XXI
“Konkurra! Come back!” I screamed. I knelt down beside Kadava, took off my cloak, and wrapped it tightly around his severed leg. Konkurra had opened her eyes, and without questioning, stepped in front of us to fend off the unending onslaught of Excavators.
“Kon...Konkurra!” Kadava weakly yelled as he regained consciousness, sand filling his mouth.
“Save your strength! You’ll make it out of this!” I responded, getting on top of him to shield his bare head from the storm.
“They attacked...they attacked from the front!” Kadava managed to spit out, blood drooling from his lips as he smiled weakly. “You were r...right. They were unpredict...unpredictable.”
“Stay with us, soldier!” Konkurra yelled behind her, valiantly slaying the dwellers by the dozens, protecting both of us.
“Kadava! Don’t fall asleep! I know you’re tired, but we’re gonna get you home! Don’t give up on me now!”
“It was an hon...an honour as your first mate,” Kadava spoke, smiling weakly again.
“Don’t say that! Stay with me! You’re stronger than this!”
“Behind...you,” Kadava continued.
I turned around just in time to dodge an oncoming Excavator. The full force of the storm grazed against my bare face. Excavators leapt out towards us from the front.
“Konkurra! They’re coming from all around us! It’s not just behind and beside us anymore!”
“We have to get out of here, now! We went too far, we’re in the Red Zone!”
“Red Zone? Kadava, stay with me!”
Excavators came from every which way, falling to the swings of my blade. The armour was notably thicker, and the Excavators appeared to have doubled in size. They no longer jumped at a specific height either; every sand dweller came from a different angle.
“Follow me!” She cried.
“Kadava, stay awake!” I yelled, picking him up and placing him around my shoulders. “Konkurra, you’re gonna have to cover us!”
“Let’s go!”
She climbed up the bank side and ran across the main path the king and his army was on, sliding down into the other bank. I quickly followed her, with Kadava hanging motionless around my shoulders.
“I don’t really know where the village is - only Tarsus knows! He’s told us tales, and if not for the sandstorm, we would’ve been there already!”
“Can't we track him or something? Footprints?”
“The sandstorm’s wiped away all his footprints!”
“Then where are we going? We have to hurry! Kadava won’t last long!”
“I’m with you, Ulterium,” Kadava groaned softly. His sharp intake of breath concealed the overwhelming pain he was experiencing. His warm blood trailed down my leg, a stream of red dripping onto the sandy floor. My cloak was loosening around his wound. Konkurra led us deeper into the island, where shrubs and desert flowers started to grow. The path curved to a sharp right.
“Tarsus spoke of a riddle to get there! It was like...left, right...uh...past the blight, right, left...right, left...dammit, I can’t recall! Didn’t think it would be significant!”
The Excavators were totally unpredictable now. With both hands immobilized from carrying Kadava, I stepped to the right or left, dodging the famished sand dwellers.
“Blight! Like the tree disease? Like those up ahead?” I questioned, nodding towards a cluster of cacti that had decayed from a strange fungus. The sandstorm forced my eyes shut, scraping my eyelids.
“Maybe! I think we’re on the right path!”
We stumbled past the infected desert plants, continuing on with the path.
“So I would presume we take a right on the next bend, then a left?”
“Most likely! Keep your guard up, Tarsus told us this place was full of Excavators!”
“Not much I can do,” I grumbled. “Kadava, you still there?”
There was no response. His eyes were shut, and his blood-crusted mouth was agape.
“Kadava!”
“Huh?” He spoke groggily, looking up. “Ah!” He yelled in agony, instinctively clutching his leg. “My leg! Where is my leg?” He shouted frantically, throwing me down onto the ground.
“Stay with me! You were just injured from the Excavators, but we’re getting you help!”
I picked him up and placed him around my shoulders, catching up to Konkurra. He had blacked out again, lifelessly slumped around my shoulders. We took a right and continued down the path, barricaded on both sides by tall desert plants.
“The storm is beginning to die down!” Konkurra yelled from in front of us.
After turning a quick left, we were confronted by two paths.
“Which one is it?”
“Uh...I’m trying to think!” Konkurra replied, racking her brain.
“Kadava’s running out of time!”
“I know! I know! Just give me a bit more time!”
“Left, right, past the blight, right, left...right, left...left, right, past the...”
