The deserts of Bel-arib were vast, the hardpan uneven, the dunes rising and falling in endless waves of sand, and completely boring. Occasionally, a bird would mark the sky, but mostly it was cloudless, limitless blue from horizon to horizon, with nothing to break the monotony except heat shimmers, and the occasional Obelisk, speeding across the sands, faster than a horse could run.

Sand got into everything, of course. Nobody was thrilled with that. Audra could be seen near the quartermaster’s wagons when she wasn’t scouting.

“You know that all that extra water’s gonna cost you, right?” Daveth asked once. “Aldric will deduct it from your pay.”

The elven woman shook her head. “I’m from a mountain village north of Doran.” She replied. “I’m used to freezing winters, rainy springs, short summers and boggy autumns.” she explained. “This heat...” she trailed off, and then added, “and it’s so dry.” she finished.

Daveth nodded, inwardly agreeing, outwardly trying not to show how the heat affected him. “Any hazardous wildlife?” He asked, gesturing out to the limitless bone-white sand.

“I’ve seen some snakes and lizards.” Audra reported. “Also some sort of ...” She trailed off. “I don’t know how to describe them. Packs of flightless birds.” She paused. “I think they’re birds, anyway. They’re fast.”

“How fast?” He asked, and she cocked her head. “They’d outrun us, even without luggage, I think.”

“Any people?” He asked, nudging his horse while he rummaged in one of his saddlebags for his pipe.

“None I could see.” She reported.

“Tracks?” he asked, and she screwed up her face.

“Commander, I’ve got no fucking clue what lives in this shit. There are tracks everywhere. What they belong to...” She trailed off. “Whatever they might be, I don’t know. I can only report what I can see.”

He nodded again, lighting a match and puffing on his pipe. He grimaced; Aldric had told him to wait for the match head to finish burning before applying it to his pipe; he could taste the sulfur.

Daveth pointed with his pipe to the left. “The dunes on the western side are higher, today. I want you up there scouting. Give us a whistle if you spot something heading our way...” He trailed off, and then added, “Or if you happen to see the Starfall Oasis. That’ll perk this lot up.”

“Will do. Why’s it called the ‘Starfall Oasis’?” She asked curiously. Daveth scratched his beard and grimaced at the grit of sand in it.

“Aldric mentioned it last night when we were setting up camp last night. Local legend. A star fell from the sky in that spot and broke open the ground, releasing the water there.” He explained, and Audra nodded thoughtfully before moving her horse to scale the nearest dune, vanishing from sight after a moment.

Daveth returned to Aldric and eyed the map again. “This thing’s as useful as tits on a tree.” He complained. “We could be heading in giant fucking circles for all the good it does us.” He complained.

Aldric grinned at him as he brushed sand out of his straggly beard with a comb. “That’s why I hired us some guides, Daveth. They know the desert. We’ll be square.” He disputed.

“Unless their job is to drag some idiots into the desert and ditch them, wait for them to die, then loot the bodies.” Daveth replied cynically, and Aldric tucked his comb away.

“With an attitude like that, they probably won’t. They’ll take one look at you and rethink their life choices. And even if they did, we’d do for them.” Aldric replied comfortably. Daveth didn’t bother pointing out that even if that happened they’d still be stranded in this hellish waste.

He rode back to join his files, nodded to them in turn.

Aurene wrestled with her reins; it was obvious she was unused to riding a horse, as was her silver-eyed sisters.

“Had a question for you.” Daveth began in a low voice. “Kinda personal.”

Aurene immediately frowned. She always did when subjects of a personal nature came up in public discussion, which made it incredibly difficult to make any sort of small talk to whittle away the boredom.

She did not like talking about anything remotely personal in front of anyone. It was disgraceful, undignified, dishonorable, and a million other varieties of violation of social propriety.

On the flipside, if it was just her and Daveth and she was comfortable that they were out of earshot of anyone else, she would willingly answer any question, but the moment anyone was nearby she would instantly clam up.

