The Sandman—its towering body made of living grains—let out another guttural roar, the sound vibrating like a small earthquake that shook the fortress walls.
"I've been waiting for this moment, FARID!" it bellowed, voice thick with both triumph and vengeance.
Its face, once shifting, had reformed into a crude humanoid expression. Harsh lines carved a near-human scowl across its surface, its eyes glowing like half-buried embers. Every word it spoke grated like sand dragging across a desert floor.
One of Khan's squadmates turned, clearly unsettled. "Captain, do you... have some kind of personal history with this thing?" he asked cautiously, as all eyes shifted to the looming confrontation between two figures from the past.
Khan let out a long sigh—less from fatigue, more like weariness at the return of an unwelcome story.
