The next day the pair found themselves mounting the backs of two rather unfriendly camels. They were both once again donned in the heavy cloaks that kept the blazing sun off their backs and heads and had spent the last hour receiving a crash course of camel riding that had given Shiandra's rear more than a few bruises from harsh impacts on the baked sand. Like all things Antonious took to the task like a fish to water, seemingly born to ride the moment he swung his bulk up upon the foul-tempered beast. More than once Shirandra thought back on the conversation she had had with the stranger Anaua the previous night as his dry cackles drifted through the heat hazed air when she fell off the bucking camel. He had assured them that he could not only transport the two of them safely across the desert to Shurima, but also introduce them once they had arrived in the city. The first part was believable enough, but she barely believed a single word of the latter point. How could this wreck of a man hold any council within the Shuriman empire? It simply wasn't possible.
She had slept well enough after the conversation. A meeting place had been agreed upon and though her mind was swimming with thoughts of betrayal or worse she drifted off in her wooden cot to a mostly dreamless sleep. When she awoke Antonious was already adorned with his plate armour and weaponry, seemingly ready for at least an hour already. She ideally wondered if he had even gone to sleep at all, or if he had simply stayed awake and vigilant for the entire night, it wouldn't have been the first time if he had after all. Once properly prepared she had set out to the arranged meeting location, and started on the gruelling training that had culminated in her sitting rather uncomfortably on the camels back as it swayed drunkenly side to side. Once she was comfortable with her equitation Anaua signalled for the carven to ready to set out.
As expeditionary forces went, she certainly felt the group that Anaua had gathered was wanting. It mainly consisted of four children, all of which looked like a single day without food or water would spell their end. Along with herself, Antonious, and Anaua the only other members of the assembled party was a woman that was somehow even more withered than Anaua. Both her eyes were milky white orbs that stared blankly out across the desert from her place on the back of the supplies cart. When Shiandra mentioned the woman's necessity to Anaua he assured her that she was a vital part of the caravans detail. She had wanted to question more at the time but was quickly ushered away to continue her camel riding lessons and so she missed the chance.
The team assembled now. The four children walked alongside the supply cart that was heavily laden with water, dried rations, and what she could only assume to be merchant products. Two camels pulled the heavy wooden cart, though she supposed that "Cart" might not have been the best term. It was more akin to a Freljordian sledge than any sort of cart she had seen or made use of. Where wooden wheels would have been on a normal construction there was instead wide ski like appendages. Even with its heavy load, it slid with what seemed like the minimal effort from the attached camels, so its design must be founded in experience despite its strange visage. The haggard woman lay bundled up along with the supplies in the back, though now they had set out proper she could be seen holding what appeared to be a staff of sorts that dragged lazily behind the moving vehicle. The staff's tip carved a groove in the sand as it went, and despite the confusion, Shiandra had experienced when first trying to pertain what the woman was doing, she decided that whatever job Anaua had needed her for was being performed. As for Anaua himself, he was sat in the driver's area of the supply sledge. His gnarled hands gripped the sunbleached leather reins that let him steer the wandering camels, the occasional whip snap urging the creatures forward when the pace began to falter. Shiandra and Antonious followed along behind on their makeshift steeds. Antonious keeping a steady pace at the back of the group while Shiandra's distance from the sledge grew and shrunk as she gained and lost control of her mount. She was never out of Antonious's sight however, a fact that gave Shiandra no little comfort in this hostile environment.
Much like every other day they had spent in the outskirts settlement, it was hot. The sun beat down hard on their cloaked backs while the sand shimmered with fiery heat. Looking into the distance was like staring into a pond's reflection of the horizon as heat haze danced and swirled. More than once Shiandra felt herself falling to the urge to call out the sighting of an Oasis, thankfully she wasn't fool enough to blurt out every heat addled thought that crossed her mind. The group mostly travelled in silence other than the occasional mewl from the camel or chatter from one of the boys that walked. When she first saw the boys walking on the searing sands she had cringed. The thought of walking on the molten desert floor in the bare scraps that covered the children's feet had sent empathetic stabs of agony through her feet. None of the children complained, however, or even seemed to notice the heat. She had glimpsed the underside of one of the children's foot when she had cared enough to look. It was black as charcoal. From the burning sands or caked dirt she could not say, either way, it was not a sight she wished to have a repeat viewing of.
They had been travelling for several hours now. The sun was beginning to sink low in the clear cobalt sky, staining it with golden streaks of promised sunset. Three of the children that had broken away from the group an hour or so beforehand returned, one chattering with the leading Anaua in quick barbaric squawk.
"The boy says there is shelter a short distance from her, we shall camp there for the night and continue the journey tomorrow"
Anaua spoke with a tone that brooked no discussion. This was the course of action he was going to take and there were no words an upstart Demacian diplomat could say that would change his mind. Thankfully Shiandra had no quarrel with the course of action, after several hours of riding she had developed quite the sore rear and would relish the chance to retreat from the saddle and nurse her aches and bruises. A short distance had turned into another two hours of riding, however, so by the time the shelter was found day had turned to night, and freezing cold had replaced the searing heat of the day. The shelter in question was a stone outcrop that jutted from the sand, curving upwards and forwards to form a makeshift cave of sorts in the desert. The stone was still warm to the touch even after all heat had left the pitiless sand, and after the camels were secured and camp was set up Shiandra enjoyed a quiet moment pressed up against the back wall. This was no jovial camp of travel companions thankfully. There was no drinking around campfires while unlikely companions shared tales of their heroic deeds. The three boys that had come back from their scoutings sat huddled in a rough group, a hunk of bread being shared around greedy grasping hands along with a waterskin. Anaua and the wizened crone sat together in the back of the supply sledge, their closeness making Shiandra wonder if they were either related or romantically entangled somehow. As for herself and Antonious, they both occupied the deepest part of the shelter. A small meal of bread, cheese, and wine were what they had dined upon earlier, now the pair simply lay back, Shiandra close to falling asleep against the warm touch of the stone on her back.
She awoke. It was still dark, but flecks of morning sunlight could be seen marring the otherwise darkened sky, betraying how close the night was to breaking. She quickly scanned around the camp, the only things worth making note of being the addition of the fourth scout that must have returned sometime during the night. Otherwise, the place was almost exactly as it had been before she had unexpectedly fallen asleep the night before. Antonious kneeled nearby, the quiet shink of a whetstone running along the edge of a blade and the rustle of plate armour betraying the fact that he was awake too. Other than the two Demacian diplomats the entire camp was asleep, a fact Shiandra had no desire to disturb at this exact moment in time.