Page 1/4 Ruler of the Underground (1) By Flynn Lexton Next to the mountain range where Laslan and Stonegard meet, there is a part of the terrain that looks like a huge sandworm has bored through the rock within the vast rocky region northwest of the Moonlight Desert. This is the route traversed by Queen Bellandir, the queen sandworm. The area was underground originally, but part of it has been exposed through years and years of erosion, making it look like a bridge at some points and a maze at others. I wanted to see this magnificent view with my own eyes, so I inquired with a mushroom vendor who frequently visits the Sanctuary Oasis. It was then that I bumped into a merchant named Bruno. "Don't do it! You must never go there! I should know. I lost everything there and was lucky to come back alive!" He told me that Queen Bellandir was the devil incarnate, and that going to the sandworm habitat was suicide. "Anyone who suggests using that route to save time on shipments, or that there is money to be made by riches there, is a crook!" I bought Bruno a drink to calm him down as he seemed on the verge of tears. Soon, an old and weathered merchant came and sat next to the poor fellow, who by then was crying incoherently into his cup of ale. "Please understand Bruno's position. He was originally a great merchant who owned a hundred camels. Who in their right mind would still be sane after losing it all in a single instant?" The old merchant introduced himself as Diego, a peddler with decades of experience at the Sanctuary Oasis. He was the one who told me about Queen Bellandir, who swallowed Bruno's camels, his goods, and his hopes and dreams. Page 2/4 Ruler of the Underground (2) According to myth, long before Venelux existed, this region was not a desert but a meadow. However, a terrible dark wizard from a faraway land cursed the terrain, causing all the water veins to dry up and turning the meadow into a wasteland. Stonegard's wizards moved a huge rock and used it like a wedge to dam up the poisoned water vein. This was how Vienta Village and Stonegard Castle were protected from the decay. But the wicked curse didn't end there. Fist-sized spiders grew as big as humans and took over the desert, while worms from underground became as huge as houses and swallowed any animal passing by. "In the end, people had no choice but to take a much longer route around the desert. It forced us into a life of communal caravanning, which we still do today." "But aren't there merchants who visit the ant nest across the desert nowadays? Besides, there are mercenaries who hunt the sandworms." Diego smiled when he heard me. "That's because of an incident that happened about a decade ago. Since then, people have grown fearless, brazenly crossing through the middle of the desert or outright challenging the sandworms." About a decade ago, a guild called the Order of the Swan hired a large number of mercenaries to find a special material. The leader was a young woman named Roen, who nobody had ever heard of. But, some of the guild members who served under her were quite well known. It even boasted a few genuine heroes like Clay, the acclaimed genius wizard, and Gerad, the renowned silver knight. Page 3/4 Ruler of the Underground (3) "They attacked the lair and hunted the sandworms that no one had dared so much as approach before. And then, of course, she appeared." It was Bellandir, Queen of the Sandworms. The ground split as she emerged, and numerous Resistance members were swallowed up, including Roen. But the next moment, something unbelievable happened. A huge purple light burst forth, and Roen emerged in the form of a winged phoenix, cutting through the queen sandworm's belly. "I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes." Surprised, I asked what he was doing there. He said he was traveling through to sell supplies to the mercenaries at a nearby oasis. The old merchant laughed and said, "To survive as a caravan runner until old age means avoiding danger while also staying close enough to danger to seize the opportunity that comes along with it." I definitely remembered hearing the name Roen before somewhere, so I was about to ask this Diego another pertinent question when the old merchant suddenly stood up, waving his hand as if to say he had enough. Diego left just like that, taking Bruno, who was passed out on the table, with him. All I heard from everyone else was warning after warning about how dangerous Sandworms are. Maybe Diego's story was nothing but the boasting of a random merchant, but I felt like I was somehow meant to hear what he had to say. Could it be possible to safely document the behavior of the sandworms without risking my life if I pursued those seeking revenge against the beasts? If I can survive a sandworm encounter, I would like to write a book about it and tell people about their majesty. Page 4/4 Ruler of the Underground (4) I made it back alive. It was quite the experience, and I barely survived by sheer luck. I almost want to reserve the story for my autobiography, rather than a monster journal. How can I express the sandworm's majesty and presence? Although I did not see my companions' vengeance fulfilled to the end, the depictions of the illustrator Regina Lehman, who accompanied me on the trip, are included in the book.
