“Yvetal, the father of all beastfolk strode through the heavens. The Maiden of the North constellation cried, “How pretty are your Claws!” and lay with him. From her egg birthed the Clawed ones.

Next night, the Maiden of the East constellation cried, “How magnificent are your feathers!” and lay with Yvetal. Thus, were born the Feathered ones.

The night after that, the Maiden of the West constellation beckoned Yvetal, “How shiny are your scales!” And lay with him. Thus came forth the Scaled ones.

And then, the Maiden of the South constellation spoke, “How strong are you antlers!” and lay with Yvetal. Thus was the origin of the Antlered ones.

As the beastkin strode through the earth, the father of the maiden constellations grew jealous. He transformed into the most beautiful woman that ever lived and called out to Yvetal, “How charming is your cunning, O’ Yvetal!” and lay with him. And thus, came the Cunning ones, the nemesis of the beastfolk”

-“The Origin”, Beastfolk Lore.

Lord of the land?!

I struggled to keep myself on my feet as the tremors beacame more and more intense. The whole canyon rumbled and shook with the passage of something unseen. In the distance, dust clouds and dirt spewed out of the earth in small geysers.

It’s…it’s coming towards us!

The shaking became unbearable and forced both me and Faeve on all fours. As the source of the rumbling came nearer, it left a deep gouge in its path like some humongous plough rending apart the land’s guts.

Of course. It’s a fucking Lord of the Land. Even with the Gift of Strength, my head spun with the pitch-and-toss of the land like it was a small boat in a sea storm.

“I thought they were mythical!” my voice shook with the ground.

Faeve’s face has assumed a sickly shade of ash. “Not quite. Just almost never seen”, she squelched while trying not to bite her tongue.

“Why…” I had to close my eyes to keep the motion sickness in check, “...now”.

Faeve couldn’t reply as she lay completely prone on the ground, hanging on for dear life.

Just like the stories. Pain lanced up as the vibrations made my teeth chatter. Ripping apart the earth like that…most Spire-Masters don’t even stand a chance!

Suddenly, the tremors stopped. The trail of upended earth stood on the canyon before us like a deep wound that had scarred over.

It stopped? My heart pounded. No… the mounds of soil trembled. Like the Sorocope! Is it gonna lunge too?!

“Fae..” my panicked shout died in my throat as the earth boomed. Just like the desert scorpion before, the Lord of the Land burst through the ground in a shower of loose earth and rocks.

Oh fuck! Is it revenge?!

I covered my mouth as dust billowed in the strong desert wind. Sharp sand rained down in a rogue storm and left lines of red scratches as they blasted us with a savage fury. I curled myself into a ball as rocks hit the ground like hail, having been tossed with careless abandon.

Fuck! My teeth clenched. From the frying pan to the…

My train of thought was cut short as a strange crooning cry broke the air. The air rippled with soundwaves that screeched and gonged.

What the…

The ground seemed to settle down as the eerie cry spread like a lullaby. More like the cries of souls in hell!

As we dusted off the thick layer of dirt that had piled on us, jagged rocks broke the surface of the canyon. The trail of stones revealed themselves like the birth of a new mountain range, complete with vegetation.

Faeve’s eyebrows shot up as she stared at the spectacle. My hands shook with the same terror that made my heart hammer against my chest.

“Great Tree protect…” Faeve trailed off, taking a few steps back.

The rise of the rock ridge abated. Its base spread out in a curious fashion as if the ridges were nothing but small protrusions on its massive stony-gray surface.

“Wha…what”, my voice died in my throat. The gray earth beneath the ridge split apart to reveal a massive eye. The obsidian black pupil swiveled to stare at us.

Each hair on my body rose as its gaze met ours. We stood as if rooted, the perfect black of its eyes some ancient abyss, both fearsome awe-inspiring in the absoluteness of its existence.

My mouth went dry. The clattering noise made me aware that the sword in my hands had started shaking.

What…what is this…

For a few moments, if felt as if there was nothing else in this universe. Except …except that eye.

