"So, where have you been since our last encounter?"

  Nathan reached up and scratched the back of his head. This was awkward. If he remembered correctly, Zayen had been hoping for a meeting, and Nathan had just left him hanging.

  Now they were here.

  "Well, I was doing various things—"

  "Like repairing every single farm in my country?"

  “…is that a bad thing?"

  "Of course not. But it is somewhat surprising. I cannot help but question why you would do such a thing."

  Nathan was about to respond when Zayen suddenly held up his hand.

  "First," Zayen said, "I would like to know how it is that you got separated from Rami. She claims that you just disappeared. Is this true?"

  Nathan winced. Internally, his thoughts were racing. There wasn’t exactly a good explanation besides the truth: namely, that she wanted him to join her little revolution and he didn’t want to get involved.

  But should he tell Zayen that?

  The whole reason he'd run away in the first place was because he didn’t want to get involved in the kingdom’s internal politics. Still, Zayen probably deserved to know the truth—he didn’t seem like a bad guy.

  "About that..." Nathan said.

  "Yes?"

  "Well, your sister took me to an alleyway, and then she started talking about... staging a coup. Against you. At that point, I was, uh, sort of freaked out."

  Zayen sighed, pressing his head into his hand. "Why am I not surprised?"

  "You knew?"

  “No. I've been aware of my cousin’s scheming ways for quite some time—but I never expected she was planning to attempt a coup d'état.”

  "What are you going to do about it?" Nathan asked.

  Zayen shook his head, his lordly robes swirling as he did so. "I will have my agents gather more information on her and her conspirators. I need to find out who else is involved in this."

  "I see." Nathan glanced at the curtain of the palanquin. "I guess I’d best get going now—"

  "Hold on one moment."

  Nathan froze.

  “We never arrived at my earlier question. The thing that precipitated this entire conversation.” He leaned forward.” What would possess you to go around helping all of the farmers in my kingdom? Not only that, but you killed a wyvern that had infested the sacred mountain spring. What is your reason for doing this?"

  Nathan hesitated. "It was for a side quest."

  Zayen reached for a cup of tea at his side. Behind it, Nathan saw the faintest hint of a smirk on the king’s lips.

  "That makes you a Delver, doesn’t it?" Zayen said.

  Nathan froze.

  "You know?"

  "Your behavior matches perfectly with the other strangers who have come here throughout the years. The royal archives have records of your kind. Is it so surprising that I should know of you?"

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  "Well, nobody else here seems to know about the Circles.”

  Zayen sighed, taking a sip of tea. "They’re still stuck in the past. They still believe—no, they still want to believe—that this is a desert island. That we can remain cut off from the rest of the world.”

  "But how long can that last?" Nathan asked, thinking of the Dustend. "It really seems like this place doesn’t have much of a future left."

  "I would agree with you, but most people don’t. They’ve lost faith, they believe this is our home. I imagine you’ve had conversations with the farmers?"

  "Yes, I have. They don’t want to leave even when the Dustend is ripping them to shreds.” Nathan’s fist clenched. “It’s only a matter of time until it destroys them all. They need to escape.”

  Zayen poured another cup of tea and handed it to Nathan. "That is my dream, Nathan. For me and my people to finally leave this desert hellhole."

  Nathan grabbed the tea and stared into the reflection. He looked back at Zayen.

  "What do you mean?" he asked.

  "This is not our home. You know this as well as I do," Zayen said. "We come from a land of green. Where plants grow from every crack, where the air is fresh and cool, where the sun doesn’t beat down on us like a slave driver. I wish to return to that land, to reject this deal our ancestors made.”

  "How are you supposed to convince people to go along with that? Even if you do, how do you get to the next circle without the System quests?”

  "Yes, that’s the question, isn’t it?" Zayen tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling. “And even granting our escape from here—something that seems very unlikely—how would I survive the challenges of the Third Circle? How would I get to the Fourth? The Fifth? And even if I had some plan that allowed me and my people to survive, how do I convince them to follow me? They’ve already lost hope. The Dustend has stripped it away, as it has with everything else."

  "So it comes back to the Dustend," Nathan said.

  "Indeed. If I had some tool to defeat the Dustend, I think that would be just what my people need. That would be the catalyst to move forward. A spark to light a flame to burn away the fears of the ancient.” At this, Zayen’s eyes turned sharply toward Nathan. "How is that quest going?"

  Nathan blinked. “What quest?"

  "The one related to the farmers of this land."

  Despite making major strides in the kingdom’s food situation, the quest had yet to ‘ding’ and confirm success.

  "It hasn’t finished. Why do you ask?"

  "You fought a wyvern for a side quest. It seems you’ll do a great deal to complete them."

  “Yeah, that’s probably true.”

  It’s kind of a compulsive disorder, honestly…

  "How do you feel about killing a storm?" Zayen said.

  "Killing a storm? What do you mean?"

  "Exactly what I say. Do you think you’d be up to killing a storm?"

  Nathan’s eyes widened. Zayen was talking about the Dustend.

  “Are you implying that defeating the Dustend would fulfill my farming quest?” Nathan slowly said. “How does that make any sense?”

  "I’ve been tracking your progress. The coming season will be the most bountilful we’ve had in a hundred years.” Zayen took a sip of his tea. “And yet the quest refuses to trigger completion. Something else is at work, some unknown factor you’ve yet to consider."

  "And what could that be?"

  Zayen set his teacup down. "The Dustend."

  “How?”

  "Tell me, will those farmers ever be truly secure knowing one bad storm could wipe out everything they’ve built?"

  Nathan shifted uncomfortably. "So, you’re saying to finish my farming quest, I have to kill the Dustend? A magic storm that almost killed me twice?"

  "Of course, you wouldn’t be doing it alone. This is a goal I’ve pursued for years. If you take it on, I’ll provide all the aid I can."

  Nathan frowned. “And I’d just be doing this for free?”

  “Well, it would be for your quest,” Zayen said. “But I’d be giving you a bonus, of course. Access to the royal archives would a good reward, I believe. We have many secrets there—perhaps one could help you?”

  Nathan’s eyebrows shot up. That was exactly what he needed to upgrade his Ocean’s Embrace skill.

  Still, he hesitated.

  "Not enough," Zayen said. "What if I also entitled you to first pick of the loot?"

  "What loot?"

  "The texts indicate the Dustend’s power stems from an artifact. An object."

  "What’s it called?"

  "The Heart of the Desert."

  Nathan froze.

  Deal sealed.

  Judging by Zayen’s shark-like grin, he knew it too.

  "If we’re doing this," Nathan said hesitantly, "we need a ground rule."

  "I’m listening."

  "This is about the Dustend. I’m not getting involved in your politics."

  "Very well," he said. "Is that all?"

  "I guess so."

  Zayen held out his hand. "Then it’s a deal."

  After a moment, Nathan shook it.

  A split second later, a message appeared in front of Nathan:

  Message from: Gius

  My lord, important things related to the elections must be addressed. Please visit at the earliest opportunity.

  "Elections?"

  Nathan turned his head to see Zayen blatantly eavesdropping on his system message.

  "How can you read that?" Nathan said.

  "The system auto-translates it, like it does for our speech."

  "Oh."

  "You have a soulbound town?" Zayen’s eyes widened. He lunged forward, grabbing Nathan by the collar. "You’re the mayor of a soulbound town?"

  "Yes?"

  Zayen froze, slowly letting go. "Nathan," he said gravely, "can you allow me to accompany you? Just for a little bit of time?”