Okay, I'll let you all decide my court date and method of execution for my crimes. I am terribly sorry for the long delay on this one and there were several reasons for it this time. One: I bought the new Doom, which I have been waiting on for like twelve years to come out after I played the third one in seventh grade. Second: I started a new writing project. It has nothing to do with Humility once so ever and may not actually ever see the light of day if I'm not lucky enough. Third: I did need a bit of break. I treat writing this as a bit of a second job and I needed a little break to get my gears greased back up. Lastly; while performing some weekly upkeep on my lab-top, 'Somebody' my have may have accidentally deleted their writing software; and that someone, not naming any names here, may have had to wait to get a new one because a microsoft subscription costs like $70 and I had some bills and payments to keep up with before I could get a new one. So I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I promise the next chapter will have some more action. Enjoy :)

Kormac knew his comrades well enough now to notice a sort of tension between Li-Ming and Lyndon. They haven't spoken to each other and Li-Ming had not once made eye contact with the man since they left the city. She has been quiet for the entire time they've been gone and Kormac could only wonder what Lyndon did to upset her. It was unmistakably his fault; any logical person could see that. Kormac couldn't remember a time where he made her mad and he doubted that Leah or Tyrael or anyone else were responsible before they left. Kormac didn't ask questions because he was sure that he wouldn't get an answer from either of them if he asked or Lyndon might give some beat-around-the-bush answer at best. At this point, he had come to expect that from them and he expected that this would happen many more times before their time together was finished.

The sun beat on his skin and he was glad that he decided to forgo his armor for now. He would have been dreading ever bringing the damned things with him. If he thought the heat was bad now, it would have been much worse on his armor. Lyndon wasn't wearing his usual outfit either. His trench coat sat behind him on his camel and like Kormac, his shirt was stained and drenched in sweat. Lyndon rolled his sleeves up and poured water down the back of his head then took a drink to keep himself regular for now. He tried to wipe some sweat from his face but it was a fool's errand. He rubbed to hard and hurt himself, his eye was still bandaged and rubbing it made it hurt more. Li-Ming was the only one of them who was still dressed in their usual equipment. Having grown up in these deserts she must have known what the sun felt like on the worst of days and it probably didn't bother her as much as it did the guys.

Not that it would have mattered anyway.

It was faint, but the guys could see a faint mist wisp around her and they could feel the cool breeze left by her spell. Kormac smiled. It must have been a good life for Li-Ming; being able to use her magic in way so as to keep herself comfortable in the heat while everyone else felt miserable and mustered it as best they could. Lyndon wished he was able to that right now. He was sure that he would be sunburnt by the end of the day and he was sweating so much his shirt clung to his body and it was grinding on his nerves. He kept grabbing the bottom of it and tried to stretch it out so that it wouldn't stick to his chest but he wouldn't be so lucky. Life was so miserable! He almost missed camp. It was still hot no matter where they went, but at least at camp there was some comfort to be had and some better shade than what this dry canyon provided.

Lyndon had taken a quick look at the maps the Asheara had given them and the place they labeled as the Sundered Canyon – where they were at – was the last road until they reached the vast, open, scorching, smoldering, spiteful, contemptuous, sands that made traveling during the day an arduous task. Like many maps there were annotations conveniently written along each destination that marked where dangers were known to hide and were spotted. The Lacuni really seemed to like these canyons by what the map indicated. It informed that there were many tunnels within the canyon walls that Lacuni used to travel to and from when they hunted and where they made their homes. Lyndon shared this information with the other two and Kormac nodded and Li-Ming; well Li-Ming didn't give any indication that she was listening and it wasn't like she needed too. She knew these deserts better than they did and so she most likely knew what dangers were out here.

When Li-Ming was younger and still under the guidance of Isendra, they had traveled through the Sundered Canyon once and they had faced Lacuni. Hungry, starved, and desperate Lacuni. Before that day, Li-Ming was lead to believe that the Lacuni were peaceful creatures, from what she had read and that was the first time that she could remember that she felt that something may have been going wrong with Caldeum. Naturally, Valthek didn't listen to her and dismissed her claim without a second thought and Isendra was still to obedient to go against his word at the time. Li-Ming was acutely aware of what the Lacuni were capable of and they were no push overs either. The males were the worst. She had only faced one and only one in her entire life but, it displayed a great amount of strength, stamina and agility for a creature of its size.

