Vaile was lifted by the tail of the giant purple and black king cobra and placed alongside Zahra on its back. Then, with a snap of her fingers, the two people and one snake went…

Nowhere.

Vaile was the only one of the three most important people in the area to be confused by this turn of events, and when he looked at Zahra’s face, which was contorted in anger, he figured something must have gone horribly wrong.

“Zahra. What is going on?” Vaile asked, trying not to set off the entity that was far, far stronger than he could ever hope to be.

Zahra did not answer him and instead looked towards the limits of her domain, past where her single tear had changed the furthest bit of terrain from sandy desert to arable soil.

“My Pharaoh, perhaps we could ask Lord Vaile for assistance with this matter?” Ratams asked in a respectful but sort of raspy voice fit for a mummified General. “All of our other options have failed to bear fruit, and we are grasping at straws at this point. If Lord Vaile arrived here through the desert, then he must have passed through the boundaries of at least one of those things. That would indicate that he is unaffected by them, unlike ourselves. He may just be our best hope at pushing back the encroaching invaders and retaking the territory that they have stolen from you.”

Vaile shifted his gaze between Ratams and Zahra, hoping one of them would further elaborate on the problem that they were facing, but Zahra seemed determined to avoid talking about whatever issue that Ratams had mentioned. This left Vaile with little choice but to bite the bullet and pop the question himself.

“Zahra, tell me. Tell me what is keeping you and your nation in such a tight spot. What could possibly overpower the will of something like yourself? Despite the time that has passed, you are still my Tamed Being, and if I can help you, I will. There is no need to be ashamed, as not every problem can be solved without outside intervention. I guess that’s why fate led me here, then; to help you in your time of need. What is the issue?”

Zahra tried to keep from looking at Vaile, but Vaile was not having any of that. To the quiet amusement of the Solusand cavalry, both living and undead, Vaile began to toy with Zahra’s hair, her jewelry and the other bits and baubles on her person like an autistic pre-teen who had only the vaguest concept of personal boundaries. The Pharaoh tried to ignore Vaile, but the master tamer was relentless. Finally, Zahra yielded just as Vaile began to flap her headdress like a bird’s wings.

“Enough! Fine, you win! I will tell you what you want to know, so please just stop that!”

Vaile smiled beneath his mask and let go of Zahra’s headgear.

“A winner is me.” he said, relishing his minor victory.

Zahra composed herself and then turned to face Vaile.

“The invading Sand Elves-.”

“Desert Elves.” Vaile corrected.

“They use the terms interchangeably. As I was saying; the Sand Elves have been slowly pushing my nation further and further from its old borders. Somehow, they have acquired a number of devices that project a field that renders my powers useless and keeps my soldiers from using much of theirs as well. They move these devices forwards, slowly tightening the noose, and to make matters worse, I can not even contact the other members of the Alliance and request their aid. The barrier they have created is always moved forwards after the nearest settlements have been razed, almost like they want us to put up a decent fight before denying us anything in the way of a rapid counterattack. We were lucky that not only were my cavalry, led by General Ratams over there, in the area, but also that they had not moved up the device in time to deter us from retaking this place. Now, however…”

Vaile held up his hand as if to stop her.

“Point me towards the target. All you need is for the area-denial devices to be destroyed, right? I seem to be unaffected, so allow me to deal with them. I may not be as powerful as you are now, but I’ve still got more than a few cards up my sleeve, sometimes quite literally.”

Zahra shook her head in response.

“I cannot risk you suffering a terrible fate at their hands. Besides, those scouts that managed to see the devices all report that they are guarded by no small number of the Sand Elves’ most elite warriors. They will fight you to the death to keep you away from the devices, and I am unwilling to risk your life in such an endeavor.”

Vaile nodded at Zahra’s words, and then turned to Ratams.

“Which way do I need to go?”

Zahra glared daggers at Ratams, trying to intimidate him into silence. Unfortunately for her, Ratams was more than willing to do anything needed to protect not only his Pharaoh but also the Solusand Dominion. He also had a better understanding of the strength Vaile possessed in comparison to the Desert/Sand Elves. Pharaoh Zahra I had spent most of her time in the New World residing in a palace staffed by people whose average level exceeded 300, which was an almost unheard of and absurdly high number compared to the rest of the people and creatures on the planet.

Vaile’s level was, by now, three levels higher than it had been last he had checked, meaning Vaile had exceeded the in-game maximum level. Even without this, he had the power to dispose of the invaders and their device on his own. Besides, Ratams knew well how Vaile operated when faced with the risk of true danger. During the time before the World Shift, he had heard of Vaile’s exploits from no small number of other Outworlders. When faced with absolute danger, Vaile did not bumble in and loudly announce his presence; if he did so it would cost him his shot at getting his hands on what the Outworlders called ‘Special Mobs’. Vaile, when faced with a danger that was potentially life threatening, would either flee or simply manage to be both out of sight and out of mind.

Ratams had full faith that if Vaile could not Sam Fischer his way in and out, he could certainly overpower the guards and solve the problem the way only a person exponentially stronger than their opponent could hope to. Ratams made his decision, and pointed his shriveled finger towards the distant dunes and without a word Vaile hopped off the Pharaoh’s mount and ran full speed in the direction that Ratams had pointed, much to the dismay of Zahra.

“I’ll have your head for this if he dies!” she screamed, almost certainly willing to back up such words with action.

“That will only happen if I don’t kill myself first. But, please, have faith. He will succeed, and of that I am sure.”