Deserted was the right word to describe the nomad village.

Of course, the chasm that formed just a couple of kilometers at its side did not help make the place exactly attractive for settlers, still, to abandon everything and leave just like that was… unlikely.

We moved among the tents like ghosts into a village of a nightmare.

Even creatures had started to dwell in it.

Aisha took out a small horde of Imps that had settled into the village, but most of them ran away before she fried them where they stood.

We passed through the tents to grab things to eat and bring with us on the trip we would have to take through the desert, and we found suspiciously few food reserves.

If there had been any, and it was practically impossible that nomads didn't have any stashed away for eventualities, then it could only mean that they had set out for moving and brought it with them.

But moving was not the only option to explain why villagers would bring their food reserves; battles were another reason. And if I had to guess, they had taken them on in an attempt to surprise attack the Sand-Crawler.

If somebody could move undeterred and unnoticed in the Drylands, whether it was Flow season or not, then those were the Western nomad tribes.

"It's here, thank the Sun," said Aisha as she ran toward her Flow-cart.

"Are we sure it's safe? I mean, I would have definitely done something to it."

"That's because you are a big meanie," Nova said.

She was trying to fix the sour mood of untold things and unexpressed apologies born during the trip to the village.

Or at least that was what I believed.

But I wasn't sour, not in the slightest. My two girls had done whatever they could to dig through the rock slide.

They had given their all and entirely expended their Crystals reserves by digs of Aisha's flares and Nova's blades. She had put so much energy into destroying those rocks that she had leveled up her Skill completely in just a few hours.

She was likely taking my silence as fault for having arrived just a few moments earlier while I was just trying to focus my attention on studying Tracing.

I had long since become friends with my clock-tech parts; yes, it was another piece of me I had lost, but I didn't give it too much thought… or so I felt. Yet, if that was so, why wasn't I really saying those things instead of just thinking about them?

Maybe I was sour, just a little bit…

"Well, I say check it out first. In the meanwhile, I'm going to take a look at the chief's tent."

Loki and I went to the tent while Nova stayed behind with Aisha.

The chief's tent was not that big as I had first thought, or maybe it was because passing through the entrance on top of Loki made it look that much smaller. Still, it looked just like the other day.

I climbed down from Loki and cheated Shadow Shot into producing a dagger.

I regularly used it as a thrown weapon, which was enough for my Skill Perk to qualify it as a conjurable object; as long as I produced the object in my hands and I could throw it or shoot it fast enough, it had the qualities for being conjured.

But nothing said I couldn't use it to stab or defend myself with it.

Still, I had no idea how to make a dagger, so its power depended entirely on my Focus and Bonus Focus.

Shadow Dagger

Shade Capacity: 100%

Shade Density: 18.72

Strengths: Made entirely of Shade

Weaknesses: Weak to Heat, Light, and Flow, Poor attack and defense

This Shadow Dagger has been produced by Loke Nightfold. Its power is directly related to his knowledge of Daggers.

I was damn pitiful, but it was better than pointing an arrow at somebody.

Yet, the Shadow Dagger was revealed to be entirely useless.

No matter how much I Traced around, I found nothing interesting, nothing at all.

I was about to leave when I saw something interesting in a small cabinet by the fur-bed.

It was a picture; the same type gramps had of mom and dad. Sundoor made.

It showed a young girl, with an infant in her arms, while behind her stood two Shade-cursed.

The girl was definitely that Kaleeki woman, which likely made the kid her brother, the young chief.

If those behind them were their parents, then where were they now?

Kaleeki seemed to despise Shade-cursed to her heart's content; did their parent leave them? Did they disappear on them, like… like ours did?

I couldn't know. But I brought the photo with me; it could come in handy.

There was nothing else I could bring with me here, so I left. I had promised Roana something, and I would uphold it.

However, I didn’t even need to check the cage covered with the heavy piece of giant cloth to realize it; the Cyclopses were all gone, every single one of them.

They had been killed, then turned into undead and killed anew; what did I expect?

“Loke!” Nova called as I stared at the empty cage, “I found a change of clothes!”

At least that was a good piece of news.

The Flow-cart sped through the deserted lands; though his maximum speed was crap, it was enough to leave most creatures behind; Nova instead brought down the ones that were too fast.

I could witness her new Flow blades' ability to shoot Solar beams. Yeah, she was crap at shooting and directing the Flow, but she had learned the other day, she would become good, given time.

Solar Blade Skill Construct (Greatsword Form)

Durability: 100%

Bonuses: Strength + 120

Flow Capacity: 100%

Strengths: Fire-inducing, Flow Construct, Solar beams, Twice as powerful against Shade constructs

Weaknesses: Shade

This Solar Blade was conjured by Nova Nightfold. It can offer a stable source of severe damage. It can regenerate itself with Flow, ignite things on fire and melt metal.

