Hagan’s arrow plunged into the giant scorpion while Lucas shoved his blade between the eyes of an assaulting imp. “I think that’s all of them,” Hagan informed, trudging to collect his arrow from the scorpion’s lifeless corpse lying a good distance away next to a large rock.
Lucas sheathed his sword. “I’ve seen these imps everywhere. They don’t seem to care much about climate.” He turned to Iris. “How are you feeling?”
“Decent,” she replied.
“Need some more water?” Lucas offered.
Iris shook her head. “I would prefer to wait until it’s absolutely necessary.”
As Hagan pulled the arrow out of the monstrous cadaver, a tall and muscular young man with messy red hair quietly slipped out from behind the rock nearby. Much to his surprise, Hagan was suddenly grabbed from behind. Before he could react, a knife was held to his throat. “Ya say a word or move an inch and you’re gonna get it, pal,” a voice behind him warned. Lucas and Iris turned to see the stranger holding Hagan at knifepoint. Iris gasped.
“Let him go!” Lucas shouted, unsheathing his sword.
The young man faced Lucas, turning Hagan with him, the knife still poised to deliver a lethal slice. The stranger was dressed in a dark-red, short-sleeved vest opened to expose a dirty gray shirt. Yellow cloth was tied around his neck and waist, accompanied by brown tattered pants. On his hands were brown gloves. He was barefoot. “No!” he yelled. “Gimme all your stuff.”
The area was dead silent as the two stared each other down. I could try to hit him with an orb, but there’s a good chance I’ll miss and Hagan will be done for. But if I give this guy our stuff, we’re going to die out here anyway. Even if we reach a town, the backpack has all of our gold. We won’t be able to buy food or anything else.
“I don’t have all day!” the stranger said. “Gimme your stuff or baldy gets it!”
Hesitating for a moment, Lucas sheathed his sword and slowly removed the backpack from his shoulders.
“Lucas, don’t!” Iris sharply whispered. “We will be unable to survive witho–”
“Just trust me.” Lucas interrupted with a wink. He gradually approached the stranger, carrying the backpack in his hand.
“You too, lady!” the red haired young man barked as Lucas froze. “Gimme that... purse thing.”
“It’s empty,” she responded.
“Pfft, yeah right,” the stranger remarked. “You’re carryin’ an empty bag through a desert. I believe that. Ya think I buy your crap?! Gimme the bag!!” Turning back toward Iris, Lucas motioned for her to hand him the satchel. Hesitantly, she gave him the bag. He took it from her and approached the stranger.
Meanwhile, Hagan boiled in silent rage. Damn thieving bastard! Snuck up on me... As soon as this jerk lets go of me I’m going to chase him down and beat him into a pile of mush!
Lucas handed the backpack and satchel to the hostile man. “Here. Now let him go.” The stranger quickly snatched the bags and bolted, simultaneously releasing Hagan in one lightning-quick move. “Lumen orbis!” Lucas shouted, conjuring a light orb. Seeing that Lucas had control of the situation, Hagan stepped aside as Lucas hurled his orb.
The luminous sphere nailed the fleeing crook in the back, causing him to fall to the ground with a heavy thud. The knife, backpack, and satchel flew out of his hands, landing in the sand not far from where he fell. Before the thief could get to his feet, he was met with surprise as he felt a sharp metal tip lightly graze his back. “Don’t move,” Lucas warned, nudging the criminal’s back with his sword.
The thief froze, “Alright, alright... ow!”
“Hagan,” Lucas yelled, “come get our stuff.”
“Just kill the bastard!” Hagan shouted.
“Get the stuff,” Lucas repeated sternly. “I’ll take care of him.”
“You’re not gonna kill me?” the thief asked, letting out a groan of pain.
“I never said that,” Lucas rebutted coldly, causing the red-haired young man’s eyes to widen. Surprised by Lucas’s demeanor, Hagan obeyed, collecting the crook’s knife along with the backpack and satchel. Cautiously, Iris made her way over to get a closer look at what was taking place.
“My friends and I are stranded out here,” Lucas began. “You’re going to take us to the nearest town. If you try anything funny, I won’t be so merciful the next time. Got it?”
“Yes sir – you’re the boss!” the thief replied with a nervous laugh.
Lucas quickly scanned the crook’s emotions. He’s terrified... It’s hard to tell if he’s being truthful, but the worst he could do at this point is run away. Lucas took his sword off of the young man’s back. “Good.”
Hagan stared bitterly at the crook as he slowly got to his feet. “If you call me ‘baldy’ again,” Hagan warned, “I’ll shove a fire orb so far up your ass you’ll be puking ashes for weeks.”
“That’s enough Hagan,” said Lucas. “I think he’s learned his lesson.”
“Doubt it,” Hagan scoffed, his eyes cutting into the thief. “I’ll play nice for now, but I’ve got my eye on you.”
“Is everyone alright?” Iris asked.
“Yeah,” Hagan replied, handing Iris her satchel.
“My back’s a little sore,” the thief commented as he dusted off his pants.
“No one asked you!” Hagan barked, tucking the crook’s blade under his belt. “Thanks for the knife, by the way.”
Lucas sheathed his sword and collected the backpack from Hagan. Once it was secured to his back, he turned back to the red-haired young man. “What’s your name?” Lucas inquired.
