Finally! Sorry for my lack of attention in this story, but I needed a while to figure out where I wanted to go from here. That, and I was working on my thesis project. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish this story this year.

Enjoy!

The search for a place to safely deposit the eggs to incubate slowed them down considerably. Hannah was starting to get impatient. Inzo was being very picky about the whole issue. He claimed it couldn't be placed just anywhere or the eggs might not hatch, or they could be found by a predator and devoured. She couldn't understand why the Elites wanted more of those things around and maybe she never would. What mattered was that they came out unscathed from that awful experience, and those Jackals would never be a bother again.

Y'asabu was clearly irritated about the task. Every now and then he'd refuse to stop to check a patch of darker sand, or he wouldn't let Inzo get back on if he did come to a halt. She had seen antagonistic relationships between rider and mount before, but this was ridiculous. Then she recalled Y'asabu didn't actually belong to Inzo and these creatures only obeyed one rider, so it was actually normal that the hundara didn't listen to him. On the bright side, Y'asabu seemed to have lost all interest in eating Kamrya.

Hannah wondered if the others were okay. Carlos, Ian, and everyone. She was sure they didn't have an Elite companion as their guide to make it easier to survive or simply to provide companionship. What if they had run into one of those sand snakes? Or that heavily-armored creature back at the watering hole? That one had even killed an Elite and his hundara without a drop of sweat, so it wouldn't have any difficulty in seizing a human and a horse in those awful mandibles.

Kamrya lifted her head, raised her ears and listened. "What is it, girl?" Hannah patted her horse's neck.

"Perhaps she heard something," Inzo stated. "From what I can see, horses have keen ears." Y'asabu had also raised his head, but in his case, he was sniffing the air. He clawed at the ground once. What did that mean? "He's smelled something."

"Please don't tell me it's a predator!"

"If it were, he would have already shown aggression. So it's probably a potential prey- Whoa, Y'asabu!" Out of sudden, the Hundara burst into a quick run, almost knocking Inzo off his back. Hannah was about to kick Kamrya into a gallop when the horse did it on her own accord. Try as they might, they could not catch up to Y'asabu. Inzo wasn't exaggerating that time when they had that friendly race and he had been riding an older Hundara; Y'asabu truly was in a better condition than the old, green male.

A few minutes later, they passed over a dune, but Kamrya had a harder time moving through the sane. Y'asabu was the first to disappear behind the large dune. Not long after she heard a shriek, a frightened neigh, and a yell. She heard Inzo yelling at Y'asabu to stop and a familiar voice.

Finally, Kamrya managed to reach the top of the dune. Hannah cried out. "Inzo, what's going on?!"

He didn't need to answer. Y'asabu had caused a chestnut horse with two riders to trip on the sand, dropping the people on top of it. The horse got on its feet and ran away, but Inzo managed to stop him by pulling unto his neck, distracting the Hundara enough for the horse to escape. Y'asabu retaliated by knocking Inzo into the sand with an annoyed snort.

Hannah recognized the two people on the ground. "Carlos! Jack!" She cried, jumping off Kamrya's saddle to help them back on their feet. "Are you okay?!" Neither replied. They abruptly ran to hide behind her as Y'asabu shrieked at them again. Hannah rolled her eyes. Speaking of ingratitude...!

Inzo stood his ground between Y'asabu and humans. "Y'asabu, stop! They are not your food! Back off!" Inzo almost trembled when the hundara shrieked and spread out both his mandibles and wings in a threat posture. His first instinct was to run away, but he stood his ground. You must never show weakness.

The stare-off lasted for a few seconds, but to the group, it felt like an eternity. Carlos and Jack were hiding behind Hannah while staring at Y'asabu with terrified eyes. Hannah wasn't exactly afraid, but she didn't notice she had unconsciously sought shelter behind Inzo. Finally, Y'asabu snorted indignantly again and strode away bitterly. Inzo sighed. Guess he'll have to walk again.

"Are you okay?" he asked the two cowering humans.

"Oh, yeah! Our horse got spooked by that mutant velociraptor and we nearly got eaten by a monstrous turtle, but we're fine!" Jack said sarcastically.

"You mean a labrak?"

"Whatever you call it! That thing ate my horse!" Carlos said. "It nearly ate me! Why does everything on this planet want to eat us?!"

"Where's everyone else?" Hannah asked

Jack shook his head. "They already got picked up. It's only us and you, Hannah." He glanced at Inzo, narrowing his eyes lightly. "What are you doing with him?"

"No wonder you've come so far, considering you're traveling with a..." Hannah gave Carlos a hard look before he could use any insulting words. "An Elite."

"It's a mutual alliance to raise our odds of surviving," Inzo said. "Besides, in the desert, it's nice to have a traveling companion. Where are you going?"