She was peeking out of the cart's foldable's top and had summoned a Solar Greatsword that she was holding with two hands; from the greatsword's tip, thick beams of solar energy shot at a decent speed and exploded on the enemies' sides.

It was nowhere as strong as Aisha's Flares. Still, Aisha had massive Focus and Bonus Focus, and although Nova's Solar Blade power scaled both from Strength and Focus, it seemed that the beams scaled only with Focus.

Nonetheless, it was a sight to see.

I would have never thought my sister would be using such flashy Skills.

She looked amazing. And with her now long hair blowing in the wind, I knew that Aisha's plans to make her into some sort of Sundoor's idol would come to fruition. She was born to do this.

Still, she had three Dark Crystals remaining, but I suggested that she conserve them to increase her Flow Shield; it would become a massive upgrade of our delving abilities.

Nova was indeed becoming probably the strongest member of our party.

I had my mobility, and I could count on what was likely a slightly greater damage output than her, probably the highest among us. Still, she would be able to literally dance among tech creatures and cleave them in pieces with her Solar Blades while protecting herself with her Flow Shield when it came to it.

Meanwhile, I prepared myself for the battle that I feared we would face.

The first thing I did was to borrow Loki's Focus.

Loki had forty-two points of Focus. Yet basing my calculation on what I had discovered thanks to Tracing, I could only use up to thirty-four points of that; it was still a decent upgrade.

I wasted a Stone, of which Nova and Aisha had gathered many while I healed, to check on my Shadow Crystal Blow arrow upgraded potency.

Shadow Crystal Blow Arrow

Shade Capacity: 100%

Shade Density: 121.98

Strengths: Made entirely of Shade

Weaknesses: Weak to Heat, Light, and Flow

This Shadow Crystal Blow Arrow has been produced by Loke Nightfold. Its power is directly related to his knowledge of Blow Arrows. Handle with care because the product inside is very unstable.

It was just a minuscule boost, but together with my newly found knowledge of Tracing, I could guess that Bonus Attributes did really act as multiplier for the Basic Attributes.

I knew that I would have to increase my Basic Focus to have a solid increase in power or upgrade my Skills by a lot… Or better still, learn how to create strong Blow arrows properly.

I also knew that there were stronger versions of Blow arrows. They were the most powerful in commerce in the City, or so Logan had said. They were called Boom arrows, yet Logan did not have the knowledge nor the means to make those. They were costly but stronger than the ones I used.

If I ever managed to reach the City, I would properly learn how to build clock-tech weaponry and become proficient in it, at least as much as my abilities would take me. There was only so until a certain point one could push the power of its products without Skills or Class Perks. Especially Class Perks related to crafting, those ones gave the best bonuses.

"Hey, Loke," Nova said as after scattering the monsters, she sat back down, "do you think…" she continued, looking at me but without really being able to raise her eyes, "Do you think that you could trust me better now? I mean now that I'm stronger..."

I was seriously taken aback by that.

"What?"

"Oh, sweetie… come here," I embraced her, caressing her head.

"I've always trusted you; I would place my life in your hands without a second thought."

I took her face in my hands then, "Listen to me," I said to her shiny eyes, "I've always trusted you? Don't you remember how many dangers we went through back then? How you defended me with your shield, how you attracted the monsters' attention when we could do nothing but that?"

She nodded.

“Then you should know I trust you with all that I am. If I leave you out of some of the things we do, it is not because I don't trust you, and it will never be because of a lack of trust. I do it because I need to know that you are safe. Because you are all that's left of my family, and if you had to die, or leave me alone… I do not know what I would do…"

I couldn't help but be moved by our exchange.

"I never want to leave you, Loke. I love you more than anything in this world…"

"I do too, little monkey. My little monkey."

She chuckled in my arms.

"Loke?"

"Yeah, little monkey?"

"I'm sorry about your leg…"

"I know. It's alright. More work for Harlow; she's gonna enjoy it."

"If I could have given you mine, I would have."

"I wouldn't have allowed it."

"I know…" she said, rubbing her face on my chest.

"I'm about to cry," said Aisha from her driving spot. "It's not good to cry while driving," she sniffed, "don't make me cry, please."

A few hours later, we stopped by a rock formation for the coming of night, but we had made it almost half-way through to where the Sand-Crawler was before we left.

Aisha hoped it would still be there, but I thought it unlikely.

"We could continue, but the batteries for this beast won't work for more than an hour," she said.

"Should have thought about it before you chose such a massive car. How much did you pay for it anyway?"

She sighed, "One hundred sixty thousand crowns."

I was sincerely ignorant about how much that would turn out to be, but I tried narrowing the field to something I was comfortable with.

