Three days away from Karvia, the rocky surface turned back into the sandy dunes I was intimately familiar with. Sand shifted beneath my feet as I led my camels along the lee side of a dune. The stars led our way, while the temperatures dropped to freezing temperatures and forced me to pull a blanket around my shoulders.

'But better to freeze while walking than to be boiled alive.'

"And so they trudged along,

beneath the laughing stars,

and the chuckling moon,

freezing to their jolly death,

to rise again with the broiling sun~" squawked Polly into the silent night. I winced at the sudden sound. The camels shook their heads and bleated at the parrot - probably for disturbing their peaceful half-sleep.

"Daddy, when will we make camp? Polly's hungry!"

"You just had a bowl of grains."

"Polly is hungry! Daddy! Daddy! Please, Polly is hungry. And tired. When will we make camp?" Polly fluttered onto my shoulder to screech into my ear like a petulant child.

"I should've sold you to that butcher at the Silent Gorge."

"What?! How dare you! I'm worth at least 1 big gold coin, not the 5 silver he offered!"

"Yes, yes." I looked at the sky, tracking down the constellations of the Camel and the Harp - the south-pointing constellations. According to my teacher, the people beyond the Silent Gorge used a north star to navigate, but it wasn't visible for the lands south of the Gorge. Instead, we had the Camel and the Harp. The middle point between them pointed directly south. "And east is left of that in an angle of 90 degrees... I'm too eastward."

"Daddy! Drake! Drake! When do we camp? It's cold and I'm hungry!" whined Polly.

"We'll take a break in an hour," I said absentmindedly. 'The dunes run from east to west. It will be difficult to find a more southward path if we don't climb over them.'

I managed to ignore Polly's whining for only half an hour more, before I stopped to make camp. Feeding the camels and setting up my water traps was the first task at hand. Polly went without food for being such an annoying bird.

The camels happily crowded around the two big bowls, eating and drinking their fill, while I went about placing my water traps: 5 empty bottles with a piece of metal sticking out of each to collect the morning dew. It wouldn't be much, I knew, but it was better than nothing at all.

"Polly is hungry!" cried my petulant bird.

"Polly will stay hungry, if Polly doesn't stop annoying me," was my answer as I pushed two poles into the sand, checked that they were secure, stretched a rope between them and secured this, too, with poles in the sand. A canvas went over the rope and stones onto the ends of the canvas to keep it from flying away. One side of my tent was showing directly eastward to bear the brunt of the sun. With an apple and a stripe of dried meat, I hunkered down in my tent.

Almost like an afterthought - I hadn't forgotten my gluttonous bird, but did I have to tell her? - I went out again and rummaged through my packs, producing a handful of grains for Polly. She pounced on it like a starved sphinx, balancing on my cupped hand to peck up even the tiniest crumb.

"You could've given me an apple, too. You know I'm a popinjay with a very refined palate," remarked Polly after she had picked my hand clean. I threw her into the air for that comment.

"Ungrateful feather-duster," I mumbled as I tied the camels to my tent poles, repacked their bowls and lied down in my tent. I heard Polly land on a pole, before I drifted off to sleep.

====

Another week of travel and large rocks took over part of the scenery, wonderful spots for camping and full of life. Scruffy bushes and cacti grew near them. Small lizards hid in their crags and birds rested in their shadows. One even had a pair of sphinx yawning at the midday sun. I kept my distance from them, lest they think me and my animals a delicious dinner.

The rocks also made it easier to procure water to refill my dwindling stores, for wherever there were plants, there would be water. The camels happily snacked on the bushes and the cacti as we passed through, while Polly - sweet, ungrateful, lazy, spoiled Polly - hunted down insects. Apparently, she had enough of her grain diet.

I pushed the loose earth back into the hole I had dug on the north side of one such rocky area. "That's all we'll get from here."

The camels licked their lips dry, savoring the taste of cool water and letting me load my refilled bottles of water. They could've drunk more, but they could survive with the meager amount I had found.

"Polly! It's time to head out again!"

The beast came flying as soon as I called, settling down on the packs.