“Aiden Kerbs,” the thief replied. He extended his hand to Lucas, who was puzzled by the action. Aiden glanced at the faces of the trio, each dumbfounded. “What? I’m a nice guy.”
“You attempted to rob us,” Iris said sternly.
Aiden shrugged. “I do what I gotta do to survive. It’s tough out here.”
“Just take us to the nearest town and shut up,” Hagan ordered.
Aiden raised his eyebrows. “Alright then.”
Iris glanced at the setting sun in the distance. “We must make haste. Nightfall is approaching rapidly.”
“Then, haste we shall make,” Aiden replied, imitating Iris’s voice. She was visibly bewildered by the impression, but chose not to comment. Aiden marched forward. “There’s a town a little farther this way called Secar. It’s pretty much the only city here in Hravart Desert.”
“Secar... is that where you’re from?” Lucas asked as the trio followed behind.
“I was born there,” Aiden responded, “but I got the boot after I pissed off Kuraikaji.”
“Kuraikaji?!” the trio gasped in unison.
Aiden raised an eyebrow. “Guess you’re familiar with the ol’ Kajimyster, eh?”
“Yeah, we’ve heard of him alright,” Hagan replied.
“What can you tell us about him?” Lucas queried.
“Whaddya wanna know?” Aiden asked.
“Everything,” Lucas responded.
“Well...” Aiden began, “Kuraikaji is in charge of the Cobras, a thieves’ guild ya might say. I was one of ‘em myself at one time. Joined when I was fifteen. Back then, we spent mosta our days out in the desert robbin’ anyone unfortunate enough to pass through. But things changed when the monsters started showin’ up.
“Kuraikaji loves two things: gold and power. Secar’s defenses were weakened while the knights tried to defend the town, and he saw it as an opportunity. We all rode into Secar, killin’ knights and monsters. Soon, the place was ours and Kuraikaji became unofficial king of the desert. He promised to keep the town safe as long as the people accepted him as their ruler. Seemed like a good deal, and the folks bought it up. Then the Knowms showed up. They were a group of guys in green cloaks who said they were assigned by King Ashraf to run things. Basically, they told Kuraikaji to get lost. As ya probably guessed, he wasn’t too happy about it, and the Knowms were slaughtered. Since then, he’s been in charge without any resistance. Monsters still slip into town here and there, but most people are way too scared to travel through the desert to go somewhere else.
“So now he’s got ‘em trapped under his rule, whether they like it or not. The knights don’t even bother to come around anymore. Guess the royal crown kinda gave up on the place after losin’ so many men to the Cobras. It makes Kuraikaji all-powerful. If ya want anything in his town, ya gotta get it through him. The Cobras ride to other towns, go undercover, and steal all the gold and food they can get. Then they bring it back to Secar where ‘King Kuraikaji’ dispenses the goods. Problem bein’, he keeps mosta the loot for himself.”
“How did you get kicked out?” Lucas inquired.
“I got sick of his crap,” Aiden replied. “We did all the work and he got all the goods. I made the mistake of tellin’ him to stop bein’ so greedy. Next thing I know, I was runnin’ for my life. I’ve lived out here ever since, sneakin’ into town at night to get what I need. I usually don’t get many victims out here, but when I saw you guys I just went for it.”
“Hold on,” Hagan interjected. “What were the Cobras doing attacking Azure if they only visit other towns to thieve?”
Aiden appeared to be confused by his question. “Attackin’ Azure? Look, buddy... I ain’t been in with the Cobras for a while now. There’s no tellin’ what kinda crazy crap Kuraikaji is up to these days. I’ve never even been to Azure!”
“Interesting...” Iris commented. “It’s possible that Kuraikaji has only recently learned of Damiano’s Disk.”
“Dami-whatnow?!” Aiden blurted. “What the hell are ya talkin’ about?!”
“We’re not here to answer your questions,” Hagan snapped. “Just take us to Secar.”
Suddenly, Lucas unsheathed his sword. “More trouble!”
Hagan reached for his bow and quickly loaded an arrow as a brown snake-like creature covered in spines quickly approached from the distance. “Keep still, I’ve got this one,” he said, carefully aiming. He released the arrow, but was surprised to see the foe promptly slither out of the projectile’s path. “Damn, guess not.”
“Glacies stiria telum!” Iris conjured an icicle missile and quickly sent it speeding toward the enemy. The snake moved to dodge, but wasn’t quick enough. It hissed as the icicle pierced its skin.
Meanwhile, Hagan shot another arrow. It buried into the creature’s head, causing it to convulse wildly. “There, I think that did it,” Hagan noted. “I’ll go get my arrows when it stops moving. Nice shot, Iris.”
“He’s getting away!!” Lucas shouted frantically as he ran to catch Aiden, who had taken the opportunity to escape the trio’s captivity.
“Just let him go!” Hagan yelled. “We already know Secar’s this way!”
Lucas stopped running as Aiden continued farther into the desert. Damn! I should’ve watched him more carefully. He turned back and rejoined Hagan and Iris. “Sorry, guys. I turned away from him and he took off.”
“No big deal,” said Hagan. “We don’t need him anyway. Let’s take a quick water break and keep moving.”
“Indeed,” Iris added. “Once the sun sets, we’ll be blind to oncoming threats. It’s a risk we cannot afford to take.”