“The unsightly mind of a cruel king provoked an unforeseen decline. Our civilization became one that shed blood for the sake of supremacy. Then, the cogs and gears of war and hatred pulled us toward irreversible consequences.

-fragment of an ancient stone tablet”

* * *

Erin

By the end of the day, they had successfully crossed the mountain.

From atop a cliff, Erin and the others were met with the empty western landscape bathed in a red tint because of the setting sun. Once night came, they realized that, contrary to their expectations, the desert's sand wasn't yellow or golden. There was only ghostly white and grey land for as far as they could see. The moonlight only helped to make the sand appear eerie by giving it a silver glow, and the entire place had a feeling of wrongness.

That must be because of the lack of mana, she thought as she observed Azcheron and the scholars. They were grimacing and making disturbed expressions. I wonder how uncomfortable it must feel. Maybe it's like visiting a snowy country when you've spent all your life under the heavy southern sun ?

It must have been very displeasing for Azcheron in particular. He had a prodigious affinity with raw mana, and now he was in a location where he couldn't feel a single bit of it. He was pale and sweating, he looked so ill and pitiful that somehow Erin wanted to hug him. Even though she knew it wouldn't really help him.

As they carefully walked down a dangerous slope, Azcheron tripped and almost fell to his death.

“Urgh, this isn't going to be as fun as I imagined...” he said in a groan. “Sorry Erin, but for now you'll have to lead. I can't think properly, I feel like I'm about to faint.”

Erin nodded as she held and supported Azcheron with her shoulder.

If he died by falling off a cliff, he'd probably immediately die a second time, out of embarrassment... She joked to herself. She was half-serious, though.

“It's okay," she tried to comfort him. “You'll be fine. If it's you, you'll manage to endure, to get used to it.”

He just sighed and kept silent. Erin could see in the corner of her eyes that he was still trying to glance around and surveil the desert. Not that he could use his scouting magic now, but he did it nonetheless.

They were somehow able to climb down the cliff without losing any horse, but at the cost of several hours. When they finally stood on the soft silver sand, it must have been the middle of the night. There was no wind, but the stagnant air was chilling. They made a rudimentary encampment, lit a fire with wood they had brought, and went to sleep. As always, Azcheron and Erin slept cuddled together – no, perhaps because of Azcheron's state, they really had no choice this time. Erin didn't feel like letting her shivering, sick-looking friend sleeping all by himself on the cold, inhospitable sand.

She was both worried and proud of him. He may have been looking like he was about to empty his stomach right now, but earlier in the day he had saved them all from a very possible death. When he was speaking with the dragon, the whole scene felt so majestic. Erin was impressed. Erin admired him. Because Azcheron was merely human after all. Despite all his smart plots, his amazing talent, his understanding of the Dragon tongue and whatnot, he was weak. Right now he was sick and vulnerable, like any human should be from time to time. That made him feel so real, so close to her, so much like a normal person, and that, in turn, made his feats even more daring and worthy of awe.

And he doesn't know how to ride a horse, heh.

They still had to make sure no golem would stomp them during their sleep, so Pat and Caspar took the first watch. Hopefully, the desert's inhabitants were easy enough to spot so that the group would have time to prepare themselves. The day had been tiring, and soon Erin fell asleep, embracing tightly Azcheron with her arms.

* * *

Erin took the last watch, just before dawn. They decided that they would sleep a few more hours, because they could not risk being tired while wandering in such a place. It wouldn't do for one of them to bleed to death because an artery got carelessly ripped on a sharp rock. Azcheron wasn't in a state, nor a location, to properly use healing magic. Everyone was of the opinion that he should be resting as much as possible, but apparently he decided otherwise. When the others were sleeping, he got up and walked toward Erin, away from the camp.

“Are you sure you don't want to lie down for a bit longer ?” she asked as she watched him sitting down next to her.

“I'm better. Not fine, but better.” He smiled faintly. “I'll get used to it, like you said.”

“Okay then.”

“Thank you.” Before she could ask 'for what', he went on. “I have no idea where we should go now.” He pointed to the west. “Maybe further into the desert. I suppose we'll have more chances to find a golem as we go farther away from the mountains.”

