Something nudged Angel in the side. His eyes snapped open and he rolled over, his face crinkled in annoyance. Cowl poked him with his foot again.

“Your watch,” Cowl said in a low tone. “I did the first half of the night. I don’t think the girl has any experience in the desert, so you’ll have to take the second.”

“You don’t say?” Angel asked, glancing over at Vanessa, who was snoring slightly in her sleep. Her mouth was wide open and one of her hands hung over the edge of her sleeping bag.

He sat up, unwrapping the blanket and sitting down on top of it as Cowl made his way into his sleeping bag and crawled inside. Angel watched as the man’s chest slowly rose and fell as he slipped into a light sleep.

After a few minutes, Angel reached inside his bag of artifacts. He dug around it for a few moments until he pulled out a small orb made up of dozens of tiny plates. He sent a spark of magic into it and the orb spun to life with a silent whirr.

It blinked once with blue light before the plates shifted, expanding outwards. The orb floated into the air above them, where it hovered in the darkness, occasionally sending out faint beams of light that scanned the surrounding area. The artifact was a sentry of sorts, and he'd used it several times. It had never found anything, but he'd never been attacked when he was using it either. Angel watched it for a few moments, then pulled the pendant out of his pocket and stared at it.

He desperately wanted to start on the relic, but the chance that the pendant contained Old World magic wouldn’t let him abandon his efforts. Of all the artifacts he found, only around a quarter actually worked. Less than half of that number did anything remotely useful, and Angel broke the majority of those trying to figure out how they functioned.

Of the few artifacts that remained, only one or two would be made in a way that Angel even had a chance of deciphering the Old Magic within them. It happened less than once every few years.

Angel pressed his lips together and pulled the full force of his magic to his fingertips – a miniscule blue spark flickered to life. He hunched over the pendant and got to work.

Hours crept by. The night waned as the sun rose at the horizon, small rays of light breaking through the shadows. Angel put the pendant away and stood up with a stretch. He yawned and grabbed the floating ball out of the air before wrapping it and putting it back into his bag.

By the time he started to pack his blanket away, Cowl had already awoken. The masked Hunter pressed a switch on a small panel in his sleeping bag and it condensed back into a tube. He popped the cap back on and tucked it away.

Angel nudged Vanessa awake with his shoe. She groaned and rolled over, burying her face in her bedroll.

“Five more minutes. I’m sleeping.”

“Not anymore you aren’t,” Angel said. “Time to get moving.”

Vanessa let out another groan. She rolled over, blinking, and looked up at the pale blue sky. A flicker of fear passed over her features for a moment. Then she sat up and rolled out of bed.

“We should reach Dune Valley today,” Cowl said. “A few hours before night if we’re lucky.”

Angel unfurled his map and glanced at it. It was almost entirely blank, aside from a few major landmarks. Dune Valley wasn’t even on it. He grimaced and rolled it back up, thankful that he’d hired the Hunter. Once everyone had packed up, the three had a quick breakfast and resumed their trek across the desert.

The day passed quickly. Hours flew by. Cowl didn’t even stop to reference a map once – not that it would have helped them. There were no landmarks anywhere to be seen. The ground was endless sand from horizon to horizon.

A short while after the sun hit its peak and started downwards again, Angel realized that Cowl was speeding up. He and Vanessa accelerated as well. The girl’s face went from relaxed to concentrated. Angel drew closer to her.

“Can you move at this speed? You don’t look relaxed,” Angel called.

“I’ve never gone this fast,” Vanessa replied, not looking away from the ground. “My mom never let me in case I fell.”

“Cowl, we need to slow down,” Angel said. “Falling down at this speed would not be ideal.”

Cowl glanced over his shoulder. Then he nodded, letting up on the speed. To Angel’s surprise, they slowed to a stop. Cowl unclipped the sword from his side.

“Get ready to fight or run. Whichever you’re better at,” Cowl said, rolling his shoulders. “We jinxed ourselves. Something’s on our tail.”

“Are you sure?” Vanessa asked, her face paling. “I don’t see anything.”

Angel’s fingers fluttered over the cannisters on his arm. Lightning tended to be the most commonly applicable spell, which is why he liked to have three prepared at any given time. He grabbed the appropriate cannister and put it into the slot in his arm.

“Where are they coming from?” Angel asked. “And any idea what it is?”

“Something large,” Cowl replied. He nodded in the direction from where they’d come. “Somewhere over there, but I don’t know where it’ll emerge. It’s underground and approaching quickly.”

“Vanessa, back up a little,” Angel ordered. She hurried to comply and jogged a short distance away from them.

A few seconds passed in silence. Then a faint rumble started to shake the sand beneath Angel’s feet.

“Get ready,” Cowl warned. “It’s almost on us.”

He reached into his pouch and pulled out a small grey orb with his free hand. He tossed it into the air. The ball shimmered as it flew, expanding into a small boulder before crunching to the sand.

The ground exploded as a massive grey blur launched into the air, swallowing the rock whole. Sand pelted them as the beast crashed to the ground. It had four spindly legs and a bulbous abdomen. Four black eyes the size of Angel’s fist focused on them. Saliva dripped from its yellowed fangs and splattered against the sand, melting clean through it. The beast opened its gaping mouth and let out a hissing screech.

Angel’s eyepiece dropped down and magic trickled through it. The monster lit up with dull orange light as he scanned it.

Race: Warg

Status: Healthy

Level 51

Information accuracy: 53%

Strength: 62

Intelligence: 12

Nimbleness: 19

Toughness: 37

Rating: Incredibly Dangerous

Weak point(s): Not Enough Information (0/100)

Element(s): Earth, Poison

Error: Unable to analyze further. Information incomplete

It’s venomous!” Angel called out, raising his arm as gears whirred within it. “Tough too. Be careful.”

A bolt of lightning tore out of Angel’s palm and slammed into the warg’s body. It staggered back slightly and let out a chittering cry of fury. The monster’s eyes turned to stare at the Seeker and it charged towards him.

The beast moved surprisingly fast across the desert floor. Angel barely managed to throw himself out of the way as the monster’s legs slammed into the ground where he’d been standing, piercing deep into the sand.

Cowl’s wings sprang back up on his back and he shot through the sky towards the warg. It spun, rearing back on its hind legs to meet the man. Cowl jerked back at the last second and the creature’s strike passed through the air right before his nose.

He zipped forward again and drove his sword into the warg’s back. The blade bit deep and greenish brown blood started to ooze from the wound. The warg screamed and lashed out, forcing Cowl to launch into the air to avoid getting speared.

Angel grabbed another cannister from his arm and pressed it into the slot. He slammed his hand against the desert floor. The sand beneath the warg rippled as a spike sprouted from the ground. The creature managed to jerk away, but the strike still carved a ragged line through the bottom of its abdomen.

Cowl reached into a pouch at his side and grabbed something within it. He connected it to the hilt of his sword and a dull hum filled the air. Metal seemed to balloon around the blade as it expanded outwards, growing larger and thicker. When it finished, the sword had nearly tripled in width. It shimmered with faint white light.