The morning cold fades away under the relentless assault of the scorching sun, and the desert heat starts wearing me down as I move away from the giant's corpse's shadow. We're leaving, on foot, the riding beasts trailing behind us. Something is going on, but no matter how hard I try, I don't seem to make sense of what all this means. Why are we leaving the dead giant behind? And why the hell have we chased it down and massacred it like that?

Everyone seems tense as they move away from the blood pool. Rai'Ze is busy as well. She moves ahead, hair flowing in the wind, orders shouted left and right. Everyone keeps silent, acknowledging her commands, knowing too well what's about to happen next. Everyone except for me. I lag behind her like a complete moron, holding the heavy hunting axe tightly. Questions rush through my head, but now is not a good time to ask, now is the time to follow, and that's what I intend to do.

We stop, not that far away from the carcass. The hunters rush toward the beasts, dragging them around, forming a line across. The creatures are thankful for the rest as they bury themselves halfway in the sand. They did their job, chased the giant across the sands, now they can chill, take a nap even. We lean against them on the other side, stealing whatever shadow they cast, some of us peeking back at the sand giant's corpse.

"Why did we...?" I finally dare ask, but my words are stopped as she pushes her finger on my lips.

I look at her, confused, she is grinning again...

My blood starts rushing through my veins. What the hell is going to happen now?! I clench my axe and start looking for danger. The air around us burns as the warriors slowly draw their axes and push themselves over the sand-covered riding beasts. I do the same. Something is about to go down, something dangerous!

Suddenly, the giant starts moving! No! Shaking! No... it's worse!

The sight makes my stomach churn in fear.

A wild pack of horrible creatures surrounds the carcass, growling, pulling it from all sides! Heads buried deep into the flesh, claws digging, fangs ripping, chunks of meat flying around, blood spurting everywhere. It's a carnage! A feast! A feeding frenzy!

Some climb on top of the creature, ripping the giant's back, while most just pull from the sides, tearing the flesh away with all their might. My skin crawls as I witness them half covered in blood, jumping one over another, growling, squealing, fighting to reach for more.

Piranhas! These fuckers are just like piranhas! Giant, man-sized, hyena-like, sand piranhas!

I feel movement and look at Rai'Ze standing tall, pointing with her mighty axe.

Are you fucking kidding me?!

"Wahnz." She smiles, looking at my terrified expression.

My heart stops as Rai'Ze gives the order, and her warriors jump into action, rushing over our sand-covered beasts and toward the carnage, axes swinging. I am shocked, stunned, frozen in place! The sight is terrifying! Fangs, claws, blood everywhere! There's no way anyone can survive those things!

And then... she pushes me toward the moving pile of fangs, guts, and flesh.

"Time to prove." She grins with fire in her eyes.

I look ahead, holding tightly onto my axe, fear rushing, pushing my conscience into a corner. I climb out of hiding as the adrenaline takes over. In front of me, the carnage is in full swing. Pieces of meat and blood flying everywhere. Terrifying sounds of flesh tearing and guts being ripped open fill the air. These bloodthirsty beasts are tearing the mighty giant apart right before our eyes. I feel overwhelmed as my legs, weakened by fear, refuse to take another step.

Right then, I catch a glimpse of the first warrior striking down one of the smaller wahnz that was pushed aside by the ravenous pack and had to make do with whatever meat flew out of the carnage. The strike was so powerful that the poor critter had no time to react and fell right on top of its dust-covered meal.

Another warrior runs ahead and grabs a large wahnz by surprise with a blow to its back. The beast turns to face the new threat, but its reactions are too slow, and it is hacked before it can let go of the piece of thick skin in its mouth! More warriors rush ahead and join in the carnage hitting the wahnz and striking them down before they can react.

I'm stunned! What's going on? Why are these hyper-aggressive beasts not reacting to us?! We won't stand a chance if they could only... see us?!

The wahnz are not paying attention!

The scent of the sand giant's blood is masking us, and the sight of the mountain of flesh is blinding them. They're completely absorbed, lost in their bloodlust, fighting each other, ripping and pulling chunks away, digging deep inside the giant's dead body, maddened by their own instincts. This carnage is what gives us an advantage, and our hunters are not wasting any time!

This is it! This is my chance! My heart beats like crazy! I have to be fast and get in there before these stupid fuckers realize what's going on!

Ahead! Fast! Now!

I rush toward the first wahnz, axe ready, yelling like a madman. The creature is small by their standards, less than half the size of others, bigger than a wolf, that's far from small in my world. Head covered in blood, busy chewing on a large tendon, shredding it apart, completely ignoring me. Big mistake! My axe strikes deep, and the stupid creature squeals, collapsing in the sand, tendon in its mouth and all! I look at it, all riled up, but there's no time to waste!

One fucker down! Twenty or so to go! I encourage myself to rush toward my next target!

Blood spills over me as I strike! This one is larger, it turns toward me, surprised, still chewing, eyes confused, blood pouring down its face. I don't give it a chance to react and strike again, right on its head! It tries dodging, not willing to let go of its meal. Its movements are slow, too slow! The blow is devastating, my axe blade sinking deep, and the critter goes down, squealing in the sand before my feet.

I pause for a moment, taking a breath. Around me, the hunters are hacking away at the surprised beats. It's a fucking massacre! Our warriors are attacking and killing in a frenzy, their bloodlust matching the beasts'.

My blood starts boiling again!

This is it!

I can feel it!

The hunt, and I'm in the middle of it!

I feel emboldened, mind drunk on adrenaline, as I rush toward the next beast!

I think little, I just strike as hard as I can, sinking my axe in its back!

The blow must be terrible as I feel my hands shaking, absorbing the impact through the weapon's heavy handle. But the beast still ignores me! A fatal mistake!

I pull back, ready to strike again, when the dumb animal turns toward me growling, mouth open, staring at me with dripping blood through its giant sharp fangs.

I brace myself and rush forward, aiming for its head! The beast jumps away, evading my blow, but I can still feel the axe striking flesh! I hit its shoulder as hard as I can! There's no way in hell the fucker still stands after this! And yet, this one refuses to go down! I've delivered two direct blows and nothing!

The giant wahnz doesn't even seem to be bothered! Its eyes pin me down as it growls at me, arching its body, preparing to attack!

I freeze. This one... acts differently!

The jig is up!

They are fighting back now, and I just realize the size of my opponent! It's a fucking giant! Taller and stronger than any other around! It raises its head, dwarfing me, forcing me to look up just to keep those crazied eyes in my sight.

My knees weaken, but I'm determined to hold firm! If these fuckers are anything like our wild dogs, turning away and running will be the end of me. I squeeze my axe with my hands, staring down the beast's open mouth as I anchor my feet in the sand, bracing for its assault. A moment later, the fucker charges at me!

A blink, that's all it takes! I was still keeping my axe above my head, ready to strike back, when suddenly the mighty wahnz collapses, its bloodied body twitching and convulsing in the sand right before my feet.

I look at it, stunned, unable to understand what happened.

The dead critter is gushing blood from its open skull, and I can see the iron handle of my desert queen's axe from within! The blade split the beast's head in two and buried itself deep inside its neck. There was no way for it to survive the blow, and instantly died mid-charge. It was dead before its body touched the sand.

I let my axe down and look behind. As expected, Rai'Ze stands there, grinning.