Right, I should have expected that. You have no intention of avoiding the golems. If I say something like 'you're sick and you told me I was to lead for now, so let's forget about your stupid plan', he'll hit me, I guess ?

“Any idea on how to keep everyone alive when we stumble on one of them ?”

“No,” he answered flatly. “I won't know until I see one. We can't rely on stories and descriptions, since they were made by people trying to run for their live with their mind clouded by panic and hysteria. A testimony from a frenzied witness is the most inaccurate thing there is.”

“I imagined that much. Then at least let me and Pat take care of the scouting and navigation. You're still ill and it would tire you too much. I'll need you to have a clear and apt mind when we encounter a golem. I'll need you to think like you've never thought before.”

He acquiesced with a nod.

After a short silence, Erin spoke again. “I already know the answer, but is it really necessary to find golems and whatnot ? You could already be pretty famous if people learned you had a chat with a dragon.”

He chuckled. “I know what you mean. But it wasn't a chat.” He leaned closer to her, and continued while keeping his voice down. “The dragon inquired about our purpose here. And I answered. Guess what ? I believe this one knows about my clan.”

Erin couldn't help showing her surprise. She thought he only bargained for the group's safe passage. She signalled him to carry on.

“The dragons seemed very eager to see me pursuing my journey here. They asked that I prove myself worthy of my ancestors, or something like that.” He frowned. “Then there was some fishy prophecy. About trials awaiting me. I can only guess that they expect me to at least take down a few golems. Or at least they have something waiting for me at some point. Maybe it'll be soon, maybe it won't be until a few months or years. I don't know what 'soon' means from the perspective of thousand years old entities.”

Damn. Damn you. Why didn't you tell me this before ? No, I can guess why. It's not something we'd want the others to learn. This changes everything.

“So you confirmed that the dragons know about the Rahal clan. In a way we already have accomplished most of our goals, yet they can't be bothered to tell you more about it for now, and they want you to brave some dangers and stuff ? Like a heroic quest for goodness and world peace,” she mockingly said.

“Heh, that's the gist of it. They're acting as if they're oracles of some sort. These dragons are pretty obnoxious. Oh, yeah, you won't believe it, they're so pompous they also managed to make their own language even more annoying than it is already.”

She let out a small laugh. They remind me of someone. At this point I wouldn't be that surprised if you really turned out to be a descendant of dragons. You share the same insufferable taste for theatrics and cryptic schemes.

They kept staring wordlessly at the horizon for some time. The small fire they had made for themselves would go off any minute now, and it barely kept them warm at this point. The sun would soon make up for it, as it was raising behind the mountains. There was no sound, no wind, only the breathing of their sleeping companions and the sparse crackling of the dying fire.

They turned their heads when they heard a groan coming from behind. It was Pat who had awoken. He glanced to the eastern sky, and started to wake the others. It didn't take much time for everyone to get ready. They seemed to have got enough rest for now. It must have been around the middle of the morning, so it was time to get moving.

They rode toward the west. Erin and Pat were scouting ahead of the group, so they could use the mounts for the moment. Rudolph and Isabella took care of the rear. It would be too tiring to climb the dunes while their feet sinked in the soft sand. Azcheron was riding once again with Erin, doing some sort of meditation to get used to the atmosphere. In the end, the somewhat cold air was a blessing. If there was one thing they were grateful for in the Desolate Lands, it was that the heat wasn't amongst the potential death causes. Humans and horses could bear the chilling nights with fire and furs, but the scorching heat would be another thing. Water was still the great absent here, like in any other desert.

I wonder if the Desolate Lands get hotter in the south. I can't imagine it. The last thing we'd need would be this wasteland being as hot as any other desert. Well, we don't even know how far this things goes. For all we know it could cover nine tenths of the world and we are living in the last chunk of hospitable land there is.

The thought made her shiver. There was evidence that the desert had not always been here. When and why it came to be, however, no one could say with certainty. Only small bits of historical accounts from the old western civilization told them that whatever caused it, they most likely witnessed it but couldn't do anything to stop it.

What if it came ? What if it grew and passed the mountains ?

