A/N: Big thanks to Aevari, Aliniel, and Taee for proofreading this chapter. Hi! Yes, I'm still here. Yes I'm still working on this story. Just been a busy past couple of months what with the work and the holidays. Things have stabilized now and you should see a few more updates from me. I also have another long project in mind that i may start sometime soon so look forward to that!
Time was both a blur and a crawl. Each opponent that fell was quickly forgotten, yet each engagement seemed to last for minutes at a time. Combat was all that mattered. From the moment the Hamelians set foot outside Gerard's estate, they were fighting. A pile of bodies, both harpy and human lay at the gates as one after another, any attempt to approach the mansion grounds was met with swift and merciful death. At least for Zudrich.
How much time had passed for the warrior? Minutes? Hours? It had only been so long since his first official kill, but the body count that followed quickly skyrocketed as more and more corrupted victims were drawn to the sounds of battle.
"Quickly, I said!" Gerard's voice was just barely audible over the cries of battle, "Get the engine running! We leave as soon as we can!"
"Gerard!" Zudrich's form was barely visible through the storm wrestling with another harpy. The Hamelian strong-armed the creature into the ground and, with both winged arms in either hand, pulled. A grotesque snap could be heard followed by a pain induced shriek from the beast-woman.
"Are preparations complete, yet?" Zudrich yelled over the screeching.
"Almost. I just have to secure the estate and we'll be ready to move… Where is King Seiker?"
"He's pushed further into the square. He'll be back any moment-"
As if on cue, Chung was sent flying backwards, his armor scraping against the stone streets before crashing right through an abandoned fruit stand and into the mud-brick walls of a destroyed house. The force of the collision caused the wall to collapse in a pile of dust and rubble.
He clawed his way out of the debris, coughing up sand as he pulled himself out of the wreck. The king focused his attention to a figure shrouded by the thick sandstorm. To think that, even though he had the jump on her, she was able to quickly turn the tables and knock him clear out of her visual range. She was faster and much stronger than he remembered.
"Chung!" Zudrich called as his guardian appeared beyond the broken wall, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine!" the king responded through gritted teeth as he rose out of the pile. He quickly glanced over himself, looking for any sign of visible injury. The armor held. The blow he received to his chest would have surely shattered his rib cage. The El flowing from his father's guardian stone not only prevented the injury but reinforced the strength of his new Freiturnier as well.
Relieved that he was largely unscathed, the king turned his attention back to his target. The spear the figure bore twirled over her head before she pounded the blunt end against the stage, she stood on with an audible thunk. "You are not to interfere, Chung," the figure shouted over the rattling waves of sand. She spoke in a distinct foreign accent, "I do not wish to harm you."
"Like hell I'd let you!" Zudrich growled, shifting into a siege stance, "You'll have to go through me if you so much as think of fighting him!"
A heavy hand fell on Zudrich's shoulder as Chung climbed out of the destroyed house.
"Stay out of this, Zuzu."
"But… your highness," the fury guardian protested, "I've sworn to protect you. I won't leave your side especially when facing an enemy of Hamel."
"Stay out of this," Chung repeated, his voice carrying a bitter, almost venomous tone. Zudrich turned to his king and saw something he had never seen in his cyan eyes before. It was more than anger; more than an adrenaline induced combat high. This was hatred. Hatred in its purest form.
"Your highness…?"
The El essence that trickled from the stone quickly began to flow outward, surrounding the king's entire body with magical flame. It had been almost a year since he had to awaken his inner fire and to him, the sensation felt different, almost foreign. He stared at the palm of his hand as the blue aura that surrounded him burned through his magical energy like a hungry flame. The El was wild, unwieldy. Like a pot ready to boil over, it took all of his mental will to try to keep this power in check. If he were to fight in this state he only had a limited time before his El reserves would be used up.
A flash of light caught Zudrich's attention and he turned just in time to see the shadow of Gerard's estate vanish before his very eyes. Normally this would be cause for alarm but he quickly remembered that the archmage said he needed to secure the estate. The preparations were complete.
"My king, the archmage should be ready, we must retreat for now."
"I'll only be a moment," Chung said, clenching his open palm as he set his sights on the woman in the distance.