"Well, given we only have one horse left and that snapping turtle cost us all of our provisions, we wanted to call the Pelican to pick us up, but for someone here whose name I won't mention but is right next to me," Jack motioned to Carlos with a frown. "Forgot to charge our communicators."

"I said I was sorry!"

"You could stick with us for a while," Hannah suggested. "When my communicator gets a better signal, I can call the pelican for you."

Inzo wasn't certain it was a good idea. A duo could move through the desert mostly undetected, but a large group could draw the attention of predators. Large caravans often disappeared in the past before the plasma weapons and the anti-gravity vehicles. However, he had the feeling Hannah wouldn't leave her companions behind to be eaten by a labrak.

"Sounds good to me!"

"Just a thing: given that your raptor scared our horse away and I doubt Kamrya will be able to carry the three of us..." Jack trailed off, leaving his thought unfinished but clear, especially since he was staring at Y'asabu.

Inzo frowned. "Not happening." It wasn't out of malice, but rather because he knew Y'asabu would never allow it.

"Come on, just for a few minutes!"

"Human, if you want to commit suicide, at least pick a more reasonable way to do it. Hundara are not for humans, especially not him."

"Guys, he's right." Hannah agreed. "I've seen what that Hundara can do, you don't want to make him angry. Hell, even Inzo has a hard time with him!" Inzo coughed uncomfortably. "I mean, that Hundara has quite the character."

Y'asabu snorted and sent some sand flying into their direction with a flap of his wings. Inzo saw it coming in time to dodge, but his human companions weren't so lucky. Carlos and Jack were thrown back by the amount of sand and got half-buried in it, prompting Hannah to laugh. Kamrya started making odd neighs which Inzo interpreted as the horse's version of laughter.

After finding the missing horse, the larger group set out again. Like Inzo assumed, Y'asabu made him walk for a good while until he finally let him unto his back after their third stop. Apparently, despite Arabian horses having more endurance, Kamrya and the other horse, named Ali, were already pretty worn out. Considering Sanghelios had two suns instead of one scorching down on them, it wasn't hard to figure out why.

By nightfall, they made camp again, this time in a watering hole, a rare sight in the desert. Inzo guessed they must be almost halfway through the race. After the saddles were removed, Kamrya and Ali went straight to the water to drink while Y'asabu ran off to hunt. Meanwhile, Carlos shared a half-molten chocolate bar with his companions. Inzo declined politely; in its current state, it reminded him of Y'asabu's feces when he got ill.

Admittedly, humans had interesting stories to tell. Carlos narrated an ancient legend about the Arabian horses. A man called muha-something traveled through the desert with his twenty horses and then turned them loose at an oasis for a desperately needed drink of water. Before the herd reached the water, the man blew a 'battle horn' for the horses to return to him. Only five mares responded. Because they faithfully returned to their master, though desperate with thirst, these mares became his favorites and were called Al Khamsa, eventually becoming the legendary founders of the five 'strains' of the Arabian horse.

"There's no actual way to prove the legend's true, but the Bedouin people insist their horses descend from those mares."

Inzo couldn't help but not that those Bedouins shared a few similarities with his people's ancestors, especially in the nomadic lifestyle part. He remembered his mother telling him stories of large caravans traveling through the desert looking for water, fending off rivals tribes or bandits who raided their camps to steal their resources.

"Hey, Inzo, what about you?"

"Huh? What about me?"

"Do your people have any legends or folktales?" Hannah asked.

Inzo wasn't much into the lore, but he did know one his father told him as a child. "Well, there's one about one of my ancestors. At one time, an opposing clan captured the State of Vadam and forced them to rot within the dungeons of their own fortress. Ther' Vadam, after whom my father was named, escaped thanks to the fact he was skinny enough to slide through the bars."

"I can't imagine a skinny Elite. I simply can't," Jack said. "I mean, you guys are really large, and from what I hear you exercise on an almost daily basis." Inzo wasn't sure if he should take that as a compliment or a teasing commentary.

"Ther escaped to the desert and quickly grew in power. He recruited bandits and outlaws to form an army. Soon, he returned to what was rightfully his with his army, scaled the walls and killed all his enemies before throwing his bodies in the river. Legend says that the river ran purple with blood for days."

"Is it a legend or a horror story?" Carlos murmured. Hannah smacked the side of his head. "Ow!"

"Let me guess, they lived happily ever after?"

"Actually, Ther killed whoever didn't commit honorable suicide within their dungeon cells." Inzo finished.

"You know, your ancestors would have made pretty good samurai."

Y'asabu finally returned, but he seemed to be empty-handed. He sulked to one side of the fire, curled up on the sand and covered his head with his wings. If Inzo didn't know him any better, he'd think he was throwing a tantrum.

"Do you have any legends about the mutant-raptors? I mean, how did you tame them? They don't look like they can be relied on. I mean, if you say even you must be careful!"

