We returned to the camp with nothing to show for. Half the night spent with searching and not a single glimpse of the rock - or surface water close enough that the camels could've smelled it. Except for Korvax, everyone else was fast asleep, so the bad news could wait just that bit longer.

Lizia tumbled from the camel already half asleep, looking around for a good sleeping spot.

Sleep was the furthest thing from my mind. Though awake for the whole day and night already, I was restless. I had seen that sleeping-lion rock. I had seen that flock of birds. They couldn't just vanish into thin air!

Grabbing a shovel, I went to dig several holes around the camp, lining them with cloth and marking them with small mounds of stone, in the hopes the others wouldn't walk straight into them. The water traps, I noted, were adequately scattered.

"You should catch at least some sleep." I swung the shovel towards the sudden voice, stopping it a bare hand's breadth away from Korvax' face.

"Woah, careful! Sorry for surprising you." He stared at me, his pale face glowing in the night. "You really should sleep a bit."

I shook my head and dug another hole.

"Why not? Angry that you didn't find that rock? We'll figure something out in the morning. I or Lizia can climb any of these rocks and take a look, once we have a little more light to climb."

"You can't survive in the desert and expect me to trust you with scouting?" My voice was dangerously close to an angry hiss, the tip of my tail scratching over the ground in a twitch, before I clamped down on the emotion.

"We may not look like much to you, but we're pretty good in forests or mountainous regions. And if nothing else, we can still look for things, if you tell us what to look for!" growled Korvax back.

I took a deep calming breath. 'Teacher said to always act according to the Desert Laws and my oath. Share your water, offer hospitality, even to your enemies and protect the weak. But why, Great Flame of the Desert, does it have to be a group of Cursed and barbarians?! If not for the Cursed, these lands would be lush with plants and water!'

"What's the matter, dearest?" purred Polly after landing on my shoulder. I hadn't even noticed that she had been gone. "Are the ungrateful barbarians tugging your tail? Shall Polly take revenge for you?"

"Hey, we're not barbarians!"

"It's nothing, Polly." I scratched my stupid bird, looking for another likely spot to dig a tiny well and froze. Pulling wet fingers from her feathers, I sniffed at them. No scent. So it was not a prank this time. "Where were you, Polly?" I asked sweetly, grabbing her before she could flee.

"Out and about," she croaked, struggling in my hands. "Help! Someone, please help!"

"You found water! Spill it or you won't see a single fresh fruit in the next city," I threatened her. I saw Korvax edge away from me.

"What's going on?" asked a sleepy Darid. "Wow, you look a little crazy. That's the most emotion I've seen on your face these past two days."

"Is it morning already?" Maybe Robb. The thief-guards were bound hand and foot and the merchant sounded more whiny.

"Muddy cods! Stop making a ruckus in the middle of the night!" That sounded like Lizia.

I ignored them all, staring murder at Polly. She blinked her eyes innocently.

"What happens when a snake and a scorpion meet atop a cactus?" asked Polly seriously. I knew it was a distraction.

"The water, Polly. Where did you find enough water to bathe!"

"They're skewered!" Polly answered her own joke question, chuckling.

"Your future supply of fresh fruits is dwindling at a rapid speed."

"Did that bird crack a joke?" whispered Darid.

"If so, I don't get it," mumbled Korvax back. "Are we sure it's even intelligent and not just repeating stuff it heard somewhere?"

"Dunno..."

"This, my dear Polly, is your last chance. Tell me where you found enough water to bathe and you will not spend the rest of your days in a cage and meager corns as food."

Polly stopped struggling and turned deathly pale under her feathers. "You wouldn't."

I simply stared at her. It was an empty threat, but she didn't need to know that.

A heavy sigh wrecked her small body.

"It's four rock clusters straight past that angled boulder. Under an overhang." My hands relaxed at the answer and she promptly slipped away, starting to cackle. "Seriously, you walked past it twice without noticing it! Dumb Drake! Dumb camels! Dumb barbarians!"