“I already do not like where this is going.” She muttered.

“Why fight?” He asked curiously. “You said they’re your sisters, right? And you’re from the same Order. Training, I understand. Sparring, I understand. I get it. But I saw some of the fights you had with them. That’s not training.” He stated flatly, mentally recalling the obviously broken bones, clawlike gashes and gouges, and masses of purpling bruises. They had some sort of ability, or perhaps a magical device or potions that accelerated healing however, so those obvious wounds never lasted more than overnight, but still, that was a sort of brutality and savagery that couldn’t be waved away as training.

Aurene’s frown deepened. “It’s complicated.” She replied shortly, turning her head away and closing her eyes, an obvious sign that she refused to continue the discussion.

He raised an eyebrow at this. “Well?”

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “Well, what?” She asked.

“Uncomplicate it.” He stated firmly.

“No.” She replied. He glared at her, and after a long minute she broke eye contact.

“It’s something we need to do. It does not interfere with our responsibilities to the Seventh Seal.”

“I’m expected to be happy with that explanation?” he asked. She nodded.

He shook his head. “This is absurd. Explain it.”

She let out a breath. “It is a question of...” She trailed off. “Strength. Leadership.” She replied tersely.

Daveth waited. He wanted to pry open that stubborn jaw of hers, but there he reasoned he could be just as obstinate as she was. He could play that game.

“I am a Gold-rank. It is... expected that I am the strongest. But here, we are technically equal. So they have a right to challenge me.” Each sentence was curt, short, and bitten off. “I handicap myself by allowing the both of them to attack me at once.” She paused. “If they win, I am unfit for command; they can defy me at their leisure until I best them again.”

“Have you ever lost?” He asked, and she glared at him hot enough for him to forget they were in a desert.

“Not once.” She replied. “I am a Gold, after all.” She replied with the flat confidence of a born noble.

After a long span of several minutes, she began again. “Silvers excel in strategem. If they were given an army, they would be the ones to divide it as you have, and then execute tactics to assure victory.”

Daveth nodded to show that he understood. “Lynnabel said something like that as well.” He mused. “Where do the Golds fit in?” He asked. She scoffed. “Golds have no need to devise stratagems and concoct plots.” She replied flatly.

Ah. That was it. She thought of herself as existing beyond where strategy, tactics, and planning lay, she was simple overwhelming power, and it was her responsibility to demonstrate that force over and over and over again to her sisters in order to prove her superiority.

He could relate, in a way. He was seven feet tall, weighed something like five hundred pounds. Sparring sessions between him and the rest of the Seventh Seal consisted of him tossing his troops around like dolls while they desperately tried to pull his legs out from under him, weigh down his arms, latch their arms around his neck in a bid to pull him off his feet. His strength was the stuff of Seal legend.

A sharp whistle from the west brought him out of his thoughts. He urged his horse up the nearest dune.

He located Audra, and followed her pointing finger. They’d found the oasis.

The bedrock had broken and surged upwards through the sands, releasing underground water at several points along the break, creating a craggy, water-filled valley. Trees, grass, ferns, and other plants had sprouted, and when the oasis had been discovered, more and more plants were cultivated, creating a small but lush area a few square miles in every direction.

“An island paradise in the sea of sands.” Aldric stated, after his perusal.

Daveth nodded, and then shaded his eyes with his hand.

“Think we got company.” He said. He raised his voice.

“Audra, come over here.” He called, and she rode up alongside him.

“What is it, commander?” She asked.

“On the horizon, left of the oasis. You’ve got the best eyes. Tell me what you see.”

She shaded her eyes, and frowned. “There’s something out there, but... I’ve never seen the like before.” She dipped into her saddlebag and pulled out a spyglass. “Yeah, Looks like people riding some strange ... vehicle.” She handed the spyglass over, and he raised it to his eyes after a sardonic glance at her.

He raised it to his eye, and scanned around until he spotted them. She was right, there were a group of humanoids riding a vehicle that looked like it belonged on a river.

