They were back in the locker room after finishing their shopping. Each of them was now wearing a ring or two, or a ring and an amulet. All of them were of similar design except for the stones he saw; some were yellow, blue, green, black, and all sorts of colors. Michelle was now sporting her [Chestpiece of the Cunning Tiger (F)] and [Leg Guard of the Cunning Tiger (F)]. It was no longer a two-piece bikini. The two pieces were a little more form-fitting and of a style close to the stuff he and Erin were wearing, but it looked great on her.

  The microphone for the overhead PA system came on. Then 1337 cleared his throat, which made no sense—he had no throat. “Ahem, you have now cleared two of the floors. It is time to enter the third and final floor. It will be progressively harder. Are you hotshots ready for some fun in the sun?” He waited, but no one said anything. “Good. Without further ado, we will now send you to the third and final floor. Don’t get too much of a tan out there!”

  The door they were expecting began to materialize. Pepe saw an outline first, then a semitransparent wooden door appeared. After a few more seconds, it was solid. It was a weather-beaten door, as if it had been out in the sun for a long time. No handle could be seen on it. Guess it would just need to be pushed open into wherever it was. The name gave Pepe hope it would be a nice sandy beach where they were going.

  Josh went forward and pushed the door open. They were hit with a strong heatwave as soon as he opened it fully. There was an endless expanse of sand beyond the door. So, not a beach resort—or if there was one, it would be far from where they were. The only thing that came to Pepe’s mind was, “Hate you, nodes.” Ah, well, it was time to see what this was about. So, they went through one at a time, just as on the last two floors.

  Before the door disappeared, Pepe heard 1337 say, “It was a good joke. I don’t get why no one laughed,” and a response from 1, “Um… I think you forgot to turn off the microphone.” With that, Pepe was through the door.

  As soon as he walked through, the heat was even worse than before. The sun was at its peak and bright; it reflected off the sand and made everything even worse. He felt the sun on his exposed skin; he knew he was about to get more than a tan. The temperature was worse than summer in the small town in Texas he and Manuel came from. There, it was triple digits every summer, but only for a few weeks. But this—this was much hotter. Again, not a beach resort at all. At least he got the sand and the sun, right? “This is not what I meant!” Damn, he really wanted the water as well. Where were the beautiful waves and the gorgeous bikini-clad girls?

  “Oy, what are you on about, primo?” Manuel asked.

  “Nothing. Just forget about that little outburst right now,” Pepe replied. How was he going to explain it to them? His cousin would just make fun of him.

  Once the last of the party came through, the door shut by itself, and in no more than a second, it had disappeared. Pepe looked behind him where the door had been. He knew it was gone, but he just needed to see what was around. To his surprise, about a hundred yards from where they stood, sat a multicolored tent. Around the tent were palm trees and some bushes. What it was doing there was beyond them. Well, he knew where they were going.

  “Guys, looks like we need to go this way.” His friends were still facing the opposite direction. They turned to look at what he saw. He saw the same look of confusion he probably had when he first saw the tent. They all shrugged almost in unison, as if they had practiced it. Yeah, he felt the same way. It was all strange, so not entirely surprising. So far, the floors had all been different. How had the nodes done all this?

  They started walking to the tent. There was no point in staying out in the middle of the sun. There was shade, and getting to the shade was first and foremost on their minds. The entrance to the tent was on the opposite side from where they were. They made their way to the entrance. Pepe felt sweat trying to escape only to be dried instantly in the heat. So far, he didn’t like any of the floors of this dungeon. One was a dank cave with lots of annoying mushrooms, the other undead and rain, and now this sun and heat. He wasn’t looking forward to what they were going to fight.

  Pepe noticed a small pond ten yards in front of the tent. Now it made sense why there were bushes and palm trees. The front of the tent had a wide opening with a shade being held up by two wooden poles. Inside, there was a small stand and a person sitting behind it. The person looked up as they walked in. He was wearing off-white robes and a head scarf of the same color as the robes. The face was that of an older man, his skin wrinkled and dark from spending a lifetime in the desert. Pepe looked at the man’s eyes, a color only seen on a person if they wore contact lenses, as far as he knew: violet eyes.