A dull thud rang out beside me. I dared not look away. But...But I have to. I have to…I broke out in cold sweat as I tried turning my head. I have to! I urged myself. My jaws clenched as I wrenched myself free of that infernal stare.

Faeve was on her knees, as if pushed down by some inviolable force. Her daggers were beside her, sunk halfway into the ground. Beneath her bowed head, her face contorted in a grimace, as if she too fought of something great.

The Aura of the Divine. I clenched my palm hard. A warm wetness welled through my fingers alerting me that I had drawn blood. The sharp pain was the only thing that kept me from prostrating.

I won’t kneel! I bolstered myself. Not for the aura of a god!

The rock-ridges shook as another booming cry broke out. The ear splitting clicks like some massive Geiger counter that had gone haywire rent the air and vibrated the earth.

“Kneel”, Faeve hissed.

“No”, I snarled.

The clicks intensified into a strange pattern. It’s…it’s laughing? Even its amusement came at the cost of our pain as the sound threatened to burst our ears.

“Don’t get us killed”, Faeve growled, all her blood drained from her face. “Kneel. Now”.

Fuck! with a deep sigh, I acquiesced. My knees sank to the ground like magnets attract iron. Relief flooded into my mind. My labored breathing normalised as sweet, sweet air flooded into my lungs and let me exhale breath I didn’t knew I was holding.

My skin crawled as the eye scanned us all over, its stare like pricks of hot flashes. Sweat trickled down my temple as muddied the desert soil. The Lord of the Lands…they…they weren’t they just massively powerful monsters?. The suppressor guild danger index had them classified as Spire-Master class, not Catastrophe class, dammit!

I felt the eyes recede as the immense pressure lifted. Every part of me that was screaming in abject terror quieted down as the aura retreated unto the Lord of the Land.

As the assault on my psyche abated, the gears began turning. Why is it here? My hands grasped Thirst. Not like it’ll do any good.

Suddenly, Faeve looked at me, her mossy eyes glazed over.

Come to think of it…why is the connection quiet?

A harsh voice tore out of her throat. Her mouth moved in motions that didn’t match the voice.

“OTHERWORLDER AND TREE-CHILD”, it boomed in a voice unlike Faeve’s. “WE…APPRECIATE”.

The fuck?! My mouth hung open.

“BROKE MOON-CHILD…CURSE”, the voice halted and stuttered as if the words were alien to it. “HELPED DESERT. WE GRATEFUL”. Faeve’s face grimaced and contorted as if she was in great pain.

“COME”, the voice commanded from Faeve’s mouth for the last time.

Come where? My eyebrows scrunched.

Faeve’s lithe frame crumpled on the ground like a marionette divested of its strings. She groaned, her hands scrambling in the soil. She looked up at me, her fair features swathed in dirt. She touched her nape as her eyes blinked in confusion. “What happened?” She asked.

I smacked my lips. Some Exorcist shit.

“I think you were taken over”, I said. “By that thing”.

“Silence!” Faeve snarled. She rubbed her temple as if she was talking to a petulant child, “do not disrespect the God of the Land”.

A god! Knew it!

She turned towards the god again and asked in Elventongue, “What offense have we caused, venerated Lord of the Arrhan Canyon?”

She doesn’t know what was spoken through her?

The Lord chittered again in his high pitched clicks, this time its intensity much lower.

Faeve nodded, her head bowed in deep respect.

She understood that?!

Relief flooded through her mind into mine.

She looked at me, her face spread into a smile. “Humankin, looks like we have a ride”.

