The movement of the sand rendered looking for tracks pointless. Most of the actual searching seemed to consist of scaling the highest parts of a given area and looking around. Somehow this allowed the soldiers to quickly home in on a direction for us to travel. I had no idea what they’d spotted or what we were heading for but they didn’t seem inclined to explain either. Watching the soldiers surveying from atop their latest perch, I turned to Elmidath. “Have you ever been hunting?”

“Not really. My father always said it was too dangerous. Now that I’m actually out here in my own, I can’t say I disagree. It really doesn’t seem worth the risk of coming out here just to hunt. How about you? Did you do any hunting in your old world?”

“Nope. I spent my whole life in the city. This is one of the few times I’ve ever been out in the wilderness.”

“Hm.” Elmidath’s gaze took in their surroundings. “I guess we’re not so different in that regard. Though obviously I didn’t grow up in a city.”

I suppose we were similar in that way but I imagine our childhoods were very different. There was no way I was anywhere near as mature when I was sixteen. I’m not even sure which one of us was more mature now. It was definitely her when it came to dealing with the realities of war and such. “What were things like for you growing up, anyway?”

Elmidath puffed out her cheeks and exhaled as she thought. “Let me think… Hard, boring, without any freedom to do anything I wanted to do… but I can’t really say it was bad. The lessons felt endless and my father wasn’t exactly the most encouraging but there were good times too. Like when he used to read books to me.” Clearing her throat, she looked away and blinked away her tears. “That was a long time ago though.”

I felt a little embarrassed at both her display of emotion and having brought her to this point. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up any sad memories.”

Recovering her composure, Elmidath waved off my apology. “It’s fine, it’s my own fault for being too sentimental. I really shouldn’t be getting choked up about something that happened a long time ago, it just all feels so fresh.”

She was obviously still upset about her father’s death, that much I knew, but I hadn’t considered how this would bring that up. Still, if she was willing to talk about it, there was one aspect I was curious about. “How long ago did your father pass away? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“It’s been around three months since we got the news of what happened.”

Three months? I assumed it had happened years ago. No wonder Elmidath was still broken up about it. If anything, I was surprised at how well she was holding together. It sounded like the two of them had been quite close, and she didn’t seem to have any other relatives or friends that were close to her. Maybe that was just the sort of resolve you needed to survive in this world. I

made a note to learn from her example; I could definitely stand to be more resolute. Learning it was so recent made me feel like apologising again, but I could tell Elmidath wanted none of that. Better to breeze by it and pretend nothing happened. I’m sure that was a healthy way of dealing with grief. “Three months, huh? It’s amazing how much things can change in such a short time.”

Chuckling, Elmidath shook her head. “Tell me about it. The me from three months ago almost feels like a different person living in a different world. Even though I obviously remember these things happening, it feels like they happened to someone else. Maybe it makes more sense to describe it as feeling like the rest of my life was a dream, one I only recently woke up from. Things are so much more… real now.”

“You think that’s jarring? You should try literally being pulled into a different world. All things considered, you’re lucky I still have enough of my sanity left to be useful.”

“You shouldn’t sell yourself short. There was no luck involved, everything that happened was because of you. Because of your will.” She smiled sheepishly. “That was the sort of thing my father used to say whenever I’d try to make excuses. I was beyond sick of hearing about it but… he was right, that’s what it all comes down to.”

I wasn’t sure it was quite as simple as all that, but I could see how that way of looking at things was helpful. It was largely correct for those factors within your own control. If only that was all that determined one’s path in life, there’d be no getting dragged off to horrible realities like this one or other such terrible misfortune.

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

It was a little awkward having her bring up her dead father again and turning my self-deprecation back at me, so it was the only reply I could think of.

The trackless desert rolled on by as we walked and walked. It was impossible to tell how far we’d come based on our surroundings; everything looked the same. We could have been beyond the first hill we’d crossed on our way over from Azurius for all I could tell.

But on we trudged, our tracks vanishing almost as soon as they were made. The unchanging nature of the landscape gave it a surreal quality, something so immutable just didn’t feel real. Even with all the magic and such, it felt wrong. At first it hadn’t really bothered me, but the longer we spent here the more it wore away at me.

It was only our second day here and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. But no one else seemed the least bit bothered by it which only made it more grating. It made me want to go to the top of a sand dune and scream, in the hopes that the Tertiums might find us. Elmidath and I had drifted apart during the walk and calling out, I picked up my pace and joined her. “How do we know the Tertiums won’t just avoid us if they see us coming? Presumably they’re not in very good shape.”

Elmidath shrugged. “They might. But if whoever is behind these attacks is anything like I think they are, they won’t pass up this opportunity.”

