A sudden loud cracking sound interrupted the utter silence reigning in the dunes of Nar-Sal. The opening hatch of the Eagle was now open, and Darren, Iris, John, Alexander and Professor Sean made their way out of the warship. Beyond them lay a scene of solitude and desolation. The weather was dry and the heated sun unbearable.

“The dunes of Nar-Sal…” Darren said, his finger pointing at the endless expanse of sand that lay before them. “Among the most inhospitable places in the Helian system. It won’t be easy to traverse those sand dunes.” Darren knew first hand of this. He was overflowed with mental images of him and Iris walking through the sand dunes. It all happened years ago, and yet it seemed so alive. Back then he was a simple Alliance soldier and Iris his lover. Now he had to shoulder the responsibilities to a leader and Iris was just an old friend.

“It reminds me of an excavation a few years ago.” Sean’s words brought Darren back to the present. “I had to translate an ancient epigraph in the middle of a desert while the sun was roasting me. This is even worse.”

The five companions made their way to the trackless desert. The sun beat down and there was not even a wisp of cloud to soften the harsh rays. Each of their steps sunk into the searing sand. The air was thick and hazy. Their clothing was overwhelmingly hot and sticky. The stiff, dry desert breeze blew sand into their eyes.

“We’ve been walking for nearly two hours,” John complained. “When will we be reaching that shrine?”

“Don’t know,” Sean admitted. “The coordinates in the text weren’t that exact. The ancient Elves used a complicated system to chart coordinates, which isn’t fully understandable by us. The coordinates are thus a mere approximation; the shrine could be a few hours or a few days away. There’s no way to tell.”

They kept walking across the endless waves of sand dunes. Heat rained down on them like the breath of hell. The arid heat burnt at their lungs. They were sweating and exhausted. After about an hour, the sun began to set. The desert at twilight was a vast undulating sea and the sand dunes looked like waves. Heat gave its way to chilling coldness. The temperature was below freezing because once the sun was down, the sand began releasing heat. Their blood ran cold through their veins and their bones were chilled. Their teeth chattered.

“We should be making camp,” Darren said. “We will continue when the sun rises.”

The others nodded and aided him in setting up a makeshift camp; they quickly set up three tents that would offer them protection from the chilling coldness of the night. Darren would be in the first tent with Sean, Alexander with John and Iris would be on the third tent by herself.

“A person must be awake to guard the camp,” Iris said. “The dunes of Nar-Sal are renowned for their wild beasts. It is from the bones of those beasts that the Helian Shadow Hunters craft their skeletal swords.”

“I am volunteering for the first shift,” John proposed.

“Me too,” Alexander said.

“John first,” Darren decided. “You can be next,” he said to Alexander. “As for the rest of us, let us get to sleep at once. We cannot afford to waste time. We need to as fresh as possible for tomorrow’s journey.”

Sean, Iris and Alexander nodded. The four of them were to their respective tents, leaving John alone to guard the camp. He looked at the stars, shining like bright jewels on the pitch black sky. John remembered when he was just a farmboy in Bremman, looking just like that at the stars and dreaming of exploring the universe. His wish had come true. “Was it worth it?” he whispered to himself.

A sudden growl awakened him from his night-dreaming. A gigantic beast had emerged from one of the sand dunes and was heading towards the camp. It was standing over ten feet tall with bright red skin and enormous horns on its head.

“Wake up!” John screamed from the top of his lungs. Almost at once, Iris and Darren jumped from their tents. Alexander emerged next, while Professor Sean preferred to remain in his tent, hiding and hoping that the beast would ignore him. The beast was charging at the camp, every one of its steps causing the ground to quake.

“Quick!” Iris shouted. She waved her hand and unleashed an energy wave at the beast. It barely moved the monster, which kept coming at the camp. It only made it more furious as it growled in rage.

John and Alexander - who had closed their eyes to concentrate - unleashed together two powerful energy waves that pummeled the beast, throwing it on the ground. As the monster slowly got up, the three sorcerers unleashed again energy waves, slamming it. Yet, this time the beast remained steady.

Withstanding the energy waves, it continued making its way to the camp. While Iris and Alexander retreated by a few steps, John stepped forward, trying to unleash yet another energy wave. Seeing him, the beast charged forward and was about to slam its fist on his face when John leapt to the right, barely evading a deathly punch.

