The words still hung in the air when the pressure around them lifted. The uneasy feeling they had when they first stepped foot on the red sands disappeared. But the atmosphere around the team did not alter.
The sun had moved lower. They didn't have long.
Kshaya exhaled, bringing out his mask to cover his face once more. "We move. Now."
His words weren't a suggestion. They obeyed without argument. A cloud of dust was left behind as they broke into the distance at a steady pace. No one spoke at first; the silence was too close, the echo of Red's voice still crawling under their skin.
Then, like a dam breaking, questions started.
"What did it mean by those not shackled?"
"What happens if we don't make it before the sunset?"
"What happened to you in there, Kshaya?"
He didn't answer. His steps were even, his eyes fixed on the horizon. Only when Mira asked again about their direction did he speak.
"Stay close and continue. Leave all questions for when he have left this place. The desert might have given us passage, but it continues to listen in on us."
It was a command. And the rest complied.
After running for a while without getting tired, Kshaya signaled for them to stop. He looked in the distance, scanning the dunes. "We can't cross the path ahead on foot. Not in the time we have. We need mounts."
"How?" Taren asked. "There's nothing alive here."
"There is," Kshaya said. "This is going to be our next trial."
He turned towards them and asked, "Who can track creatures? One of you must have equipment suited for this." He spoke with surety, as if he knew them better than they knew each other.
And as if predicted Mira nodded her head, bringing out her usual slate that she had used for recording data before.
"This should reflect living signature around us in a wide range. But so far I have not been able to get any positive signals." Her voice reflected her doubts.
Technology was not the most reliable tool in the world after genesis. It was illogical to trust a tool that had its own thoughts after all. Unless there was a way to communicate with the tool.
Kshaya, who was someone proficient in communicating with the living seemed to realize the issue here.
He once again looked at all of them. "Have none of you made a bond yet? None of you carries an artifact?"
He had wanted to ask this before. But in the current era, information about one's artifacts was crucial. No one liked disclosing such details, as it was treated like sensitive and private info. But his caution before was creating a headache for him.
The team members looked troubled at the mention of artifacts. They were uneasy.
"I have two dominant bonds that give me complete control." It was the sixth member who answered him first, as the others also judged her with new understanding. But from their reactions, Kshaya could tell that none of the others should have made any bonds.
"The Council forbade us from doing so. Within the biosphere under the Council's control, living matter is not acknowledged and artifacts and bonds are forbidden. Other than the research departments, no one is privy to relevant knowledge. Taren and Dr. Korr might have some more knowledge, but none of us have actual experience in this field."
Eira was honest about the situation, as it seemed that their inability and inexperience were creating trouble now. It was better to come clean now.
"We might not have artifacts, but each of us have other areas we are well-versed in. If we can find any life forms here, I will be able to tame them for us," as if not wanting to admit their own inability, Lume spoke up.
Kshaya nodded at him before turning to Mira. "Your tool is the only hope of finding the scavengers that Red's breeds around the outskirts of the desert. This species of wolves are proficient in camouflage, difficult to spot and fast like the wind.
If we can find a pack and tame them, leaving the desert in an hour won't be impossible. I will need your cooperation to help you bond with your device and create an artifact for you. If you are fine with it."
Although it looked like he was giving her a choice, the situation did not allow it. She had to agree. And thus, the team settled in the sands, surrounding Kshaya and Mira who sat face-to-face. The slate she had brought out earlier was placed in her palms.
"Keep your mind open, your eyes closed and do not stop breathing. I will awaken the consciousness of your device, think out the name by which you associate this device to and constantly chant it within. Focus on my voice when I ask you to."
His hands were brought close, palms touching each other. As if he was praying. Everything turned silent.
The winds stopped and the sands stilled.
A faint echo hummed from the slate in Mira's hand, a light glow emanating from the device. The glow covered her slowly, starting from her abdomen to her head and everywhere.
Opposite to her, Kshaya started chanting in a language no one understood. His palms now placed on his knees, facing the sky.
Mira's breath quickened. She could feel something watching her through the device,,, a will, faint and curious. It wasn't a machine anymore. It was waiting.
