Jade and the others had circled around town as the sand lifted, reassuring those that had been trapped in their houses and checking on those that had been caught by the sand. There was no sign of the prince, only a front gate that had been cracked open a little. "There's footprints out here," Erik said, kneeling next to them. "Someone went out."

"Recently, you think?"

"Hard to tell, since there's no wind to account for right here. But if the gate had been open before, wouldn't someone have noticed?" Erik stood, letting out a sigh. "We haven't been able to find him anywhere else, and I think the size is right. Looks like the steps continue going that way, too."

Hendrik frowned. "Why would the prince have left the area? How would he have even done so?"

"Don't know. When we spoke to him, it didn't sound like he knew of any other way out of here, so why would he come to the front gate?" Jade crossed her arms. "I don't like this."

"Should we take a look outside, then?" Sylvando said. "I'm a bit worried about this prince. He seems a little impulsive."

"That's completely accurate," Jade said. "But should we leave the others?"

"They'll be guarded by Don Rodrigo," Sylvando said. "He'll definitely protect them. We can leave them in his hands."

Jade looked at him, but didn't say anything. She wasn't sure if Sylvando wanted to talk about it, and anyway, now wasn't really the time with the stupid prince missing. "Think you can follow him, Erik?"

"Probably. Depends on how windy it is outside. I haven't really tried to track anybody through sand before." He glanced over at Sylvando. "You gonna be okay? You're covered in sand."

"I know, darling, I know." Sylvando sighed. "But I don't really have time to change, do I? Let's go find ourselves a princey."

Jade nodded, motioning over one of the guards. Once she'd explained the situation, she joined Erik and the others, who were already outside the gate. "Good thing for us he wasn't real worried about covering his tracks," Erik said. "He's going this way."

"Do we know what's in this area of the desert?" Hendrik asked.

"The Celestial Sands," Sylvando replied. "It's mostly just a long stretch of desert inbetween rocks and ocean. There's a couple of tiny settlements out here, and usually a camp of academics around the ruins, but not really anything I would think a prince would be interested in."

"Ruins?" Jade echoed.

"Aye, a big circular stone thingie further north," Sylvando explained. "No one really knows why it was built or what it's supposed to be. So there's people that study it, but last I heard they hadn't figured out anything new."

Erik continued to lead them further north. "You sure he came this way?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, the footprints are still pretty clear," Erik said, pointing. "See?"

Sylvando looked ahead, squinting. "I think I see something ahead."

Jade saw it too-a human figure, struggling through the sands. She took the lead, spear out just in case, moving for the other human. At least, she hoped it was a human and not a humanlike monster. She didn't think any of them could be trusted not to attack after Zwaardsrust. But no, the wind whipped the cloak around, and she could see Faris's face. "Prince Faris!"

He turned at his name, his eyes lighting up as he saw her. "Ja-"

She shoved him in the chest with the butt of her spear. "What in the world do you think you're doing, this far out from Gallopolis?"

"I was following that monster, of course," he said with a nod. "Now that you're here, you can help me kill it, right?"

"By 'help', you mean we'll do the work. I know how you work." Jade sighed. "What monster are you talking about?"

"The sand monster, of course! The one trying to crush the city! What other one would matter right now?"

Hendrik frowned. "You mean you found the culprit who is attacking Gallopolis? Where is it?"

"It went this way, toward the ruins," Faris said, pointing. "Let's go get it right away!"

"Hold up." Jade grabbed the back of his cloak, yanking him to a halt. "How do you know this thing you've found is behind the sand?"

"Oh. Well, it told me."

Jade narrowed her eyes. Something wasn't quite adding up here. "Why would it tell you?"

"Well, because it wanted me to give it the Silver Orb," Faris explained. "It said if I did, it'd stop the attack on the city."

Jade didn't answer right away, if only because she didn't know what to say to something that stupid. "You gigantic fool," she said at last, thwacking him firmly on the head with her spear. "You gave it what it wanted? And you trusted it?"

"Well, not completely," Faris said, rubbing his head. "That's why I was following it, to see where it went. I couldn't keep up, but I'm certain it went to the ruins."

She resisted the urge to hit him on the head again. "Do you even realize what you've done? The Orbs can make those things stronger. We saw it in Zwaardsrust. That's why that sand broke through your mages' barrier and nearly crushed us all."

"What? But, but it said-"

"That's why you don't trust a monster that's attacking the city in the first place!" Jade snapped. "You nearly got us all killed."

"Well, what else was I supposed to do?!" Faris shouted back. "Our mages were already getting to exhaustion. If we didn't do something quickly... I had to do something!"

"And here I thought you were just ready to foist it onto us, like you do with everything else whenever we visit," Jade said. "Why couldn't you let us handle it like you do your riding and swordsmanship lessons?"

"This is different! This is my home we're talking about, not some stupid lessons that I'm not good at anyway!"

"Maybe if you'd actually done those lessons, you would have been able to fight that thing instead of making it more powerful!"