“Looks sort of like a sailboat.” He murmured, baffled.

“Is that what they look like?” Audra asked. “I grew up in a mountain village, and the ships we came over on were the first boats I’ve seen.”

Aldric nodded after he had his look. “Yeah, the Yamato use boats similar to that for their scouting, raiding, and some boarding actions. Two hulls and a broad, flat deck with a massive sail. They’re wicked fast and extremely lightweight.” He explained. “The Anglish had some problems dealing with them during the Second Subjugation of Yamato.” He offered.

Aldric stroked his straggly beard thoughtfully, a frown on his face. “ Looks like they work on sand as well as water.” He handed the glass back to Audra.

“How’d they know we were coming?” Daveth wondered. “We’ve been moving pretty quickly.”

Aldric shrugged. “They could have had scouts pacing us or spotted us with their own spyglasses- any number of things. Besides, we’re quick, but a single person on a horse could outpace us easily.” His captain explained.

“All right, well... assuming six... maybe ten of these sandboats, and as many people per boat, we’re going to need to begin troop disposition.” Daveth warned.

“Daveth... Load the two-inchers we bought from the guy in Azsig-Noth with grapeshot. They want to sail the sands, we’ll hit them with something appropriate.” Aldric turned to look at his second in command. “You did drill your men on using those cannon, correct?”

Daveth nodded. “Yeah.”

Aldric nodded. “Good. We’ll arrange some staggered wedges alongside these dunes, here and here.” He gestured at the hardpan that they’d been following, a narrow, twisting track with dunes heaped to either side. “I want our cavalry to funnel them into the pipe here. If we put our guns...” he looked over at the massive dunes, but Daveth shook his head. “We’ll never get them up to the top of those dunes in time, Cap. Besides, firing down into the pipe- we’ll risk our own troops.”

Aldric shook his head, and pointed. “Get her glass and have a look again, Daveth. They’re moving fast. if we line up the two-inchers here and here,” Aldric gestured to either side of the track, “those things will blast on through the pipe in seconds.”

Daveth shook his head. “I refuse. We’re putting our men at risk.”

Aldric’s face darkened with anger. “You have a better plan?”

Daveth nodded. “We’ll have two staggered columns up this dune, and we’ll funnel them through up and over the top. The drop down here is pretty sheer, and they’ll hit the hardpan and break. Then we can use the two inchers.”

“I don’t think that will work, Commander.” Audra cautioned. “They’re surfing around the bases of the dunes, keeping to the dips.” She was watching the approaching forces carefully. “Captain Aldric’s plan is more sound, though if they scatter, not all of them will go into the pipe like he wants.”

Daveth grimaced. “We’re too small to fight on multiple fronts. Low end we’re looking at 40 troops, high end we’re looking at a hundred, all on these fast-moving sandboats.”

Audra nudged her horse up the steep slope of the dune they’d planned on using, and scanned ahead, and then carefully rode back down.

“If we reposition up on the dunes there, we can divide our forces across some of the low rises with the cannon in two groups.” She suggested.

“Let’s have a look. I’d hate to leave the hardpan if we can help it.” Aldric suggested. Daveth nodded.

“Same. Going across the dunes is a lot harder.”

They quickly dispersed their troops; Daveth taking his files and one of the two cannon they’d purchased. It was a six-foot gun with a barrel roughly two inches in diameter.

“Lord Commander, I disapprove of this action.” Aurene said as the firing team prepared their cannon.

“Okay.” Daveth replied casually. He turned, and directed two files of infantry to take up shortened flanking positions to either side of the cannon.

“Using cannon is disgraceful, Lord Commander.” She complained.

“Ah, but it’s necessary.” He rebutted, and grabbed one of the mages as he moved into position. “You. I swear, if you mages break and run like you did at Andersnacht you can wish for eternal torment in the Void, because the shit I give you will be so much worse that death will be a relief.” He shook the mage by his robes vigorously. “I need you and your fellow mages in this fight. Flinging sand in their faces, setting them on fire- I don’t know, I don’t really care. I don’t see you earning your keep, though, and I’ll feed you to the Orgus myself.” He grinned nastily at the man and tossed him to the ground.

