"Anything?" Zena raised her left eyebrow with her arms crossed.

Eera nodded with a grin.

Before the zebra replied, Jenny quickly raised her left hand. "Can we have a private chat to decide this?"

Eera rose off her seat. "I shall give you some time to think about my request. Let me know when you are ready."

After the goat chief left the dining hall, Jenny turned toward her friends. “I think we should accept her offer.”

Zena glared at her. “Why? So you can return to your time without us?”

“You know I wanted to return home for a long time. This could be my only chance to leave here.”

“But what about us?” Zena held up her arms. “What would we be without you? We have always been a team together, Jenny. You are like our sister to us. And now you want to throw all this away? Your own family away?”

Jenny’s heart stirred inside her chest. She won’t let the female zebra control her emotions. “I don’t want to throw you away. I still love you three, but I have friends and siblings who thought I am dead. I want to see my world and other loved ones again.”

Zena grimaced. “But what if you don’t come back?”

Jenny smiled. “Don’t worry. Maybe the company who built the Transgate can send me back here. I can always visit you guys if it works.”

Zena lowered her ears. “I still don’t feel kin on this.”

Huntar cleared his throat. “It’s her choice, Zena. I would do the same to see my old family again. Besides, we can ask Eera for anything we want. Clearly, she lives here like a goddess. We should all earn what we want instead of strolling through the desert in the blink of death.”

“But we will march through the desert anyway if we accept Eera’s request,” said Zena.

“Torag!” The rhino blurted and pounded his chest.

“But Eera might give us supplies and mounts to ride on,” Jenny suggested after she chewed her meat slice. “She wouldn’t want us to die in the desert without the stones.”

Zena shrugged. “Fair enough.”

“Come on, Zena. We starved while the sun roasted us. We need more trades, and…” Jenny licked her lower lip. “If the Time Stones don’t work, I will always stay with you guys. Here, you will always be my family.”

Zena sighed. “So be it. I will always help you too, Jenny… But I am not ready to lose you yet.”

Jenny grinned.

*****

After lunch, Jenny and her friends told Eera they accepted her quest. With excitement, Eera immediately ordered her servants to prepare their equipment and rides.

Of course, the adventurers stayed longer to enjoy their recovery from their fatigue. Eera suggested they should leave by dusk so the heat wouldn’t slow them down, and the predator creatures rarely come out through the cold since most of them are cold-blooded. Still, nobody could travel alone without protection.

Later, Jenny and her friends packed their gear onto their long-necked bird creatures called Yorks. They reminded Jenny of Ostriches, except they have scaly tails behind their humped backs.

Instead of armor, Jenny and her friends wore their usual clothing. The heat will burn their armor if they travel in heavy loads. Not only their flesh will fry, but they will become vulnerable to whatever else lurks in the desert.

After saying farewell to the tribe, Jenny’s party rode on their Yorks through the main gate.

Meanwhile, Eera watched them from her balcony. A slow grin crawled up on her face.

"Do you think it is wise to let those strangers perform your task?" Bladen approached her from behind.

Eera turned toward him. "They are expendable. I would rather send them than waste good warriors in my domain."

"What if they take the stones for themselves or die before they reach them?"

Eera chuckled. "That is why you must spy on them." She stepped close to him and stroked his chin. "Watch them closely until they grab both the stones."

The fur on Bladen's back rose. "Then what?"

"Then take the stones and the human girl. Do not harm the girl.”

"Why her?"

Eera turned back toward the gate. "She has power. I felt it when she saved my life. It will be enough to energize the stones to open the portal, even if it kills her."

"And the others?"

Eera gave him a half smile. "Do what you enjoy doing. They cannot stop the ritual and save their companion."

Bladen raised his muzzle into a deep grin. "With pleasure, my chieftainess."

*****

At night, Jenny and her friends built a campfire and sat around it, feeling the flames’ heat cuddle them in the darkness. Since the bright moon was half full, the barren landscape with sand and hills remain pitch black.

Jenny pulled out the map and held it close to the fire to see the patterns on it. “I decided we should travel to the closet lair.”

“Which one?” Huntar asked, chewing on a beef jerky strip.

“The Tower of Nagendra the Collector. It will only take three days to reach there from here. The other lair will take six days on our mounts.”

Zena sipped her water porch. “How long will it take to reach the other sorcerer's lair after we grab the first stone?”

Jenny stared at the map. “Three days I think. Our quest will take six days in total.”

“And six days back to Eera’s city?” Huntar asked.

Jenny nodded.

“Torag…..” The rhino complained under his breath.

Jenny rolled up the map and placed it back into her pack. “We have been traveling a lot, Torag. This should be a cakewalk for you.”

“Traveling for days isn’t my concern,” said Huntar. “My only concern is the sorcerers we will face. What do we know about Nagendra?”

Jenny opened her mouth until a shadow flew over her head. She jumped to her feet and looked around. “What was that?”

Huntar sniffed the air as his eyes grew wide. "We are not alone here…"