Wha? And …I have a name! a name!

~~~

Faeve cupped the water in the small oasis with trembling hands as if it was a supreme treasure. It probably is, I thought as I saw the scenery rushing by. Not every day does one get to hitch a ride on the back of a god after all.

“Let me guess”, I wagged my fingers at Faeve. “Magic water?”

“No”, she looked at me with disdain, “why would you think that?”

“Oh, I don’t know”, I could feel my mouth curl up in a mocking smile. “Is it strange to think the oasis on the back of a land whale made of rock has magic water?”

“Shhh”, Faeve hissed. “The Lord can hear you”.

My sighed as the phrase reminded me of one of mom’s church-friends back on earth. She liked to regularly remind us that “The Lord” paid inordinate amount of attention to our lives.

But really. I looked down at the trail of furrowed earth we were leaving behind. It was difficult to imagine a being of this size travelling with such velocity. I held on to a rock that protruded out from the creatures back even tighter. If I fell from here…it’ll just be a Rigel shaped splatter on the ground.

The creature clicked again, its whale-like calls spread and reverberated through the canyon. Echo-locating? What happened to its…with a start,I realized that most of its body had sunk, only the sharp rock ridge protruded from the ground, splitting the land apart in its motion.

A rock-whale with a rock fin, huh? I chuckled as Sangraal surprised me even more than it usually did. The body of the whale vibrated, as if agreeing. Sunlight sparkled from the many rock protrusions made of precious gemstones and minerals on its body.

“Lord of the Land?” I asked Faeve. “A god?”

“Aye”, she answered while scanning the horizon from top of a rock fin. “Rather, semi-divine. Mostly”.

I arched my eyebrows, urging her to continue. Fucking useless Supressor guild has no useful information.

“Not quite god. Not worshipped”, Faeve whispered as if afraid to incur the wrath of the land-whale. “No one knows how a Lord of the Land is born but, the Voice of the World; the Aurora births a monster to…nurture a wildland. The vast magic coalesces to crown an ordinary monster with the mantle of the Lord of the Land and appoint its caretaker”.

Not born of belief then, I nodded. Not like the worshipped ones.

“So it doesn’t want to murder and destroy I guess”, I said. That’ll be a first.

Faeve grimaced. “Not unless one goes against the law of the land. Which, humans have done again and again”.

Yay, one more fan.

“When you say law of the land”, I kneeled down to pick a berry that had grown on one of the many bushes and shrubs dotting the rock fins. “I am guessing you don’t mean Ebraven Imperial Law, but…” I struggled to find the correct word, “natural order? The ecosystem?”

Faeve nodded, still perched on her lofty position. “Yes, the balance of life”. “Don’t eat that”, she warned.

The berry? Why? I soon learned why.

Something hissed near my foot. By instinct, I flitted away. A black snake like creature stared at me with angry red eyes under its flared hood. It hissed again, its two miniscule arms outstretched.

“This?” I shook the red berry. Its eyes followed my hand.

“There is an ecosystem on Lord of the Land’s back”, Faeve hollered down. “Do not violate that, human”.

My eyes swept through the island of rocks and vegetations we stood on. Violate? This creature could carry an entire oasis on its back. Only fools would offend this guy.

I gave the berry back to the small serpent. It grasped it on its hand and skittered away amongst the rocks. Little squeaks suggested that there were more of them.

“Faeve”, I called. “We are going to the right direction right?” I don’t trust a whale to know human places, demigod or not.

Faeve warned me with her eyes. She jumped down and walked over. Her eyes hardened as she whispered, “Truth be told, the Lords of Land are utterly unconcerned with affairs of most races, especially human. But do not test his patience, or we will be terribly sorry”.

She sat down against a rock that seemed to be made of emerald, “as for the right direction, I think so. The curse was a scourge on the land—killing many of the creatures and fouling the balance of life by distorting the Aurora. Dispelling it has pleased the Lord immensely”.

“In other words”, I said, “we get special treatment”.

“We get a ride to the nearest human village”, Faeve corrected. “No special privileges. Not even to us Elves who are closest to nature. Balance is impartial”.

If only all the gods were like this. I sighed. Fucking sacks of shit.

A faint smile played on Faeve’s lips as our connection delivered my emotions to her. “Aye”, she agreed.

A sudden thought struck me. Dammit. How did I forget! “Can’t we skip the human village?” I asked. “By now, the Armatech family would have spread my wanted poster all over the area. Won’t be safe”.

Faeve blinked.

Can’t blame her. A lot happened.

“No”, she trailed off. “It has to be a human settlement”.

“Why?” I rubbed my temple. Fuck, we also tangled with the navy. We’re screwed. Badly.

“It has to be a human settlement!” She snarled. “A human settlement on the night of the speared moon”.

“But why?” I growled back. Why is she acting like this? “We just have to enter the Mountain of Trees right?”

Deep crimson crept up Faeve’s porcelain cheeks. She opened her mouth but stopped herself. She breathed deep before continuing with calm as if nothing had happened. “Your ignorance baffles me. Only on the night of the Speared Moon does the Mountain of Trees let outsiders in. That too, only near human villages. Points of trade and communication”.

Huh? “Really?” I asked. “You guys wait an entire year to trade?”

“No”, Faeve’s eyes travelled down to gaze at her feet. “Sun-Elves can come and go as they please. But not humans and exiles”.

Oh.

But still, why was she so annoyed? The connection between us was turbulent. But like almost always, it obscured her thoughts when it mattered.