“Hurry!” I ushered impatiently.
“I’m trying! It’s hard to fight and think at the same time!” She replied, frustrated, fending off oncoming Excavators.
The path to the left had shrubs and flowers growing on the side. The alternate route led upwards, surrounded by tall, prickly bushes and cactus.
“Left, right, past the blight. Right left...right, left...ove...over! Over the crest! Over the crest!”
“Crest...like a hill?”
“Yeah, it’s the right path! Follow me!”
We hurried up the sloping path, surrounded by growing weeds and vegetation.
“Glad I still remembered it. Thought it left me for good!”
“We can save Kadava if we make it on time! How far is the city?”
“Tarsus mentioned it to be pretty close by if you followed the riddle. Let’s hope he’s right!”
“At least the storm’s beginning to die down here. We can focus on the Excavators!”
The last of the gale blew out, a weak sigh against our scraped skin. We had been journeying for hours now, and the sun was beginning to peek above the horizon. Konkurra exuberantly recited the riddle over and over, slashing at the leaping predators. I followed closely behind, using her as a cover.
“Left, right, past the blight. Right left, over the crest. Left, right, past the blight. Right left, over the crest.”
I looked around me, and the vegetation was intriguing. A peculiar orange flower stood out amongst pink shrubs on my right. A tumbled cactus lay between tall prickly pears to my left. The vegetation began to close in on us, narrowing the route.
“Left, right, past the blight. Right, left, not the crest. Left, right-”
“Hold on...what did you just say?” I spoke, alert that I had heard something else.
“The right way to the hidden town!”
“Say it again...you said something different!”
“Left, right, past the blight. Right, left, not the - oh...” Konkurra remarked. “This...this is the wrong path! I remember it so clearly now! Tarsus emphasized on the ‘not’! Dammit! Turn around!”
“What do you mean by ‘turn around’?” I spoke slowly. We were completely surrounded by desert vegetation, with the occasional appearances of Excavators. Everywhere we turned, we were confronted by a tall spiked cactus or a decaying sort of desert flower.
“What do we do? We’re...lost!” Konkurra yelled, facing the facts.
“Hold on...there! We came from there!” I pointed. “I recognize that orange flower!”
“But there’s another orange flower over here,” Konkurra countered, nodding at one behind me.
I closed my eyes, recalling the scenery around me. “A fallen cactus...there was a fallen cactus!”
I turned around, and beside the orange flower Konkurra had pointed out, there was a fallen cactus next to it.
“But there’s a fallen cactus over there too!” Konkurra spoke, pointing at the orange flower I spotted out first.
“Dammit!” I cried. “No, wait! It’s...it’s the one you’re pointing to! The fallen cactus wasn’t on the same side as the flower! Go that way!”
Without any hesitation, Konkurra stepped towards the point I indicated.
“Watch out! There’s an Excavator behind you!”
We approached the fallen cactus, and in the sand were faint footprints.
“Follow the path back! We can’t afford to lose more time!”
After minutes of retracing our route and leaving the detour, we turned around and proceeded down the other track.
“There! Below the horizon!” Konkurra yelled.
In the distant stood short huts of clay and sand, round structures blending into the desert dunes around.
“Let’s make a run for it down this slope!”
I slid down the steep sandy slope tailing Konkurra, careful not to lose my balance and drop Kadava by accident. Just ahead of us was a group of four guild members, running to the same location. On the top of a dune stood a small figure, waving his two curved blades in the air, Tarsus directing us towards the esoteric city of sand and clay. Summoning all the strength left in me, I darted down the rest of the tall slope and cried out at the top of my lungs.
“Help! Help me!”
I was quickly ushered into a small clay hut, placing Kadava on a makeshift platform. People scurried in and out, a calamity of voices rising in confusion as the local townspeople tended Kadava’s severed leg. He lied across a smooth sandy bed, unconscious. His chest was heavily lifting up and dropping down, but his heartbeat was slowing down. In a matter of time, the locals had created a makeshift leg from cloth and metal and other scraps, and proceeded to carefully attach it to Kadava’s left thigh. He gave no response in his blacked-out state.
Glo stood beside him, eyes closed, palms above his heart. After a while, the crowd died down, leaving only Glo and I in the small hut with Kadava.
