Emily stood among the crowd, gazing up at Kael as he leaned forward in his mount’s saddle.

  “Now listen carefully,” he called out. “There are many dangers in the desert, but in the next few days, we’ll be entering its domain. If the heatstroke doesn’t get you, I want you all to be prepared—”

  Emily glanced past Kael and spotted Selia sitting on her own mount. She looked a bit pale, but otherwise, one could barely tell she was suffering under a curse.

  “The first thing to be aware of is the Miragestalkers. They play tricks on your eyes, luring you into traps. Do not trust everything you see in the desert.

  “The second is bones or corpses, nothing in this place can afford to leave resources lying around. If we come across remains, it means we’ve wandered into a hunting ground, or worse. Get out as soon as you can.

  “And finally…” Kael’s expression darkened.

  “Watch the weather. If things go stupendously bad, we may encounter a glassfire storm. I’m working on a solution, but if you’re separated and have no other option—bury yourself and pray that whatever luck you have is on your side.”

  Emily fiddled with the cord on her cloak and pulled it down now that the sun had set. With a name like ‘glassfire storm’, she could only imagine what devastation that would cause. Emily brushed her hair out of her face to get a better look at her surroundings.

  The moonlight made it easier to look out over the dunes, in the day it was almost blinding to stare at.

  It looked about what one would expect of a desert, with hundreds of kilometers of wide open land stretching out as far as the eye could see. There was one exception to this. Kael had pointed them out, calling them sanctuaries, but to Emily, they looked like big rocks or buttes. They were hills with sharp sides and a flat top that was made of a harder stone, or it would have eroded by now.

  They poked out of the desert at odd intervals as they headed towards one such land mass.

  Apparently, for those who knew what they were doing, the desert held plenty of resources, or at least, that’s what Kael had claimed. One thing Emily had noticed about him was how much more at ease he seemed in the dry heat.

  He never seemed to perspire or squint through the sweltering air, and even the way he sat in the saddle was more relaxed yet ready.

  Alex on the other hand rode beside him steating profusely. Humans were never meant to be in this kind of heat and while Emily found it to be a pleasant temperature, not many others could say the same.

  The humans weren't suited for the environment. The only person having a harder time than them was Svent. The Armamentsmith was lagging behind, and although a layer of sap-like sweat covered his skin, he still resorted to bundling up tightly from the sun. Alex had said he had a ward protecting him from most of the heat, but even then, his suffering was obvious.

  Emily didn’t blame the guy. It was just her estimation but the surrounding sands were easily 50 degrees and this was night. Granted the sun had just gone down so it would only cool from here, but that was not the type of heat a plant-man should be exposed to.

  When Emily could see the explanation was over, and everyone was getting ready to move. She was about to whistle for Cupcake when she saw Dunham struggling with his mount nearby.

  Somehow, the young guardsman was kitted out in his full city armor. Its shiny steel surface glowed in the moonlight, and she cringed at the thought of how hard that had to be to lug around, not to mention the heat. The only part of him left exposed was his hands, bare from removing his gloves to tend to the animal. Emily noticed they were strong, shaped by the rigors of training. Not all of his allies wore the same level of armor, but they all had some kind of metal piece on them.

  Glancing over she saw his galendmare panting and shaking itself as he tried to grab hold of its reins.

  Emily was no animal whisper but even she could see the dread on the creature's face as the fully armor man attempted to mount up.

  Working next to Gerade for a while had taught her a thing or two.

  Moving toward the man she came up beside hard-skinned beast and patted its side.

  “I’m pretty sure you're going to ride this poor creature to death if you don’t swap it out with one of the less exhausted ones.”

  Dunham’s eyes flickered over Emily briefly before he ground his jaw.

  “Mesh is a strong partner, he can handle it.”

  Emily eyed the guy and looked up at the moons and back at him.

  “I’m sure he is, the fact that he’s been carrying your heavy ass is a testament to his unbreaking spirit, but he’s at his limit.”

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  A couple of his nearby allies snicker, covering their mouths with their fists or turning away.

  Dunham frowned as he refused to look at her.

  “Then I’ll swap him out with one of my colleagues-” he started but Emily shook her head.

  “Not good enough at this stage. Old Mesh here is so exhausted that even a fair woman like myself would weigh him down. No, at most you can put a light pack on him. You should double up with someone, and maybe lose the clunky gear.”

  Dunham scowled.

  “Fair? From what I’ve seen you’re more like a woman from the Karno tribes, able to rend a man a sunder with just her hands.”

  This got another round of snickers from his friends, but it only deepened Emily's grin.

  “Very true, but my point still stands. Do what you want, but don’t come crying to me when Mesh keels over.”

  Emily turned away to leave but Dunham grunted.

  “Wait…”

  Emily turned back to the man in question. He looked like a kicked puppy and Emily couldn’t help pausing.

  “If what you said is true, then I can’t ride with anyone here. I can’t remove the armor on account of my title, and I can’t travel without a mount. So the next best thing would be to ride on a mount strong enough to carry my… ‘fat ass’. Would you be willing to let me ride with you? Just for tonight.” Dunham asked.