The king leapt into action. Before his guardian even realized it, Chung had already closed the distance with his adversary. His speed was beyond that of any normal Hamelian. The strike that followed connected with enough force to briefly cause the air around the two to crackle with energy. In that brief, snapshot moment of destroyer crashing against spear, the king's cyan eyes saw the face of his enemy for the first time in a long time. She had long black hair, a contrastingly white fox hairpin that held it in a tight bun, unblemished skin, and glowing orange eyes. An old friend-a recent enemy.
Ara returned his gaze, though with nowhere near as much hatred for her opponent. There was something else in those focused eyes. It felt like… pity. Was she mocking him? Were his attempts to avenge Aisha's death that trivial of a matter? Had she forgotten who it was that tried her hardest to include this traitor into their group? Had she forgotten who it was that cared enough to teach her proper Elrian common?
He still remembered that moment like it was branded into his memories. He remembered that fatal strike; the way Aisha desperately clung to life after Ara and Ran retreated. He remembered doing his best to stop the bleeding... He remembered how her heart stopped beating.
The guardian stone flashed a bright blue as he used the surge of fury to fuel his follow up strike. This was the strength he needed. As long as he kept her on the defensive, he knew he would quickly overpower her. He kicked her, creating space before pulling the trigger, sending his cannon on a rapid loop.
The bladed end of his weapon was masterfully deflected. It was forced to travel along the length of the spear as Ara spun her weapon up and over her head. She guided the trajectory, sending his momentum into a screeching halt as she planted the cannon into the ground. She returned fire, cartwheeling over the grounded cannon and turning the inertia of her spin onto the spear. The weapon was brought down on the king. Chung moved, slipping his head out of the way just in time as the blunt end of the spear slammed downward onto his shoulder plate with a definitive echoing crack.
She didn't strike him with the bladed end. Was this a game to her? Was she trying to make a fool out of him?
The king would have none of it. He surged forward, along the spear, slamming his forehead against the woman's face and causing her to reel back. Swinging the cannon back around he cleaved in a wide horizontal arc, forcing Ara to take to the air, vaulting off of him and leaping off onto a rooftop of a nearby house.
The traitor was trying to make a run for it. Not wanting to give her the chance to get away a second time, Chung pursued, scaling the two-story building with a single bound.
"Chung!" Zudrich called, quickly losing sight of his king in the thick storm.
"Zudrich, we're ready," a voice caught the guardian's attention and he turned to see Gerard all packed and prepared to leave. The machine he sat upon was something akin to a bicycle but much larger; definitely larger than a riding bird. This was something Zudrich had never seen before.
"What in the Lady's name is this machine?" the guardian asked, afraid to even touch it. With a twist of the handle, the archmage revved the engine to and it took the guardian a moment to realize it sat on two wide, independent, treads specifically designed to traverse over sand.
"A dunerunner," Gerard explained with a pat on the vehicle's engine, "Never seen one? I suppose there'd be little use for them in the mountainous regions of Senace. Come. You may join my family in the trailer."
Attached to the back of the bike was a medium-sized steel wagon complete with sand treads and a white tarp bonnet. Nerin, Edwin, and Anduran were safely on board along with bags and boxes of supplies for the trip.
"Where is his majesty?"
"He's not back yet. He took off after some strange woman! Can you please wait while I find him?"
"We can't wait much longer. The village is ripping itself to shreds and I have a family to protect."
"Then leave!"
"Not without you to protect us. I've lost all my guardsmen during my preparations… you need to be there to protect us."
"My priorities are with my country. And right now my leader is out there while you're telling me to just leave him behind. I am not going anywhere without him. So you either leave on your own or you help me find him!"
The guardian stared daggers into the archmage and it only took Gerard a moment before he backed down before the Hamelian. He glanced back at the wagon behind him and saw his family staring back.
"This is suicide, you know that?" Gerard growled.
"So you'll help?"
Gerard didn't answer but instead repositioned himself where he sat. He straightened his posture and shut his eyes, entering what Zudrich could only discern was a meditative state. The guardian waited for an answer but received none as the archmage seemed to fall into his own mind where he sat.
"What's he doing…?" Zudrich asked, quickly losing his patience. He turned to Nerin who was in the process of hiding the two children under a tarp, "Is he going to help or not?"
"He is searching," the Caluso replied.
"Searching for what? Is he searching for Chung?"
Nerin shook her head, "He's searching for the correct string."
"String…?"
"I found it," Gerard muttered, his eyes glowing a soft yellow as he opened them. He turned to Zudrich, "Get on."
