Chyemme

I watched out the back of our caravan as the land rolled by. It had been nearly been three days since the trees of the mountains and foothills had given way to sand. Almost abruptly, the cool, shady breeze of the rogue lands had faded into a new, scorching, blistering heat.

"When we stop next you might want to change clothes," I advised Cloudyous in his fur trappings, whom merely shrugged.

"The elements, be they sun, moon, or sky don't really bother me. I am just as apt for the heat as I am for the cold," he assured me.

"Speak for yourself," Vendra said bluntly. "This heat is killing me," she complained as she rolled up her sleeves and pulled up her robes to reveal quite a bit of colored flesh.

"Keep your clothes on, sorceress, that's not a sight I want to see," Piricus said rudely.

"Heaven knows how much what you want means to me," Vendra snapped. " But I'm not going to suffer for the sake of looking good," she hissed at him.

"Finally, you said something sensible," he said snidely.

"Shut up jackass, this trip is too long to be stuck anywhere near you," she scowled.

"Likewise," he growled at her.

"Piricus, are you really leaving once we hit Lut Gholein?" I asked, unsure how to feel.

"I told you I would drop your ass as soon as my feet hit the sand, remember? That was our deal and as far as I go," he answered bluntly.

"Don't tell me you're going to miss him, Chyemme?" Vendra said sarcastically.

"We could really use his help, considering what we're up against," I pointed out.

"That true," said Sovellis, "we need all help we get."

Piricus scoffed. "Saving the universe is for heroes-let me rephrase that- bleeding-heart, philanthropist morons like the paladin. I could care less what happens to the majority of humanity," he said coldly.

"Well a majority of humanity effects you too, jackass," Vendra pointed out.

"Mankind deserves its fate," Piricus said bluntly.

"You not think that way when doom upon us," Sovellis admitted.

"Regardless of your little crusade I have better things to do, other asses to kick," he said sharply.

"Good riddance then, jackass. If it were up to me, you would walk the rest of the way to Lut Gholein," Vendra hissed at him.

"Well, it's not up to you, bitch. Nothing should be up to you and your empty mind," he laughed rudely.

"It takes a keen intellect to be in the Zhan-Esu, jackass," she growled.

"Anyone with a book can sling a spell," Piricus said snidely. "I've seen enough inferior magic and incompetent mages to know. You have a fancy title, apprentice, that's all," Piricus responded nastily, emphasizing the word "apprentice".

"I kicked Andariel's ass, more than I can say for you," Vendra said defensively and with pride.

"And you almost lost your soul. Magic serves you, not the other way around," Piricus said rudely.

"I'm here, aren't I?" Vendra snapped.

"I agree with him," said Cloudyous solemnly. "What you did was dangerous."

"I didn't have a choice," Vendra insisted.

"I know that," I comforted, "And I wanted to thank you for taking the risk and saving our lives."

Vendra's expression softened. "I'm glad somebody appreciates me," she said simply.

"You're right about one thing though," I said with a laugh and unclasped my shoulder armor, "It's stuffy in here."

"I wouldn't armor down until we get there, amazon. You have no idea what could happen any moment from now," Piricus warned.

"Don't worry," I assured him, "I still am and always will be on my guard."

"It's impossible to be on guard every second and for that reason you should-" he began just as the caravan suddenly lurched sideways and the oxen brayed wildly.

"What the hell-?" Piricus snapped in surprise as some powerful force broadsided us and our wagon fell sideways.

I could hear confused shouting from all around us and the panicked sound of the frantic caravan oxen. I grunted in discomfort as Piricus fell directly on top of me from where his end of the caravan had gone up in the air. Vendra fell right beside me and Sovellis twisted so that she didn't land directly on him, just enough to break her fall.

Belthem growled and in one solid movement, he ducked under Cloudyous' falling form, so that his cushioned scruff softened his blow. As it was, Cloudyous hit his arm and let out a loud yelp and a curse.

"What's going on?" I yelled in confusion as a deafening roar drown out my voice.

Vendra yelped too as all of a sudden our caravan flew up to the air as if it were nothing more than a fallen leaf. Bibo squawked and flailed wildly, trying desperately to fly, but she only hobbled at best.

"Stay down!" Cloudyous yelled as loud as he could and I could barely hear him above the din.

He didn't really have to tell us, right before our very eyes the top of our wagon was peeled off and sand, sharp as razors sprayed everywhere. It soon became apparent that we were caught in the middle of a violent sandstorm.

"We'll be buried alive!" Vendra shouted in panic, and she shot her hand out the same time as Sovellis. A bright, blue bubble burst around us, shielding us from the whipping barrage. Wave after wave of sand hit the shield and I could see that it was taking a toll of Sovellis, his muscles strained and his face contorted. Vendra, on the other hand, didn't seem phased, she seemed confused. She kept looking at the shield as if there were something wrong with it.