  Emily's brows raised, she hadn’t expected him to ask something like this. They hadn’t exactly interacted much before this, yet he’d taken her advice into account and adjusted accordingly. Most people would be too prideful to react at all, let alone this quickly.

  Still, it was a favor.

  “From the looks of things, Mesh will need a couple of days rest. What would I get out of this?” Emily said, eyeing him up and down.

  Dunham scratched the back of his neck.

  “What do you want?”

  Emily tapped her chin.

  “Hmm, how about a Pentagram?” She asked.

  Dunham's twisted into a frown.

  “Be serious, we just barely escaped, even if I did have that kind of money, I wouldn’t offer it for a ride. How about I do all your chores when we stop for the day?”

  Emily hummed, that offer was also tempting. She wasn’t short of money right now seeing as Kael had yet to ask where the refined coins she took were. Though she only had three remaining after buying all their supplies, but each would sell for a decent amount.

  “Hmm, okay counter offer, you handle my duties for the days you ride with me, and when we settle down for the day come to my tent.”

  No sooner had the words left Emily's mouth, than whistles went up from the surrounding men, causing her to just roll her eyes.

  Men were the same no matter which world you were in.

  Dunham on the other hand still looked solemn.

  “What for?” he asked.

  Emily’s grin grew just enough that her pearly whites flashed through from behind the smile.

  “You look like you have strong hands, I’m going to put them to work.”

  This only made his friends devolve into full-on laughter and hollers, but Emily saw no need to correct them.

  Her eyes remained fixed on Dunham.

  “So? Do we have a deal?” she asked as she extended her hand.

  Dunham frowned at her palm but took it. “As long as I’m not exhausted when we have to move, yes.”

  Emily shook his hand up and down.

  “Great, grab your shit, Cupcake is on her way.”

  A column of sand exploded nearby as the Rime wolf climbed out of the dune and trotted over to them, shaking the sand out in her wake.

  By the time she got there, Emily was rolling her eyes.

  “Come on girl, Gerade just brushed you.”

  Cupcake lowered her large body into the sand and yipped at Emily.

  She climbed onto the beast and turned to wait for Dunham. Emily suddenly had a good idea and sent it to Cupcake who seemed to like it.

  The man had gathered his pack and gear consisting of a short sword and a damn large shield. The moment he got his legs over Cupcake back Emily turned to him.

  “Oh right, hold on.”

  No sooner had she said this than Cupcake got up and growled at Dunham on her back before dropping into the fastest twirl she could manage. Which with her strength was fast. The world turned to a blur of streaking colors and by the time Cupcake came out of her spin Dunham was barely handing on by the fur near her rump.

  Emily smirked at the panting man and nodded. She was right; he definitely had a firm grip.

  After that, they waited for another ten minutes while everyone got everything ready, and then finally, they left. Traveling through the desert at night was a pleasant experience for Emily. The winds that blew over gentle slopes were the perfect temperature. They invoked a warm evening back on Earth, where one could sit out under the stars and watch the galaxies spin in perfect comfort.

  Which if done from the back of a lumbering wolf with a completely new sky above her was an incredible scene.

  Of course, the circumstances that had brought her here were harrowing and the only reason she could enjoy the heat was from a near-lethal brush with fate, but Emily didn’t need to dwell on the past.

  All in all, Emily was content. That was until they got close to one of the rock masses.

  Emily was near the front of the pack so she could keep an eye on things. Alex rode beside Kael as the two chatted about star maps and plotting a course, but most of it was boring stuff so Emily had been tuning them out.

  Selia was riding with Gerade who had been charged by Kael to look after her, while Lock and Ashe rod together.

  The woman was fervently reading through the tome which caused Emily to smile. She’d just remembered the small book that Blood Mage had given her when Kael signaled for them to come to a stop.

  Emily slowed Cupcake down and felt Dunham shift behind her.

  “What's going on?” he whispered in her ear.

  “That signal usually means prepare for danger.” Emily hissed back as she searched their surroundings.

  The rock was pretty close at this stage, so much so that its shadow loomed over them, but it was still a fair way away

  It was odd that Kael had noticed something first, especially since Atticus was in the air and hadn't reported anything ahead.

  Following Kael’s gaze, Emily tried to see what had caught his attention in the shadowed sands.

  For a moment, the wind picked up, sweeping thin sheets of sand into the air. Individual grains rattled against the nearby rocks. Emily squinted at the jagged stones protruding from the dunes. They were oddly shaped but not entirely out of place.

  That was until Kael shouted at the top of his lungs.

  “Venomtails! Everyone defensive formation!”

  His shout alerted the ambush predators, and suddenly, the nearby rocks burst into motion. Carapace-covered limbs unfurled as creatures emerged from all around them, even from behind.

  Dozens of legs and segmented tails lifted into the air, and massive pincers erupted from the sand. Emily’s eyes narrowed as minivan-sized scorpions crawled out of the shadows toward them. Their stingers swayed lazily above their heads, glistening with venom that dripped from the tips.

  Blood points: 487