worry him. But now his movements were limited by the fact that he could not move from the sand wall and risked hitting it and causing it to collapse. In contrast the sand sharks seemed to wallow in sandstorms just as if it were their natural environment and they didn't have to worry about the sand blocking their airways because they breathed through their gills and above all they were designed to last for long periods under the sand, so a sandstorm wasn't a danger to them. And sadly, due to the fact that they had never seen a dragon, they didn't fear him and from their point of view Haku at that moment was just an easy prey.
The sand sharks spun in the air for a few moments, then three of them lunged at Haku from different angles. However, even though he was in a disadvantageous situation, Haku certainly wasn't willing to give up without a fight. He knew he couldn't move too much or risk hitting the wall that protected him; therefore he had to fight by limiting every movement as much as possible. He needed a quick and accurate attack that could put the fish to flight right away. He had no trouble figuring out which one it was: there was one thing that almost every living thing in the world feared, and that was fire. And sand sharks, being animals that lived in sand and sometimes water, certainly had no protection against fire. And since their minds were connected... Haku had to hit only one of them to make them realize how painful fire was. With extreme rapidity he drew three runes of fire on the ground and activated them with his blood, generating a flame that struck the hungry fish.
The stricken sand sharks let out a squeal of pain and scurried away from the dragon; two of them fell to the ground and ran away on their feet, soon taking refuge under the sand in an attempt to put out the fire, but one of them remained in the air instead and began to fly making what sounded like desperate squeaks. From Haku's point of view it looked like a torch dancing in the sky; it didn't take long before he fell to the ground and stopped moving.
Haku hoped that the sand sharks would be frightened by that attack and decide to retreat and look for an easier prey; unfortunately, however, in the desert there weren't many prey and the ravenous fish weren't willing to give up food when they managed to find it. The other sand sharks began swimming through the air in different directions, clearly planning a multi-pronged attack. Haku narrowed his eyes and let out a growl: he could easily counter such a simple attack, but in doing so he would have risked one of the burning sand sharks crashing into the wall of sand that kept him alive. Unfortunately he didn't have time to think of a better strategy: the ravenous fish rushed at him from four different angles, and Haku was therefore forced to think quickly. He had only one choice: to burn the sand sharks that weren't in danger of falling onto the sand wall due to their position and trajectory... and to face the others himself, again trying not to hit the wall.
That was exactly what he did: he burned two sand sharks with runes of fire, and they fell to the ground wriggling furiously as their bodies burned, and then he prepared to face the other two. If he could have moved freely he could have hit one with his paws and the other with his tail, but in the situation he was in he couldn't move a part of his body without looking where he was stepping or he would have risked hitting the wall, so he could only fend off a sand shark before it hit him. It wasn't difficult to choose which one: clearly, it was better to eliminate the one that pointed to the most vulnerable part, namely the neck. With a single swipe of his claws he broke its jaw and sent it to the ground, where he crushed it with his weight. He prepared to feel the pain that would come as soon as the other bit his back; it couldn't hurt him much, but it would still hurt him.
But such pain never came. Instead, he heard a snap and then a thud, and then the sand shark that should have been biting him rolled beside him with its neck broken. And then he heard a voice: "You just can't help but get into trouble, huh, brother?"
Haku turned around. "Darbi!?"