"Do something! We not hold this for long!" Sovellis insisted of us at large.

Piricus grumbled and rolled off me. He threw his hands up to conjure a bone shield, but Cloudyous stopped him."That won't help," he insisted and rolled to his knees.

"Idiot!" Vendra shouted. "Don't stand up!"

"Trust me," Cloudyous replied loudly and with some help from Belthem he stood up. He grabbed a pendant of interwoven feathers from around his neck and hoisted it into the air. He chanted loudly in some language I didn't recognize and I could feel the energy wash out of him. Without warning, he was suddenly pulled off his feet into the air, beyond the mana shield. He disappeared in a whirlwind of sand.

"CLOUDYOUS!" I yelled frantically, mimicking Bibo's terrified screeching.

"I hold no more!" Sovellis shouted as his arm wobbled dangerously. "Vendra . . ." he said desperately.

There was a strange look on Vendra's face I'd never seen before. "I'm trying!" she insisted desperately.

"Damn it," Piricus growled and he lunged his hand into one of the bags that had fallen on him.

He shuffled around for something I couldn't see and then he tossed something at Vendra and Sovellis. Vendra caught it, and gave him an odd look.

"Cover up sorceress!" He snapped harshly.

She scowled. "Honestly jackass, I'm not showing anyth-"

"No! Grab Sovellis and cover up!" I shouted realizing that it was a blanket that Piricus had tossed them.

He went to remove another one and without warning, the wind blew it away from us, leaving myself and Piricus exposed.

"What now?" I asked, fighting back panic.

"Calm down," Piricus snapped, and pulled back his sleeves. Out of the mass of sand came long, white bones. Incredibly, they interlocked with the framework of the caravan and formed a solid roof over our heads just as the mana shield gave out. The sand hit us so hard I could physically feel the pressure. The bones creaked dangerously and cracked some under the weight.

"Hurry up, druid," Piricus hissed as he put more of his own energy into the bones, trying to sustain them. Sand began pouring through the gaps in the bones in trickles. I flinched as those trickles became streams. I coughed as sand landed in my face. As a reflex, I reached behind me and grabbed my shield, throwing it up over my head. Sand hit it, pounding out a rhythm.

"By Trag 'Oul I've never met a more unlucky group of people," Piricus hissed. "I've had more problems in the last three months than I've ever had in my life . . ." he groaned as he struggled to hold the shield.

"Did you ever think it might be you that's unlucky?" I retorted with mild humor.

"Be quiet amazon, or I'll drop your part of this shield," he growled.

"It's coming down soon anyway," I observed grimly.

Piricus didn't say anything, he was too concentrated on what he was doing. Like Sovellis, he struggled, strained and then scowled. "DAMN!" he roared and in a split second the bones broke apart, blasted smooth by the sands.

The wind howled and gritty earth smashed into our bodies. I struggled with my shield and grabbed Piricus, pulling him under it as well.

I flinched and closed my eyes. In a mere second, the sound suddenly died away and the wind calmed to a warm breeze. I looked up as Vendra and Sovellis threw off their cover. All of us poured out of the sandy wagon into the day as fast as we could. We barely had enough time to see Cloudyous suspended in the air, casting out a silver glow all around him. He shuddered, then his eyes closed, and he fell out of the sky. Belthem ran to him, but was slowed by the sand. I thought he was going to hit the sand, when Scorpious came out of nowhere and caught him.

"Scorpious," I breathed. "Thank Zerae."

"Damn it," Piricus growled. "He's still alive."

"Chyemme!" I heard Ryelass yell to me as he came running over. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yes, we're fine. What about you guys?" I asked.

"We're alright," Laurella breathed in relief as she surfaced into view. "Maria got us to cover up just in time, and you should have seen it! Scorpious was actually able to keep the sand off of us!"

"I hate sand," Alminus grumbled. "And the heat too."

"Cut your griping barbarian, after this I don't think anyone likes sand," Piricus growled, brushing himself off.

Alminus grumbled at him, but didn't say anything. Maria walked over to us, waving sand out of her short hair. "Everyone here?" she asked, looking around.

"Yes," Vendra said bluntly and quickly. Maria gave her an odd look and looked her over.

Vendra scowled at her. "What are you looking at?" she hissed defensively.

Maria raised an eyebrow. "Nothing," she said plainly, though she seemed to be deep in thought.

Belthem whined and finally made his way through the sand over to Cloudyous. I heard a ruckus from inside the caravan and realized that we had left Bibo in there. Feeling sorry for her in her injured state, I went back inside and with some effort, managed to calm her down enough to let me carry her.

"How is he?" I asked Scorpious as I walked over. Bibo squawked and struggled fiercely in my hands, trying to get to him. "Be still!" I reprimanded her gently as her worried vocalizing became one of pain as she stretched her injured wing.