She was more prepared for it now. No Lacuni; male or female; was going to get the jump on them as long as she was around. She was more powerful now then back when she was a child and would make very quick work of any panther that dared wear its ugly snout at them. That and whoever was ahead of them. Li-Ming could feel a strange and mysterious magic for a little while now. Not her own and not Maghda's. This one was old, ancient and long forgotten, but it was warm. Warm as in the since that it was inviting and Li-Ming followed it like she was following the smell of sweets. Whoever beheld this magic was sitting still and it would not be long before they reached who, or whatever this magic was coming from.

"I think you two should know that there is something ahead of us. Something that has arcane power."

"Friend or foe?" Kormac asked.

"I'm certain it is friendly, but I also since that it grows weary." The magic though more powerful than most mages she has ever met was growing weaker and weaker. It wasn't at a rapid rate, but like water slowly trickling from a bucket until the bucket runs dry. The magic that Li-Ming felt wasn't dry yet but given a few more days and it certainly would be. Li-Ming was proud to have never had that problem because whereas this old magic was akin to a pool, Li-Ming's was like a vast lake. She didn't think it would be possible for Li-Ming to use of all of her arcane power anyway. She would probably kill herself with vast amounts of arcane damage for using for too long if she tried. "We're getting closer. We should stop to investigate when we get to it."

"If you say so." Kormac said.

Xxxxx

For weeks she has been searching these canyons for the one that The Prophet had told her about and for weeks she turned up no results. She didn't understand, did The Prophet make a mistake? No! Of course he didn't. The Prophet told her that this was where she would find the one she needed to find and it was here she was going to stay, even with her power reigning. She had been using her arcane energy to keep herself healthy. She had not had a single drop of water or anything to eat since she had awoken and it was her power that was keeping her alive. She was placing her faith that the one she was looking for would turn up otherwise she wouldn't have long until her power finally gave way and the desert would claim her life.

She casted away all doubt because the Prophet would never steer her or her sisters wrong and she kept forgetting about how she had felt that strong, powerful magic the other day. She remained confident that it was the magic of the one she was looking for. With her excitement and anticipation of finally meeting this person it kept slipping her mind. It wouldn't be long now until she found the one she was sent to this time to find and as she remembered the powerful magic she felt, she believed it was only a matter of time and she hoped that after she found them that she could begin a search for her sisters.

Her legs hurt and she found a nice spot of shade to sit under by the canyon wall where she could rest. Not long after she sat down did she hear more people coming from the canyon. She heard what sounded like laughter coming from two men and she couldn't decide if she should run and try to find a place to hide or stay and see who they were. Before she could come up with her decision she saw three people, two men and woman, riding on camel back turn the corner to where she was and the woman was looking straight at her as if she was expecting to see her there and it made her feel exposed.

She relaxed when she became acutely aware that these people were not dangerous. Not, to her anyway. The Prophet had taught her how to tell these things apart by natural observation. The big man was a gentle giant at heart. She could see on his face. She saw his weapon – a masterfully constructed battle ax- and saw that he was a warrior as well. The man he was talking to was a different story. A skinnier man, with slicked back hair and a mustache, she couldn't tell much about it him, there must have been something that he kept hidden away, but she saw he was an archer or ranged combatant of some sort.

The girl however stood out more than the others. She had an exotic look to her. Her outfit was very much like the style that she has come to know was custom in these lands but she didn't look like the rest. Her skin was of a lighter completion than the natives but still slightly tanner than normal, and her hair was way longer than it should have been in these deserts. The purple coloring of her outfit was very much like her own. It was a symbol of the arcane to reference its mystery but the strange woman was more than that, she was a warrior herself. Her black and white leather armor she was wearing beneath her jacket, along with her beautifully made sword indicated all of that.

As they got closer the girl soon had her answer. There was a magic signature coming from the woman. It was weak because the spell she was using wasn't all that powerful and any mage could easily use it without any real thought or effort.

The girl pondered for just a second and she suspected that this may have been the one that she was sent here to find. She really hoped she was. She had spent weeks looking for them and it would be nice to finally make some progress in her search and her charges set upon her by The Prophet.

"Take heed, travelers. Cultists guard these desert roads, and they will slay any who pass." The blonde warned.

Li-Ming looked back at the guys and then back at the girl and said, "They are welcome to try. I am here to kill them, and their leader."

She may just be the one. "Then allow me to come with you. You should not go alone." She had her reasons for needing to go with them. It wasn't just to find out if this girl was the one she has been looking for, but since she's been searching the deserts she could feel the cultists use their evil and twisted magic to warp the desert in a blanket of illusions. Anyone without the ability to see past then would surely meet an agonizing end in the deserts whether because of the lies of the illusions that would mislead them or because of the dangerous monsters that hunted these lands.

