Sand monsters are venomous beasts which live in deserts. They have squat cylindrical trunks, covered with dirty grey bristles and have nasty hooks with which to grab their prey. Their manner of hunting is ant-like. They burrow under their victims in the sand, creating sinkholes for the unwary. They then suck their victims dry of any moisture, be it blood or water. Ciri killed one of these beasts when it attacked a unicorn with whom she was traveling through the Korath desert.
A description of the creature encountered in the Korath desert follows:
“
The monster was a dirty grey colour, plump and pot-bellied like a blood-gorged louse, and the narrow segments of its barrel-shaped torso were covered with sparse bristles. It appeared not to have any legs, but its pincers were almost the same length as its entire body.
”
— pg(s). 275, Time of Contempt (UK edition)