Haku for a moment didn't know what to say or even what to think when he saw his brother appearing behind him. But he became even more confused when he noticed that Tikka was also with him, and with them were several people including Misune, Thora and even Tzegorn. Why were they there? Had they come looking for him? He could understand this for his siblings... but why the others? What had prompted them to abandon the safety of the oasis and launch themselves into one of the most dangerous natural disasters to look for him?
However, his brain quickly canceled that long list of questions giving way to priorities: currently he didn't have to care why they were there, only that they were there, and therefore like him they were in danger of being hit by the sandstorm and dying. He had to act immediately and make sure they all had what they needed to survive. "Quick, come here!" he exclaimed. "Behind the wall you will be safe! The sand won't be able..."
"Calm down, brother, we're good!" Tikka exclaimed getting even closer to him and finally making her outlines clearer despite the heavy storm. It was then that Haku noticed that she was wearing one of the snorkels that Serengal had invented to allow her and Corgorin's and Rhaegal's friends to go underwater. "With this we can breathe even in the middle of the sandstorm! Here, let's have one for you too!"
Haku understood everything. Of course, it was obvious: with the respirators the sand didn't risk entering the airways, so his siblings didn't risk suffocating, and since the respirators were built with very thick materials they could easily resist the fury of the winds. How had he not thought of it right away? He should have known they'd use that to be able to come looking for him. "Thank you" he said while he accepted the respirator. "Are you all alright?"
"This should be us asking you!" Darbi exclaimed with a grunt. "You're the one being saved, don't forget that! You were about to get bitten by that sand shark!"
"I had no choice. It was a calculated move" Haku said a little pricked in pride. For him, a dragon, to think of being beaten by a creature as weak as a sand shark was a great shame. "I didn't want it to destroy the wall I was defending against the storm. I was going to kill it as soon as it was busy biting me. After all, it couldn't do me much harm, those teeth can't scratch my scales"
"Sure, sure. Either way, you're the one who's in danger here" Tikka said in a slightly teasing tone. "So, nothing broken?"
Haku let out an annoyed snort. He knew his sister was only teasing him, because if he had any physical injuries, she would have noticed immediately. He wasn't used to being rescued, even though it had technically happened once before, and it made him feel very uncomfortable. "I'm fine. Thanks for coming" he finally said.
"This is good" Misune said stepping forward. "I know you probably have a lot to tell us, but we'll talk about anything later. Now we have to go back to the oasis"
"She's right" Thora said. "We aren't safe out here and the more time we lose, the less air we have available. We have to go, immediately"
"What? Wait, how are you going to do it?" Haku said wearing the respirator. He didn't mind at all having a chance to go back to the oasis, but he couldn't imagine how they would do it. After all, they would have had to follow a road to get back, but the sandstorm had surely covered up every road, erased every landmark, and wiped out every sight, sound and smell with which they could pinpoint the right direction.
"Your sisters summoned that spirit you imprisoned and made him do... well, something, so now we can find our way again following these sort of trails that we have behind us" Tzegorn said pointing to a kind of meter high wall that started from his shoulders and continued towards the desert. "So get up and follow us, and please stop asking questions, because I honestly feel you're wasting too much time"
Haku's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the tigerman. "I didn't think you'd come to find me too"
That eye contact lasted just a couple of seconds, but that was enough for Tzegorn to feel a shiver down his spine that was certainly not due to the incessant wind. The tigerman gulped: it was clear that Haku suspected something. He was too smart not to do it: in short, the coincidences were too many. A normal person might have believed it was all just a huge bad luck, but Haku wasn't that superficial. However, he didn't panic: it didn't matter what Haku suspected, at the moment he didn't seem willing to do anything. It was normal, since acting at that moment could have been harmful to him too or, even worse, Darbi and Tikka, his precious siblings, and why not, even Misune. He was likely aiming to get back to the oasis before he made any moves. This still gave Tzegorn a little margin of time: all he had to do was hold him until he ran out of air… and thanks to his trick, he probably already had. "We don't abandon anyone. Even those we don't like" he then said, pretending nonchalance, as if in fact he wasn't guilty of anything. "Now, do you want to continue talking, or would you rather leave?"
Haku was silent for a moment, then he nodded. "Yes... yes, you're right. Let's go" he finally said. The group thus set off in the midst of the storm following the tracks they had left on their way.
The way back was much more tiring than the outward journey: this time, in fact, they had to walk in the opposite direction to the wind, which blew with such violence that it almost seemed to drag them back. Darbi and Tikka positioned themselves in front of the group to be able to shield and Haku remained slightly behind them since his siblings still believed that he had just gone through a difficult and tiring moment and therefore he could not risk subjecting his body to further too great efforts. Thanks to the shield formed by the dragons, even the newcomers managed to move behind them. However, the biggest problem was visibility: since they were moving directly against the wind, the sand came straight in their faces and therefore all of them had to walk with half-closed eyelids and a hand (or paw in the case of dragons) in front of their eyes to prevent the evil specks from hitting their irises. Even though it was still dust, if a speck had managed to hit an eye at nearly a hundred kilometers an hour it would have been very painful and could have caused serious damage, so they had to be very careful.
