Chapter 5

The desert was hot and relentless. The winds never ceased kicking sand into the young renegade wizards' faces and threatening to throw their arcane robes right off their backs. With their hands placed before their eyes, shielding them from the hurled sands, the siblings marched toward the often-spoken-of Caldeum. They only hoped the stories of its locations that were told in the Sanctum were accurate and true.

The moon was bright in the sky making it rather easy for them to see their way. Despite his eyes telling him they were alone in the desert, Fan-Huang couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched, or worse, followed. He couldn't be sure, but Fan-Min seemed to be on edge, so maybe she had the same feeling.

They continued their trek over the shifting sands. It wasn't long before they both were panting from exhaustion. It was tiring traveling through the desert. Each step was an added effort from a normal walk as they had to balance themselves as the sands moved right beneath their soles.

Finally, Fan-Huang couldn't take the awful feeling anymore. Something was out there, and it was watching them. "Hey Sis..." She turned back to look at him. "Do you get the feeling we're being watched?"

Fan-Min smirked at her older brother. "We are being followed."

"What?!" Fan-Huang said in a panic. "By what?"

"Some demon, I would assume." she explained. "Nothing to be worried about. I can take it."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm me." She said with a roll of her eyes. "I can handle whatever Hell wants to throw at me." She turned back to walking and then quickly looked back over her shoulder. "I mean us."

"Right..."

They marched all night. Fan-Huang marched with his tongue hanging out of his mouth like a dog. He had never been so thirsty in his life. The Yshari Sanctum always provided more than they needed as far as food and drink were concerned. He still wasn't sure why Fan-Min couldn't have been content there.

The sun crept into the sky as the siblings' march inevitably began slowing. They were running out of steam. Finally, Fan-Huang spoke up. "Sis, I gotta' take a break. I'm exhausted."

"Fine. I'm parched, myself." She agreed. Together, they found a large rock in the middle of the scorching sands and rested under the minimal shade it offered.

Fan-Min smirked and then chuckled a bit to herself. Something had hit her as funny in this miserable situation.

"What's so funny?" Fan-Huang asked.

"Nothing." She giggled a bit. "I was just thinking about the Yshari Sanctum. They're probably all waking up now and realizing we're gone." She laughed a bit. "Can't you just picture them scrambling about looking for us?"

"I can..." Fan-Huang said in slow words, unsure of how this was funny. "The thought terrifies me a bit."

"Why?" She laughed some more. "It's not like they'll actually find us."

"You don't know that. We're officially renegade wizards the moment they realize we're gone. Then we're as good as demons to them."

"Speaking of demons..." Fan-Min's smirk changed from one of humor to one of anticipation.

"What?"

"It's here."

Her words lingered in the air as Fan-Huang listened intently for any sign of this "It". The wind howled loudly making it very difficult to hear anything other than the cruel desert. In his paralyzing fear of a present demon, he could hear something faint. It wasn't friendly. It sounded like a growl.

"Run!" Fan-Min shouted as she leaped to her feet and ran into the desert toward Caldeum's fabled location. Fan-Huang didn't hesitate. The sight of his all-powerful sister on the run prompted him to action unlike anything else ever had.

They ran hard and fast, as if their bodies had totally forgotten that they were exhausted, hungry, and dehydrated. It was just mere minutes and their predator was upon them. Though, Fan-Min didn't see it as a predator. She saw it as prey.

It jumped out of the sand like a shark out of the water. Fan-Min ceased her sprint and prepared herself for mortal combat. "I knew it." She proudly announced to no one in particular. She licked her lips with anticipation as the battle opened.

"What is it?" Fan-Huang shouted. The creature was terrifying. It had the body of a shark, only it looked more like it was made out of stone, and in the front it had two clawed arms that it used to drag itself across land when it wasn't using its hind fin to swim in the sands. Across its back were sharp, spiked dorsal fins and its teeth were as sharp as anyone could imagine.

He knew he'd seen sketches of it in one of the monster compendiums in the Sanctum, but his memory wasn't that great.

"It's a Dune Shark." Fan-Min said. "Be careful. It'll tear you apart."

"Weakness?"

"Anything but fire or lightning." She explained as she unleashed her first assault. Large arcane orbs blasted toward the shark as it charged at her, pulling itself across the top of the sands with its clawed hands. The orbs crashed into it, blasting the life right out of it, but the fight wasn't over.

More Dune Sharks emerged from the sands, all eager to devour the young siblings. Fan-Huang screamed and locked up. Just as one of the demonic creatures was about to take a chunk out of his leg, he was pushed to the ground by Fan-Min's arcane force, saving his limbs.

"Wake up!" She hollered. "You need to fight!"

He knew she was right. He focused himself and pulled out the spellbook she had given him. Alongside his little sister, he began launching his arcane missiles. They didn't kill the creatures as effectively as Fan-Min's arcane orbs did, but it at least did some damage. He wasn't sure he could hope for much more than that.

As he continued to launch his minor spells at the swarming creatures, he caught a glance of Fan-Min. She was terrifying. She was standing on the gore of the blown-apart bodies of Dune Sharks as she laughed, launching her powerful Disintegrate spell. The Dune Sharks didn't stand a chance. They were all eradicated. Fan-Huang ducked on the ground for cover, in case his insane sister accidentally hit him.

When the bright red arcane glow of her spell finally faded away and the sand and blood settled to the ground, Fan-Huang was left standing in an empty desert. The bodies of the Dune Sharks had been totally burned away to nothing. All that remained as evidence of the fight was some blood on the sand, which was quickly being blown away by the wind.

Fan-Huang collapsed to the floor. He had never been so terrified in his life. The whole fighting thing wasn't his cup of tea. He watched his sister, who seemed to be totally in her comfort zone, as she reveled in the post-battle adrenaline rush. It looked like she had found her new calling: renegade wizard and demon hunter.

He breathed out heavily. His sister sat beside him. "Wasn't that fun!?" She said with glee.

"No." Fan-Huang confessed. "That was horrible."

She sighed. "Buckle up, big brother. This is just the beginning."

"Why's that?"

"We haven't found Li-Ming yet. Nor is killing some measly Dune Sharks going to get her attention. We gotta' hunt bigger prey than this."

"Let's just get to Caldeum first. Okay?"

"Okay." She said with a genuine smile. "I really am glad you came with me. None of this would be as impressive if there wasn't someone to witness me."

"Right..."