  “Customers? Yes, you wouldn’t be out here otherwise.” The voice sounded scratchy and rusty, as if he didn’t speak much. Pepe wasn’t sure he had a lot of customers out here in the middle of nowhere, but what did he know? “Are you here for a tour, riding lizards, adventure? How may Elam be of service?” He made a complicated movement with both his hands, raising them, putting them to his head, and then doing something equally complicated with his fingers before bringing them back down. A greeting, maybe. It would take Pepe a while to learn, and then he would still mess it up.

  Tours? In this place? Pepe didn’t want a tour of the desert. What was there to see? Unless there was a bigger pond somewhere with a nice five-star—at this point, he would take even a two-star—hotel, he was good. And why didn’t the old man find it peculiar that he and his friends were here in the middle of a desert? Did this weird stuff happen often around here that he didn’t even bat an eye? It was somewhat concerning if that was the case.

  Josh walked up to the stand and started asking questions. “Sir, we are here for adventure. May I ask where we are?”

  “Young man, you are at Elam’s Adventure and Tours in the Sondjaskan Desert. You have come to the right place. Glad am I that you showed up. There has been a report of strange occurrences in the Benaja Ruins.” And of course, there were “strange occurrences”; they were in a dungeon, after all. “But it is a three-day walk from here to the east. Walking would be dangerous, as you do not know the desert. But I have a solution for you: my riding lizards. They will get you there in a day.” And there it was. Pepe saw that one coming, too; it was just too obvious. “And I can provide a guide as well, though you must tip him when he gets you there.”

  At this, Bobby came forward to settle on the price. Josh came back to the group to talk about what they would be doing. “Thoughts, anyone?”

  Pepe’s cousin shook his head. Erin and Michelle did likewise. Pepe wasn’t sure about all this. “Kind of a setup again, ain’t it?”

  “Looks like it, but it is what it is. We have to get to these Benaja Ruins, and this is the way to go.” Yeah, it was like they were being led, just like with Sir Urthor.

  Bobby and Elam finished the deal. Whatever it cost them, it seemed the merchant was happy. Oh, well, hopefully, they made more out of it when the dungeon run was complete. Elam got up, and they saw that he was tall—as in, towering over them. Manuel and Josh, being the tallest in the group, had to look up at the tall, skinny Elam. He smiled at them; his teeth were very white against his dark, wrinkled skin. He went outside, took out a small item, brought it to his mouth, and blew into it. There was a shrill sound, and then he did it a few more times before putting it away. “Your guide will be here with the riding lizards shortly. Would you like some refreshments while you wait?”

  They nodded. Something to drink would be welcome. He brought out a jug and cups and started to pour the drink. The liquid was reddish. They went to the stand and picked up the cups they were offered. Pepe took a small sip to see what it was. It was like a sweet iced tea and cool; whatever he had it in maintained its coolness. The rest did the same. Once they were done, Elam offered more of the drink. Pepe was more than happy to have a bit more.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  It took another fifteen minutes for their guide to arrive. They felt the ground shake a little and then heard the sound of some animal making loud clicking noises. It seemed their ride had arrived. “If you please, I will show you our pride and joy,” Elam said. He got up and walked out, the group quickly following to see what was outside waiting for them.

  Outside sat four lizards—very large lizards. A smaller version of Elam sat on the lead lizard. He made a clicking sound, and all the lizards went down on their bellies. The lead lizard was the largest of the four. The boy then slid down the side and ran to Elam. He gave the tall man a hug. “Grandfather, as you requested,” he said. He wore similar garb to that of his grandfather.

  “Thank you, Lassirra. Please bow to our guests,” Elam instructed. The boy, even though he was about as tall as Manuel, looked at the group of six and bowed to them. He would likely be taller, like his grandfather; he had the awkward look of a young boy who had just grown into his height. He was even skinnier than Elam, his face the same color as his grandfather’s—smooth with no wrinkles. His eyes were also violet, and his voice was very young.