Lice-ridden child of a vulture and a jerboa!

"Harun!" I called the one camel over that still carried both empty barrels. The other stayed where it was, contentedly dozing away.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Darid almost immediately.

"Checking the claims of that sorry excuse of a stuffed vulture, of course. Make sure no one walks into the holes I dug."

I had barely reached the luckily only angled rock, when I heard the footsteps behind me. Darid was following me. "And what are you doing?"

"Making sure you come back alive," he stated with a big grin, that widened at my silence.

Shrugging, I lead the way.

====

"And this is the fourth rock cluster. Search for an overhang or signs of water." I walked around one side of the rock cluster, while sending Darid around the other side.

"Nothing over here," said Darid, as we met again. I shook my head in denial. Nothing on my end, either. And it was dawning already.

"If we return now and harvest whatever water was caught in the wells and the traps, we might survive the day if we don't move around too much." I was unwilling to leave. Polly hadn't been lying. There was water here. There were much more animal tracks around this single rock cluster than anywhere else.

"Meaning we would be sitting ducks all day. Man, what a bummer."

"Sitting ducks? What are those?"

"You don't know- never mind. It's a saying. It means being easy prey, just like ducks sitting in their nests become easy prey."

I looked at Darid. "And what are ducks?"

He scratched his head. "You really don't know about ducks? They are water birds and swim through... water... right." He came to a stuttering stop, looking around as if seeing the stone desert for the first time. "Not much water around here for ducks, eh?"

"Southern barbarian." I rolled my eyes. "I'll search the area once more when the sun is up. Maybe I've missed something. You can go back while it is still cold. That way, you won't loose as much water to the heat."

"I'll wait with you. It's safer to stay in a group. Besides, I wouldn't find my way back anyways. I still can't understand how you find your way around here."

And so we waited, the camel munching on shrubs beside us.

"Say, where were you going anyway, when you stumbled over us and the lamia? Were you with a larger caravan or something?"

The questions were innocent enough and it wouldn't hurt to answer. It would definitely make waiting a bit more interesting.

"I was on my way to Rovia, when I found the remains of your camels. I thought it was a caravan under attack. The merchants in Karvia were waiting for one to come up from Rovia. I hope that one was simply late, and didn't run into any problems."

"And you're traveling all alone? From Karvia? Woah. Amazing! I heard the one-way trip takes 3 to 4 weeks straight through the desert. No water, only burning heat and unending dunes."

"What brought you to the desert?"

"Well... me and the other three come from Sorley. It's a city far south, between two rivers. That merchant asked for additional guards during a desert expedition and since none of us have been to the desert, we thought it interesting. Make new experiences and all, you know? Besides, the trip costs a horrendous amount of money, whether you go through the mountain or book passage on a ship. As temporary guards to a merchant, he has to pay for the transportation expenses. Sure, buying food and lodging along the way is still pricey, but manageable."

"You can go through the mountain?"

"Sure thing. The dwarves built a giant tunnel between their underground cities. And they let travelers pay a pretty penny for it. But they also make sure that the tunnel is well maintained and safe from monsters."

I shuddered at the thought. Living underground? Bereft of the wide skies and the merciless sun? The few times my teacher had made me explore ancient structures had already been too much for me.

"The sea route is just as pricey, but more dangerous. Depending on the season, there are storms and pirates to deal with. Sometimes even monsters," continued Darid. "Ah, but we'll have to decide what to do when we reach Rovia. I'm sure that merchant will kick us out as quickly as possible. And we don't have the money for either route. But seriously, disguising slave hunting as an expedition? How dumb can he be? If he thought he could kill us off midway, to keep us from blabbing, then he was wrong. Us adventurers don't die that easily."

The sun crept over the horizon, the first rays glaring down onto the land.

"The lamia would've killed you all, him included. Then again, you were already dead the moment your guide ran away. I can't decide if you guys were lucky I came along, or if I was unlucky."

"Hey, we're not that bad!" cried Darid.