The worm shuddered. The anticipation surged through its minuscule brain, the thoughts barely formed and hardly more than primal instinct. It had no sense of what it was beyond the driving need to find sustenance. What it needed, what it craved, was unknown. It just knew it when it found what was at the core of its pulsating desire.

The heat was always a harsh, sapping presence, but the worm had no thoughts about it. The heat dried. The heat hurt. Food was shelter. That was all the worm cared abo...