Emily held the pair of dice in her hand and rattled them together, the sharp click of bone striking bone. Letting them loose caused the small group of Fangs around her to go quiet as the cubes clattered to the stone floor. Before the outcome was known, Emily called out.

"Lowest!"

The dice settled, one spinning out until it landed on a single pip. The other matched.

The moment everyone saw this, they groaned, tossing their rounds into the growing pile at Emily's feet.

She laughed as coins clinked beside her. The group of Wandering Fangs began to break away, but Beth stepped forward and held out her hand.

Emily smiled at the woman and plopped the dice into her palm. She had been through a hard time in the prison camp.

Emily remembered her as a strong archer—the same one who had once warned her to be careful when dealing with Marth. She was still that, but now, scars marred her face, a testament to what she had endured. When Sam'eth captured her, they hadn't been gentle. She had taken out half a dozen of their men before they finally brought her down.

"You are way too lucky to be playing this game," Beth said with a sour face.

Emily snorted.

"Is that the sound of a sore loser I hear?" Emily said with a grin.

Beth rolled her eyes at Emily and closed her fist over the dice.

"Remind you not to invite you to the table next time," she said as she walked off to go get ready to depart. Yet the way she said it was warm and approachable. As it turned out her display of power had not had the negative effect she thought it would.

Emily was used to people fearing her; hell, most wouldn't even look her directly in the eyes once they had seen her use their blood, but the Fangs were different. Their response to power was not fear, it was respect. As such, Emily had seen a marked improvement in how people were treating her, even if it was just to nod in her direction when they saw her. She was weirded out at first, but it slowly became manageable.

Emily sat there waiting for everyone to finish packing up. She'd never even unpacked when they'd gotten to the sanctuary, so she was ready to go whenever.

The energy of the chamber was that of nervous excitement. People rushed from place to place, placing up and preparing their animals.

The Ashvali were also preparing to leave at the same time. Over the last two days, they had stayed as far as they could get from everyone.

The storm had lasted just a little longer than they had anticipated, but now it had finally broken.

Emily was grateful for this, as being trapped in a small confined place for days on end had her rearing to go out and fight something.

Luckily, when the storm had cleared up, Emily learned that they weren't too far from their destination.

Kael had come by to talk to Alex about the meaning of an Ashvali hunting party.

Normally, they don't venture too far from their home when hunting unless the Chief wills it, but in this case, they were out on a routine supply-gathering mission.

Kael and Sol had been talking at length privately, and Emily could see there was a certain worried light in both of their eyes.

Emily thought it had something to do with the storm, but the looks persisted even after it passed. Now, she didn't know what to think.

When the call went out for them to leave, everyone gathered out in the sands. The door had taken five of them working together to push the freshly piled-up sands clear of the exit.

When Emily stepped out, she caught wind of a scent–similar to after fresh rain clouds, only it carried distinct earthy tones.

As they had all gathered up, Cupcake came to greet Emily. She rubbed her body against Emily, almost knocking her over. Patting the beast, she watched as Kael and Sol went back in to reset the stair traps.

While they were gone, she searched the crowds for Alex and found Mist shaking out his coat in preparation for the journey.

Heading in their direction, she saw Alex busy working on the saddle. Sitting on the back of the Rime wolf was the little Miragesalker.

Alex didn't notice her approaching, but the moment she got within a couple of meters, an ungodly hiss rose from the fox creature. His tails fluctuated wildly, and his hair bristled as he glared at Emily.

"Oh, put a sock in it," she said.

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The little beast stopped hissing, but his heated glare didn't lower by a degree.

For the most part, the Miragesalker remained out of sight, hiding himself with his illusions. Alex had said he didn't want to take care of the beast, but he'd taken to training it rather quickly. In less than three days, this thing and he had formed a bond, and while it he would still have to train it if he wanted it to be useful, it seemed that it wouldn't run away anymore.

Though if he was right, the collar that Gerade had given him would prevent that anyway.

Emily leaned up against Mist, getting closer to the beast, daring it to bite her with her eyes.

The fox was smart enough to know a trap when it saw one and confined itself to menacing glares.

Alex looked up at the two and sighed.

"Emily, stop pestering the animal," he said lazily.

She grimaced.

"What do you mean, he started it." she shot back.

Alex finished tightening the last buckle and looked up.

"Yeah, well Sandy doesn't like it, so let's respect him, alright?" he said.

Emily froze and turned to Alex.

"You named it…" she said slowly.

Alex paused and looked at her with wide eyes.

"Well, yeah. You said to take care of it, so I'm taking care of it, and just calling it beast felt wrong."

Emily held back a snicker.

