Tales in the Arids: Chapter 1 - Unfolding sands
"Seriously, can't you two at least bask in the glory?"
Zaryter, riding the high of their latest triumph, soaked in the cheers of the crowd as they left the city of Lurtra. He was brimming with pride, feeling every bit the hero, but a quick glance at his companions told him they were on a different wavelength entirely. Leornars and Stacian were already lost in a whispered strategy session, their minds miles ahead of the moment.
"I don't have time for glory," Leornars replied, his eyes never leaving the map he held. "I just got a tip about an event that might interest me in the independent nation of Vurman."
"Huh?" Zaryter said, his triumphant mood deflating instantly.
Stacian smiled a knowing, almost predatory grin.
"It smells of a human who wrote that" zaryter said
"Simply yes,it was written by a human...I'm not sure to call the person and ally but we have a goal in mind" Leornars said
"I thought we hated humans,why take a request from them?" Zaryter asked
"As I said,it's something beneficial to me, could be an artifact,a weapon, information or something entirely different " Leornars said
"So it's a fifty fifty chance?" Stacian asked
"Yes, it could be something incredibly good, or a potentially massive waste of time and energy.
"Who's that tip giver then? Is it someone we know?" Zaryter asked
"There are things I'd rather not tell you" Leornars said
"Oh, now this got interesting" stacian said
"You two should just get married," Zaryter blurted out, a bit of his old mischievous self returning.
Leornars and Stacian exchanged a look, then stared at Zaryter in silent disbelief. After a moment, Stacian let out a loud, unrestrained laugh that echoed through the otherwise serious air. Zaryter looked utterly confused as Leornars stepped toward him.
"Die!"stacian and Leornars said in union
"Do we look like we have time for something so pointless?" Leornars asked, a deadpan look on his face.
"I just... uhm..." Zaryter stumbled over his words.
"A master and servant relationship? What a good joke," Stacian added, wiping a tear from her eye.
"It's been a long time since you laughed like that," Leornars observed, a rare soft tone in his voice.
"It's Zaryter," she said, still chuckling. "He says the most absurd things."
"Fine, I'll just enjoy the cheers alone," Zaryter grumbled, glancing over at his little sister, fast asleep in Zhylyena's arms.
"This is utterly painful," Zhylyena complained. "I've never carried a child before."
"Neither have I, and yet here we are," Leornars deadpanned, giving her a quick glance before turning back to the road.
They soon reached the kingdom's edge. Before them stretched a vast, shimmering ocean of sand.
"Welcome to the Vurman desert," Stacian announced, a hint of dry amusement in her voice.
Zaryter's confidence wavered. "Are you sure we're on the right path?"
"I'm positive this is the way," she confirmed.
"Less pouting, more walking," Leornars commanded.
"I wonder what the lord is planning now, we just overthrew the entire monarchy of Lutra and crowned a new king, what is lord Leornars thinking of, and why are we in such a hurry? " Zaryter thought
"This is extremely weird, why are we rushing? Lord Leornars is not the type of person to rush into things head on without a plan, this is not normal, what is happening?" Stacian thought
Zhylyena read both their minds and looked concerned,she used her skill to read Leornars's mind but instead only saw a clear blue sky and a beach.
Leornars turned back to her and Smirked
"Do you really think I am easy to read? Don't be too naive Zhylyena, I predicted you'd do something like that " Leornars said to her in a whisper
Her eyes looked shocked,in a second Leornars let his guard down when he heard zaryter panting and Zhylyena quickly read his mind only a second and saw something something she was shocked she almost dropped the child.
Leornars pressed his index finger on his lips and said
"Shhhh"
After several miles, Zaryter was a mess. His face was flushed, his lips were cracked, and he was drenched in sweat.
"Water... I need water," he rasped, his voice barely a whisper.
"I was wondering why you were so quiet," Leornars said. Stacian opened her bag and handed him a cup. Leornars used his water magic to fill it, passing the cool liquid to Zaryter before refilling it for the others—all except for Zhylyena, of course, who, being an undead, had no need to drink.
"Aren't you thirsty?" Zaryter asked, noticing Leornars hadn't taken any.
"I'm a bit warm, but no, not thirsty," Leornars replied.
Zaryter's eyes widened. "You're not? We've been traveling for miles! How are you not thirsty?"
"I didn't care about water," Leornars said, his gaze fixed on the horizon. "My only focus is getting to Vurman today. Mostly because you ate our food supplies, and now we're on a tight schedule."
"Oh, yeah... I forgot about that," Zaryter said, a guilty flush creeping up his neck.
"Stacian and I have a high resistance to hunger, so we'll be fine for a week or so," Leornars explained. "Your little sister is the real problem. If you died out here, I'd just make you undead, but I'm not a fan of turning children into undead."
Finally, they came to a halt. The desert stretched on, seemingly without end.
"Ugh, this will take months to cross," Zaryter groaned, burying his face in his hands.
Leornars stared out at the shimmering heat haze, then turned to Stacian. "How fast do we need to go to hurry past this mess?"
"If we travel at Mach 8 or 9, we'll get there by noon," Stacian said calmly.
"Mach what?!" Zaryter shrieked. "The fastest I can run is Mach 3! Do you want to kill me?!"
"Don't worry," Leornars said, a hint of a smirk on his face. "Bellian and Ascian will carry you."
From his shadow, he summoned the undead knight Bellian and the spectral wolf Ascian.