The man nodded, though he was sprawled in the dust.

“Don’t worry, commander. Most of us are earth mages. We can do sand.” He grinned up at Daveth rakishly, who nodded.

“Great. Make it happen.”

Aurene wasn’t finished, though. “Lord Commander, we can fight without the cannon.” She insisted.

“Of course. We could also fight without weapons or armor.” He rebutted. She immediately stopped, furious.

He turned to her. “Why do we use swords instead of bare hands?” he asked. Her jaw clenched and her brows dropped.

“Answer the question, Aurene.” He urged gently. She took a deep breath. “It’s ... more efficient.” She finally replied. “Exactly. We could fight without cannon. We could potentially win without it, too.” He shook his head, though. “But people will die. My people. The people I am responsible for. If I can prevent their deaths with a whiff of grapeshot, then I have done my job and done it well.”

She frowned at him angrily. “It’s not fair or honorable.” She finally replied, stubbornly.

“They eat people. I’m not inclined to be fair or honorable with them.” he replied, repeating Aldric’s sentiments. He patted the barrel of the cannon. “This’ll probably scare ‘em a little. The real deal will come from the mages and archers. After that, it’ll be sword to sword. I look forward to seeing you fight, Aurene.” He finished, and smiled at her.

“I would like to see the way you fight as well, Lord Commander.” She replied.

With the troops arranged, they waited. They watched the skiffs speed towards them, felt the breeze they harnessed with the sails.

“Mages, get ready.” Daveth ordered, and there was a murmur in the ranks.

As the skiffs hurtled towards them with a susurrating sound of the pontoons gliding over the sand, Daveth waited until they were well within range, and gave the order.

With a thunderous crack, the cannon fired, and a double dozen half-inch steel balls cannonaded out, shattering the sand boat and obliterated the six or seven Orgus riding.

The Orgus were a humanoid race, with thin narrow faces, long noses, pointed chins, and ears that were long and backswept. They had grayish skin, and wore light-colored, simplistic clothes. They also had a pair of large teeth that jutted from their mouths like tusks.

A second boat arced in from the left; the firing team was busy swabbing out the barrel of their gun, and Aldric’s troops couldn’t hit because Daveth’s team was in the line of fire.

“Mages!” Daveth yelled, and the boat capsized as a jet of sand punched up under the boat.

The Orgus hit the ground, rolling as they did, easily dispersing the shock of impact. They drew a few swords, some a few knives, and a couple pulled thumb-thick arrows out of quivers and drew them to cheek, but Daveth’s troops were already charging, Aurene ahead of the rest.

When she slammed into the first, there was a terrific impact as she brought her heavy sword from below, cleaving the first Orgus from groin to skull. Strange greenish blood arced in a gaudy splash as its entrails spilled forth.

The other boats started converging, other Orgus leaping from the skiffs and rolling into combat, male and female alike. Daveth parried a sword strike single-handedly, stepped closer and grabbed the Orgus’ wrist, forcing the blade down. The creature’s face registered surprise long enough for Daveth to sweep his own blade from the thing’s shoulders. He scooped up the fallen Orgus’ sword, and cursed when it nicked his hand. Flipping it up so that he held it by the blade, he hurled it at an archer. The blade sank into the archer’s chest and it fell over with a gurgling cry.

Still more sandboats arrived, bringing more and more of the Orgus.

Daveth’s fighters were skilled, and his mages, though skittish, peppered the Orgus with spells as well.

Audra took one with every arrow fired, Aurene killed one with every stroke of her sword, but more and more Orgus arrived; far more than they’d originally anticipated.

“Daveth, back!” Aldric ordered, voice booming across the sands.

“Troops, fall back!” Daveth yelled, and they disentangled from the Orgus, falling back. A few of the Orgus legged it to one of their boats.