“What makes you say that?”

Frowning, she squeezed her eyes shut as she thought. “My impression of them so far is that they seem reckless and aggressive. Attacking us while we’re out here would fit with that. If they were willing to attack the manor, then I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t attack our group wandering through their territory.”

“Unless they no longer have the forces to mount any real kind of attack at all.”

“Right. But I doubt they would have committed everything to attacking the manor.”

I narrowed my eyes, that didn’t quite make sense. “I thought you said they were reckless and aggressive.”

“Yeah, but not to that extent. I never said they were an idiot.”

“Have you mentioned this to Vorisen or his men?” I glanced toward the column of soldiers ahead.

“Nope.”

“Don’t you think you should? They are technically our allies. Do you want them to get ambushed?”

“Not really, but they aren’t my responsibility. Besides, they’re well aware we’re in enemy territory. They’ll probably be more cautious than they would be if I warned them.”

She might have a point; I could all too easily imagine Vorisen sneering and doing the opposite of what Elmidath suggested. I’d feel a little bad if they died without us warning them, but they might have a better chance this way. It’s not like we had any real insight into what form such an ambush might take. If anything, they seemed more familiar with this area than we were.

The ogres, for their part, seemed unphased by the potential danger and showed little caution. But I wasn’t too worried about them getting hurt, it wouldn’t bother me much if they were. Besides, I doubt the enemy would want to focus on them. Between the ordered line of armoured soldiers and the towering ogres… the most likely target was us. Particularly if they knew who Elmidath was, and that wasn’t hard to figure out if they had even basic knowledge concerning her lands.

Even if they didn’t know her on sight, her clothing and armour was clearly finer than anyone else’s, especially with her new gauntlet. No one else would be so dressed up out here. It made me think I should tell Elmidath to consider trying to blend in more in future, there was no sense making herself a target.

After another fruitless day of searching, we made camp. Just as before, the soldiers took care of most of the actual work, leaving Elmidath and I to attend to our own tents. Despite my considerable fatigue, after bedding down for the night I found myself unable to fall asleep. Absent the sound of the column moving ahead of us things were almost too quiet.

The susurration of sand particles rubbing against each other, which I normally didn’t notice, seemed to grow louder as my brain honed in on the sound. It occupied the foreground of my mind, driving away thought until it had my undivided attention. The longer I listened, the more it took on an almost melodic quality. I fancied that I was listening to an orchestra made up of sand.

Time passed, I can’t say how long in my weary and enthralled state, and I heard something else. The crunch of sand beneath someone’s foot outside. Whatever spell had fallen over me broke and I sat up, fumbling for my sword. I considered trying to get my armour on but there was no time for that, especially not in the dark.

Pulling aside the flap of my tent, I stepped out under the night sky. The silver moon, only partially above the horizon, shed just enough light for me to make out the dark figures cresting the rise toward the camp.

I tore my gaze away from them and searched for the sentries who should be on watch for exactly this sort of thing. But there was no one in sight. What the hell were Vorisen’s men doing? Did they intend on leaving the camp unguarded?

Looking back at the encroaching enemies, as who else would be creeping up on us like this at night, I confirmed that they hadn’t seen me yet. I crouched down, trying to stay out of sight, and hurried over to Elmidath’s tent. Pulling it open, I found her sleeping soundly within. Good, she was still safe. At least for the moment.

I shook her roughly, there was no time for niceties, and she mumbled a question. Presumably something about why I was waking her up in the middle of the night.

“We’re about to be attacked, I think it’s the Tertiums.”

I hadn’t gotten a clear look at the figures but they seemed on the larger side. Still trying to process the information, Elmidath blinked and then her eyes went wide as it sunk in.

She donned her gauntlet and we left the tent. “What now?” The intruders were moving slowly but they were getting closer.

“None of the soldiers noticed them?” She sounded like she couldn’t believe it.

“Not that I could see. Should we shout, try to wake them up?”

Gritting her teeth, Elmidath shook her head and drew me back into her tent with her. All drowsiness and confusion had faded, her expression one of intense focus. She lowered her voice until I could only hear her from a few inches away. “No. It probably wouldn’t do much good at this stage and this way we can still retain some element of surprise. We’ll wait for the Tertiums to enter the camp and then attack. With any luck we can cause enough chaos to give the soldiers enough time to prepare.”

It seemed like a solid plan, given the circumstances but there was one major flaw I could see. “Doesn’t that mean we’ll be fighting them all by ourselves?”

She tapped my cheek with her gauntleted finger, the metal was cold against my skin. “Yep.”

I sighed, if that’s how it was then I guess we’d just have to make it work somehow through sheer force of will. Because that’s how the world works, right?