"My Lord," Bellian rumbled, bowing its head.
"Carry him," Leornars commanded. "He's useless if he dies out here."
"Ah!" Zaryter yelped, startled by the sudden order.
"Huh?" Leornars said, genuinely confused.
"You were serious about crossing it today?!" Zaryter exclaimed.
"Do I look like I have time to joke around?" Leornars retorted.
Stacian let out a soft laugh. "You don't get it, Leornars. Your battle with Zaryter was completely unfair. He's Mach 3, and you're Mach 9. He didn't stand a chance, especially with your adaptability."
Leornars's smirk widened as he turned his gaze to Zaryter. "Oh, I get it now."
"You're just a prodigy," Zaryter grumbled. "You just evolve your skills without even trying."
"I train every night I'm free," Leornars countered. "I train my physical abilities with sit-ups, press-ups, and jogging. I also train my magical aptitude—my fire magic, for example—for five to seven hours daily. So I'm not just lucky; I work for it."
"You must have a great sensei, then," Zaryter said, a grudging respect in his voice.
"My sensei is Stacian," Leornars said, glancing at her. "She's extremely harsh. One mistake, and you'll be in serious pain."
"Still better than self-mentorship," Zaryter muttered.
Stacian nodded. "I'll tutor you personally," she added.
"Yes, please!" Zaryter's face lit up with pure joy.
"Good luck," Leornars said with a wry smile. "I'd rather not have a useless retainer who'll be a big liability in combat."
"But if you were trained by Stacian, where did you learn to fight without magic?" Zaryter asked.
"My mother taught me," Leornars said, his gaze distant. "She was strict but a good teacher."
"I remember you mentioned her before," Stacian said softly.
"So, what's her name?" Zaryter pressed.
"My mother's name? Why do you want to know?" Leornars said, a hint of suspicion in his voice.
"It's just better to know the person, you know?" Zaryter said with a shrug.
"I don't know if you'll know her, but her name was Emalian Seers Avantris," Leornars said.
The moment the name left his lips, Stacian began to shiver, her face paling.
"Are you okay?" Leornars asked, confusion etched on his face.
"That... that was your mother?" she stuttered, her voice shaking uncontrollably.
"Holy hell," Zaryter whispered, his own eyes wide with shock.
"What?" Leornars demanded, a sense of foreboding settling in.
"You do know that Emalian Seers Avantris was the only person to ever fight against the gods?" Zaryter explained, his voice filled with awe. "She made the demons surrender in the war. She single-handedly erased an entire species—the Nueva, a hybrid of humans and elves—because she called them evil. She alone defied fate and the gods. She was said to be beyond the concepts themselves."
"Strong is not the word," Stacian added, her voice a low, terrified whisper. "She defeated all the monarchs who govern the concepts. She created several realities, switched timelines like it was nothing. She's the reason for the Last Heavenly War. No species defied her. She erased millions in single attacks."
She looked at Leornars, a deep-seated fear in her eyes. "I fought her two thousand years ago. And she made me look insignificant in every single category—speed, magic, strength. I have never seen such power in my life. I understood the reason they called her 'The Nightmare Witch others called her the witch of calamity.' She was something truly out of a horror book."
"You fought her? Ain't that a surprise," Leornars said, utterly stunned.
"I heard from my grandparents that she alone killed three of the ten gods due to her power," Zaryter said.
Leornars was completely shocked. The optimistic and fun-loving mother he remembered didn't match the terrifying legend they were describing.
They continued their walk. In the distance, they saw a group of people being attacked by bandits. Stacian and Zaryter were about to rush in, but Leornars raised a hand, summoning Bellian and Ascian. Just before he sent them to attack, one of the people created a powerful barrier that protected them.
"Ooh, that's impressive," Leornars said, his attention completely captured. "Bellian and Ascian," he ordered, his voice sharp and clear. "Kill those bandits. Do not harm the people inside that barrier."
The two undead warriors rushed forward, a silent, deadly promise of carnage.
But before they could proceed with the attack, the ground began to shake violently. Leornars looked up, and in an instant, he was lunged several feet into the sky. A massive, worm-like creature with a horrifying maw of spiral teeth burst from the sand, its jaws wide open to swallow him whole.
Leornars was momentarily shocked. He looked down to see Stacian had already drawn her blade, her skin slowly turning from its usual white to a deep, ominous red. She began to chant, "Chain... breaker..."
Before she could activate her divine ability, Leornars instantly fired a brilliant red flame into the beast's mouth.
"Purgatory Flames!" he shouted. The fire erupted, instantly burning the beast from its jaws to its guts, reducing it to a pile of smoldering ashes. Leornars descended gracefully back to the ground.
"What in the devil was that?" Zaryter asked, peeking out from behind Zhylyena.
"Wow, cowering behind an undead," Leornars said with a sarcastic sigh. "What a remarkable retainer."
His gaze shifted to Stacian, whose skin had already returned to white. He let out a long breath. Phew. If I didn't kill that thing and she used her Chain Breaker, we'd all be dead. She said her ability isn't fully evolved yet, and it warps reality around her. Unlike Zaryter's, which just nullifies attacks, Stacian's Chain Breaker is the ultimate threat. One wrong move and she could erase us.
He turned his attention back to the group of people they had been trying to help. "Wow," he said, sighing. "They didn't even care about the beast we just killed. Humanity is truly weird."