Daveth yelled to the mages. “Don’t let them retreat!”, and they responded with giant fists of sand that slapped over the boats and Orgus, crushing them underneath.

A significantly larger skiff slid by, and Daveth could see bundles of cloth, long poles bound together, sacks, animals in cages, and young orgus children.

“It’s not an attack, it’s an exodus.” he breathed in realization.

The thundercrack of cannonfire shattered the hull of the skiff, causing it to heel over, large masts splintering and shattering, sails torn and shredded.

“Men, flank and engage!” Aldric called. “No quarter!”

A roar of fire blazed out from the orgus and slammed into Aldric’s scrambling ranks, Daveth’s archers returned fire, providing cover while Aldric’s formations formed up.

No signal was given, no order shouted because the order had been given; No quarter.

*****

Daveth struggled to free himself from the press of Orgus.

There were bodies underfoot threatening to trip him up. Blood had congealed with the sand, creating a sticky, greenish mud that sucked at the feet, and it seemed like there were Orgus everywhere, all trying to kill him personally.

He swung and stabbed, slashed and cut, and still more seemed to press in. One would fall, and another one would be immediately there, lunging for him. At times they held swords, others hatchets, some of them with long, curved knives. Time seemed to stretch out infinitely long.

He managed to fend off a few, he wasn’t sure how many, but suddenly it seemed as if it was just him and one other Orgus.

They both fought with an exhausted desperation that dragged at their limbs, each of them struggled to parry the other’s strikes, both knowing full well that when the other fell, they would not rise again.

Just when Daveth was certain he couldn’t lift his sword one more time, a sword blade punched through the chest of the Orgus he was fighting from behind, a blade as wide as his hand.

As the Orgus fell, Alysia wrenched her blade free. Daveth gave her an exhausted grin, and she bowed her head a little in return.

“Are you all right, Lord Commander?” She asked. He nodded, and then staggered on his feet, giving the lie away.

He shook his head.

He gestured vaguely towards where he thought Aldric’s forces were. “You guys need help?” He panted. Alysia eyed him critically.

“Not from you, My Lord Commander. Fall back to the dune with the Lord Captain, and fulfill your responsibility there.”

She stepped back and glanced at the bodies at his feet. “You have acquitted yourself well, Lord Commander.” She bowed her head in respect and trotted off, massive sword at the ready.

Daveth turned and caught his foot in the tangled bodies underfoot, and pitched forward with a yelp.

Strong arms caught him, and he forced his feet to stand, forced his legs to support him, and stood unsteadily.

“Most impressive, Lord Commander.” Aurene praised. “My compliments. Shall I escort you to safety?” She asked.

He realized he was panting from effort, from exhaustion, from the heat and dehydration. He nodded.

“I need to... I need water.” He said, and she handed him a small waterskin. He uncorked it and drank a few swallows. The water was lukewarm and there was a grit of sand, but he was certain it was the most refreshing drink he’d ever had.

The world, which had seemed blurred and distorted, seemed clearer. New strength seemed to flow through him in addition to the water.

He capped the bottle and handed it back to Aurene.

“Thanks, Aurene.” He glanced about; it seemed as though the battle had drifted away from this position. “Feel free to return to the fray.” he invited.

She chuckled at that. “There isn’t much of a ‘fray’ left, Lord Commander. They fought with a bestial ferocity, but they are not trained fighters. They are not used to war.”

Daveth struggled his way to the top of the dune, and Aldric joined him.

“You shouldn’t do that, Daveth.” He said by way of greeting. “You’re a Commander now.”

Daveth shrugged at this; too exhausted to retort.

“No matter.” Aldric said, and gestured. “There’s not much left of them. We’ll mop them up in a few minutes. We got a few good rounds of cannonfire in during the fight.”

Daveth raised an eyebrow. “A few? I only heard two.”

Aldric snorted. “You were too busy trying to win the entire thing yourself.” He pointed, and described a short arc. “Most of those are your kills, Daveth.”