“There’s not much we can do now. He lost a lot of blood from a severed artery in his leg. The town’s medics did their best, and so did I,” Glo told me. “Kadava has to go home and rest. It’s a miracle he’s still alive. He’s too weak to fight with us in this war, and he’ll need time to adjust to his new leg, both physically and mentally.”
“I understand. Thank you for saving him,” I spoke to Glo.
“Don’t just thank me. These sand people are very knowledgeable in carnomancy; in fact, I don’t think I could’ve saved him on my own.”
I gave her a small smile. “I’ll go get Arcanor to send him back to Sanoctuis instantly.”
Glo suddenly frowned. “Arcanor’s not here.”
“What?”
“Three of the four groups returned, but Foku, Mirage, Drog, and Arcanor were all in the same group, and that was the only group with no Night Guild members within, so they wouldn’t know the way to this hidden city,” she paused. “Tarsus said something about a ‘Red Zone’ near this place. Now I’m beginning to worry about them.”
I dashed out of the hut immediately, looking up at the sand dune. Tarsus was gone.
“Konkurra! Where’s Tarsus?”
“He went out looking for the fourth group!”
I made haste and scaled up the steep dune, only to be tackled down by Konkurra.
“What are you doing?” she scolded. “You’re gonna die out there!”
“I’m going to save my men and women!” I replied in fury. “They’ll die if I don’t go now!”
“You don’t know anything about the Red Zone! Just trust me, Tarsus will find them! Stay here with Kadava!”
I relented, sitting defeated on the slope of the sand dune.
“I lost Roslyn. I nearly lost Kadava. I can’t lose any more.”
Konkurra sat down beside me, placing her hand on my back.
“You won’t,” she simply assured.
“What is this Red Zone?” I asked, taking my mind off past memories.
“No one in our guild’s been in it before, except Tarsus. Well, I guess we were in there for a quick while. According to Tarsus, the Red Zone’s a separation between the outskirts of the island and the border of the capital city, but it’s more than just a divider. The epithet ‘Red Zone’ is from the maroon-brown sand that makes up the area, but because of that sandstorm, I didn’t know we had already gone so far in. According to Tarsus, the dwellers in the Red Zone are much more aggressive and unpredictable. The Excavators that inhabit the outskirts only attack from behind, and occasionally, from the side, but those that dwell in the Red Zone attack from any direction. In fact, according to Tarsus, dwellers can even launch up from right beneath your feet, dragging you down into the sandy floor before devouring you piece by piece. Those dwellers, or Extirpators, are the main guardians of Gee Oluun’s gates. I’m not sure how Tarsus is planning to advance after today’s journey.”
“That’s a lot of from one man. Don’t know if I can entirely trust him, but after all I’ve seen, there’s a chance he’s not lying.”
“Tarsus may exaggerate with his words, but after Kadava’s incident, I would trust him.”
“So Extirpators are basically better Excavators?”
“Yes, the second tier of the sand dwellers.”
“Tiers? Am I missing something here?”
“Well, from your limited knowledge of the Red Zone, I’d assume you don’t know much about this island.”
“Yeah, don’t come here often,” I admitted. “Tell me about it.”
The island’s basically split into three rings: the outskirts, the Red Zone, and Gee Oluun, the capital city, located at the heart of the island. Each ring also houses a species of sand dwellers. As you venture deeper into the island, the sand dweller species become more fierce and dangerous. The first tier are the Excavators, living in the outskirts of this island, but they never compete against the Extirpators of the Red Zone, the second tier of sand dwellers. The highest tier, the third tier or sand dwellers, resides in the capital city, namely, The Exterminators.”
“Excavators, Extirpators, and...Exterminators. Got it.”
“As the tier number increases, the sand dwellers increase in size, speed, and hostility. Their protective skin also thickens as you progress deeper into the island. That’s why Tarsus was concerned about Fulcan’s army. Even their sharpest blades are no match for the impenetrable derma of the Exterminators.”
“So then how do we make it to Gee Oluun? And how do we get rid of the Exterminators?”
“I’m not the one to say. Tarsus might tell us his game plan when he gets back.”
“Where do you think the Army of Light is right now? We need to go get them before the Excavators finish them off.”
“Commands from Tarsus were to stay hidden. I can’t disobey him; we need to wait for him to return. And at this pace, the army may have already advanced to the second tier.”
“Where’s Tarsus?” A distant familiar voice cried out.