"Well, I don't know of any lore in particular, but I do recall the story of the First Taming," Inzo said. "Long before we Sangheili reached the stars, we had to move through the deserts by foot. However, it was difficult and took too long to move over long distances, plus we were susceptible to predators.

"At that time, Hundara were the enemies of all herders travelers. They roamed wild throughout the land and constantly attacked caravans to feed on their doarmirs and colos. Even then, however, they were respected for their strength and their ability to survive in the merciless desert. Those who could survive against an Hundara were believed to have been gifted by the gods.

"One warrior, Jizo, became fascinated by a particular Hundara with scales as black as the night. Unlike the rest, that one was a loner and would only attack in the dead of the night when everyone was asleep. Jizo hid and waited for the animal one night and managed to capture it, but he underestimated the hundara's intelligence and it got away. The black hundara wouldn't return if it suspected Jizo was nearby, further proving the Hundara's intelligence.

"Days later, there was a massive dust storm just as a rival caravan attacked the camp. Jizo was injured and got separated from the group. He looked for shelter in a nearby cave, but to his surprise, he had come across the black hundara's lair. The animal was in a similar state to him. Nobody knows how he was injured, if he was attacked by a rival or if he got away from a predator with his life.

"Little by little, Jizo tended to the hundara's wounds as well as his own, eventually winning its trust and naming it..." Inzo paused and glanced at his Hundara.

Hannah read the look on his face. "...Y'asabu."

Inzo nodded. "Yes. Once their wounds healed, Y'asabu allowed Jizo to ride him. Both laid waste to the rival camp to save Jizo's comrades. Their enemies were not prepared for such an attack, for they feared the Hundara, and Jizo's fighting inspired his brethren to join the fight. Legend says that Y'asabu feasted on the corpses of whoever he killed.

"When the fight was over, Jizo decided that Hundara were too wild to be domesticated and set his companion free. To everyone's surprise, however, Y'asabu returned a few days later with an offspring. Jizo had gifted her with freedom, and in return, she gave him loyalty. From that point on, they were inseparable." Inzo heard Jack muttering about how that story could be made into a movie. "Okay, I'm going to take a look at the hearts. Maybe they need some warmth."

"Hearts? As in... literal hearts?"

As Inzo went to fetch the satchel, Hannah narrated their experience with the Alor'dnarl and the Kig'yar. They didn't believe her at first until Inzo brought back the satchel and took one of the eggs to examine it. "Holy... those things are eggs? They look like jewels!"

"That's the reason the Kig-Yar are after them. They are very valuable in the black market." Inzo explained. For a moment, he thought he saw a strange shine in Jack's eyes. "They are very precious to my people. We're only carrying them until we find somewhere to place them."

"Think I could hold it?"

"No way. Nobody's taking this egg off my iron cold grip-!" He didn't finish speaking when a dark blur swept down from the sky and snatched the gem-like egg from his hand.

Hannah snickered. "You were saying?"

The drak flew back to its mistress as she approached, followed by her Hundara. As she examined the egg, she glanced at the party darkly. "Where did you get it?" her tone sent shivers down Hannah' spine.

"We didn't steal them, if that's what you think, Ekna," Inzo said firmly, getting to his feet. "We saved them from some Kig-yar who were picking them."

"Kig-yar at this time of the year?"

"Come on, you know the Kig-yar are not precisely picky about the season. As long as they can get their claws on hearts of Sanghelios, they'd risk being caught red-handed even though they know it's the death penalty."

"Do you expect me to believe you took out an entire camp of Kig-yar mercenaries all by yourself, kiddo?"

Inzo rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, I wouldn't exactly say I took them out myself." He told her the event with the Alor'Dnarl and how it inadvertently saved them. As he spoke, Ekna's skeptical expression changed into an aghast one. Hannah never imagined she'd see this Sangheili making that face, or at least not when she was around.

Afterward, there was an awkward silence as Ekna processed what she just hear. She glanced at Inzo, then at Hannah, Kamrya and finally at Y'asabu. She didn't want to believe that an Alor'Dnarl had saved them, even if inadvertently, but their possession of the Hearts of Sanghelios was concrete evidence in its own right.

Inzo barely had time to catch the egg ass Ekna flung it back to him. "You'll find a nesting ground a few miles up ahead. You can bury them there, but be careful. Alor'Dnarl have taken to roaming around their breeding grounds to protect them from predators and thieves."

"How do you know that?" Hannah inquired.

"I studied the route and the terrain before the race, human. One must be properly prepared beforehand, especially if it's their first time." Ekna glanced at Inzo again, but contrary to expectation she didn't seem to be specifically referring to him.

Ekna walked away from the camp, followed by Kedara and her drak by air. Inzo asked if she wouldn't like to spend the night with them, but she politely declined. "Do not forget that tou and I are still rivals in this race, Inzo Vadam."