"Can't we take a longer break? It's so hot today!" she fanned herself with a wing.

"When you only sit around and do nothing all day long?" I almost snorted impolitely. "No. We already rested for 3 hours during the hottest time. The sun is well on her way to the horizon. Another three hours and it will be dark."

"But it's sooo hot! I think I'll get a heatstroke if we continue now."

"I could always tie you to the packs so you don't fall down," I answered her sweetly, leading the camels out of the shadow and back into the sweltering heat of the afternoon sun.

"Don't you dare! I'm a bird, I have to be free! Not bound to land and reins like these stinking beasts you call your friends."

One of the camels snapped at Polly, making her tumble from the packs. I snickered silently at the sight. My camels had developed humor, it seemed.

We had reached the first dune when Polly was back with us, muttering something about camels while sitting on my shoulder.

I let her be, deciding to take a more southward route from here on. The dunes were smaller with so many rocks around, making a climb much easier.

====

Time had no meaning in the desert, but I assumed it to be around the 15th or 16th day since we had left Karvia.

We were on a south-southeast track, wandering over the low dunes and picking our way through the rocks, when we found the remains: bundles smelling of spoiled fruit, packages ripped open and empty. The skeletons of three camels, picked clean by carrion eaters and only recognizable by their saddles and the long leg bones.

I circled the place, carefully keeping my distance. Behind a stone, I saw another camel, this one only half-eaten. The vulture ripping at the rotting flesh glared and hissed at me. I lowered my eyes and took a step backwards, continuing my observations until I was back at my starting point.

'This was recent. They were attacked a few days ago, a week at most. This must be a different caravan than the one the shopkeeper spoke about. 4 dead camels, together with their packs... No, there is more here than 4 camels could carry. Did they camp here? Then they were attacked either while setting up camp or breaking it down.'

I walked closer to the bundles and skeletons. My pair of camels followed with dainty steps.

'Bleh, who in their right mind transports fresh fruits through the desert? They will never keep. If you buy them, then eat them fast, or dry them yourselves.' Leaving the bundles of reeking fruits aside, I inspected the rips in the empty packages. 'Could've been a pride of lions. Or a pair of sphinx.'

Polly alighted on one of the saddles, knocking her beak against the layers of cloth and drawing my eyes towards the claw marks.

'The paws are too small. Jackals, perhaps? But they don't hunt! They are carrion eaters! Besides, they would've fled from a caravan this large. No. Something else attacked.'

"Polly, can you take a look from the air? Maybe you can find some tracks of signs of the caravan, or of the creatures that attacked them?"

Of course she grumbled, but she took flight, circling the place like an eagle, before checking in several likely directions. I watched her for several heartbeats, before I picked through the baggage and snagged whatever was still useful or edible. If we found the survivors, they would need every bit. If not, I could always sell it for money.

"A small bag of red spice! And a round of cheese. No dried meat? Guess whatever attacked ate it. Or it was in a different bundle. Two boxes of jewelry. Three crushed water jugs. A diverse assortment of tools and several lengths of rope-"

"Drake! Drake! I found them!" Polly came hurtling back at a speed she had never used before, smashing into me and trying to claw her way under my clothes, shivering. I let the shovel and rope I had in my hands fall, hugging my stupid bird and petting her.

"What's wrong, Polly? Did you find the caravan? Or the creatures that attacked them?" I asked her softly. Her shivering calmed under my hands, but it didn't go away completely.

"Both. I found both. Please don't go! It's a terrible beast, a monster!"

"Which way are they?"

"No, don't go! It will kill you!"

"You came from that direction." I pointed at the rocky pillars to the south. "Is that where they are?"

"Don't go!" cried Polly, as I settled her on my packs and retrieved my spear and a full waterskin.

"You know that I can't do that. Teacher made me swear to protect those in danger until I find a worthy master to protect." I shrugged and walked towards the danger. The camels were not amused, bleating and shaking their heads, but I guess it was safer to follow me into unknown danger than to wait here without protection.

Polly cried miserably the whole way.