Chapter 303 - The Devils in the Dunes (II) (1/2)

Aegin sighed, kicking up the dust beside him from where he paced back and forth, his ears listening for changes. He knew so little about the Sand Devils, but it they were the work of a Djinn has he suspected, he had no idea of their abilities, nor how he should handle them.

What he did know was that most animals in wolf form had good hearing and a sense of smell that far outmatched humans, so being with Sevis, Tigin and Rima, if they could sense what he was, may deter them.

Of course, that was relying on the assumption that he could fight them and beat them. Aegin had yet to actually encounter them, so he himself was unsure on this point.

'Then we either wait for Aegin to kill it, that's assuming he can, or we just have to live with whatever the Djinn throws our way?'

Tigin's voice carried through the air, weighing on Aegin's mind. Rima was right, this plan was stupid. He should have gone alone to hunt those things.

'The Hava Rastellan is not a place where life can be lived in ease, there are endings and beginnings, cruelty and kindness, such is the life of those who live here. If you are to treat this as your new home, I suggest you get used to that'.

Sevis this time, his confidence in his way of life and his faith as strongly held as always, even if he was only half as affective as a warrior in his current state. Aegin had tried to make him stay back, but the look Sevis gave him in response made even Aegin stop protesting. Admittedly, Aegin had only seen the young warrior spar, but he was damn good at it.

'I thought your Tribesman didn't like us Half-Bloods, even if our Tribesman Half is from a Tribe like the Blue Suns'.

Rima had a point. Though Tribesman of the Red-Eyed Snake Tribe had seemed to take the lost souls easily. Was it because they were not a threat and seemed sincere? Or because they had been accompanied by Aegin? It was hard to say for certain.

Sevis replied, and Aegin could imagine him leaning back on his hands in a relaxed manner, 'What can I say, you've grown on us'.

A howl punctured the silence, and Aegin immediately stopped his pacing, turning towards the sound as he felt his hunting instinct kick in. No…it was more than that. It felt like those instincts he'd held as a Ridge Man. As a Warrior in the Arena. The instinct of preparing for a fight that may actually mean death.

All at once, Aegin felt a sense of dread for those he'd sent out into the dunes. He stepped forward in a rush.

Sevis spoke, his voice like a whisper as Aegin cut through air to get to his companions in time, ”Get up, they're close”.

He could smell them, they were close, so close. He hit the dunes, and felt his path instantly slowed by the sand. He dared not look down at his feet, pushing himself harder as he peeked over the first dune and descended once more. He peeked at the second one.

There, he saw them, just another eight dunes away. But just two dunes from them, staring with a hunger that Aegin felt in his bones, were six beasts that seemed to be ever shifting from the wind and sand. Forming and reforming, the only constant their shining, star-like blue eyes that he could see even from this distance. The lunged forward as Aegin dipped down the second dune.

He peeked the third, but couldn't see them. Had they passed that second dune already or were they were he couldn't see them. He didn't have the time to stop and wait to see.

He dipped down again, then peeked up at the fourth. Nothing. No, wait. Just as he dipped down he saw them begin to peek that second dune. The next dune they crossed, they would meet the tense and terrified Sevis, Rima and Tigin.

Aegin wasn't going to make it.

Eyes wide with terror in what he had condemned them to, Aegin pushed himself faster, drawing his short swords as he moved.