We stood there, staring at the larger beast as it flew away, casting its shadow over the sand dunes.
I turned my head toward where the worm had been. The sand hill there had been completely destroyed, its grains scattered everywhere.
As a result, our bodies had sunk waist-deep into the sand.
"Did we just get ignored by that monster?" Izel spoke, her voice filled with shock and disbelief.
Everything had happened in just a few seconds, and without much commotion.
I pulled my leg out of the sand. "Fortunately, it considered us too small to be a meal."
Izel tried to pull herself free. "I don’t know whether I should laugh because we didn’t have to fight that worm, or cry because something like that exists here."
I looked at her while dusting off my clothes. "I think crying is the better option."
With that, I turned my head and looked toward the direction the bird had flown... the same direction we were heading.
I doubt that will be the last time we see that monster.
"Let’s keep going."
...
Hours passed as we advanced deeper into the great desert.
Looking east, I could now see the sun fully revealed.
And that wasn’t good for us.
The heat rose and became extremely irritating. This was far hotter than what a normal desert should be.
I stared at the massive corpse of the worm lying before me as a stream of sweat ran down my face.
I turned back to see Izel urgently gulping down water from a flask. "Stop drinking so much at once. We need to think about what’s ahead."
She pulled the flask away from her lips. "I’m paying you, so stop complaining."
Well, I didn’t expect that to be turned against me.
I sighed and redirected my attention forward.
There, I saw what might be our destination—the place from which the signal had been sent.
At the far horizon, a rocky wall rose high, the same yellow as the sand, stretching right and left as far as my sight could reach.
I looked at Izel, who was wiping sweat and blood from herself. "There isn’t much left, so don’t slow down now."
When I said that, she looked at me with her piercing eyes but didn’t comment.
It was true that I said there wasn’t much left, but deep down I knew this was only the beginning.
...
With every passing moment, the wall grew closer until only a few kilometers separated us from it.
The nearer we got, the fewer sand worms there were—and I might know why.
Because far away, a larger beast like the previous bird was flying while holding a worm in its claw, the latter struggling uselessly to break free.
It was very far from us, so perhaps we were safe.
And I don’t think those massive monsters would want to eat us. To them, we’re like fingers made of skin and bone... right?
Or maybe I’m the only one thinking that... I hope I’m not.
Izel raised her hand and wiped the sweat flowing toward her eyes. "How are we supposed to find them there now? I don’t think they’ll stay outside and expose themselves to danger. It’s also possible we drifted a little off course and moved away from them."
She was right. And the problem was that they hadn’t sent any other signal besides that one day.
Looking at the bird disappearing beyond the rocky wall, I might have understood why they had settled for just that single signal.
Let’s hope they weren’t swallowed like some light snacks.
"There’s nothing we can do now but go there. At least we’ll find some shade to rest."
After more than two days of fighting and moving without any sleep, I began to feel exhaustion seeping into my body. I suppose I need rest now before it gets worse.
As I was thinking, we drew closer to the rocky wall. The moment we did, I felt something enter my sensing range from the left, heading toward us at insane speed, accompanied by a faint whistling sound tearing through the air.
All I did was stop in place, just as a swift arrow passed beside me and buried itself in the sand.
Izel noticed it and jumped back, ready to fight. "What was that?"
I stared at where the arrow had landed before reaching out and pulling it free.
I raised it as sand fell from my hand, studying it for a few moments and recognizing its owner without much thought.
I turned my head to the left. I saw nothing, but I understood what we needed to do.
I lifted it so Izel could see. She stepped closer. "Well, I guess we don’t need to find them—they did that for us."
She stared at it briefly. "Is that Kyle’s arrow?" I nodded.
With that, we changed our course and headed left.
With every step, the scale of the wall became clearer. True, it was nothing compared to what we saw in the Cradle of Shards, but it was still fairly tall.
After walking a considerable distance, I finally saw the one who had fired the arrow.
There, seated on a protruding rock halfway up the wall, Kyle held his bow and tracked us with his sharp eyes.
When he saw we had reached where he wanted, he stood and began climbing down the wall.
His movements were balanced and swift, indicating he was used to this kind of motion.
It didn’t take long before he descended the height and his feet touched the ground.
At the same time, we approached him. He looked at us with his usual calm, yet within those tranquil eyes, I could see the tension gnawing at him.
I held out the arrow and handed it to him. "Thanks for the guidance... so, were you the one who sent the signal?"
He accepted the arrow and returned it to the quiver on his back. "No. It was the princess, and Leona Starlin."
Perhaps Kyle was the only one who still used formalities in our class... whatever.
Izel stepped forward. "Then where are they?"
When she asked that, Kyle raised his hand and pointed toward an opening in the wall a few dozen meters away. "They’re in there."
The moment he said that, Izel moved toward the cave entrance, muttering, "Finally, I’ll meet real humans."
I didn’t understand what she meant by those words.
But I followed behind her as well until we reached the cave entrance and entered directly.
There, we found Leona and Ellen sitting.
"Glad you’re safe, guys..."
Izel’s words stopped in her mouth as she stared at them for a moment before I voiced the question on my mind.
"Did you fall off a cliff or something?"