"Stop trying to make me be like you!" Faris yelled. "I just can't, okay?! I'll never be good with a sword or riding a horse, even though everyone expects me to. I know I can't beat that thing. But you want me to sit by and do nothing? Just because I'm weak and useless doesn't mean I don't want to save my home!"

She wanted to hit him again, but Sylvando's hand touched her shoulder. "That's enough, Jade." He walked to Faris, offering him a hand up. "I get it, Prince Faris. You were trying to do what you could do, even if it's not a lot. And you did help. Now we know where to look."

"What are you doing, Sylvando? Because of him, Junichi and the others are-"

"They'll be fine. Anyway, we can solve this problem ourselves," Sylvando said. "If we go kill this beastie ourselves, then there's nothing to worry about, right? And thanks to Faris, we know where to look." He took the other man's hand, pulling him to his feet.

"If he'd just-"

"Jade." Sylvando met her eyes squarely, without a trace of his usual humor. "I think you and I will have to agree to disagree on this matter. We have two very different outlooks on things, I think. You think that any problem can be solved if you're strong enough to overcome it, and for some people that's true. But people are good at different things. If a fish is on land, you can't just ask it to walk back to the sea." Sylvando put a hand on Faris's head. "But I think that people are only at their strongest when they're doing the things they're good at, not the things others force them into. People have to be true to themselves first."

"Sylvando..." Looking at Faris, Sylvando's eyes held a softness that reminded her of Junichi. Was he thinking of Don Rodrigo when he said that? "All right. I won't yell at him anymore."

"Thank you, darling." He was all smiles again. "But think about it a little, will you? Just consider it a bit of life learning from your big brother."

"Oh, please. Hendrik is my big brother. I doubt you're that much older than me."

"Mm, you say that, but you're not much older than Junichi, are you?"

"Hey, I'm twenty-two."

Sylvando let out a little 'pfft'. "Honey, I just celebrated my thirty-first birthday not long before we met. I am definitely your big brother."

She gaped. "Wait a minute, you're..."

"...in your thirties?" Erik added, stunned.

Sylvando laughed at that. "Get yourselves a good skincare routine, darlings. It does wonders for hiding your age." He turned back to Faris. "All right, Prince Faris, can you lead the way to these ruins?"

He nodded, turning and stumbling in the sand. "It's this way."

"What should our plan of attack be?" Hendrik said as they followed. "There's only four of us, and none of us are mages."

"Five of us," Sylvando corrected. "I know a few magic tricks, but mine's nothing compared to the twins or Rab. Still, if anyone gets hurt, I think I can patch them up at least."

"I brought a little medicine," Faris said hurriedly. "And some other items I thought might help."

"Oh? Let's see it, honey."

Faris dug around in his bag. "Let's see, I found a few tanglewebs in the armory... a couple of rockbomb shards... and a chimaera wing in case I needed to get away quickly. Is... this helpful?"

"It might be, if we can put together a plan." Sylvando folded his arms as he walked.

"I think our first priority should be getting the Orb back," Jade said. "That'll probably weaken it a lot. It might even collapse like the one in Zwaardsrust did."

"If it is anything like the monsters in Zwaardsrust and Heliodor, its body will likely consist of sand," Hendrik said. "That will make it difficult to locate the Orb."

"And all our mages are in Gallopolis to help with the barrier," Jade said. "We're not going to be able to do much damage to this thing."

"Let's see if we can figure out something when we get closer," Erik suggested. "There might be something there that we can use."

"We're close now," Faris said, pointing. "See the circle of stones there? There it is."

Jade looked up. Highlighted by the evening sun, she could see a squared head and shoulders rising above the circle of stones. Erik sighed. "Why do they always have to be big?"

"Anything coming to you now?" Jade asked.

"Not really. We could use the stones there for some height to get at its head, but I doubt we're going to lure it to the oasis."

Hendrik put a hand to his chin. "Sylvando, didn't you say this desert was ringed by mountains and ocean? What's beyond that ring?"

"Cliffs, I believe. Overlooking the ocean." He caught Hendrik's eye and grinned. "You're thinking we should give it a little push?"

"Not before we've got the Orb back," Jade said. "Which puts us back at that problem. I don't suppose anyone brought a dowsing rod?"

"Well, all of you have pretty long weapons," Erik said. "Maybe we can just poke at it? I can try and draw its attention, since if I send a boomerang too deep into that thing, I'm not getting it back."

She sighed. "I don't think we have much of a choice. Well, let's go give it a poke, I guess. Faris, you stay under cover."

"Ah, good luck?" he said as they moved to the circle.

Erik hopped up on one of the lower stones, then vaulted up onto the top of a taller one. "Hey, sandman!" Erik yelled, clipping its head with a boomerang. "You wanna pick on that town, you'll have to deal with me!"