  “On to our lovely riding lizards! This is Maji; she is the alpha of the group as well as the mother. Behind her are Roti, Escu, and Artuti. They will take you to your destination. They are our fastest lizards, and they love to run.”

  The lizards were intimidating. Pepe wasn’t sure about riding those big monsters. Their faces were almost triangular, their eyes bulging out somewhat, and the tops of their heads had hard ridges as well as horns. The mother, Maji, was the most intimidating of them all. She was wider than a car and the length of three cars put together. He looked up at the huge lizard. Standing, he was about level with her mouth as she lay there. She turned and looked at the diminutive human and opened her mouth, showing sharp teeth. It was almost as if she was smiling at him—or at least he hoped that was the case.

  They all had similar coloring: browns and whites throughout their scales. They had what seemed like saddles for the passengers strapped to them, going down and around their chests and bellies. What one would assume were leather straps of some sort. The mother had no seat at all; a thin rope was tied to rings on either side of her face.

  “Lassira, please get them ready while we outfit our customers.” Elam then turned to the group. “If you would, please follow me.” He led them back into the tent, where he took them to a side room and grabbed some items. He handed each one of them the items.

  Pepe looked down at what he could only describe as pants and something for his face and head. They were both off-white, like what the old man was wearing. He examined them and brought up a description: [Pants of the Desert Rider] and [Headgear of the Desert Rider], pants and headgear meant to be worn when riding various desert mounts to protect the rider. Oh, good, they probably would have been bloody at the end of the ride from rubbing against the lizard’s hard scales.

  After they had changed, they were led back to the awaiting lizards. Josh and Bobby were set up on one of them, the one called Escu. Manuel and Erin were then helped up onto the larger one, Artuti. That only left Roti for Pepe and Michelle.

  Michelle looked up at the lizard, then back over to Pepe. “Sorry, but I’m driving. You’ve got the back.” Before he could even say anything, she was climbing into the front seat. He shrugged and got behind her. It wasn’t easy to get up on top of the large lizard, but he managed it with a little help from Lassira.

  Once they were all settled on their lizards, their feet were in the stirrups—or whatever they were called when riding horses. Pepe wasn’t sure, as he hadn’t done any horseback riding. Maybe he would look that up when he was back in the real world. There was always some kind of wiki to look stuff up. Lassira did one last look around to make sure everyone was okay, walked to his mount, and jumped up. He grabbed the thin rope, and that was it. He started to make a series of clicking sounds, and all four of the lizards got up.

  Pepe looked down. They weren’t very high up, but they were higher than he would have been able to reach the saddle if the lizards hadn’t been on their bellies earlier. Another set of clicks came from Lassira, and they started moving—first at a slow walk, followed by a canter, then a full-on run. They had all waved goodbye to Elam on their way out. The old man waved back and went back into his tent, waiting for the next set of strange adventurers.

  Neither Lassira nor his grandfather, Elam, felt like generic NPCs to Pepe. They felt like real people. Some of what they said could easily be attributed to an NPC, but it felt set up. Likely, the nodes hadn’t handed them a script or anything but fed them information that they would need to pass on. Well, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that they were off to these strange Benaja Ruins. The gait of the lizards was this back-and-forth movement, unlike what he had seen of horses in movies and shows. They were fast. He could feel the air on his face as they moved. He had seen Lassira adjust his headgear to cover most of his face, leaving only a slit for his eyes to see where they were going.

  The start with the walk and canter was easy, and he held onto the small knob that was in front of the saddle, right behind Michelle. As they started to move faster, Michelle was whooping with excitement and laughing as they gained speed. She even threw in, “If you get scared, you can hold on to me, alright!” Oh, he wanted to hold on, alright. And at one point, when they really started to run fast, he did. It was good that she couldn’t see his face because it was quite red. While he was having fun, it was a little scary. It wasn’t like riding a roller coaster or an amusement park ride; there were no belts or safety harnesses at all. How did people ride animals with no belts or anything to keep them on? He had newfound respect for jockeys and people who normally rode horses because it was crazy. He was taught to always wear his seat belt in the car.