"I'm not leaving without Chu-"
"Get on, now! Or we won't reach your king in time."
"Do as he says!" Nerin added, "Quickly!"
The cannonball was deflected with a perfectly timed parry. The explosive round sailed over the woman's head and buried itself into the side of another home. The resulting explosion caused the building to topple over, crashing onto the rooftop they fought on. The floor beneath them gave way as the two fell to the lower floor.
They both landed as dust and debris clouded their vision. With little time to recover and only a faint glimpse of his target to go by, king plowed through the destroyed mud and brick as if it were paper. Rubble was tossed aside as he charged through, each step leaving a small crater as he moved the mound like a bulldozer. A wave of dirt and sand cascaded on Ara's last known position yet as he moved the earth a heavy blow struck him at the back of his head.
Chung stumbled forward, turning just in time to see Ara making a run for a nearby window.
He took off after her and she quickly spun around, tossing a soul orb at him, forcing him to raise his cannon to block it. The orb connected and Chung could feel the thrum of energy as it dissipated into his weapon.
The break for the window was a feint. As he lowered the cannon, Ara slid under his legs, and quickly rose up behind him, landing two powerful kicks on his back. Chung flew forward, crashing through the window and bringing what was left of the wall with him.
The rubble was immediately thrown skyward as a surge of El erupted from the guardian stone. The immediate area around Chung was enveloped by the same wild blue light. Ara was pushed back from the force of the blast, landing sideways on against a crumbling wall.
"Ara!" Chung screamed, "Fight me toe-to-toe, coward!"
"I can't do that…" was her reply as she hovered somewhere just outside his blast radius.
Before he could react, the woman's form appeared through the screen of light, flying in and burying her knee right into his chin.
"You would surely lose if I did."
The light vanished as quickly as it appeared as Chung stumbled backwards. He regained his footing but Ara was nowhere to be found. He ran a gauntleted hand over his bleeding lip as he spun around, searching for his opponent through the storm. She was right. If he was to have even the slightest chance in facing her, he had to use all the tools available to him. He remembered his previous battle against her. He remembered if he could swing the momentum of an engagement in his favor just once, he could keep it that way. He just needed an opening.
"Try me…" he growled. He raised his cannon, readying himself for another surprise attack, "Try me!"
She obliged, appearing not behind him but directly in front of him. With his guard up it'd be near impossible for her to get through his defense. This was another feint!
Ara came in with spear over her head in a wide, predictable downward swing. Rather than guard against it, Chung lunged forward, calling her bluff as her staggered blow changed into hesitation. He shouldered her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her and immediately swinging the momentum into his favor. This was what he wanted.
With cannon already wound back behind him, he pulled the trigger, sending the weight of the bladed end of the weapon back towards her.
She reacted quickly, turning her weapon down and around to block the incoming cleave. The heavy cannon clashed against the spear, but to his surprise, Ara's weapon did not break. Ara kept her footing, her boots sliding against the dirt as the force of the blow visibly rocked her.
Chung disengaged, pulling the trigger and guiding the cannon's path to pull him just out of her range. Instinctively he reached for his hip, finding nothing but air where he expected a holster for his revolver. It had been so long since he had to fight that he had forgotten that his Silver Shooters no longer existed. He grunted, backpedaling as he needed time to change his fighting style. But as soon as he regained his balance, she was quick to respond, and closed in on him. The pointed tip of the spear trained at his chest just grazed past him as another four follow-up thrusts kept the king off balance.
Chung snatched the spear after the fourth thrust, gripping it in an attempt to wrench it out of her hands. She held on tight, causing her body to be thrown from side to side as the two grappled. Ara suddenly threw herself at him, the heel of her boot meeting his jaw. Chung stumbled backwards, looking up just in time to see the spear-wielder spinning in the air for a finishing strike.
The king retaliated, turning his cannon upward and firing a round at her.
In that brief instant, Ara's hair flashed a brilliant white as the woman batted the round away with the side of her spear and she continued her downward strike.
He raised his cannon and her spear connected with his destroyer. The area around them flashed in a coalescence of energy. Lightning cracked as the combination of El and sheer physical force collided around them, illuminating the town square. Shadows of corrupted victims could be seen coalescing into their location through the brief flash, and as he stared up at the fox-woman, her white locks raven once more, he still saw that same look of pity in her eyes. Looking up at the weapon in her hands, he saw she had attempted to strike him with the blunt end of her spear. Chung attempted to stand but she pressed the heel of her boot into his chest.