But despite everything it seemed that they still managed to advance quite well... at least until they found their path gone. "What the...!?" Darbi exclaimed as he saw the sand cues abruptly stop. "I knew we couldn't trust Inpu!"
Haku let out a snort. This was bad news: if the trail was gone, then all of them were lost in the desert in the middle of the storm, and didn't have much air to spare. It seemed that the wind of the sandstorm had managed to demolish the path that Inpu had created for them... but Haku doubted that the power of a spirit, even if it was only a minor spirit, could be broken so easily. It almost seemed to him that this interruption was something premeditated. Which could only mean that someone in that group had willfully erased the tracks. Someone who had both the resources and a motive to do it. His gaze dropped slightly to Tzegorn, who was showing worry… but to his eyes, it looked like phony worry.
Tikka's voice brought him back to reality. "Maybe I have an idea!" she said. "Haku, you still have our secret weapon with you, right?"
Haku immediately understood what his sister wanted to do. It was the same thing he'd originally thought of, but discarded because he didn't have enough room to fit his giant avatar. But now that he had the respirator he no longer had to worry about destroying a wall of sand, as he would continue to breathe without it, and with his giant avatar everyone could fly out of there in an instant. Sure, the giant avatar couldn't carry three dragons... but as luck would have it, it had three heads, two of which are detachable and transformable into very large and strong bodies; if Darbi and Tikka connected to them, they could fly away too. Once aloft they could better locate the oasis. "Yes, I have it with me. We can all connect in a few moments"
Everyone in the group smiled contentedly, understanding what the dragons had in mind. However, Tzegorn was concerned: if that idea worked, his plan would go up in smoke. He had to find a way to stop them. Fortunately what he didn't lack was inventiveness. "Wait!" he exclaimed. "It will take you some time to connect to the avatar and manage to collect us all. What if more sand sharks arrive in the meantime? Even with your incredible senses, you dragons didn't notice their presence until you saw them. We must prepare for such an eventuality"
His words were logical; Haku clearly didn't trust him, but Thora said: "You're right. We should prepare a perimeter to defend. Let's do this: you dragons extract that avatar and then place yourself in a circle, so as to create a precise area that we will have to protect. Then we will arrange ourselves around you, especially near vital points such as the head and neck, and we will protect you until you have finished preparing everything. At that point you will catch us and take us safely in the sky"
"It's a good strategy. I approve of it" Tikka said.
Haku let out a snort. "Yes... yes, I approve of it too. Let's do it now" he said pulling the secret weapon out of its dimensional bag; the giant avatar fell to the ground with a thud and lay there motionless. Then the three dragons formed a circle and lay down, preparing to fall asleep. "Misune, come. I want you to protect my neck" Haku said when he lay down.
The half-elf nodded and faced the dragon's neck. Tzegorn positioned himself beside her. "I will too. And basically it's my fault that we are in this situation. I owe you this" he said. Incredibly, Haku didn't complain. All the other members of the group spread out beside Darbi and Tikka's bodies, drawing their weapons to defend them.
A moment before closing his eyes, Haku looked at Misune and said: "I know it's a big task for you, but don't be afraid. Do exactly as you did the first time... just a little less intense". Then he closed his eyes and started connecting to the avatar.
Tzegorn wondered why that recommendation, given that from his point of view Misune wasn't particularly tense or worried, but he didn't care: this could be his only chance and he had to exploit it. With a jerk, he grabbed the half-elf and pushed her away, and then brought his sword down against the dragon's neck. He channeled all of his mana and strength into that single attack. He would hardly have been able to kill him on the spot, but he would certainly have opened a deep wound; since Haku would be slow to react, he could then use that wound to give him the final blow. With that one blow, he would finally slay that deadly dragon, and protect his people one last time…
But his sword never reached its target: a sharp object penetrated his shoulder and severed the blood vessels at the level of the heart. Tzegorn fell to the ground gasping for air and immediately began using his mana to repair the wound. As he did so he turned his head and saw Misune staring at him with a confident yet angry gaze, and from whose right sleeve emerged a long sting dripping with blood. "You channeled all your mana into that attack to make sure you created a deep wound, and thus stripped yourself of all defenses. You didn't think that a frail ex-slave could hit you, did you?" she murmured without any emotion in her voice. "Don't worry, Haku told me not to kill you. This sting has long since lost all its venom, so you don't take any chances. If it were up to me, right now you'd have a hole instead of your throat. But if I were you, I wouldn't be happy to be alive, because if I know Haku well, if he told me to spare you, it's because he has something in mind for you, and I seriously doubt that you'll like it"
Tzegorn let out a growl of anger, but he didn't have time to do anything else: he had already wasted too much time. Haku's giant avatar got up and walked towards them; its belly opened and grabbed the real body of the dragon, engulfing it inside it. "All of you, get on my back" he ordered to all the newcomers, who didn't let him repeat it and climbed up to his shoulders using his tail. Tzegorn was reluctant, but a look from Misune let him know that Haku would drag him away even grabbing him with his jaws if necessary, so he followed everyone else. Once this was done the two basilisk heads, which were controlled by Tikka and Darbi, detached and released their huge snake-like bodies with which they grabbed their real selves, and then flapped their wings to drag themselves upwards by exploiting the force of the wind. Haku in turn spread his wings and headed upwards, where the sandstorm could no longer reach them.