"Name it," Kshaya said quietly.
She whispered the first name that came to mind, not one she chose, but one that came to her.
The glow around her slowly converged back into the slate, taking the shape of two rings touching each other, forming an infinity. The symbol silently split into two copies, each merging into the two agents taking part in the bond.
When the glow faded, the slate floated faintly in the air, then settled back into Mira's hand, humming in rhythm with her heartbeat.
'I see you now, Mira' A faint and cheerful voice resounded in her mind, surprising her.
"You can hear it now? Please get used to its presence, but also hurry to find us our lifeline." Kshaya seemed a little tired, initiating a bond for others was consuming. And with Red constantly eyeing them from beyond the horizon, it felt like needles were pricking his mind.
He felt a little strain on his mind after many years. It was almost starting to get fun.
"I see them, the pack of ten wolves, blood red fur, almost as big as camels. Those are mutated for sure." Mira was looking in the direction of the setting sun, where a huge dune could be made out in the distance.
"How far away? I will have to herd them our way and knock them out before Lume can tame them for us to use. Hopefully it is not a big pack," he started getting up, when Taren and the sixth member stopped him.
"Let us do this job and you rest here. That process did not look fun." His voice was firm and the sixth member behind him nodded her head in agreement.
Kshaya did not protest. Even if he had spent his last forty years alone, working in a team was not difficult for him.
The team finally showed their co-ordination. Taren and the sixth member left along with Lume and Mira in a hurry towards west, while Eira, Korr and Kshaya slowly continued on their path to the ruins of Aiyra due north. The plan was for them split and reconvene. They couldn't just wait around until the mounts were tamed.
The sun was almost lost behind the dunes. The last rays of light had turned the desert into a sea of blood. Seven huge wolves ran across the sands, with their riders holding onto the fur for their dear life. They had no time to admire the scenery. Nor did they have time to notice the growing dune approaching them from behind, like a wave in the ocean, slowly increasing.
In the distance, the view had changed into skyscrapers and buildings. The ruins of Aiyra shimmered on the horizon.
Then the sands trembled beneath them.
At first it was subtle,,, a low vibration passed under the wolves' paws. Then the dune behind them rose higher, folding upward like a tsunami. The desert had changed its mind.
A wall of dust and sand rose around them, blocking out the last rays of sunlight, plunging them in shadows. Light was no longer with them.
"Time's up" the desert whispered, Red's voice dripping with delight.
The wolves howled in answer, their eyes ignoring the change and continuing to run across the sands. Mira's device glitched in her hand, the cheerful voice from before now strained.
"-unknown interference detected-"
Kshaya's tone cut through the chaos and doubts. "Don't stop! The passage is open until the sun sets, not until it hides! Keep moving!"
Nothing more was needed, as they clung to the wolves, holding on dearly.
Seven shadows streaked across the blood-red plain, swallowed by moving sand around them.
Lume held his mount's neck low, shouting something none of them could hear. He had programmed the wolves' pattern well,,, they didn't falter, didn't turn. Only moving as fast as their limbs could carry them.
Then the tsunami hit.
The last two riders, Eira and Kshaya were swallowed whole, the dune collapsing on them like a closing hand. For an instant, everyone felt like an ice cold bucket had been turned over their heads.
"Eira!" Mira screamed, her voice lost to the sands. The others continued onwards helplessly, their wolves clawing struggling to find ground that gave away like water.
The sand behind them seemed to drown,,, then erupted.
From the dune's peak, two figures burst out riding the crest, wrapped in light and dust. Kshaya's metal arms were locked around Eira, shielding her as the wolves beneath them clawed through the collapsing slope.
He was laughing-actually laughing-as they broke free.
"Immortals," he shouted over the wind, "aren't so easy to bury!"
The pack roared forward again. The sand tried to go after them again, but it couldn't hold them. Not until the sun truly set at least. It had tried, but the group didn't falter in the face of nature.
Finally, beneath them, the sand gave way to broken concrete covered in moss and grass.
The moment they crossed the invisible border, the storm behind them dispersed, almost as if it was never present.
The desert had finally withdrawn its claim.