"I do not wish to harm you," she shouted over the mix of howling wind and screeching harpies, "I beg you, dear friend, give up."
"You… are not… my friend!" Chung screamed, pushing her spear away and grabbing her ankle. He pulled, throwing her off balance as he tried to get back on his feet. She countered, rolling her body into another spinning kick that caught him in the temple. His grip loosened and she quickly stepped back, resuming her fighting stance once more.
Chung, in a daze, struggled to find his footing. In that moment his inner fire vanished. The burden of the cannon and his armor returned as he tried to regain his footing from the sudden shift in weight.
"No…" Chung's voice shook as he felt the immense flow of strength disappear, "No!"
In desperation he threw himself at the woman, once more. His speed no longer what it used to be, Ara easily side-stepped him, driving her knee into his gut before smacking the back of his head with a quick downward strike with the blunt end of her spear.
Chung fell to his knees on the floor, the damage to his body was quickly catching up with him. He stared at the ground, a noxious mix of frustration and anger swimming in his head as he tried to think of a way to defeat her. She was making a fool of him. Even with his inner fire she evaded his strikes like they were childsplay. Now that he was out of El, what chance did he have of facing her?
This wasn't right. Aisha's murderer was standing within arm's reach but he can't even bring himself to avenge her.
"I am the better fighter," she warned, "You cannot beat me, Chung."
"Why did you do it…?" he muttered, his hands clenching into a tight fist as he waited for an answer. He saw her shadow standing over him but she said nothing.
"Why did you kill Aisha?!" he staggered to his feet but was quickly sent back to the floor with another blunt strike across his head.
"You wouldn't understand, Chung," Ara replied. Her guard was lowered, "My brother… is all I have left of my family."
"And what about us?" the king, still on his knees, looked up at his enemy, "Weren't we your family, too?"
The woman stared back at him as she tried to find the words to explain herself. Chung could see the grip on her spear tighten as the look of pity on her face slowly disappeared.
"We took you in when you didn't have anyone else. We gave you food and shelter. We gave you the time to properly learn our language. We put our lives on the line for you and you did the same for us. Doesn't that count for anything?"
"The sacrifices my brother made-"
"Does not justify you murdering one of us! I don't care what he did for you he still slaughtered thousands and destroyed my home! Whoever your brother was is gone now. All that's left is a monster and you are doing nothing but feeding his demonic nature-"
She spun her spear around and, before Chung could raise his cannon in defense, found himself staring at a bladed tip pointing at his throat. An orb of black and amber energy began to glow as the proximity of the orb brought a searing sensation to Chung's exposed neck.
"You know nothing of my brother!" she replied, baring her teeth in an angry snarl, "He's alive! I know! Somewhere, deep down, he is there. I can save him."
He stared into her eyes. The look she had been given him had shifted to that of desperation; as if she was grasping for straws at the end of her rope. Though, recognizing this he soon realized he had been reading her wrong this entire time. It wasn't pity that she had been feeling towards him. It was something far more complex. An emotion that harkened back to the day she betrayed the El Search Party:
Regret.
But no amount of remorse, no amount of recompense would bring back the life she took. Chung shook his head slowly at her. Even when she sneered and pressed the orb closer to his neck he didn't relent on his stance, "He is beyond saving, Ara. How many more of us are you going to kill until you see the truth?"
Her steady grip on her weapon wavered as he visibly saw the tip tremble. He watched as her grip tightened, her mind being made up.
"As many as it takes. My brother will come back, and I won't let anyone stop me until that happens."
There was a rumbling in the distance, beyond the mud and clay walls that surrounded them. The corrupted should be upon them soon. If Ara didn't kill him here, the mind-altered civilians and harpies would.
Chung shook his head, "You've lost it… Killing me won't bring him back."
"You don't know that!" Ara screamed as all her intent to spare the young king vanished.
"Hang on!" a voice was heard beyond the walls that surrounded them. In that exact moment, a machine crashed in through the thin mud barrier, catching either of them by surprise.
Zudrich was rooted to the front of the vehicle, his cannon held in a bracing position as he absorbed the brunt of the collision. "There!" Gerard cried as he rapidly shifted the vehicle's treads towards Ara. By then Zudrich was already hanging off the side, arm outstretched as he grabbed his king by the chestplate. He yanked him onto the vehicle as the archmage did his best to keep the woman in front of him.