Kormac was blind sighted by the young blonde girl's beauty. He felt ashamed of himself because she was so much younger than he, but for some reason he simply couldn't take his eyes off of her. Her blonde, golden hair like the sun, her gorgeously blue eyes and her white pale skin that remained undamaged by the sun. He didn't know how she managed to accomplish that because the girl was wearing only a purple top the covered only what was necessary leaving her stomach, shoulders and the small of her back exposed to the suns brutal assault.

"I'm sorry, but why should we trust you. How do we know that you aren't working for Maghda, mage?" Li-Ming was testing the girl. She could feel her arcane energy and it was powerful. More powerful than some of the more adept mages at the Yshari Sanctum but not even close to Isedra's or Valthek's power or her own.

The girl tapped the ground twice with the bottom of her staff and accepted Li-Ming's challenge. "Because it is you I am looking for, wizard." Li-Ming was marked impressed. She smiled and leaned forward on her camel as she listened to the girl's words. "I can feel your frost spell's energy. It is weak which is why I couldn't feel it before you approached but it has the same signature as the magic I felt yesterday. You are very powerful and only a wizard is capable of that kind of power." She could only read magic as it was being used, unlike Li-Ming who could feel it in all of its forms.

Li-Ming got down from her camel and walked towards the girl. She rested her hands behind her back and circled around her. "Very good, but that still doesn't give us reason to trust you. All that you have demonstrated is that you have talent in the arcane, but it doesn't say anything of your objectives."

"Very well, if it is my true tail you desire than I shall share it with you." She took a breath. "My name is Eirena. I am an enchantress. I learned the ways of magic fifteen hundred years ago. My sisters and I pledged our services to a man of great power. We called him the Prophet. He trained us and placed us in a magical slumber to awaken in the era, I am to prevent the Lords of Hell from invading. Just as you are – Li-Ming." She uttered the name with some hesitation. She was guessing that this girl was the one that The Prophet had told her about, but everything about this girl matched everything that The Prophet had told her.

Li-Ming looked back at the guys and they were shocked as much as she was surprised. She turned back to Eirena and said, "How is it you know my name when I never shared it with you?"

"The Prophet told it to my sisters and I before he put us to sleep. We were told to find you and help you in destroying Belial and Azmodan." There was more that the Prophet had told her but it was vague and Eirena took at as little more than emphasis on what the importance of her mission was. She remembered like it was yesterday when the Prophet pulled her aside and told her that this wizard will one day, after a terrible battle, be faced with the possibility of dying and it will be up to her to save her. How and when she was supposed to know what that meant, the prophet never told her. He left it at that and she didn't question or push him for answers.

"You're serious aren't you?" Li-Ming asked and Eirena nodded. "Hmmm…I read about a stasis spell once but I never tried it."

"Li-Ming, let her come with us. I think she could prove very helpful to us." Kormac insisted.

Lyndon smiled and whispered, "A little eager to have her come along with us aren't you?" Kormac just waved his hand in front of Lyndon and didn't say anything back. Lyndon could see the way the Templar was looking at the girl. It was the same way that he stared at every woman. With want. Although he doubted that Kormac would have the nerve to say something to her.

"I have already decided that she will, Kormac." Li-Ming responded.

Eirena beamed with a bright smile. She stood on her tippy toes and clasped her hands together under her chin. "Thank you so much, Li-Ming! I promise you I will not let you down! I have been trained for everything we are about to encounter together!"

"Thank nothing of it. It's just going to be nice to have another mage around."

"Thank you for your kind words."

Kormac dismounted his camel and walked towards Li-Ming and the young blonde. His feet moved almost automatically like he had now control. It was as if this girl had cast some sort of spell on him and if that was the case he was not opposed. He was drawn to her and by her beauty. Her pale skin, her soft features, her golden, sunshine hair. He was never a believer in what some called love at first sight; he didn't think that such a thing existed because he was adverse in thinking that someone could fall in love without a reason, but now he wasn't so sure.

The young girl; Eirena; he heard herself call, stared up at him as he approached and he forgot how to breath for a moment. Her eyes, her brilliantly blue eyes made him feel so light that he thought he was going to fall over. That or the heat was getting to him and he was really just dehydrated, but would fainting really be so bad right now? In front of Li-Ming and Lyndon, the latter of whom being the kind of person who would never let him live it down; yes, it would. It would be a very bad thing right now.

He wiped his sweaty hand against his pants and held it out to girl that called herself Eirena and said, "I'm Kormac." Eirena giggled and he felt his heart flutter but it also made him feel self-cautious because he didn't know if she was laughing at him or laughing because of something else. He prayed to God that it was something else.