  Lassira was skilled, and the lizards knew they had passengers, so they did their best to keep them onboard. These truly were great riding lizards—not that Pepe had other comparisons he could name. The fact that he was still on was not due to his skill at all; he felt like a sack of potatoes bouncing all over the place. They were on hour three of the ride when they stopped. It was a good thing because Pepe was afraid that his holding on to Michelle had been a bit too much. He let go and again was happy about the face covering. It was good that it had both hidden his embarrassment and protected him from the sand that was being kicked up by the lizards and the wind itself. He still had to clean a lot of sand from what was exposed, but it could have been worse.

  The clicks came from Lassira, and the lizards went down on their bellies. How they could stand the heat of the sand, he wasn’t sure. It was still stiflingly hot. He looked around now that he could make things out, but it was an endless expanse of rolling sand that he saw. How they knew where they were going was beyond him. They would have never made it to where they were going without help. Lassira turned to look at them but didn’t get off the lizard. “We will rest for a little bit, then continue. This is a good time to eat and drink. There is both in your saddlebags; please help yourselves.”

  Pepe was ready for some water—maybe not so much food, but water for sure. He was very thirsty with all this heat. He looked inside one of the saddlebags and brought out a waterskin and passed it to Michelle, then grabbed the second one for himself. He took a swig of the water, and it was blessedly cool. Must be some kind of magical bag to keep it cool. He took another drink. He went back into the saddlebag and grabbed a package. Inside were small brown squares. He handed some to Michelle and took some for himself.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The food squares were a mixture of nuts and berries. He could taste what felt like raspberries and pecans with honey. It was a perfect snack for being out where they were. It seemed simple to make and carry with them. He took one last drink from his waterskin to help the food go down, and then he was ready. The break came to an end, and they were off once again. The lizards picked up their speed. It felt a little faster than before; it felt like something was wrong. Lassira turned to look behind them, shook his head. Yep, something was wrong. Pepe wasn’t sure if looking behind him was a good idea.

  The lizards were now moving even faster; they were trying to outrun something. He felt the wind pick up. He couldn’t help himself; he turned his head to look behind them. He should have just kept looking ahead. The “ignorance is bliss” saying came to mind at that point. If he hadn’t looked behind him, he wouldn’t have seen the dust storm they were racing. It was miles long in either direction, with dust that touched the few wisps of clouds he had seen.

  Why, why did this happen? He was sure this was one of those stupid things they threw at them on purpose just to build up the drama. Now he hated all three floors of this dungeon—hated them with a passion. He wasn’t going to give the nodes a five-star review on the dungeon, that was for sure. He wasn’t sure how fast they were moving, but they were able to stay ahead of the dust storm. But would they be able to outrun it? That was the important question, and he really hoped the answer was yes.

  An hour of running passed. He looked back to see what the storm looked like, and again, he wished he had just kept looking forward. It looked much closer, so the answer to the earlier question was that they might not make it. The wall of sand he saw looked like it was made of solid rock. He couldn’t see any of the sand dunes he had seen before. And what if there were sand sharks in that storm? Stop it, quit imagining the worst Pepe! While the sand dunes were depressing, the wall was super scary, and he’d take depressing over scary any day.

  Another hour passed, and the update on the sandstorm was not good. It was much closer, and that was bad—really bad. His wild guess was that the thing would reach them in an hour. His imagination, unfortunately, was good. And what he imagined shook him: the sand would strip the skin off his bones, and that just sounded painful—not something he thought he wanted to experience.

  Off in the distance in front of them stood a very large rock formation—something they could use for cover and protection against the storm. The lizards knew it was their only hope, and even though they were probably exhausted, they moved even faster. He could feel sand picking up behind them, and he didn’t want to look back and see how close it was. If he was feeling it, that meant it wouldn’t be long before it hit them. Their only hope was the rock formation in front of them. He wasn’t religious, but he started to pray at that moment: Please, God, let us make it.