"How much would that be worth in potatoes?"

Aisha exploded in laughter.

"In potatoes!?" It seemed like she couldn't help it; she was about to cry..

"Well, isn't this girl laughing at us right now?" I asked Nova.

"Indeed she is. I think she deserves a lesson. A dire lesson."

I concurred, "Yup, she brought it on herself.”

"Wait, what do you intend to do? No, no tickling! Please, I'm weak to it! Seriously I'm gonna piss myself!"

"Too late, woman. You should not have laughed at our peasant knowledge. Get her, Nova!"

"Anyway," Aisha said after returning from doing her needs, "Think of it as one Dark Crystal and a half."

"Damn…"

It meant that one Dark Crystal was worth one hundred thousand crowns.

"And it takes one million crowns to enter the city and get citizenship," she said. "If, and it's a big if, you are a Flow-blessed. Otherwise, it's five times that if you are regular… but if you are a Shade-blessed it’s ten times that... yet, it's just a stop-gap, really. To enter the City as a Shade-blessed, it needs a high functionary or a minister's permission. The case must also pass through the Church's hands to get their approval. Of course, if it's a case of public interest, which is extremely rare, or for military might, what the Church says is of no consequences."

"I remember I read about this hushed case of an apprentice Spectre deflecting to Sundoor after having failed his mission. He was a Shade-blessed obviously, but his request was registered as one of military might, so he was approved even without paying the tax."

Nova and I exchanged a look.

"That must have been dad… right?" Nova said.

"If that was true… then dad was indeed a Citizen before he met our mother? Why in the Abyss didn't he bring her there?" I asked myself more than to the others.

"I hadn't related the two things," Aisha admitted. "Still, whether your father became a Citizen before or after joining for the war didn't really change things. You are citizens by rights; it's just tough for it to be recognized. We don't have anyone to prove it; even scryers wouldn't help you if the City didn't give its approval."

"Do you think we'll ever be able to join the City, Aisha?" Nova asked.

"I think you will, little monkey. I really think you will."

"Thanks… but, you know only Loke can call me that, do you?"

"Oh… I thought I could, I mean… I'm teaching you Flow Control," she said, turning toward her with a sad look on her face.

"Alright… alright, but only if you swear one thing to me…"

"If I can, I shall. Tell me."

"I know you tried… I know you tried very hard, but please, please. Just… don't cook, like ever. Okay? You are worse than Loke. And that's a really hard thing to beat, like really, really hard."

Aisha turned toward me, her mouth agape.

"I'm a very shitty cook, like very, very shitty.”

"You are… two mean siblings, the worst… just the worst."

I felt it during the night.

Saying it woke me up would be saying too much, but it stirred me from my resting.

It was a flickering in the Shade as if a thick wave suddenly passed over calm river waters. A fat ripple in the calm sands.

It shook me awake, like a disturbance; I had never sensed Shade like that before.

It wasn't just a heavy and sudden manifestation of Shade. It was something I had felt before, but I couldn't merely place. Yet when my Synaesthesia triggered, I knew what had caused it.

The Sand-Wyrm, the Titan.

It passed a few kilometers from us.

I couldn't know where it was headed nor where it precisely was, but the direction in which it had moved in my Synaesthesia-induced vision was the City's direction.

I couldn't believe it. Were the nomads really trying to take on Sundoor as a whole? Or were they going to surprise attack the Sand-Crawler during the night?

They would indeed reach him before we would if they were going at that pace, much before us.

But what could I do about it?

We couldn't move from here, not until dawn, and I? I could, but even if I reached them before the night was over, what would I do once my access to Shade would become limited? And with only one leg to top it off?

I could hope to escape the Titan's might by staying in mid-air, but it was not a sustainable fight during the day.

What was I to do?

I looked at my hands, my three-fingered hands.

Damn, was I becoming a mess…

But... I had to do it. For Nova, for a better life, I would have to do it.

I prepared myself to leave into the night. I would fly in the sky with my abilities.

But first, I had to warn them, this time… I owed it to them; I owed it to her.

I woke them up.

"Loke, what is it?"

"They've come through, a few kilometers at nine o'clock."

Aisha understood right away.

"They are heading to the Sand-Crawler then. It is stationed roughly in that direction. If they are still there, but we can't follow them. Not right now."

"I know you can’t; you won’t have to."

"Loke?" Nova asked.

"Nova, I'm not abandoning you. I'm serious. You two cannot get anywhere near that thing, I can practically fly, but I can't fly us three. You get that, don't you?"

Nova took a second to nod, but I knew she understood.

"Wish me luck."

I shuffled her hair, pinched Aisha's cheeks before she could say anything, and scratched Loki's fur; a questioning feeling came in response. But then I wore the quiver, opened the cart door, and flew out into the night.