"No, I don't care that you nameed him, but, Sandy?" she said, her voice breaking near the end.

What had he been thinking? 'The fox is from the desert, so Sandy is a good one.'

"Yeah, so? It's a fine name." Alex said with a half smile.

Emily nodded to herself, letting the topics of names go.

"Fine, you call him whatever you want. On a different topic, do you know how far out we are from out destination?"

Alex hummed and nodded, glad for the subject change.

"Probably a little over four days of travel. That is if nothing stands in our way."

Emily nodded at this and pushed off Mist, heading over to Cupcake.

Sandy seemed to sigh in relief at her leaving, but when she decided to ride next to Alex, the fox huddled down in Mist's fur and cloaked himself.

Whether he remained there or ran off was a mystery to Emily, but not one she contemplated too long.

Instead, she focused on the journey.

The sands looked much the same as when they had left their golden hue reflecting the moonlight casually.

The first night was uneventful, but it was on the second night that they ran into another cluster of Burrow Mites. Luckily, the creatures weren't all that interested in chasing them after Sol had his men bring out this strange-looking oil.

They smeared a little one on their bodies and passed it around for people to use. Kael had later told her that it was pureed larvae or a predatory to the Burrow Mites.

Emily had thankfully only applied a little, but that didn't stop her from quickly wiping the gunk off her as soon as they were in the clear.

The next couple of days were quiet again. On the third day, a grand landmass came into view.

Just like the sanctuaries, it blended with the landscape, looking almost unassuming, but now that she knew what she was looking for, Emily spotted signs.

Along the sharp cliff faces, there were reflective surfaces at regular intervals. They were hard to differentiate from the stone, but when Emily had exited their shelter, she'd looked for the points where the sunlight came in, and what she found was a dark glass-like window that absorbed light.

It was the same here but on a far grander scale.

If Emily was to guess, they had to have hidden an entire city within there. The interesting thing was that the nearer they got, the slower Kael had them advance.

The final day of the trip took almost two whole days.

Emily wasn't in any rush, but she did turn Alex on the first evening.

"Hey, why are we going at this pace?" she asked.

It was an obvious question, but there had to be a reason, so she wondered if Alex had any idea.

Alex nodded and lowered his voice.

"He won't say it to everyone, but it's because this is something of a holy land to them. Kael wanted to make sure their Scouts see us and have time to warn their people."

Emily frowned. That was a rather dumb reason for them to go at this snail's pace.

"They've already seen us, though; now it's just about giving them Chiefs time to deliberate."

Emily's eyes narrowed as she began to search their surroundings.

"If their scouts had already seen them, Emily would have missed the signs because she couldn't find anyone now."

Alex shifted in his saddle.

"It doesn't matter, though. Either way, we're not getting in unless Kael fights again."

'Again?' Emily thought.

But then realized this must have happened before.

Kael had said he had a way of getting them in, so trial by combat?

She was proven right when they finally arrived, and it was anything but a welcome greeting.

They met in the shadow of the large butte as two groups faced off.

Emily saw over fifty men and women gather to meet them. They were all battle-hardened, and Sol's group stepped forward.

"Greetings, brother," he said to a tall man with silver hair stretching down to his lower back.

The man's face was a twisted mask of rage.

"How could you betray your people like this? Bringing these outsiders to our front door"

Sol finched but lowered his head.

"I have brought these people because it is their right, nothing more, my Enforcer."

The man standing at the front gave off an air of danger as his long-limb form carried far more muscle than the rest.

Emily might have called him handsome if not for the deep scowl carving grooves into his features.

"Yes, we already know there is a Forsaken amongst you, but that only means you are more in the wrong. You should have killed them on sight or died trying, Pathfinder."

Sol's face remained impassive, but from here, Emily could see a twitch of disgust cross his face.

Before Sol could speak anymore, Kael took a step forward.

"Don't your annoyance out on the kid, Dwal! You and I both know that I have a right to be here. A right that was stolen from me."

The man named Dwal stared at Kael as though insulted he would dare speak to him.

"You gave up that right when you did not return. Now you come here seeking forgiveness; well, we are not offering any."

Kael clicked his neck.

"I have come because I was needed, and to show you this, I shall challenge Hermes for his position as Chief, as is my right. This has nothing to do with forgivenes.s"

The Ashvali around them began to murmur amongst one another.

Dwal ground his teeth, seeming unable to refute Kael.

"You realized that to get to him, you must first go through me. And, I will kill you, little brother."

Kael's eyes narrowed but remained determined.

"I will beat you and enter my homeland, along with all my people. These are the terms."

Dwal glanced at the brightening horizon.

"Then so be it," he growled.

Blood points: 628

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