Scorpious took a flask at his side and opened the lid. "He's physically fine, just out cold. It must have taken a lot of energy for him to quell a storm that size. We should all thank him when he wakes up, I doubt any of us would have survived that just now," he said grimly.

"But Laurella said you-" I began and Scorpious shook his head.

"Even my strength has limits, but today is not the day it gives out thanks to Cloudyous' courage," he replied as he poured some water onto Cloudyous' face.

Our druid friend remained motionless, despite the liquid. Belthem whined and nuzzled the side of his face, and licked his ear. He twitched, but didn't come to. Bibo continued to struggle and squawk until I almost couldn't restrain her.

"Pluck the stupid pigeon, amazon. Maybe then she'll listen to you," Piricus said sarcastically as he watched me.

Maria walked over and in one swift movement, she raked two of her fingers on the back of Bibo's neck, directly at the base, putting a fair amount of pressure there. Within that very second, Bibo went limp in my grasp.

"What did you do to her?" I asked, concerned.

"I used her pressure points to knock her unconscious. She'll be out for a good while," Maria announced.

"Wow, you can knock someone out just by touching them?" Laurella asked in awe.

"It's harder than it looks," Maria said plainly. "You have to have an expert knowledge of anatomy. If you're off even by a hair it won't work."

"Still, that's pretty amazin', Maria," Alminus said with a smile.

"You'll have to teach me," Ryelass nodded.

Maria sighed. "It takes a while to learn. But," she continued, "it has more uses than just incapacitation. Watch this," she said and walked over to Cloudyous, and knelt by him. She placed two fingers into the crook of his shoulder and twisted. He opened his eyes the very next second.

"Wow," I said, amazed. That was definitely a talent I wanted to learn.

Cloudyous groaned. "How long was I out for?" he asked, dazed.

"Only a few minutes, thankfully," Scorpious answered.

Cloudyous looked around himself. "The storm is calm then? Good. Guys," he began gravely, "I've never met a wind that angry. She was all wrath and no balance," he informed as if he were talking about a person.

"She? That storm was alive?" Laurella asked.

Cloudyous nodded. "Everything is alive, Laurella. Even the sand. But, we best be on our guard. Something seriously angered Dera, the desert wind. I tried to communicate with her, but all I got was a mass of jumbled feelings, and unpleasant ones at that. She was so infuriated, she was beyond words," he informed seriously.

"You don't have any idea what it was?" I asked, listening intently.

Cloudyous shook his head. "No. I've never been unable to communicate with the winds before . . . . it was all I could do to get her to leave. I pleaded with her in every language I knew until I was finally able to reach her with the language of birds. Honestly, I didn't think we were going to survive for a few moments. This disturbs me greatly, I'll have to investigate this when we get to Lut Gholein. Maybe some of the magi there will have some answers or at least news of current world events. What happened to Bibo? Is she alright?" Cloudyous asked suddenly, eyeing his companion in my arms.

"I incapacitated her, she was becoming a danger to herself and others," Maria assured. "She will be just fine when she comes to."

Cloudyous nodded. "She was terrified. She begged me not to face Dera, she knew something wasn't right."

"I'll say! Are you all alright?" Came the deep voice of Warriv as he came trotting over.

"We're fine, thanks to Cloudyous," I assured. "We're all accounted for."

Warriv nodded, then sighed. "If only everyone had been so fortunate," he said mournfully.

"How many people did we lose?" Maria asked grimly.

"Six. Two of them were carried off by the wind and the other four were buried alive, I have no idea where they are."

Scorpious bowed his head reverently. "If our condition is not dire, then we should hold a service for them."

Piricus scoffed. "Paladin, we need to get moving before any more of the druid's irate acquaintances decide to show up. We don't have time to be building shrines in the desert."

"Have a heart," Laurella pleaded.

"He does," Ryelass hissed, "and it's made of rock-solid ice."

"Better than glass," Piricus laughed mockingly.

"Lord Scorpious, that would be much appreciated. Anything you can do to lay the souls of the deceased to rest. At any rate, we've lost a quarter of our oxen, so we'll have to reconstitute our belongings and items," Warriv explained.

"We'll help ya," Alminus offered and got to his feet.

It took the better part of an hour, moving things to different wagons and harnessing the oxen that remained. We all gathered around the edge of the caravan, and everyone bowed their heads, save Piricus, and followed Scorpious in a final farewell to the dead. We all settled back into the wagons, damaged though they were and prepared for the remainder of the ride. It was nearly nightfall and in the distance, we began to see lights, like glittering jewels stand out against the horizon.

"That's it isn't it?" I asked. "Lut Gholein?"

Vendra nodded. "Almost there."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "I wonder what's going to happen to us?" I uttered quietly so that no one could hear, and with that I became lost in anticipation and excitement as the city loomed closer.