It doesn't look like there was any kind of change for centuries, but you never know. I can guess why information about this place would be valuable. In the end, the desert is still a threat as long as we don't understand why it exists...

Since she was lost in thought, she almost didn't notice. But in the corner on her eyes she caught Pat's horse stopping. Then she saw Pat's frozen expression, and she understood. She glanced in the direction he was facing, and spotted it. A large and bizarre humanoid figure – a golem, no doubt – far in the north. Far ? Then it must have been huge. It looked like it was getting taller with each second passing. Or maybe... the golem wasn't that far. Yes, it was running. Toward the group. Shit, why is that thing sprinting !? Fortunately, Pat snapped out of his trance and yelled to the others.

“Prepare for battle ! Golem incoming !”

Erin turned to Azcheron who was holding to her back and called out to him. “It's fast ! What do we do ?”

He was also observing the humanoid shape that was closing in on them. “...We can't take any chances, and there's no time to design some clever tactic.” He paused. “Get your new bow and your funny arrows, we'll try to stop it before we get stomped on,” he finally decided with an excited grin.

They both dismounted. Erin found a tall dune to serve as a vantage point, and Azcheron signalled the others to hide themselves. They could hear the fast and heavy footsteps of the running golem.

“Think you can reach it from here ?” Azcheron asked as he lit an arrow. Small pouches of powder were attached to the tip, and the idea was that upon impact the arrow would break and fire and powder would meet. Somehow.

“Are you kidding ? Did you forget that I'm not an archer and that these arrows are damn heavy ?”

Now that they thought about it, it didn't sound like it would work. Erin had not a lot of real experience with archery. And the arrows were indeed heavy. They made tests at the fortress, and it would have been probably less trouble to just throw the damn thing like a regular bomb.

But Azcheron insisted that explosive arrows sounded really cool, and in truth even Erin wanted to try it. In any case, they had to wait for the golem to approach. Which would not take long. They could see it more clearly now. In the end it was some sort of assortment of various rocks and stones, of all kind. The only humanoid aspects of it were that it possessed four limbs, was standing on two of these limbs, and had a rock that served as a head. Bigger rocks were used for the torso, and in the end the most remarkable thing about the golem was that it was as tall as a house from the capital. A four or five stories-tall house made of stone, and of course, the weight that came with it.

It really, really won't do us any good to find ourselves under this thing. Alright, let's try these dubious arrows.

She nocked her arrow, aimed at the golem and waited in a pinch draw. She really didn't know much about archery, but Azcheron looked like he would not allow her to pass on this 'opportunity' to embarrass herself.

When she deemed the moment right, she released her grip and fired. The heavy flaming arrow flew and... missed the golem, by far.

“Eh... I think we underestimated the weight of these things, you know ?” Erin said as Azcheron wordlessly handed her another arrow.

Seeing as he would still not discard his idea, she fired once again. Surprisingly, it hit their target. It wasn't hard because it was really not far away from their vantage point now. Yes, the golem was very very close. But the projectile didn't explode.

“What the hell !?” Azcheron yelled and complained as they started to run down the dune.

“Yeah, well, I'm not surprised ! I think there's a reason nobody uses explosive arrows, you know ! It's just a shitty idea and magic works way better !” she managed to mock, screaming between her ragged breaths. They had to get to the mounts and immediately ride away from the golem. It was fast, but the horses should be able to outrun it, as long as the terrain was not too chaotic. Maybe they would have to discard some of their luggage, though.

As Erin and Azcheron joined the group, Pat looked like he was about to inquire about why the golem was pursuing them instead of being dead, because that was what everyone had been expecting. Erin pointed to the horses and signalled that they had to flee. No time to talk. The golem would not wait until they explained everything. “Let's... strategically retreat for now, mmh ?” she only bothered to say.

No one would be crazy enough to object, so they promptly mounted the horses and began to flee. Clinging to Erin's back, Azcheron watched the golem as it ran after them. “I think we should aim for the legs !” he shouted in her ears. The stomping sounds of their stony pursuer were deafening and made it hard to hear what people were saying.