A loud cracking sound was heard as Darren suddenly opened fire with his laser rifle. The laser shots were like stings to the beast, a nuance rather than a true menace. It kept marching forward towards the young sorcerer, who had turned around and was rushing away. His heart was racing like hell.

John tripped and fell face down onto the sand. He spitted out pieces of sand that had gotten into his mouth. As he got up, he saw the beast lurking over him. He froze, mouth gaping. The beast roared, moving its feet up. John could see it coming down on him like a hammer. He jumped to his left, evading another deadly attack.

“Turn around!” Darren shouted. He threw a grenade at John, who jumped and caught it at mid-air.

John understood very well what the plan was. He filled his hand with sand and threw it at the beast, further enraging it. As it came after him, John began sprinting forward as fast as he could, leading it away from the camp.

Upon covering some distance, John pressed a button on the grenade, activating it. “Take this!” he screamed as he threw the grenade at the beast and jumped aside to avoid the explosion. As he was rolling down the side of a sand dune, the loud sound of the grenade exploding was ringing in his ears. The beast had collapsed on the sand, lifeless.

“Are you alright?” John could barely hear Iris’ voice. His ears were still ringing from the explosion. He was lying on the sand, exhausted and out of breath. He allowed himself to ignore everyone around him for a brief moment and to simply rest, to catch his breath.

“I am OK!” he finally shouted, getting up from the sand with great effort. He dusted the sand off from his clothes, as much as he could of course, and headed back to the camp.

“That was one hell of a move,” Darren praised him as soon as he saw him. “But next time it might be best to have grenades at hand.”

“You should go get some rest,” Alexander said. “I will take over from you as guard.”

“Hopefully you will be luckier than I,” John chuckled.

Beck was pacing up and down in the cockpit. His breathing was equally rapid. “Hey,” he said to D-4009, who was seating in the co-pilot’s seat next to Xar. “How long has it been since they went out? A day?”

“Actually it has been twenty-three hours, thirty-four minutes, ten seconds and-“

“I don’t think that’s what the good doctor was asking for,” Xar interrupted the android. “I believe he is worried about our team.”

Beck nodded affirmatively.

“Don’t worry, doc. I’ve seen firsthand how capable warriors Iris and Darren are. That kid John too has shown great potential. If anyone could survive the dunes of Nar-Sal, it is them.”

“I hope so,” Beck replied. “I would hate to have to make use of my medical skills.”

Beep! Beep!

“What does the goddamn machine want?” the doctor complained.

D-4009 checked one of the panels. He then pressed some buttons and turned on some switches.

“Bad news?” Beck asked.

“Our sensors are detecting large-scale activity nearby. It is as if some… convoy is travelling through the desert.”

“Why?” Xar interrupted. “We are far from any mining facility, so what would they be doing here, whoever they are? Unless…”

“They are searching for the shrine too!” Beck shouted. “We need to contact the team.”

“We can’t. As I’ve told you before, if we try to contact them, our signal may be intercepted by a Helian satellite. We cannot risk that.”

“Guess,” the orc pilot said, “we will just have to stay put and hope for the best…”

Sara was sitting on the floor, beside one of the panels controlling the ship’s engine. Her face was expressionless and her stare empty. Only the thrumming sound of the engine could be heard.

“What’s up?” a male voice asked.

Sara woke up from her daydreaming and saw Kim standing in front of her. “Nothing.”

“I may be a clueless idiot when it comes to social interactions, but even I can tell something is bothering you.”

“A genius you are…”

“Your usual sarcasm?”

“You are catching up. Bravo,” she chuckled.

“Seriously though, what’s going on?”

Sara let out a deep breath. “If you must know, I would have preferred going to find the ancient shrine instead of sitting in this ship and looking after some engines… Doesn’t it bother you at all?”

“Not really,” Kim replied while patting the engine. “This baby needs to be maintained at best levels, or no one gets out of this sand rock alive. I am the one tasked with this very, very important job. That’s why I never felt bothered that I am sitting back; because I am the one making sure that those who head to dangerous missions can escape with their lives. You shouldn’t underestimate the work we are doing here.”

Sara laughed.

“What?”

“It’s just you sound a lot more confident than last time.”