~~~

As the whale traversed the canyon, the rocky ground gave way to fine desert sand. The keening cry of the desert grew more piercing as if in a confrontation with the Lord of the Land’s probing croon. Faeve and I huddled under the protection of the rocky fins as fierce desert winds threatened to whip us off our ride.

“Does it feel like the whale is sinking deeper and deeper into the sand?” I asked. Must look strange, an oasis travelling at the speed of a car.

“I noticed it too”, Faeve’s words were almost snatched by the wind. “Must be the sand”.

“When you said it was unconcerned with the affairs of outsider species”, I said as the whale now pitched and tossed like a vessel at sea. “Does it include drowning its riders in sand?” I groaned. “By mistake I mean” I added hastily.

Faeve’s squinted her eyes. She splayed her fingers as she spoke, “I suppose it is perhaps possible that the...GREAT LORD OF THE LAND might have forgotten we are on his back”.

Why is she...didn’t she say the Lord Of the Land is unconcerned? Would praising it solve anything?

Faeve faced me, lightly whispering, “Not like I have prior experience dealing with them. But praising gods usually work”.

The whale sunk lower.

“Usually”, she stressed.

Oi oi oi!

“Wait what’s that?” Faeve cupped her hand over her eyes. “There”, she pointed at a distance.

Dark specks flitted about in the red and gold sand dunes with terrifying speed. Soon, the sparse few specks were joined by more as they traversed the desert in the same direction as us.

“Does not seem like a Sand Whale pack”, Faeve opined.

“There is more than one?”

“Of course”, she scrunched her eyebrows. “Whales are the only beasts common in all three spheres; water, sky and land”.

Of course. Sky whales. Friggin huge whales flipping through the sky like a bird.

As we conversed, the distant spots on the desert had grown larger. Each time they crossed a dune, they shot through the air and glided on the surface of the next in an elegant, yet haphazard acrobatic display.

Are those...sails?!

Indeed, as the objects resolved themselves into identifiable shapes, their sails flashed in the sunlight as they raced across the desert in a frenzied chase.

“Sand Pirates”, Faeve spat, “the rots take them”.

These guys? “Back in Salrest...”

Faeve interrupted my words. “Salrest is a small town full of new adventurers and suppressors. They do not know which side they need wiping at. I have heard old man Frezzio’s tall tales as well. And no, they don’t attack in huge wooden ships drawn by Sawali sand snakes. That’s just a whole lot of kivala shit”, she said while her mouth curled up.

Yeah, excuse me for not realising which parts of a fantasy land are real.

“So...” I pondered as I saw their vehicles swerve in our direction, “they are going to attack us. But...why?” What do they expect to do against a Lord of the Land with their weird Sand canoes?

“Rotten as their brains are, they probably do not realise what they are up against”, Faeve sighed. “Besides, the Lord is mostly under the sand”.

“They are just gonna attack a speeding rocky oasis?” incredulousness coloured my voice, “they must have seen some weird shit before”. Unless of course... “Normal land whales have small rock spikes too, don’t they?”

“Aye”, Faeve nodded. “But none this valuable”, she said pointing at the several jagged protrusions of precious stones that sparkled in the sun.

By now, huge dunes beside us hid the sandcrafts behind them as if they didn’t exist. We both knew that it was only a matter of time before they—

With a ear-piercing ululating cry two sandboats exploded from both sides. Riding the sand dunes, they jumped high above, their trajectory taking them above the tail end of the exposed rock-fins.

