“Father, we're ready to go.”

  Pugnis looks to his son and says, “Good. All of you, follow me.” He leads them once more through the village, and a similar number of people stare with various expressions. Astraea subtly nudges ?elare’s arm, who glances back with a frown. He positions his hand in front of him, open palm, facing the clear, blue sky.

  A shadow is cast on the ground as an invisible barrier is created between the intense sun and those around the mage. ?elare exhales as the heat lessens. Pugnis stops, turning around with a glare that causes the boy to stumble back into Astraea. She lets out a small sound of surprise as she catches him.

  Vis’ father opens his mouth to speak, but as he points at ?elare, he stops and looks at the ground for several moments.

  Vis crosses his arms and breaks the silence.

  “It's pretty nice to have portable shade, isn't it, father?”

  “It… is, actually. Normally I would object to any form of magic being used here, but,” he replies begrudgingly, noting the obviously displeased observers, “perhaps everything has its place. Very well, let us continue. I would not object to keeping this thing active.”

  Astraea prods the blond lightly, who finds his balance once more and whispers an apology. They walk faster, significantly less hindered by the desert heat, until they arrive at the edge of the village. The furthest point is a building similar in appearance to the embassy.

  Gesturing to the directional indicator, Pugnis says, “Second prong from the right takes you to the colony. The monster’s den is well known to them, so you can ask for directions. This is where I'll leave you- I shouldn't be away from my village for too long!”

  He and Vis punch each other’s fists before he departs, leaving just the four of them once more.

  The warrior crouches to the metal pointer, aligning himself with it. He takes a few steps and gestures for everyone else to follow, saying, “No need to hesitate. Let's go, we should be able to make it before nightfall.”

  As they travel, Hunter says to ?elare, “Are you sure you can sustain your magic for the whole time? You won't be able to regenerate until we leave the desert.”

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  He replies quietly, “I'm not going to be useful for too much anyway, so it's best to help where I can. Don't worry, I'll leave enough mana to hide us in combat.”

  The bowman frowns slightly at the answer but nods anyway, moving back to Vis.

  Hours later, he calls out to everyone, “Underground and from the left!”

  The sand below them starts to shift. ?elare dispels his barrier and vanishes, Vis summons a massive greatsword from his bracers, Hunter draws his bow and Astraea backs away from the danger.

  The ground’s shaking steadily becomes more intense as Hunter nocks an arrow with closed eyes.

  “Vis, throw me up once my shot is ready.”

  He steadies the ground below him with a pulse of earth magic, using it to brace his draw. Vis drops his sword and gets into position.

  “Now!”

  Hunter is tossed vertically, and at the same time, a huge, yellow sandworm leaps out of the ground, soaring with an open maw through where Hunter was. Vis manages to roll out of the way, picking up his sword again.

  The arrow is released, tearing straight through the beast’s scales. Blood, coarse with sand, is splattered across the ground, where the arrow embeds as well. A loud thunk can be heard as rough particles are sprayed left and right.

  Despite the injury, the monster continues unimpeded, slamming back into the ground and popping back up at the arrow's landing site seconds later.

  “It must sense vibration,” Hunter shouts as he lands into a roll. “In that case, I’ll cause a diversion.”

  He kicks the ground and releases another burst of earth element to solidify a chunk of sand, launching it up at the same time. The sandworm is still in the air as the bowman throws the condensed sand-ball as hard as he can with a grunt. It lands twenty metres away, indenting with a thud into the sand.

  “Vis!”

  The warrior nods, and promptly arrives at the point of impact with a great leap. He raises the sword above his head and a moment later, the worm breaches right beside him. Vis swings the sword with all his might.

  The monster moves with great speed through the two-metre blade, being split in half as it passes. Vis grits his teeth as he pushes, channeling energy into his whole body to prevent him from losing his footing. He is drenched in the creature’s gushing blood and is cut all over by scales being fired everywhere, until its entire length is severed.

  The two parts of the corpse remain mostly together until they land, staining the desert red under the arc where it flew. Vis falls backwards and drops his sword, releasing an exhausted sigh.

  “I'd almost forgotten why we barely make these trips.”

  Astraea runs over and places her hand on his shoulder. His lacerations close over quickly and she says, “You may consider this reimbursement for the mountain.”

  The large man chuckles and stands back up. He looks around and his smile slowly fades until ?elare speaks up, pointing in a certain direction.

  “It's that way.”

  A look of relief flashes over Vis’ face and he says, “Thank you so much. Let's continue- we’re close now.”

  The blond reforms the shade-barrier and they resume their journey with more caution than before.