Kim flashed a bright smile. “You are the one who told me I need to become confident. I just followed your advice.”

The campaign in the Kairer field was progressing smoothly, with the Helian forces finally making headway after their change of tactics. While the fleet was pushing ahead deeper into pirate territory, William was spending more and more time in his quarters, obsessed with how to master the art of connecting with John.

He would be reading countless of pages of ancient tomes on sorcery that had been acquired at great expense and many of which were considered lost forever. Yet, William couldn’t find anything relevant in those tomes until he began reading the ‘Chants of Elder Xasdier’. An ancient text authored by an Elf sorcerer, it contained a chant that could help sorcerers temporarily overcome the effects of overuse of sorcery.

‘If I succeed in this, I will be able to connect with John whenever I wish so without the danger of dying,’ William thought as he sat cross-legged on a mat on the floor. He knew that this exercise wasn’t without risks itself, but he was determined to try it.

William closed his eyes. He inhaled and exhaled slowly a couple of times. “I can feel the Qi around me…” he whispered. “But I need to connect with it in a far deeper level. I need to become one with it.” He then began chanting. “Arseasr la xiya, wa zaming de cong de qing, jia kai umderambus de la erambus, trechader en de la derader.” He repeated this, feeling the Qi surging through his meridians. An aura of power was surrounding him. “I can-“

The door suddenly opened and Natasha walked in. “You ne-“

For a few seconds, utter silence reigned. Natasha couldn’t believe her eyes, pinching herself to see if she was dreaming. The son of Chancellor Maximilian was a sorcerer! “I thought you were doing drugs or wasting yourself with alcohol,” Natasha admitted. “But it seems I gravely underestimated you.”

“People make a habit of doing so,” William chuckled. “It’s why I’ve managed to hide this secret for so long. No one would think that the party-going playboy would be a powerful sorcerer.”

“Indeed… you’ve certainly fooled me.”

“How did you come in? My door was code locked.”

“An admiral can bypass all codes in her ship.”

“Now, admiral, what are you going to do about it? Will you inform my father about it?”

“That is my duty. Magic is forbidden in the Helian Realm; the penalty of disobedience is death.”

“It is your duty indeed, but will you inform my father?”

Natasha had no answer. William suddenly got up, grabbed her and kissed her, forcing their lips together. When he let go, Natasha remained still and silent for a few seconds. “So your ingenious plan is to seduce me with your kiss in hopes that I will not tell your father about your little secret?”

“Something like that…” he chuckled. “Did it work?”

Natasha grabbed his head and kissed him passionately and feverishly. “I would say it did,” she whispered. She ran her tongue over his lips, nipping gently before she trailed kisses to his ear.

“I told you that you wouldn’t be able to resist me.”

It was early in the morning. A convoy of eight four-wheel, high-speed sandrail drive vehicles was making its way through the colorless, featureless desert. Boarding the vehicles were twelve elite Helian troopers, five experts on Elfish archaeology and Walden, the CEO of X-Corp, personally overseeing the operation.

He was in the co-driver’s seat of the second vehicle, which was driven by sergeant Mike Roberts. Walden swiped at the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand. It was his third day in the desert, but he had still had a hard time getting used to the unbearable heat.

“Are you alright, sir?” Mike asked as he raced forward, his vehicle generating a cloud of dust. “With all due respect, you don’t seem particularly prepared for such a mission. You should have remained onboard Starfall.”

“I usually wouldn’t bother coming on such an expedition but this is an exception am I willing to make,” Walden replied. He paused for a brief moment to take a sip of cold water from his bottle. “I have to see with my own eyes that shrine. This is possibly the greatest discovery in human history!”

“Fair enough…”

Beep! Mike received an alert from the vehicle leading the convoy.

“Vehicle B, copying!” he said though his comn device. “Is everything alright?”

“Vehicle A!” a female voice replied. “Our sensors are detecting unusual movements ahead.”

“Copying that! Full stop!” Mike immediately ordered all vehicles to stand by; “Alert to all vehicles, stand by. Jon, Hashan and Takira, follow me!”

Mike grabbed a laser rifle and jumped off his vehicle, running towards the first vehicle. Following closely behind were the three soldiers - as ordered - armed with their rifles.

“What do you think lies ahead?” Hashan asked.