Their sails glinted in the sky as they did a double barrel roll before landing on the sand, still speeding. Their acrobatics however, made them lose some speed as they chased us. More sandboats joined the fray as they chased us down the dune.

Indistinct shouts pierced the air as the sandboats swerved and rode the rolling dunes, like a surfer rides the waves.

Impressive skills, if nothing.

The same ululating cry resounded once again. The boats inched forwards by some trick of navigation, their hulls piercing through the fine sand. Men in ragtag leather armour and rusty gear yelled their hearts out, as if predators herding a prey.

Is it really going to be alright?

Faeve rested against a rock, her expression languid. As I arched my eyes at her, she replied, “As if a Lord would let some bandits lop off a chunk of diamond off his back”.

You might say that but... My eyes fell on their men whirling ropes from their boats. We aren’t diamonds are we?

By now about eight crafts were on our tail, their passage leaving trails of sand much like the whale itself. Their sails full of fierce desert wind propelled their sleek crafts forwards, each moment bringing them closer to us.

“Git that whale!” a hoarse voice cried out in a thick accent. “That old bastard wos roight! Desert full o’kills in these ports!”

Fierce sounds of agreement replied from the other side.

They’re already this close?!

“Spotters!” a voice like sandpaper yelled. His voice rang out through the dunes.

Magic?

Two small boards sailed overhead, shooting through the air.

What the!

The huge kites attached to the two sandboards fluttered in the wind as the riders fought to keep control. Their crafts joined the other pirates. “Two riding”, a shrill voice yelled. “One man, one woman”.

Fuck!

“I am not drunk!” the voice cried again in reply to some apparent aspersions on their sobriety.

Yeah, I can understand. Who’d believe that people are riding a whale?

“Prepare to board!” the sandpaper voice was back. “Kill them if they resist”, rang out his order.

I wiggled my eyebrows at Faeve. She sighed and took out her daggers, their hungry edges glinting in the sunlight.

Here we go again. I unslung Thirst, its familiar weight a strange reassurance.

“Hey Faeve”, I spoke in a low voice; “Don’t throw them off”. An idea was forming in my head.

She arched her eyebrows at me. Her figure swayed in a gentle dance in an effort to maintain upright position on the turbulent ride.

WOOSH!

A dark four-angled iron hook flew through the air and grabbed onto a rock fin. Three more of those grappling claws tore the air and grabbed onto rocks.

“We only need two!” I yelled as I ran towards the nearest one. A straight shop of my sword clattered against the rope. It didn’t break?! My jaws clenched as I hacked again to no avail.

Faeve had better luck as her opponent’s claw had wrapped around a jagged diamond ridge. The strain of the pirate pulling himself up nearly shore the rope apart before Faeve’s dagger cut it free. The man’s yell downwards was cut short as he smashed below.

“Fuck!” a growl tore my throat as I saw the bandit jump up using his rope. A savage smile spread across his sun-toasted face. “Soroscope heartstring”, he chuckled. “Rope can’t be cut”.

My eyes met his. His freshly-oiled scimitar swished through the air as he unbuckled it.

I knew a smile spread across my lips too. If I was wounded, perhaps. But the MoonWater had restored much of my strength. I dashed forward with a sudden kick and—

A slice of my blade tore the man’s hand loose. I kicked him full on the chest in midst of a shower of blood. He didn’t even have the time to yell before he toppled over and smashed into the raging sands below.

“But your hands can”, I replied.

A sharp yelp behind me alerted that the other two had boarded. Faeve danced in a bladed fury between them, each slice drawing sharp cuts across their bodies.

“Not the clothes!” I yelled.

She arrested the long dagger strikes in a moment and stabbed with a savage ferocity. Her dagger sunk with a wet squelch into a bandit’s eye and came out the back. Blood splattered her fine features as the man spewed crimson.

“Faeve!” I yelled as I threw my wakizashi. It found its mark on the other pirate’s throat, while his sword slash clattered against Faeve’s other dagger. The man died in midst of trying to dig out my weapon from his throat, gurgling with blood.

