The journey out of the chasm was met with a fierce wind which howled over the sands and blew billions of particles over their bodies, tornados of brown grains whirled around in a hundred places, and Inta put himself in front of Entoma without giving it a second thought. His bug mask protected his skin, as did his enchanted clothing, but the tiny grains still found their way into his boots and rubbed seemingly everywhere.
The sun beat the world like a hammer, the heat creating hazy waves which seemed to make the world itself come alive, undulating in a serpentlike fashion in response to the rising temperature. A new respect came over Inta after the fifth hour of walking, a respect for the toughness of the armies of the Devorian beastmen and their army. 'To march over this blasted landscape with furry bodies must have been a tremendous feat of endurance…'
The fact that they lost ultimately, changed nothing in his mind. To even reach the place where they were to fight was in and of itself nothing short of a miracle. The nature of the peace became ever clearer in turn, 'The Devor considered this the natural limit of their empire. The mountains are too much trouble to cross, the desert too costly to cross… no wonder only Rargnan's Kingdom went west the way they did…' Inta reflected on these things and looked behind him.
Entoma seemed quite content, her legs easily pushed against the sand and her body seemed untroubled by either the heat or the endless blowing storm of sand. The hard carapace of her body was immune to irritation from the granules and her lower temperature meant that the heat was easily dismissed.
Ahead of them, 'Watson' as he'd been dubbed, skittered over the sand with rapidly moving legs, they moved so quickly that it was difficult to really follow them, either by the number of legs that were used in motion, or because they blended into the sand so well, or perhaps because he was simply that swift.
Or it was his natural environment, as fish swam through water and birds flew through air, the scorpionman raced over sandy dunes, indifferent to the temperature or the sandstorm or the wind, they followed hot behind him as he wove around the places where little tornados of sand arose and never slowed his pace for even a moment.
Entoma, for her part, looked admiringly at their guide, he was the picture of contentment, his pheromones were all serenity and peace, though his agitated urgency in motion was evident, there was nonetheless a steady calm to the air about him. It wasn't until they stopped atop a high dune and he leveled his claw at a distant settlement, a town with low walls and high towers, with a vast open field of blended sand and grass, that she got a chance to talk to him.
Entoma stood at his side and looked up at the scorpionman, "You're very calm about all this. Given that your civilization is on the line, I thought you'd be more worried."
"We are not prone to panic." Watson answered, his claws clicking together, "What must be done, we do. That is all. That is the way of web and stone, and our ancient code." He answered it with an easy, offhanded indifference, Entoma, however, picked up on the way his claws clicked, he was, in her estimation, pleased by her praise.
"It's different at home, they're very passionate. Less steady. Less controlled, many of them at least." Entoma answered, "I like it but… your home has a charm to it that I never expected."
The claws clicked a little louder and he leveled his oversized right claw toward the town. "We go that way. I will speak, you will do as you do. You are sure of your strength? Sure you are stronger than they?"
"Yes." Inta and Entoma said at once.
"Stone and web, we fought many times together after we once battled each other. Common enemies made for strong friendship. The beastmen, the Devor, they are your blood enemies?" He asked the question, his fixed and unblinking eyes looking down on the pair, his claws tense and still and his tail erect and as ready for use as a drawn sword.
"They tried to eat the child of our god. The same child who fought to make the world a place my god's other children could live in and be happy. Yes. They are mortal enemies. Their cities will be rubble and their pride will be like the grains of sand in the storm, blown away and scattered." Entoma went from looking at Watson, to looking at the town toward which they were headed. "They will be erased."
"Then it may be that our people can be friends with yours. Risk yourselves, and we will not forget." Watson said, but he offered nothing more before they ventured down the dunes.
The storm was less where they now stood, reduced to a mere hot breeze that pressed against their bodies and carried the dark cloth of Inta's cloak behind him, trying to push him back the way he came.
He leaned into the wind and walked ahead of Entoma, but behind Watson, and little by very little, the town grew larger and larger in front of them.
As they drew closer, they saw that there was no gate on the wall they faced, a feature that reminded Inta of most of the architecture of the Draconic Kingdom. In all the Draconic Kingdom, only one city had an eastward facing gate. The fear of the beastmen was such that it never occurred to anyone to put a gate in the direction of their enemies. 'It seems the Devor think the same way as the arachnid people of the chasms… interesting. Their gate does not face west. At least not here.' He scanned the horizon, traffic over the road beyond the town was almost nonexistent, but that was something he thought little of.
'The beastmen tend to be home bodies… they don't seem to travel much at all.' Inta felt a tingle at the back of his mind, somehow that information seemed like it could have a potential use, but it wasn't quite obvious, not yet at least.
Despite the lack of a gate, the wall and towers were clearly manned, and manned by creatures that could clearly cope with the harsh conditions of the local region.
Dark scaled, hunched creatures with maws half the length of a crocodile and thick dark scales, the guards were anakore, their sharp taloned hands hung limp at the sides of their gently swaying arms as they lumbered steadily back and forth in their positions, seemingly indifferent to the approach of the trio.
Neither Entoma nor Inta froze when the guards finally stopped to look down at them, nor did the pair freeze when they felt Watson initiate what seemed a friendly gesture.
But then he shouted up at the walls, "Beastmen! I have captured spies of the Sorcerous Empire who blasphemed your God-Emperor! By word of Web Mother and Chasm Father, I offer to trade them for supplies!" Then… the pair froze in dismay.