The sight of half a dozen buildings on the horizon filled me with such an overwhelming feeling of relief that I almost cried.

Please, please don’t be a mirage. I pleaded as Arion plodded along behind Darius’s gray mare who was leading the group.

“There’s the outpost.” Darius called, his voice muffled by the cloth covering the lower half of his face.

“Thank the gods.” Killian muttered from his place behind me.

Clutching my wagasa tightly, I squinted, trying to make out more of the buildings as we approached. This was the first thing other than sand and some sparse rocky outcroppings that I’d seen during our trek through the desert.

I was grateful that Arion was wearing a hooded caparison to protect him from the elements because I knew that he would be suffering just as much as I was, if not more, considering he had to carry me.

As we drew closer to the outpost, several tents were pitched near the buildings and a few people were milling around. The buildings were all made of the same red stone, with thatched awnings that hung over the doorways, windows.

Near the center of the outpost, a group of camels, horses, donkeys, and some kind of large raptors were tied to wooden stakes under the shade of several palm trees.

I first thought the buildings were made of stone, but as we rode past them, I saw they were made from a mixture of clay and small rocks. The craftsmanship of these buildings was nowhere near that of the portal building, and cracks could be seen on some of the walls.

As we rode past the buildings, a few people looked up, but did not verbally acknowledge us as we made our way to an open area near where half a dozen tents were pitched.

“We’ll pitch our tents here until it cools, then move on.” Darius stated, bringing his mare to a halt.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I collapsed the canopy of my wagasa and dismounted, almost falling as my knees buckled. Stumbling, I clutched at Arion’s saddle to steady myself.

“You okay, Kadia?” Darius asked, giving me a side glance as he pulled a rolled bundle of canvas from his saddle bag.

“Just need a minute.” I managed to rasp out through dry, cracked lips.

“Drink some water and eat something.” He advised, moving to lay out the tent he carried.

Nodding, I reached into my bag, searching for one of the apples Bron had given me earlier in the morning.

The sweet, refreshing fruit was exactly what I needed to get the dirty taste of sand out of my mouth. Pulling a second apple from my bag, I cut off a small slice for Zosimos before offering the rest to Arion.

Once I’d finished with my own apple, I gave Arion the core and, after seeing everyone diligently setting up tents, retrieved my tent token. Ripping the paper token in two, I watched as a cylindrical bag made of leather appeared at my feet.

Wasn’t it meant to be a tent? Damn, I should have realized it wasn’t going to magically put itself together.

Carrying the heavy leather bag, which looked more like a rolled up sleeping bag than a tent, over to an empty spot between Markion and Darius’s tents, I knelt to pull a roll of canvas out of the bag along with a wooden mallet and fourteen metal stakes.

Okay, now what? I stared down at the items on the ground.

Wasn’t there a furnace, benches and other stuff inside the tent in the images? Oh great, don’t tell me the furnishings weren’t included. What a rip off. I grumbled to myself silently as I searched the bag for any instructions.

“Need a hand, sis?” Markion called, as he walked out of his own tent.

Looking at his already upright tent in jealousy, I nodded, and he came over to inspect my bundle of items.

“Right, the first step is to unroll the tent completely and lay out the guy ropes.”

“The what-ropes?” I asked, as we began unrolling the canvas.

“Guy ropes, they’re the ropes attached to the outside of your tent and are staked into the ground to keep the tent from being blown away.” My brother explained, lifting up a rope that was attached to one of the corners.

“The trick with these kinds of tents is to fold the top rope in half and pull it out. Then mark the halfway point with your foot and stake the end there.”

Folding the rope over so it created a loop, Markion handed me the end of the rope then dragged the looped center of the rope across the sand, before waving for me to bring him the end along with the mallet and a stake.

“You don’t want to stretch the top ropes out fully, because they are attached to the roof and it won't go up all the way if they are too tight.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to stake it down after we put the tent up? Isn’t that what they do in survival shows?” I asked as Markion hammered down the stake. “Shouldn’t there be poles?”

“They’re sown into the canvas; tent poles are made from a dried vine that is very flexible. Even the cheapest, basic level tents are constructed using the vine in place of metal or wood poles. Once we’ve staked down the roof, you need to crawl inside and undo the tether. The tether is holding the ‘poles’ down and once you release it the tent will pop up into shape.” Markion lectured as he continued hammering in stakes.

Once the stakes were hammered into place, Markion lifted the front section of the canvas where the door was and I crawled inside, searching for the tether my brother said would be there. Getting inside the tent wasn’t easy, as the canvas was heavy and impeded my progress. Sweat beaded across my skin, while my head pounded and ached, the heat inside the collapsed tent was three times worse than being outside.

“Markion, I can't find the tether.” I called out, my voice muffled by the canvas.

“Can’t you?” My brother responded, letting out a booming laugh as a swoosh of air filled the tent, and the heavy weight of the canvas lifted off me, rising into the air. “Yo, sis, what are you doing lying around on the floor?”

Markion chortled, his eyes dancing with amusement as he ducked his head into the tent with a wide grin.

“You- what the hell Marcus.” I snapped, scrambling to my feet with a glare.

“Come on, Kads, you’re meant to be the smart one. You didn’t see me or the others crawling around in our tents, did you?” He mocked, waving a cord he held between his fingers at me.

“The tether is by the door, to pop the tent up you just undo the knot, to collapse the tent you pull it out like this.” He said, yanking the cord and pulling it out hand over hand.

