Lunar Heart, Shadow Bound ✓ [when the moon lies]

Ch.5: A Rare Specimen

Edited: Apr, 26, 2020

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It was a long walk across the rising and falling hilly dunes. Orange sand stretched everywhere she looked. There was not an end to it. The First Ring certainly lived up to its nicknames. It was also called the 'Dry Ring' or the 'Wasteland Ring' because most of it was desert. Rainfall was short during the month of June and summer was three months too long.

A hot breeze slapped sand in their faces. Pinti turned her head away as they stood their ground while the wind grew stronger and buffeted around them, pushing, pulling, or trying to put them off balance. Behind, their paw prints dotted the large swaths of sand but were soon covered up again as if to confuse them about which way they came.

Her mouth was parched, her eyes were dry, and the heat was burning the skin under the layers of her fur. Sticking her tongue out to cool down made her thirst worse and Pinti tried to hold back the instinctive urge to pant. She could hear Kalis' heavy breathing and Vaiter's short gasps. The desert itself was so quiet apart from the occasional sound of the wind whipping across the dunes, scattering sand to new places. When she sniffed the air, there was the familiar scent of fowl. In the piercing blue sky, three vultures flew around in wide circles.

"I'm so famished I could eat one of those vultures." As Kalis mumbled, Pinti smelled the growing sourness on Vaiter's breath, telling her the poison was taking over his body. She could feel the strength in his arms were weakening and she had to adjust him so he wouldn't fall. When he coughed, blood splat on the sand in front of them and mixed with spit as it dribbled down his chin.

Vinyan City wasn't getting any closer—still a blur that wavered in the rising heat. The vultures squabbled above them, ready to feast when they were ready to give up. Vaiter started to cough again and this time he felt into the sand before Pinti or Kalis could catch him. He lay over on his back and closed his eyes when the sunlight hit him.

"Can't go on." His breath wreaked of sickness and poison. Pinti could already tell it was nearing too late, but still she scanned the desert horizon for any pocket of civilization. She knew the Desert Isles—as the vast deserts were called collectively—were full of domed civilizations of small oasis towns like Yargrelid or Nuaka. It was just a matter of finding them.

And in time. Pinti looked over her shoulder. They had not traveled as far as she thought. Yargrelid was still quite visible down to the details of its little rusted sign. Beyond that was Nuaka. Hope rose in her chest when she realized they could still go back and if they hurried maybe Vaiter could still make it.

"Pinti," Kalis snapped, "what are you doing? Resting? Get him up."

"Just leave me." Vaiter moaned. "I'm dying. I won't make it."

"Feigat! I hate your guts but I'm not leaving you!" Kalis spat and reached to grab Vaiter as he weakly protested. "Pick him up." Kalis ordered and Pinti bent down to get his other arm when a faraway sound caught her ears.

There was a soft thrum of hooves on sand. Stretched shadows of caravans on horseback were coming over a small sand dune. The Humans atop wore long fabrics with stitched-on sleeves and had strikingly dark faces. The caravan of ten or so had an array of knives and other sharp weapons strapped around their belts. Sniffing, Pinti found fresh blood on them—the blood of other Humans.

The male Human leading in front held up his hand to halt the entire party.

"What do we have here?" His nasally voice clung to her ears like slime and he chuckled as he hopped off his horse making the stirrups jingle. She could hear his rotating spurs clinking as he walked.