Before the large spiked sand-coloured stone the feeble figure of the depressed man stood, his hand caressing its smooth texture

"You've helped me survive long enough, much more than my clansmen who died to this hard land, but its time you are put to the use you were meant for, to be a tool fit for a king"

Placing his palm on the stone he used a skill unique to his race to compress the sand, a hard task with the target being such a strong treasure, but with his and the stone's synergy it was accomplishable

The spiked stone which gave off a glistening yellow glow started to dim down but other than that there wasn't really too much of an obvious change

Minutes later he removed his palm from the still stone then dragged his now even more exhausted body to the back, plunging his hand into the stone and retrieving a small spiked stone very similar to the huge one except this one was looking much more lively

Giving the stone one last longing look he sighed then moved it to his waist, under the only cloth that covered his dignity he slipped the stone which marvellously disappeared into thin air

Moving away from the large stone's location the man started to take various small treasures and shove them into the cloth at his waist as they disappeared one after the other, he kept at it until he felt he couldn't store too many more treasures, that's when he moved on to the side of the treasury

At a corner lay an assortment of items, some piled up and some scattered around, other than some items with similar appearances all of them were randomly put here due to their unknown use

Picking up a blue bead the man thought to himself what might these things be for the vampire to specifically ask for them and more importantly how he knew they were in the Zarselos's possession

'What does it matter to a dead man though'

Curiosity was pointless at this point, he only wanted to finish his task and perhaps die in peace, he'd heard death to a vampire's feeding was a blissful one, though he didn't know if he wanted to die to a man 'blissfully'

It was what it was though, his helpless self could only accept whatever mercy he was given at this point so he finished strong the requested items, even clearing out some of the useful treasures to proved them enough space before going back to the place he was dropped, slumping to the ground with the same haggard face he'd arrived in, only he didn't have to fake with how exhausted mentally and physically he was

Minutes turned to hours as he lay motionlessly on the ground, memories, bitter and sweet, were recalled slowly, his family, friends, adventures and struggles, all passed through his tired mind, those eerie eyes couldn't help but well up with tears, not of sadness but of relief, finally he would be meeting his end, the end he had been so afraid to bring to himself

As tears fell and dried up the sound of the quicksand going up was heard causing his to hastily close his abnormally red eyes lest he ruins the plan

The slithering snake came near to bring him out and saw his condition, tears carving a path down his face, and couldn't help but feel for its acquaintance, while they didn't speak too much he still knew him enough to sympathise with him

"It's for the good of the tribe, old friend"

He spoke, perhaps to convince himself rather than the dying victim, then picked the poor fellow up with his tail and started slithering out

"Hm? Its seems the crown is grieving for you, my friend"

He pointed, the Sand Crown had a depressing air around it and while he was no expert in sand he could tell it was sad for its comrade and caretaker

Giving a hissing sigh the snake existed the treasury and handed the man to the snake responsible of delivering it to the annoying vampires

....

Thud!

Dropping the body before the guest house the snake told the young one to carry it in before returning to the tribe

"S-ss-sir, the catty is here"

The young one called out with her tik showing

Instead of receiving an answer Ellis cam out and brought the body inside without a word, not even a glance toward the timid small snake

"Have you accomplished your task?"

Hearing YuJu ask of him he stood up from his mock slumber and reported

"Yes Master, I've brought theSand Crown and various important and expensive treasures, as for the items you have requested I've found all but two, the white collar you mentioned along with the green-tinged glass"

The white collar's absence didn't mean much to YuJu but hearing the green-tinged glass missing made him frown

'I guess they weren't in possession of it at this point int time, hmm I hope I can trade for it when we arrive at the Rainbow Terrace'

Thankfully it was the only part missing from the needed items which didn't cause any major adjustments in his plan or expenditure

"Well done, hand it over now"

The mand nodded and reached toward his cloth from which he received a black feather, presenting it to YuJu

Taking the feather YuJu inspected it's content, making sure the Sand Crown and all the materials were there before nodding to himself and inking on himself once again

"You've done well, now that you have finished your task its time you meet your end, any last words?"