Yelling at him to stop as the tent collapsed around me, I dashed towards the door only for my brother to release the cord which sprang from his hands, disappearing into a pocket sewn along the seams of the tent. Even though the Minotaur stopped collapsing the tent on top of me, I didn’t halt my charge.

Oomph.

A gasp as the air left his lungs was the only reaction Markion gave as I rammed him with all my strength. Seconds after impact, a big hand clamped around the back of my tunic, hoisting me up into the air. Held at eye level with the smug looking Minotaur, I let out a low growl, swiping at his muzzle with fiery claws.

“Fuck,” crying out in pain, Markion dropped me to the ground where I landed on my ass with a hard thump.

Instinct took over and in a flash I was on all fours, with my teeth buried into the fleshy fetlock of the Minotaur’s leg. The metallic tang of blood coated my tongue, and I dug my teeth deeper into the leg as it lifted into the air.

“Let go, fuck, Kadia. Get off or you’re going to get hurt.” Markion yelled, his words barely penetrating past the rage fueled haze filling my mind.

Sharp teeth dug into the nape of my neck, and a low growl vibrated through me as I was yanked back by my scruff. Fear and anger coursed through me as the creature holding me shook my smaller body back and forth.

Burn him, burn him, burn him.

Fire exploded outwards from within me, racing from my core out to the tips of my fur and beyond in a wave of flame. The teeth clamped around my nape disappeared, and I fell to the sand, spinning around to see a large black wolf pawing at the singed fur of his muzzle.

“What is wrong with her?” A loud voice called out, and I spun to see two men rushing towards me.

“It’s heat rage, we need to cool her off.” The shorter of the two yelled, his curly blond hair identifying him as the group's healer.

Icy water poured over me in a wave, knocking me off my feet. Shaking the wetness from my fur, I turned in the direction the water came from and saw a slender, pointy-eared man standing with his hands outstretched. Staring at the elven man, I allowed my inner fire to push out through my fur, causing the surrounding water to form clouds of steam. Using the steam clouds as cover, I crouched low, preparing to lunge at the elf when the wolf appeared again, batting me to the side with a large, black paw.

Before I could find my feet, the wolf's teeth once more found my nape, as it hoisted me up off the ground and ran across the hot sand with me held tightly in its jaws. Suddenly I was flying through the air, my limbs flailing about aimlessly, before I landed in a shallow pool of water with a loud splash.

Shakily getting to my feet, I stared at the wolf who stood on the edge of the water, staring at me with fierce eyes. With a huff, I turned my back on the wolf, slumping down in the water so my entire body was submerged, only my ears and muzzle poking up out of the water.

“Looks like she be spending too much time with those crocs.” an accented voice said, but I ignored it as I soaked my heated body in the cool water.

“It’s my fault, this is her first time in the desert. As the healer, I should have noticed she wasn’t handling the heat well.”

I’m not a child, I don’t need a babysitter.

“At least she is small, remember when Calidus went nuts during our first days in the desert? Damned bear almost tore my arm off.” Roderick grumbled, and I snorted, causing small ripples in the water.

“I thought she would handle the heat better, being so attuned to fire and all. Yuki didn’t seem bothered at all by the heat.” Markion said.

A pang of guilt shot through me at the sound of his voice.

“Yuki already had her ice wisp at that stage and was using it to cool herself.” The gruff voice of the guild leader caused my ears to pin back against my head.

“Leave her there for now, we need to finish pitching the tents. Let her cool off in the water and regain her senses.”

I already have, I’m just too embarrassed to get out or change back. I sighed with relief at the sound of their fading footsteps. Sitting up on my haunches, I glanced around at the trees surrounding the pool of water.

This must be the oasis we rode past, I mused as I paddled through the shallows towards the edge of the water.

Movement in the water to my left, had me instinctively jerking back as a serpentine body struck towards me, skimming the front of my nose.

In a fear-fueled dash, I bounded out of the water towards the bank, as the snake struck out towards me again. Reaching the sand, I ran up several steps before spinning around as the snake followed me.

Coiling itself up, the snake prepared another strike and as it did, I leapt to the side, lunging for the back of its wide flat head with my teeth. The snake writhed beneath me, its body twisting, trying to wrap around me as I held its head pinned in my jaws.

As the snake successfully got two coils around my torso and began to squeeze, I realized I’d screwed up. The snake was not dead, and no matter how hard I bit down I could not pierce through its scales with my teeth.

All I could do was hold the head in my jaws as it slowly tightened its hold on me. If I released it, the snake would bite me, if I stayed here holding it, the snake, which was far larger than my current form, would surely crush my rib cage.

Ensuring I had a firm grip on the writhing snake, I slowly trudged back to the tents, the snake constricting with every strained breath I took.

Spotting the massive form of a Minotaur walking towards me, leading the reins of my horse and his rhino, I stopped walking and waited for him to notice me.

“What the.., shit, Kadia. Crap, hold on.” Markion called out, dropping the reins of both mounts to grab his massive ax.

No, Markion are you insane? You’ll end up killing me as well if you go swinging that around. I mentally screamed at the Minotaur as he approached with his ax.

“Markion, what’s going, oh shit. Cobra.” Killian exclaimed as he appeared, leading another two mounts.

Reaching me, Markion gently placed his ax against the cobra’s neck, rubbing it back and forth along the scales. I could feel through the snake's body when he severed the head and I began to wriggle my body free of the loosening coils, keeping a firm grip on the head. No way was I risking a bite if the snake had some kind of nerve reflex.

“You better hope that was a normal snake.” Killian joked as he walked past, leading the horses over to the oasis for a drink.