The giant ants and the enchanted people giving chase to Jim stop short of where the sand is rushing down from on high, survival instinct kicking in for just a moment. That's enough time for Kalten to rush in and scatter them again.

Jim very nearly reaches Martel before he's knocked down, vanishing momentarily under a flow of sand. Everything is still for one second, two, three, and then there's a small explosion of sand, Jim popping up from below.

"Martel!" He clears the sand from his face, coughing to clear a bit of grit from his airway, and then he's dragging himself through the sand, feeling this way and that.