Chapter 57

Wil couldn’t decide which was worse, the coarse black sand that made its way into every crevice of his body, or the equally omnipresent salt that sucked the moisture out of his skin.

Sitting on a rare, rocky outcrop that he had found after two days of walking, he removed his right boot, striking the bottom with his hand to knock out the remaining sand. It was everywhere, from between his toes, to under his armor. Even his hair was full of the stuff, gritty and abrasive as he shook it free.

But it was the salt that was much more insidious. It didn’t worm its way under his clothing, preferring to strike at his unprotected face and hands. His lips had gone from simply dry and parched, to cracked and broken. It seemed that no matter how much water he drank, or used to wipe his face, the salt would be back almost immediately, blown around in the wind.

Combined with the heat, he was almost at his wits end, and beyond exhausted. It was difficult to sleep with the suns beating down on him and the temperature just shy of ‘broiling’.

He had purchased a pavilion and tent when he was in the Port. A magical device that set up instantaneously as soon as he took it out of his bag, turning from a small, manageable bundle to a complete campsite with protection from the sun.

Unfortunately, it didn’t cool the air inside. The shade helped, but the first evening he spent in the tent, stripped nearly naked and coated in sweat, he had wished for a hole he could crawl into and die. A nice, damp, cool, underground cave. It became a wistful dream as the evening went on, and sleep remained elusive.

It was only on the second evening that he was so tired that he all but ignored the heat, falling asleep in the shelter as soon as his head hit the pillow. He had a surprise when he woke up, as the wind had piled sand all over his tent, so high that he had needed to cut a hole through the top to escape. From that point, he learned to be careful where he set it up, looking for rare, sheltered overhangs or rocky outcrops to set it up.

Stumbling onto this rock had nearly been a miracle. He had seen it from a distance, a monolithic, grey stone crest that rose above the black sand. It dominated the horizon, and even though it meant going slightly off course from the promised water, Wil had chosen to head towards it. It provided shelter, but also a higher vantage point to take in his surroundings.

His boots free of sand, he put them back on, lacing them tightly in a vain attempt to keep the sand out.

Shielding his eyes with his hand, Wil looked in the direction of the promised water, just to his right on his stone seat. Sand dunes and salt flats, nothing to indicate there was a trace of water in sight.

“It couldn’t have been wrong.” Wil whispered though his chapped lips, referring to the elemental.

To his left, he could see the trail he had taken through the sand, already fading in the wind. In nearly three days of walking, he hadn’t made it very far at all. It was slow going, weaving around the tall dunes to keep to the hard packed ground, and it delayed his progress.

Since he had seen the remains of that ship, he hadn’t spotted a single thing of interest on his travels. Although he did hear something odd at one point. A distant rumbling, like thunder, coming from miles away. But the skies were clear, so he could only assume it came from something other than weather.

“It’s going to take months to get out of here.” Wil said, pulling out another jug of water, splashing a liberal amount over his face and head, before draining it dry. Putting the empty container back in his bag of holding, he pulled out his tent, setting it up in the shade before falling asleep.

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The griffin lay dead, half buried in the sand. It had fallen with enough force that its landing had created a trench in the sand, deep enough that the wind hadn’t eliminated it, despite its best efforts.

Wil couldn’t estimate how long it had been here, but the smell from the corpse rotting in the sun had caught his attention, long before the body came into sight. The creature was covered in wounds, long gashes that ran the length of its body.

Whatever blood had come from the beast, the thirsty sand had long since absorbed it.

Holding a handkerchief over his nose and mouth to block the smell, Wil slowly walked around the body, looking for clues to its demise. Not far from the griffin lay the body of its owner, the little that remained. Scraps of cloth, blowing in the wind, a bleached white bone sticking out of the sand, and a few discarded personal items were all that were left.

Something had killed the griffin and its rider, but only feasted on the owner, leaving the beast to rot in the sun. The only explanation was that whatever did this, was more interested in the high-ranking mana inside the person, rather than the meat of the beast.

Griffins were physically strong, making them excellent mounts and exceptional in combat. But they were weak magically, lacking in mana when compared to someone of Wil’s rank.

“Something is out there, hunting for mana.” Wil whispered, kneeling next to the corpse, and searching for traces with his senses. But there was nothing.

“Whatever it is, it can either fly, or its capable of reaching a griffin in flight.” Wil worried, taking a look at the skies around him. He hadn’t been as alert as he should have been the last few days. He had worried about surviving the heat and the endless sand, not thinking about what else could live here.

“I need to be more careful.” Wil said quietly, standing up to look at the griffin again. Not able to do anything more, he left the area, continuing his journey.

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Over the next two days he saw traces of battle, great gouges carved into the ground, splashes of blood not yet dry, and sand turned to glass from intense, magical heat. The evidence spoke of conflict, but Wil could only see the remains, he had yet to lay eyes on any real threat.

It was only after finding crashed remnants of a small, flying ship, that he knew it would be foolish to continue forward without assistance.

Standing next to the vessel, its wood still smoldering from the fires that destroyed it, that Wil made a decision.

“I can’t go on, not like this.” He said to himself, before pulling out the Elemental Emerald once again. He opened a conduit to the gem directly from his core, allowing the elemental to draw whatever mana it needed.

Typically, when summoning, the initial call would cost the caster mana, before the summon drew power from the surrounding ambient mana, lessening the burden on its master. Here, in this place, there was no mana for it to use, it would have to come from Wil himself.

What he was doing was risky. By giving the Elemental full access to his mana, he was leaving nothing for himself. He would be reliant on it, to keep him safe and see him to the other side of the desert. But he didn’t have many options.

Every day he spent stumbling around this wasteland increased his chances of running into whatever was killing the other test takers. To make matters worse, he was practically blind here, his senses cut off by the strange properties of this desert.

The Elemental, however, proved capable of leading him to safety, and possibly avoiding danger.

“Master. Why?” A voice rumbled from in front of him. Standing over a dozen feet high, the Elemental was once more a bulky, lumbering monstrosity, vaguely humanoid as it shaped itself from the black sand around them.

“I need your help again. Something is attacking us. Do you feel anything?” Wil asked, kneeling next to the burning ship, rooting through the debris for clues as to what happened.

“Hmmm. Humans.” It rumbled, pointing to their left. Wil followed its directions, squinting against the sun’s glare.

“Trouble?” He asked, not seeing a thing from where they were.

“Fighting. Not monsters.”

So, humans were fighting each other, whether it was recruit on recruit, or others present in the desert, it meant that not only would he need to be on guard against whatever lived here, but from other people as well. Staring at the crashed ship, he suddenly felt a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature.

“What the hell have I walked into?” Wil wondered aloud, feeling the reassuring presence of the Elemental beside him.

Turning from the wreckage, Wil leapt into the air and settled on the Elemental’s shoulder.

“Can you take us to water?” Wil asked, looking around from his new higher vantage point. He still couldn’t see anything, but he wouldn’t be taken off guard.

With a nod, the Elemental moved forward, the ground shifting to propel it across the sands at amazing speed. In moments, the burning wreck was left far behind.