“With arrows again ?” she wondered, frowning. She wasn't keen on showing her archery 'prowess' a second time.

“No, that was a dumb idea, let's just throw stuff and explosives at his feet !” And he started to go through the packages attached to the horse. They didn't bother to try to warn the others, because it was too noisy and everyone was further ahead anyway. Still holding onto Erin's back, Azcheron eventually managed to grab a rather large bomb. In the corner of her eye, she watched him as he ignited the bomb with magic and observed both the fuse and the running golem, working out the timing. After a short moment, he simply dropped the bomb to the ground, and for a few seconds nothing happened.

Erin only had the time to hear Azcheron say “Get ready-” before he covered her ears with his hands and turned her head away from the golem, while a massive flash and a thunderous deflagration occurred. The power of the explosion blasted everything away, the horses and their riders were sent flying and a large cloud of sand, gravel and dust accompanied the shockwave.

For some time, Erin could neither see nor hear. She didn't even know if she was standing up or not. There was only a blinding white everywhere and a extremely high pitched sound. And pain. Yes, everything hurt. But pain meant she was alive. That, at least, she knew. If she concentrated, she could move and feel sand and small rocks around her. The explosion hadn't killed her, and the golem hadn't walked on her, yet.

What happened ? I don't think I even have a sense of time. Shit. Did we get the golem ? Do we have casualties ? It hurts, damn. I hope I'm not injured. I hope I have all my limbs. What about Azcheron ? He was just behind me, he must have taken most of the blast.

Erin tried to speak, but she wasn't sure she managed to. If she did, she couldn't hear what she was saying. She tried to get up, or at least what she thought was up, and not even two steps in the tripped on something. It was large and soft, something organic ? But it was not breathing. Groping around, she realized it was a horse. Dead, she figured. Slowly, the shrill sound and the painful brightness began to dim. As the whiteness of the flash disappeared, she was rewarded with the whiteness of the sand. She grimaced.

Shit. I don't know where we are. We couldn't have gone far even though we were blasted away. Did the explosion changed the whole landscape !?

She looked around, still dizzy, and immediately spotted a large pile of rocks. Many chunks of stone were also scattered around it. The golem. It wasn't moving anymore, and it seemed that the explosion had destroyed much more than its legs.

Damn you, Azcheron. What the heck ! Did you pack some kind of enhanced powder inside the bomb, or what !

Erin could see some dark bumps of various size, half-sinking into the sand. Horses and some members of the group. They were moving and groaning so at least they weren't dead. Azcheron, Pat and a few others were nowhere to be seen, so she started to search for the missing people. They must have been buried under the sand or something like that. As the others regained their senses, they followed her example once they got a hold of the situation.

She found Pat, unconscious but breathing. Curiously, for the moment no one was grievously injured. Most of their wounds were caused by the shockwave and the fall. Good thing there was almost only sand around here, because the infamous sharp rocks – which they had yet to see – would not have been so forgiving. As she pondered on the fortunate outcome and made her own conclusions, an angry voice echoed and gave Erin her smile back.

“Nnnnng, I feel like I've never had so many consecutive bad ideas in such a short amount of time. Hello ! Is everyone fine ? Did I kill somebody ?”

This guy... Why does he sound so happy even when he's clearly angry ?

“You almost did. We lost a horse,” she replied, walking toward Azcheron who was still buried in sand till the waist.

He looked at the only horse not moving and neighing. “Sorry, horse. Was it ours ?”

She shook her head. “Surprisingly, no. We were the closest but we're fairly unharmed, so I imagine you used magic ? Or else most of us, and especially you, would be in many small parts right now.”

“Yeah, I did my best to contain the explosion and the shockwave, but it was much more powerful than I expected.” Hearing that, Erin snickered and pulled him out of the sand, and he dusted off his clothes. “Huh, I guess it somehow worked, in the end. But it ate a good chunk of my mana.”

“What the hell was that explosion ?” Pat inquired as Isabella supported him. He was still wobbly as he had apparently just regained consciousness.

Azcheron gave a malicious grin. “Just a test. Now that I more or less know what it takes, what do you say about going golem hunting ?”

Yeah, I don't know ?