"Eirena." She replied, taking his hand. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kormac. You needn't be so nervous. I am aware that mages aren't held in the highest esteem but I promise am no threat to you."

Oh good! That was what she was giggling at. She thought he was nervous, and he was. But, that still did not help him feel reassured. At least he was able to gather that when it came to those who discriminated against magic that she was able to take it better than Li-Ming was able to.

"Oh, yes! Because, that is why The Templar is nervous. It would be foolish to think that it was because of something else." Lyndon could see what was happening as clear as day. He's never been in Kormac's unfortunate position because Lyndon had never had problems talking with women before but he knew what it looked like. Surprisingly, under all the blur of boos that he was drinking he could still remember his first time with a woman. He was sloppy at first, but who isn't their first times but after a little bit of charm and outrageous lies he was in her bed before the night was done. He had his brother once again to thank for teaching him the skills needed to talk to women. Kormac looked as if he didn't know what the word – charm – meant.

"Please excuse him." Kormac said. "That over there is Lyndon. If you feel the need to ignore him do not feel bad about it. Usually it is called for in his case." Kormac was not so sorry for his poor execution of the acquaintance of his colleague. He didn't want this girl to be caught alone with him. She had some innocents to her that Kormac felt that Lyndon would try to take advantage of. He understood that Lyndon wasn't without values by now, but he was not sure of where he would dry the line or not. Kormac wasn't going to take any chances.

"I'm pleased to make all of your acquaintances." Eriena said with a smile.

"Eirena?" Li-Ming spoke. "When was it the last time you have eaten?"

"Oh, I have not eaten a bite since I have awoken in this time. I have spent the last few weeks in the dessert trying to find you and I have not given too much thought about food or water."

"We have plenty to share!" Kormac said spontaneously. "We have enough food and water with us to last us until we reach the Khasim Outpost. That is where we are heading now." He looked at Li-Ming and she seemed indifferent. "I will share my portions so that we may make it last and none of us will go hungry."

"No." Li-Ming said. "You two will keep your portions and I will share." Li-Ming was accustomed to eating very little. Missing or skipping meals was a habit with her and so out of the three of them she was more equipped to handle it. Lyndon would only share if there was no other option and Kormac enjoyed having a full belly. This way it was more convenient. "Now then, Eirena do you have a horse or camel?" She shook her head. "I see; you may share mine for now. I hope you do not mind."

"Not at all." The hopped onto Li-Ming's camel and went forward. "We must be cautious as we continue through this canyon. Vicious cat like creatures are hunting throughout and just earlier today I spotted two people. Neither of which I knew but they were powerful and strong."

"Yes, The Lacuni. These lands are their homes. And what of these strangers you mentioned?" Li-Ming asked.

"I do not know who they were. But they were both great warriors. I saw them single handedly defeat four of the Lacuni with barely any armaments. I was watching them from atop the canyon. One of them must have seen me because one of them through a Lacuni spear and it pierced through the rock and stuck out form the ground. It almost hit me. I'm just glad that it did not."

"Hmmm... that doesn't exactly mean that they are hostile." Kormac chimed. "From the top of the canyon they must have mistaken you for one if the Lacuni or a cultist."

"That is possible I suppose, but we must be careful regardless. I would not want to lose any of you after I have spent weeks in the dessert to find you."

Li-Ming chuckled.

"You have nothing to worry about." She said. "My power and fate will not allow for any one of us to come into harm's embrace."

You sound so certain!" Eirena said.

"Believe us! That never changes." Lyndon spoke this time. "Our Li-Ming here has a bit of an ego that you would not be able to squeeze through a door if It were a tangible thing."

Kormac snickered and said, "Like you're one to talk. You're so full of yourself when it comes to women that I'm sure you would try your hand at a married aristocrat."

Lyndon coughed.

"You haven't!"

"My skills are vast and my conquests are many, old boy."

"Right," Li-Ming spoke. "Of you two are done it would be best if we stayed as quiet as possible. The lacuni surround us and I would hate for one of you to be carried off into one of their tunnels. It would be a mess trying to find you."

"She's right. Vigilance is key and there are more than Lacuni that stalk these canyons." Eirena said.

So has anyone watched Zootopia? Because that movie is all sorts of awesome that it deserves a fucking medal for it. And Kden, I am sorry to get back to you so late about this but I do not have a set schedule for updates because I'm not consistent enough to stick to one. I have tried; I think two or three times; and it just doesn't work for me,. BUt I normally update on a bi-weekly basis when something doesn't keep me distracted for longer periods of time.

Again I am sorry for the wait and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. PEACE!