"And so, we're on the road again." Tabby looked behind her at the road that led back to Saillune. Around her Valgaav, Lina, Gourry and Zelgadis did the same. It had not been long since they'd walked out of the gates of the city and set out on a path through the forest, heading eastwards toward the Desert of Destruction. Tabby already missed the comforts of the castle, which they had enjoyed for two days before leaving.

"Yes, we are," Zelgadis commented somewhat dryly. One could see he was rather impatient to get going. After hearing that Tabby had found some semblance of directions to the desert shrine, he had wanted to get going. Though he might never admit it, he was glad to be traveling, even if it meant that it was not for a cure for his chimera body. He was tired of looking like a stone freak. Ever since a curse had rendered him one-third golem, one-third demon, and one-third human, he had been searching for the counterspell.

"Something wrong, Zel?" Tabby inquired softly.

"Nothing at all, Tabby."

"If you say so."

There was a silence that hung almost tangibly in the air as the group walked on. They knew the road ahead was long and the desert would be blistering hot. However, the sunshine was merry that day and the wind blew mildly through the trees. The sweet scent of wildflowers permeated the air as it twirled through their hair. Tabby and Valgaav had gotten over the uncomfortable moments they had earlier and the two were still walking side by side.

Soon the kingdom of Saillune was disappearing at the top of a hill and the adventure was beginning.

"Desert of Destruction, here we come!"

* * *

A twig snapped. Hushed whispers could be heard. Tabby opened one eye and looked around as much as she could without moving. The fire that had been built had burned down to glowing embers that did not provide any light. The whispers soon died down, but Tabby could hear footsteps. She wished she could tell if anyone else was awake and could hear them. Suddenly though a pair of feet appeared right in front of her head. The shoes were unrecognizable. Tabby wondered if they belonged to a thief.

That thought was answered when the owner of the shoes bent down and tried to take her pack from her side.

"Hey!" she shouted, jumping up from under her blanket and casting a quick lighting spell.

Momentarily the assailant was blinded and he stumbled back holding on to his face. But then he lunged at her, unaware that her outburst had woken everyone else. At first she threw up her arms in defense but as he tackled her she blew him backward with a simple wind spell that was mostly harmless. Her cousin however was already ready with the more aggressive spell. Lina was chanting softly to herself and then suddenly she yelled, "Fireball!"

A great circle of flames encompassed the would-be thief and he screamed before running off. They could still hear him cursing as he left their immediate site. As she dusted off her hands, Lina laughed. "That'll teach him to come steal our things again!"

Tabby pursed her lips and looked down at her pack; a couple of things had fallen out of it. Among these things was the manuscript she'd found and one of the books from Amelia's library. She kneeled down and scooped them up into her bag.

"Tabby?" Worriedly, Lina squatted down beside the sorceress and put her hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I am. I just hate it when people try to steal my things. Almost wish I could've fireballed him before you did."

Chuckling, Lina patted Tabby's shoulder. "I'll let you have the next one for sure."

Tabby smiled and nodded before shoving the book back inside her pack. Then she looked around at everyone else; Lina had gone back to her pile of blankets on the other side of the fire and Gourry was rubbing his eyes sleepily. He was probably still wondering just what had happened. Looking around, Zelgadis made sure that things were back to normal and that there were no more thieves or bandits lurking near them.

"I guess we can go back to sleep now," Valgaav said quietly from the pallet of blankets beside Tabby. He turned to her and asked the same question Lina had. "You okay?"

"Of course, Val." She offered him a smile. "I'm fine, and I'll be fine."

"Good." He smiled back at her, warmly. "Now, let us get some more sleep. There's traveling to do in the morning."

~*~

It seemed as if they'd been traveling forever. The towns passed by in a slow blur and as they neared the desert the air grew dryer and hotter. Instead of the enormous amount of food they'd been carrying once, they now packed as many containers of water as they could. Tabby consulted the book she'd taken from Amelia's library often, hoping it would say how far into the desert the oasis was. To no avail, however, it simply stated the place existed and talked about the shrine there. Apparently a mysterious woman who always played a harp occupied this shrine. The book went on to say that she was once a emissary of the Water Dragon King and that he had bestowed upon her the responsibility to look after the Sword of Ruin when he discovered its existence. However that was all the information the book contained.

Tabby sighed as she snapped it shut and the path wound into another thick forest. "We're never going to get there," she muttered reaching for the canteen that swung at her side. The water fell like bliss across her chapped lips and into her parched throat. "And this heat is going to kill us even if we do find it."

"There's only a few more miles to the desert," Zelgadis commented. Shielding his pale blue eyes from the blistering hot sun, he looked up into the sky. It was clear and blue; not a cloud in sight. "I think we should be okay. As long as we still have plenty of water."

"Well, there's plenty of that."

So on they walked, only resting when their feet could no longer take it. Just as Zelgadis had said, the desert suddenly loomed before them. It was odd how the continent could just change so abruptly, from beautiful, lush forests to a great plain of sand. Tabby took her first step into it, planting her feet firmly in the fine sand grains. "It can't be long now," she whispered, her pinkish colored eyes gazing across the plateau of brown, "I can feel it."

Valgaav very gently laid his hand on her shoulder. "And soon you'll have what you came for." He grinned down at her and then playfully ruffled her hair. "You'll finally have that sword, Tabby."

With that Lina chimed in, "She better get it! After all the trouble we went through!"

* * *

The desert was utterly empty, devoid of all life whatsoever. Tabby wondered how anyone had ever stayed in it long enough to know the shrine was there. She wondered if they'd make it out with their lives intact. The heat was almost always unbearable, except at night when the temperatures fell below freezing and it seemed as if everyone needed their own personal fires to sleep by. Of course as soon as the sun rose into the sky, it was like an impenetrable field of torridity. Even the water wasn't quenching their thirst anymore.

Continuously Lina complained about the heat, about walking, about her cousin's stupid obsession with a stupid sword, and the fact that the water wasn't cold enough anymore. A few times, Zelgadis held his hand over her mouth, because he could see Tabby falter a bit whenever Lina began to say something about her.

"I'm sorry, guys. I never said you had to come along. I mean, I appreciate it, but you didn't have to." Tabby's eyes fell to the ground and she seemed to be trying to hold back tears.

However, Lina ignored this and began shouting again. Before she could get out any intelligible sentences though, Zelgadis had pinned her arms behind her back and Gourry was covering her mouth with his hand. She continued to rant, even though no one could tell what she was saying.

"Look, you didn't have to come with me, Lina!" Tabby suddenly shouted, stomping her foot into the sand. "You just said you would! Now you got yourself into this mess, not me!" And then she stormed off ahead of the group, leaving even Valgaav behind for the time being.

Not wanting to see his friend in such a rage, Valgaav left the other three behind to catch up with Tabby. She was nearly running then.

He saw it before she did; the dip in the sand, it must have been a hill, but whether it was a large one or a small one he could not tell. Just before Tabby lost her footing and slipped over the edge, he lunged for her. Too late, though. She was already tumbling down the hill, head over heels, screaming.