Snippet #2707281

29th Breh

Jolloc and Bertholdt stood atop a low cliff and viewed their surroundings. They managed to escape several hundred or so paces from the city. They could still see a vague outline of Khi'ir's minarets in the distance along with other odd curved and pointed shapes.

“Where are they, where could they have possibly gone?” Bertholdt's eyes scanned the sandy horizon.

Jolloc shook his head, “I don’t know, maybe they already made their way to Seirkent.”

Bertholdt paced, “This is bad, we barely started and I’ve already lost the people I’m supposed to guide.”

“We, we lost them, Bert. But they’re smart,” Jolloc retrieved an apple from his sack and chewed, “And you gave them the little maps, we’ll just have to get to Seirkent without them and meet up. Trust that we meet them there if not along the way.”

The muscii wavered and waited before responding, “I suppose you’re right, but we can wait a little further.”

“Did you happen to leave them with any provisions or coin?”

The muscii stared at the orc.

-

Two Days Later.

An extravagant pair of feathery wings. A large black hammer. An interminable scowl.

Each of them seemed to make an odd grouping, but they all shared some similarities of character. They belonged to a class of independent people with few friends in this land. Though, that could be said of everyone on the quest.

Huo, Niobe, and Sanvi wandered through the cracked and craggy land for two days. They had escaped the terrifying and deceitful mirages, but had yet to see their comrades.

“You can quit yer scowlin’,” Niobe suggested.

Huo glanced at her. He relaxed his features, and he could feel some tension escape from his face.

The Osu paused to glance at the surrounding desert, which reminded him of the times when he traveled with Dhaxi throughout Syakh and the Empire. They never ventured past the seaport cities in Syakh though. He beheld the great expanse with its many rock formations and canyons and little bugs and creatures.

The wind reminded him that he was free. He possessed freedom, but he did not feel free.

“Ye’d be a far better option for women in wantin’ with that look,” the dwarf joked once she saw his changed face.

Though how much more she could joke was suspect. They had little water left and they needed to conserve what little they possessed. Even the dwarf, more of a loner and self-sufficient than the rest, felt moved to partake in their collective survival.

They caught whatever they believed they could eat, and Huo roasted it with a small flame of his own. Little vermin skittered across the wind washed land, that was a reprieve at least. The heat reached its high point at midday. Yet, no sign of their companions made them consider this quest their own, and at some point, they might meet again at intended checkpoints. If indeed, their comrades had survived and so long as they moved at the same pace as each other. Yet there was no way of knowing. They each feared the worst.

“We might be the only ones,” Huo spoke.

“Have some hope, the deserts are never empty,” Niobe said, she still managed to pull the hammer along.

It carved a line through the dirt. It seemed the dwarf did not care if it dirtied. The winged girl kept one wing to serve as shade, but the other wing dragged along the sand. Other than that, not a single word escaped her, until...

A rumble.

“What was that?” Sanvi’s eyes darted across the horizon.

Her expression copied by the other two. Each of them, though exhausted, still sensed something about to happen.

Then it erupted from the ground, the sand showered like a mist. Rocks flew. The ground in front of them submerged and sank in crevices and fissures. Right before them, and shook the earth. They retreated several steps as the dust and sand cleared to reveal a golem with three dots on its supposed head, each glowing red like sigils. This creature belonged to the earth and sand, rocks built its joints. It towered over them like a building.

Then, with a single gaping maw underneath the red dots, it roared and sent several the skittering critters to find shelter.

Niobe whispered.

“Run.”

Without a second thought and nothing but the quickest pace that their legs could carry them, they sprinted across the expanse. The sky-high golem roared. It stumbled at a pace befitting for rocks and stones. It staggered and swayed with a child taking its first steps. Its arms, near the length of its whole form, and uneven in compared to one another, swung wide with each step. Each step kicked up rocks.

Sanvi led the group with her wings, she flapped with effort and kept ahead of Huo and Niobe.

Huo glanced back at the dwarf, “Hurry up, that thing is gaining on us!”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine!” Niobe cried back.

Huo realized they could not outrun the beast. Then Sanvi shrieked, she crashed into the sand on the ground, perhaps by exhaustion.

The Osu ran to lift her to her feet.

“Strained,” she gasped, her face paled by sun, she lifted her left hand, a swirl of yellow aura coalesced around it until it disappeared.

She stroked her wing, attempting to repair whatever strain that touched her muscles.

“We need to hide,” the Kaleth urged, all the while, the rock golem continued its pursuit.

Huo glanced back at Niobe. He watched the dwarf spin around and drew in a large breath. Then she pulled up her hammer and slammed it into the ground, sending a ripple through the earth. The golem lost its footing for a brief second before it recovered and chased them with greater vigor.

He set the Kaleth down and rushed back toward the golem. Then he leapt and threw a fist, a ball of flame erupted and hit the creature around its dots, which may have been its eyes.

Then he ran in another direction away from either the golem and Sanvi, all the while throwing fists of flames at the creature.

“Get her to safety! I’ll distract it, I can run faster,” it was true, the dwarf had shorter legs, and now that Sanvi strained a wing, the Osu moved the quickest.

Huo wondered if this was his first attempt at nobility, but he kept his eyes focus on the creature, more flow spent on generating and manipulating flames. The dwarf nodded and ran back to Sanvi, the two of them propped each other up and headed for the nearest canyon.

The creature took the bait and disengaged from the other two to pursue the pugilist’s tangent. Huo ran as far as his feet could take him, and, once the dwarf and Kaleth disappeared, he realized he had no strategy to rid himself of the golem. He cursed under his breath and tried to think of a plan, all the while realizing his stamina fading.

He ran for how long, he did not know, but the golem kept on his heels. He could see a bright light ahead, and hear familiar voices. Or maybe, that was his mind giving way to exhaustion.

He collapsed in the sand, his eyes blinked, and his head throbbed with the sensation of the golem’s footsteps shaking the ground. Then blackness.