Faeve nodded at me while she stepped on the previous bandit’s throat and pulled hard to retrieve her own dagger. The dagger broke free, bits of skull and gray matter still stuck to its serrated edges.

I ran up to her. “Quick”, I urged. “Shove the bodies in a crevasse so they don’t tumble!”

Before we were able to drag the bodies across the rocky surface, more grappling claws scraped across the rocks.

Two more suntanned men clambered onto the surface. Their veiled faces only revealed eyes painted in anger.

Just how many will board? I took a stance with my sword, ready to intercept their strikes. What the fuck is the whale doing?!

The bandits this time were more cautious. No doubt, watching your companions disappear in the sand tends to have that effect. They paused for a moment, startled by my inappropriate chuckle at my own wisecrack in my head.

The two men circled me slowly, their curved axes poised to strike.

Tch! They stayed outside my blade’s reach.

Not good...they tried to get at my blind side. No you don’t! I rushed at the nearest one to break the encirclement.

A sudden whooshing sound hurtled towards me and...CLANG!. A thrown axe bounced away from my blade with a shower of sparks.

Fuck!

Another axehead sliced through the air dangerously close, taking a few bits of my hair with it.

The other bandit struck at me again in a whirl of frenzied axe strikes.

Schwing!

Something whirled past my ears again.

The bandit’s eyes froze as the wakizashi sprouted from his forehead.

Thanks! I nodded at Faeve.

The other pirate spared but a glance at his fallen comrade before trying to retreat.

“DUCK!” Faeve yelled suddenly.

I sprawled myself on the whale’s back without a second thought. A huge shadow passed over me and...Hit the bandit full on his chest, violently throwing him off.

I curled myself up in ball as the whale’s rock fins scraped against the underside of a huge arch made of red sandstone. Chunks of rock rained down, but the juggernaut continued its journey unperturbed by the crashing rock formation.

The bandits weren’t so lucky however. Pained yowls howled all around as the rock chunks bombarded the nearest sandboats.

“You alright?” I groaned at Faeve.

“Aye”, she replied. “Watch out for rocks”, she warned as the whale passed through a field of strange rock formations.

“Anthill!” the sandpaper voice warned the crafts. Well, what’s left of them.

The keening cry of the desert brought me back to my senses. Why so loud! The usual eerie sound was now absolutely deafening. Turning my head, I soon discovered the source of the sound that had been haunting us through our desert crossing.

As the whale sunk even lower, it crossed through a field of twisted and thin rock spires jutting out of the ground. The keening cries reverberated all around as the desert winds howled through its most distinctive feature—numerous holes as if made by some monstrous ants.

Ah, so that’s why “anthill”.

The whales manoeuvred through cramped spaces and small paths as if it loathed disturbing the field of rock reeds. The pirates weren’t much behind, twisting and turning with a frightening accuracy through the treacherous paths.

One of the kite riders returned as the fierce wind carried him in the air. His sandboard glanced off the top of a rock spire and thrust him towards us.

What’s that?

Light glinted off a small mechanism in his hand. He held on to the kite with one hand and pointed the thing at us.

I rolled to avoid the small bolts that were no bigger than a large toothpick.

Spring-loaded mini crossbow? Shit!

Fortunately, the winds veered the shots off course.

I hid myself behind a rock fin to avoid the kite-rider peppering the whale’s back with his bolts. Poison coated? Probably.

My hands touched something cold on the ground. The grappling claw from the first guy!

I dislodged the claw. Need to aim... And with a sudden whirl, I let the claw fly from my hand towards the kite-rider flying above us. The claw sunk into his kite with a tearing sound. With a scream, the guy dropped like a stone, his crash hidden behind a keening rock spire.

“Another!” Faeve shouted.

This time, the other kite-rider flew over us. As the lithe body twisted and turned in air to track us, the shrill voice screamed as if in deep anguish.

A woman?

“Bring her down”, I commanded.

Faeve picked up one of the other grapping claws left by the dead pirates. The claw shot out of her hands and wrapped around the woman’s ankles.