It wasn't exactly a well-orated speech, but Jade doubted the monster was really a good judge. It didn't speak as all as it turned slowly toward Erik, reaching out a massive hand toward him. Jade ran for its feet, Hendrik behind her, Sylvando taking to a shorter pillar to lash at the thing. Each hit the three of them scored revealed nothing but sand, blows that the monster completely tuned out as it tried to hit Erik again.

"It looks like a golem," Faris said from behind one of the pillars.

"Faris!" Jade scowled at him. "I said to get under cover!"

"Um, Jade," he cowered, but kept his position. "I think I might know where the Orb might be."

"What?" She turned to look at him. "How?"

"Well, uh, it's a golem," Faris explained. "You know, like the storybooks? They're always supposed to keep their source of power in their foreheads."

Jade gave him a look. "I don't think storybooks are going to help us out here."

Sylvando landed next to Faris. "You said it's in the forehead?"

"I-I think so."

"Give me your rockbomb shards," Sylvando said. "We'll find out."

Faris dug them out of his bag, handing them over. "Erik!" Sylvando called as he hopped up onto a lower pillar again. "I'm going to hit its head, watch and see if you see the Orb!" With that, he threw the shard with force, nailing it right between the eyes.

From her position on the ground, Jade couldn't see anything around the explosion, but then she heard Erik's voice: "I think I saw it! There's something there!"

Sylvando climbed back up. "Let's see if we can blow that thing's head off," Sylvando called over to Erik as he dodged another blow from the golem, who had apparently decided Erik was the cause of all this. He lobbed a shard to Erik, who caught it. "On three! One, two... three!"

Both shards hit each side of its head at once, blowing it apart. Something went shooting out of the explosion, landing on the stones next to the monster with a tink. The Silver Orb now rested on the ground near the golem, opposite Jade, and that it noticed, reaching down for it. "Oh, no you don't!" Jade snapped, dashing for it. Her spear reached it just before the golem did, knocking it out of its reach.

It skittered away, and Hendrik caught it. "Prince Faris!" he shouted. "Catch!" And he hurled it toward the prince. The force of the throw knocked Faris off his feet, sending him tumbling backwards through the sand. "Now use the chimaera wing, hurry!"

Faris fumbled in his bag, yelping as the golem started to reach for him. He found it and tossed it just in time, vanishing as the golem's fingers closed. It stomped its feet in anger, turning to glare at Erik. "I think it's mad at me in particular," he commented.

"Good," Jade said. "Get it to follow you out of the circle."

He half jumped, half slid down the pillar, running for the cliff's edge. "Get it as close as you can!" Jade said. "Hendrik, think you can take out one of its legs?"

"Yes."

Jade watched as the golem approached the edge of the cliff, Erik backed right up to it. "Let's go for the left. Sylvando, think you can give him a little pull?"

"You got it, honey!" Sylvando ran for it as it tried to slam a fist down on Erik. Erik rolled between its legs neatly. hendrick moved, sending his sword cleanly through its leg. One more push, and it would go down.

Jade ran for the golem jumping into the air, landing on its back with a kick. She felt it teeter, start to fall... and then she felt her foot sink into the sands. She tried to use her other foot for leverage, but it sank in like quicksand, dragging her down as it teetered over the edge.

"Jade!" Sylvando's whip caught her wrist. She grabbed onto it with both hands, letting gravity separate the golem from her feet, one boot remaining in its body as it fell. She swung back toward the cliff, hitting with her single booted foot, watching as it landed in the ocean, dissolving upon impact. "Just hold on, honey, we'll get you back up here!"

She saw Hendrik's hands, pulling the whip up foot by foot, dragging her back up by sheer force. As she got close, she saw Erik and Sylvando with their hands on the end of the whip, anchoring it. Hendrik pulled up the last bit of whip, pulling her onto the desert sands, "Are you all right, Princess?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks to all of you. Lost a boot, though."

Hendrik put a hand on her shoulder, and she could tell by the weight she was in trouble. "Princess. That was completely an unacceptable risk for you to take. You are not to act in such a reckless manner again, or I shall have you locked in the hold of the Salty Stallion until the end of this journey."

"It's fine, Hendrik. I knew you wouldn't let me get hurt. And besides, this whole journey is risky, right?"

"There is risk when fighting a monster which can cause harm, and then there is risk by doing something foolhardy. I will not tolerate a fool in battle."

Jade looked to Sylvando for help. "Don't worry, Jade," he said cheerily. "I'll make sure you're locked up in a comfortable room."

She tried once more, looking to Erik. "Don't lock her in the hold," he said. "Just tell Junichi what she tried to do."

"You're all against me," she grumbled, putting her spear up. She couldn't even stomp a foot in the still-hot sands. "Fine, I'll be more careful, all right? Let's get back to Gallopolis and make sure everyone else is okay."

"Are you going to be okay without your boot?" Erik asked.

"You can ride on my shoulder if you wish, Princess," Hendrik said.

She made a face. This was her punishment for being reckless, she thought. "I'll just walk, thanks."