He missed. Barely. With only a split second to react, Ara leapt off to the side as the dune-runner plowed through the house and out the opposite wall like a small stampede. Its white tarp was torn off from the low ceiling and as the vehicle rumbled out of the room, Ara rose from the dust and debris. Her eyes turned to the retreating vehicle, just in time to catch two children peeking out from the back of the wagon at the destruction left at its wake.
"Go on without me," Chung grunted as he found his footing. He was nearly thrown off the dune-runner after it made a sharp turn away from the narrow side street and onto the main road.
"What?!" Zudrich cried.
"This matter does not concern you. That traitor must die."
The larger man bounded around Gerard, who was in the process of grinding his way through a crowd of corrupted civilians, and grabbed the king by his shoulder, "My king… Chung… what has gotten into you? Her death has nothing to do with us. Think of the others. Is vengeance really the way of the guardian? And what of Sander? Weren't we to go there as well?"
"We're not going to Sander, guardian," Gerard shouted, not taking his eyes off the road.
"What?" Zudrich shouted back, "Why?"
Chung tried to shrug him off, "She… has to pay. She has to pay for what she did!"
A screech caught both of their attention as a harpy dove in on them. They both rolled aside, onto the wagon. The children at the back screamed as Nerin dove over them and kept their heads down.
"Chung! Listen to yourself!" Zudrich pleaded, simultaneously turning his attention to the harpy and attempting to swat it away with his cannon, "You are thinking irrationally! Lives are at stake! We have to protect them!"
The guardian loaded fresh rounds onto his cannon and pointed it skyward, firing again and again into the dense storm as the beast dodged and rolled past them. Through the flashes of the explosion a figure could be seen high above it.
The harpy let out another shrill cry as the figure fell in from above. A spear had been driven through it and as it struggled to keep aloft, Chung's eyes fixated on the woman riding on its back.
Ara had returned.
She tore her spear loose as the harpy plummeted, leaping off it and onto the speeding dune-runner.
The fox-woman gave them little time to react, spinning off of her spear into a hard kick that sent Chung overboard.
"My King!" the guardian leapt after the king, grabbing him by his forearm as he hung over the edge. He slid along the side of the wagon, forced to carry the weight of a person and his cannon. He slid to a stop at tailgate and he anchored himself as best as he could while Chung tried to find a way to climb back on.
He was exposed like this. Ara would never find him at a more vulnerable position to end his life than right now. And yet… she didn't.
As Chung struggled to climb on board, he was almost afraid to look over the tail gate and expecting to find the sharp end of the spear pointed at Zudrich. The reality was much more horrifying.
Ara stood at the far end of the trailer, cornering Nerin and the two children.
She briefly turned her head towards Zudrich who struggled to pull his king back on board. She turned her nose up at him, as if warning him to stay out this, before turning her attention back to the other three.
"The Wind Priestess," Ara demanded, "Hand her over."
"You will not have my niece," Nerin growled.
Ara looked the woman over, appraising her before a faint black and amber glow surrounded her spear.
"Do as I say and I will spare you. I do not wish to bring harm to you or the child you bear."
"Nerin!" Chung grunted as he finally managed to grab a solid hold on Zudrich, "Hang on!"
The Caluso woman's eyes narrowed as she assumed a fighting stance. "Never," Nerin responded defiantly.
"Nerin! No!"
Ara was undoubtedly surprised by the response but seeing as the two Hamelians would be upon her in moments she had little time to spare.
Ara had to kill her.
With a single, well-aimed thrust, the fox-woman drove her spear trained at Nerin's chest. What she didn't expect, however, was the much faster response.
In one swift motion, Nerin parried the spear over her shoulder and lunged forward, driving the palm of her hand onto Ara's chin. This stunned the assailant long enough for Nerin to turn, taking the spear from the foreigner's hands and quickly throwing it overboard. With the same motion she took a brief step back, pinwheeling both free hands and bringing them to the side of her hip. All the while Ara was still rocked by the initial strike that she had taken a few steps back towards Chung and Zudrich.
It was only then that Chung realized the storm around the immediate area of the trailer had ceased. It was if they were in some sort of air bubble where no wind was present. Not even a breeze. No longer did the wind wail. No longer did it whip at his ears. In this flash moment of tranquility, Chung heard Ara whisper in shock and realization.