As the pirate’s veil fell off, black locks spilled from her bandana. Her face contorted in a mask of terror as the claw pulled her towards us.

With a final jerk from Faeve, the woman crashed against a rock fin. She rolled over, lifeless as a ragdoll.

“Harpoons!” voices cried out from the sandboats.

They came prepared for whaling!

I poked my head out to see thick metal shafts loaded on barrels mounted on the sandboats. A couple of people from each both rested their hands on the barrels and murmured. The harpoons shot out and struck the Lord of the Land...and then bounced off harmlessly.

Silence fell on all the boats followed by shouts of dismay. However, their voices died down quick as a crooning click vibrated the air.

Looks like they pissed it off. And in time too, for the valley of rock spires thinned out into barren desert sands. With a booming cry, the Lord of the Land started to resurface.

Horror and dismay were writ plain of the faces of the sand pirates as the gargantuan whale breached the sand in an impressive display of power. But far from attacking the pirates actively, the whale continued on its passage through the red and gold sands.

The pirate sandboats fell behind. Their sails turned as one and bounded off deep behind the dunes in their terrorised flight. Realising the actual size of the prey they chased, the predators turned tail.

Take that suckers!

“Now then”, I called Faeve as I noticed the pirate girl regaining consciousness.

The girl woke up with a start, her eyes wide at our blood soaked visage. As her eyes scanned the desert sands to watch the sails retreat, she gave a cry of dismay.

“No!” She screamed, “nooooo!”

“We’re not going to kill you”, I assured her. Not like I enjoy killing people who don’t wanna fight.

Her eyes roved over our bloody blades and she screamed harder. “You killed my brother!” spittle flew out her mouth, “you chopped off his hand!”

I rolled my eyes. “He attacked us”, I growled. “So did you”.

The pirate girl gritted her teeth. “Do what you will”, she sighed. “Just...make it quick”.

I am sorry but... “Strip”, I commanded.

The girl retreated into a corner, her hands wrapped around her. Faeve arched her eyebrows.

“No, not for that”, I clarified. “I just want your clothes”.

This time, both of them arched their eyebrows as if looking at a pervert.

“I am not going to crossdr—” I sighed. “Faeve”, I grumbled. “Exchange your clothes with her. And then, tie her up”.

~~~

I rifled through the dead pirates and grabbed whatever was useful. Nasty...but okay, I thought as I wore their ill-fit clothes, trying hard not to think what the suspicious stains were.

“We’re almost to the border of the village”, Faeve pointed at the debris of habitation strewn about the desert; broken carts, discarded pots, bits and pieces of tattered clothes flying in the wind.

“Let me go”, the pirate girl pleaded. “Not like I can do anything”, she said while shaking her tied up wrists.

“So that you can come after us for vengeance?” Faeve asked pithily. “I don’t think so. The Lord of the Land will let you off”, she added. A smirk played on her face as she finished, “probably”.

The bandit girl crumpled on a rock ridge.

The whale suddenly stopped. His clicking voice cried out softly, and he started to sink. Within moments his humongous body hid below the sand, only the rock fins the sole symbol of his existence.

“Jump”, I instructed. Faeve complied and got off with a feline grace on the sand set ablaze by the setting sun.

The rest of the Lord of the Land disappeared below within moments, revealing the figure of the pirate woman on the other side.

She stared at us with darting eyes. She seized the chance I guess.

With one final look at us, she ran screaming on the golden sand, deep towards the desert, her steps frenzied and flailing.

“I hope she won’t be a problem” I uttered.

“She won’t”, came Faeve’s reply. “Not enough time to gather forces to attack again before night of the speared moon”.

I nodded. We started to walk towards the signs of litter dotting the yellow sand. “Humans”, Faeve shook her head, her brows crinkling. “Filthy creatures”.

As the sun dyed the horizon an artist’s palette red, gold and purple we came upon the top of the last dune. Beyond, a tranquil bay opened up before us, the river feeding it as if on fire in the last light. As the tiny huts and settlements glinted with their metal roofs, Faeve whispered, “Our crossing…has come to an end”.