"Master, please grant me a mercy in death"

"I was planning on it either way"

Standing up he walked toward the man who also rose, presenting his neck to him with an acquiescing expression

Without any delay he plunged his fangs into the man, drawing his blood at great speed, much faster than the speed he used for enthralment

"Ugh, mgh"

The man groaned but didn't have a look of pain, rather a look of struggle, mental struggle, as he resisted the arising comfortable and stimulating feeling

Seeing him act so YuJu frowned, speeding up the process to get over with it, if he was uncomfortable the first time around now he just aggravated that he had to do this, no more would he suck blood he told himself, at least not a man's

Not much time later the man dried up and passed away, an expression of relief and satisfaction on his face, YuJu though had a sophisticated one that told of his mental struggle, if not for the importance of the plane would have just had Ellis cut the man's head off and be over with it

Dropping the dried-up corpse to the ground YuJu wiped his mouth clean of the dripping blood, the after taste of it remaining in his mouth

'Tastes like cheesecake?'

He had no idea blood tasted differently from creature to creature, then again he never heard vampires talk about their victims taste in relation to other food as they only ever drank blood

'I guess this is the reason every vampire prefers different types of blood over others'

An interesting fact to know, now wasn't the time to pursue interesting facts though, he needed to prepare to leave hastily in case they noticed anything wrong though he suspected them knowing about the heist any time soon, perhaps when time came to pay the Sand Wing they would hire they would finally notice the absence of the multitude of treasures along with that big old sandstone emitting none of its great energy

"Throw the body out, Il sneak out the top and observe the tribe, be ready to slay that small snake outside in a moment's notice at my signal, after that head west until you reach a site of crumbled rocks, if you hear them chasing project your aura around you and stand in the middle of the crumbled site, worry not for no one will touch you there"

"Yes Master"

"Good, then I'm off, await my return or my signal"

He jumped away from his position and plunge into the darkness of the second floor before any trace of him disappeared, he wasn't worried about them noticing his missing presence as they were already outside the small snake's heat sensory range

Ellis though came to the door and walked out, standing before the mall snake who had been gazing at the dead body with a sympathetic look

"Misss! Are you in need of anything?"

The small snake asked but Ellis ignored her, after all, she didn't understand a hiss-, err word, so in order not to cause any misunderstanding she just stood like a statue while looking at the faraway tribe, her itchy hands folded on her chest, ready to slip in and take out a spear at the slightest sign of trouble

Her worried state remained so for the next few hours, a snake came by and fetched the dead body and gave her a questioning look as well as the small snake flinching once and throwing a glance toward the guest house during her wait but that was all that happened

As her wait approached its end she saw fire from the far distance as a group of snake's approached with their usually heated bodies, she resisted the urge to take a step back in preparation for an attack as the signal her master told her of never came making her think everything was going according to plan

Soon the late figures of flaming snakes came near, their mouth's stretched to the side as they spoke in a language unknown to her

'What should I do?'

She thought to herself but didn't make expression or movement other than looking Saznar in the eyes

The doors then opened behind her, YuJu's voice echoing from within

"We shall e taking our leave then Saznar, I appreciate the hospitality"

"I am glad you've enjoyed your stay mister YuJu, have a safe journey and may the winds of change be with you"

YuJu nodded without giving wishes of his own, then turned and left, Anput in hand and Ellis in tow

Toward his haughty attitude Sazznar didn't mind, the sooner this ticking bloody bomb left the better, a few words here and there were of no importance to him

The figures of the two faded into the distance sands as morning sun soon flooded the world with light bringing with it both relief of what had passed and worries of what was to come

"Prepare to receive the Sand Wings, we must negotiate well"

Saznar hissed, then slithered back into the tribe, but not before giving the slightly broken guest house a look and ordering someone to fix it before the new guests arrive, busy was this neglected dune now