"A Caluso…"
Nerin thrust her palms forward. A sudden burst of air shot forth from her hands, blasting Ara clean off her feet. She was sent flying and in a blink of an eye, her form was lost in the veil of sand.
The gates of the village passed overhead as the dune-runner sped out of the chaos. Gerard gave a brief glance over his shoulder to check on the others and saw his wife rolling her shoulders and shaking her arms loose.
"Are you all okay, back there?" he asked more towards the two Hamelians than his wife.
"We're fine, now," Nerin answered for them all, seeing as Chung and Zudrich were too shocked to answer. She knelt down, holding Anduran and Edwin in a tight embrace, "I doubt that woman will be able to pursue us now."
"You know, I think his majesty and his guardian could have handled it just fine, Nerin. No need for you to intervene," Gerard said with a shake of his head. They cleared the sandstorm and were immediately introduced to the scorching sun and miles of endless sand.
The Caluso woman turned to the other two then back at her child and niece, "She threatened my family. I was not going to wait for them to do something about it."
Chung and Zudrich looked at each other, feeling the full force of Nerin's condescending tone.
"I couldn't even face her toe-to-toe and you just shut her down so quickly," Chung muttered, still in disbelief, "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"
"Caluso are warriors from birth," Nerin explained, not taking her eyes off the two kids, "Most Caluso children are trained to fight from the moment they are able to properly ball their hands to a fist. I was no exception."
"That was so cool!" Edwin exclaimed, mimicking his mother's stance, "You were like 'pow!' and then you were like 'bam!' and that bad person was like 'woosh!'. I didn't know you could do all of that stuff!"
Nerin smiled, nuzzling her son, "That's because I never need to with your father around to guide us."
"Did you kill her?" Chung asked, getting right to the point as he shook the sand off his hair. They have only been in direct sunlight for a few seconds and he could already feel the heat beginning to bear down on him.
"Doubtful," Nerin replied, digging through one of the crates and pulling out a spare tarp to lay over them, "But she has learned. She won't repeat such an encounter. Not anytime soon, at least."
"How do you feel by the way, your majesty?" Gerard called, "Do you still wish to see that woman dead?"
Chung tilted his head at the question. It felt almost ridiculous for him to ask. Sure it would help avenge Aisha but given the circumstances doing so would be suicide. "Why would I go through so much effort to run back over there to kill Ara?"
"You seemed dead set on it, Chung," Zudrich replied, "You almost threw yourself over trying to get back into the fight."
"I… I don't know what came over me," the king muttered, rubbing his head as he tried to rationalize his thought process. Even in a combat high, he would never go that far to pursue a target like that.
"I think it's safe to assume you were under the effects of the corruption."
"The same one affecting the villagers?" the king asked.
Gerard nodded, "The very same. You had a small dose of it. Just as I theorized, bringing you out of that village cleared you from its effects… As for that woman."
"Ara."
"Yes, Ara. Seeing her come straight for Anduran, though," Gerard muttered, "It's just as we feared. The demons are on the move, again."
"Does that mean we can't use the mansion, again, uncle?" Anduran asked, looking over at the archmage.
"Unfortunately so. We have to keep on the move until we find some other remote village to settle down in."
"Demons?" Zudrich chimed in, "They're a problem here in the desert as well?"
"More so than you think," Gerard nodded, "Which is one of the many reasons why Sander is the wrong place to go. If they're looking for Anduran then a large city would be the worst place to hide her."
"Where are you going, then?" Chung asked.
The archmage sighed, "I'm… not sure. I'm working on it. Abandoning our home wasn't exactly on my to-do list today. But Sanders is a definite no. At least for now."
"My king," Zudrich asked, "What shall we do?"
"I'd highly advise against abandoning us for the time being," Gerard explained, "Apart from being miles away from the next point of civilization you have no means of reaching Sanders except by foot. In this heat, you wouldn't get far. On top of that I still need your protection. Harpies can still pursue us even beyond the sandstorm."
Chung grunted, looking back at the giant wall of dust. As much as he hated to be drawn off course now, he couldn't say no. "We'll stay… for now."
Gerard smiled approvingly.
"But only until the next village. We have our own business to focus on."
"We should be fine by then," Gerard nodded, "Until then, sit tight and relax. We have a long, hot day ahead of us."