Daveth followed Aldric’s pointing finger. A string of grisly green-soaked bodies meandered this way and that, terminating at the mound of bodies Alysia had found him in.

“Shit.” Daveth replied.

“That’s one way of putting it.” Aldric replied. “If there’s any spoils you want, by all means, help yourself.” He said, waving his hand dismissively. “The foodstuffs and all that... I’ll take for resupply.”

“You’ll probably want to toss the meat, unless you’ve got some way of telling where it came from.” Daveth panted. He could use some more water. He glanced down at himself to look for injuries, but he was liberally splattered with the greenish blood and gore from the Orgus.

“Spoils, Lord Captain?” Aurene asked, nose wrinkling. Daveth motioned at her canteen, and she handed it over, eyes never leaving Aldric’s face.

“Plunder. Spoils of war. Booty. Loot. Cut.” He stated. “Let’s face it, we can’t afford to pay everyone as much as they deserve- not for this line of work. By giving the right of plunder, they can supplement their gear, or find things they can sell to fill their pockets with coin I can’t provide.”

Aurene’s lips pursed and her brows drew together. “Would you ... loot my body were I to fall, Lord Captain?” Aldric shook his head, eyes on the fighting. “If we found your body, it and all your possessions we can find would be sent to your family if possible.”

Aldric glanced at her, and then back to the battlefield. “Do you disapprove?”

Aurene assumed a complicated expression. “I am conflicted, Lord Captain. I see the necessity, but scavenging the dead is distasteful.” She replied.

“Are you satisfied with the pay I give you?” Aldric asked. She nodded, and he burst into laughter.

“First time I’ve heard that.” He said, and shook his head.

“What about the food? Your tent? Do you wish for better?” He nodded to himself. “Speaking of which, if you liked, we could move you out of your sisters’ tent and into your own, assuming we were able to sell this stuff.”

She shook her head. She spent most of her nights with Daveth, and although the food was bland and uniform, she had nothing to complain about.

Alysia approached Daveth, Aldric, and Aurene.

“The battle is won, Lord Captain. As you have commanded, no quarter was given.”

Aldric nodded. “Good. See if there are any of those sandboats in reasonable shape, and send the quartermaster up here.” She saluted, fist to heart, and turned to leave. She turned back, and glanced at Aurene.

“You smell, sister. You should... do something about it.” She bowed her head and glanced at Daveth, turned and trotted off, calling for her sister, Lynnabel.

“Think we all stink.” Daveth remarked, gingerly tugging at his green-splattered clothing. “Hope we can make the oasis by nighttime, cap’n. A bath would do me good.”

He glanced at Aurene, who seemed to be startled by Alysia’s words. He shrugged, remembering Alysia and Lynnabel’s request to have their own bathing tub. Cleanliness was important to them in a way that wasn’t important to most mercenaries.

He reinforced himself with more water from Aurene’s canteen, and moved back down the hill to examine his kills and take what he could.

On his way down, he met Eirawen. “Ho, Eirawen. How did you fare?” He asked casually.

“I did well, I think. This heat saps my powers.” she replied carefully. “Are you all right, commander?”

Daveth nodded. “Think so. Why?” She stepped forward, her aura chilling him uncomfortably.

She moved the side of his coat aside. “You’re bleeding.” He glanced down, pulling the coat from her hand. “Shit, so I am.” He shrugged. “I hardly feel it. It should be fine.”

Her eyes searched his face intently. “If you like, I could... lend you my power. I have a healing spell that may work.”

“Healing? you can heal?” He asked, surprised. Why hadn’t she volunteered this information earlier?

“I have a small selection of spells, one of which allows me to heal myself. I could instead direct its power outward and heal you, if you like.” She offered carefully.

He touched the wound through his brigandine coat, and his fingers came away wet.

“Yeah, that would probably be for the best.” He stated.

She stuck her hand into the wound and he screamed as a blast of cold froze his skin, froze the blood in his veins, froze the muscles in his chest, chilled his bones, froze his mind and blasted him into unconsciousness.