“Good case scenario is that we bump to scavengers of sorts,” Mike replied. “Most likely, though, one of the dune’s beasts. Be prepared.”

Reaching the first vehicle, Mike questioned the female soldier driving it. “Where did you detect the movements?”

She pointed at a sand hill to their left.

“Remain here. I may need you for backup.” Mike grabbed his comn and opened a channel to other vehicles. “Soldiers, we shall be going to investigate the movements on our left. The rest of you remain where you are, to guard the experts and the boss. Mike out!”

Mike and the three troopers, rifles at hand, made their way up the sand hill. Their movements were swift but careful. All of their senses were kept at alert, and they were mentally preparing for combat as they edged closer to where the movements had been detected. They were looking at left and right for the slightest indication that something was amiss.

Suddenly, from behind a sand dune, they heard a loud growling. As Mike was about to shout his orders, the gargantuan beast leapt from its cover and charged at them.

“Fire!” Mike barked as he opened fire at the beast. The others too pulled their triggers and fired rapid laser shots. The beast roared and pounded its chest in rage. “Keep firing!” Mike screamed. Crack! Crack! Crack! His laser rifle was unleashing a barrage of laser bolts, but the beast kept walking towards them. “Run!”

The Helian soldiers turned around and tried to escape from the beasts’ grasp. Takira wasn’t fast enough. The beast grabbed him and towed him to the ground. It then crushed him with its foot, squashing him like a melon. His dying screams echoed in the ears of his comrades.

“Aim for the eyes!” Mike ordered his two remaining soldiers, as he aimed his rifle at the creature. He fired three times in quick succession, his last two shots hitting the beast directly in its right eye. It roared in pain, clenching its fists and stomping its foot violently on the ground.

“Did this actually do any damage” Hashan asked, his face sweaty and his heart racing like crazy, “or did we just piss it off?”

“Hopefully the first,” Mike replied as he kept firing at it. Hashan and Jon too were shooting at the creature, which was still moving at them but far more slowly. “Seems we actuall-“ Before Mike could finish his sentence, the beast unexpectedly sped up and stood right in front him, ready to crush him with its feet.

Mike quickly rolled to the left, barely escaping its stomping, which made the ground quake. Its growling ringed in his ears. Gritting his teeth, Mike unsheathed his laser knife from his belt and struck at the beast, logging it just below its knee. He pressed it in, burying the knife deeper. As the beast tried to grab the sergeant, he let go of his knife and leapt to the right, evading its grasp.

As the creature was limping forward towards him, Mike began firing again at it with his rifle. He was aiming at its wound, hoping that it would be its vulnerable point. This time, his shots were having more of an impact, each laser bolt making the beast scream in agony. As its leg was pummeled by laser fire, the creature was having difficulty standing up. Seeing the weakness, Jon and Hashan began firing too. The beast collapsed on the ground but the soldiers kept firing for three whole minutes before it ceased to breathe.

Mike let out a sigh of relief. He activated his comn device. “Everything’s clear here,” he assured Walden and the rest who had remained in the vehicles. “We are coming back to resume course.”

John, Darren, Iris, Alexander and Sean were on top of a sand dune. They were gazing at the ruins below, half-buried by sand. The Elfish temple was twenty meters high and it had the shape of a concentric square. It was constructed of red brick stones, but the decay was evident. They could make out a passage that seemed to lead inside the temple, about one meter wide.

“This...” Iris’s eyes were teary. “This is the shrine of my ancestors.” She fell on her knees, awed by the shrine’s mere presence. “I never thought I would see one in my lifetime…”

Sean’s eyes widened. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face. “It’s beautiful… far more beautiful than anything I’ve seen before.”

“Professor,” Darren interrupted, “should we get in? And what exactly should we be expecting?”

“From epigraphs I’ve recovered, I can make an educated guess that there are booby traps to deter unwanted intruders.”

“Why would a shrine have booby traps?” Alexander asked. “It would deter people from going there to pray.”

“The Elves had two types of temples; ones that were for public veneration and others that we meant to house holy artifacts. This seems to belong to the second category, which increases by a lot the chances that the heavenly sword could be stored there.”

“I guess there is only one way to find out,” Darren said. “By going in. Come on, we’ve got no time to waste!”