Glo approached us, exiting the clay hut. Local townspeople continued drifting in and out, checking on Kadava’s status.
“He’s still not back yet.”
“I’m worried about him,” Glo spoke to me. “Are you gonna go and find him?”
“Tarsus is a great fighter, and he knows the Red Zone well. He’ll be fine,” Konkurra quickly interrupted.
“I hope so,” Glo spoke sheepishly.
“I’ve been...noticing something between you and him,” Konkurra continued, glaring at Glo. “Are you in...do you like him?” Konkurra asked awkwardly.
“I’d...that’s...Ulterium, we should check on Kadava again,” Glo quickly instructed.
“Just wanted to let you know that I was hand-picked by Tarsus to be by his side. So don’t even think about it,” Konkurra stated coldly.
Glo did not respond, but grabbed my arm tightly instead and started towards Kadava’s hut.
Suddenly, dust rose above the sand dune behind me as voices filled the top of the sandy hill.
“Clear the path!”
Tarsus and Sylvan rushed down the slope as townspeople stepped out to greet them. Tarsus was carrying Arcanor around his shoulders, and Sylvan led Mirage, Drog, and Foku down to the huts.
Immediately, the small town was once again filled with chatters and sound as men and women hurried in and out of a hut Arcanor was placed in, tending his wound. He had a gaping cut on his right shoulder, but he was still conscious and well in mind.
Some locals quickly bandaged his shoulder up, others removing his cloak and quickly patching the ripped portion of his sleeve. In no time Arcanor was doing well again, but commanded by the locals to take a short rest on a stone platform, similar to the one Kadava was placed on.
“Tarsus. Great to see you again,” I greeted.
He was dirt-ridden, arms scarred and legs bruised, but the ferocity in his eyes blazed all-the-more. His bloody shuang-gou was sheathed behind him.
“Tarsus!” Glo yelled, running towards him and throwing her arms around him. Konkurra stood beside them, arms crossed, glaring at her. Glo quickly released her grip and shifted beside me again.
“Good to see everyone safe again,” Tarsus replied. “Where are the other two groups?”
“In the town,” Konkurra replied. “They don’t know you’re back yet.”
“All good. Well, good news. We have time to rest. I got a chance to scout on the army, and they were halted by the sandstorm and Excavators. They went off the path and found shelter a few kilometres east of us, in another overhang. They’re taking a short break as well; some of them had fallen to the Excavators, but most of them had collapsed from exhaustion.”
“So when do we get moving?”
“At daybreak, so in a few hours. I’d reckon that’s all the time Fulcan would give his men before continuing the journey. In the meantime, go befriend these people. They owed me one, so they’d be willing to share their houses with you. You should rest up.”
“As should you. What do you mean they owed you one?”
“Our guild was here two years ago when the Extirpators struck. It was completely out of the blue; all sand dwellers never go off the path to hunt. But I guess the Extirpators were famished and, out of desperation, came to this city to devour the locals one by one. But we so happened to be here that day and successfully defended this hidden town from the dwellers, so they owed us a big one.”
“Talk about timing. Well, I’ll tell my men the good news and you tell yours. See you at daybreak.”
“Sleep well, Ulterium.”
“Let’s hope I can.”
“Goodnight Tarsus,” Konkurra chirped, quickly pecking him on the cheek before running into the town, zipping past Glo.
Glo quickly grabbed my arm and stormed off the other way to another row of huts.
“Goodnight Glo,” Tarsus called after us innocently.
After spreading Tarsus’ message to my guild, I conversed with some of the sand folk. The local townspeople warmly welcomed us, allowing us to sleep in their small rock houses. Arcanor and I ended up in the same small hut, where two rocky beds were laid out in the small enclosure. Although the hard cot was not one to easily fall asleep on, I quickly dozed off as soon as I spread across the stone bed from an endless day of running and fighting.
I woke up to Arcanor’s soft voice. It was still dark outside, the stars brightly looming over the desolate wasteland.
He was calling my name and saying something strange. Asleep, lost in his dreams, but his eyes illuminated a pale blue.
“Ulterium...Cielos,” he seemed to whisper. Over and over again, the same, increasingly haunting name.
“Cielos.”
He wasn’t in danger, nor was I, so I shut my eyes, rolled onto my side, and let my weariness carry me back to sleep.
I’ll keep that strange name in mind.