Rebellion: Prince of Dawn

Chapter 22.2: Walk This Way

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ILIAS VAN PAYNE

Thirty-one days until the rings dissolve.

Desperados were not welcome in town. This was why they had to make a camp outside. However, starting their trek across the desert was the only exception made.

The townsfolk knew that most, if not all Desperados, would die. Allowing them passage through Orisa was a way for townsfolk to see them as humans and give them one last act of dignity for their resolve.

It was a morbid ritual, but one that both sides respected.

Fifty-nine of us paraded through the streets with Frank, Melissa, and Trebor leading the company. Behind them were the oldest and injured setting the pace. Along the middle was the supply cart being pulled by an elderly horse. Jaime and I followed, each of us taking turns guarding the bound Clint. Everyone else treked behind.

The way history books and scholars and anyone who hadn't travelled through the Great Sand Sea made it out to be was that it was a chaotic and dangerous labyrinth with monsters sprawling about.

The Great Sand Sea was just like any other desert. It was a barren landscape with nothing but sand and the occasional landmark in all directions. When survivors made it back to civilazation, the people who heard their story only focused on the highwaymen and monsters that attacked them, completely ignoring the most dangerous part about this place—the heat.

In their defence, no one wanted to hear a story about a man fighting high temperatures and dehydration. That would bore anyone in taverns. They wanted to hear about the vicious monsters with sharp teeth and cracked skin and the crazed criminals setting up ambushes on anyone stupid or desperate enough to cross this waste.

I'd been to three labyrinths throughout my lives (when I had gates to sense mana)—the floating island during the State Jynxist Exam, the Mitte Forest I was teleported to, and the inverted lake at the farming village. In terms of sheer mana alone, the Great Sand Sea trumped over the other three. However, in terms of density, the others won.

Within our large group, around ten of us had the job of lookout. We would scout ahead, spread to the side, and fall behind of everyone to make sure the surrounding area was only being occupied by us. Every couple of hours, we would switch shifts to give everyone a break.

Travelling during high noon was suicide. One hour before noon, we would set up large tents to shelter us from the day's hottest temperature. We would rest for three hours, letting the hottest hours of the day come and go. It gave us time to rest and let the lone horse recuperate its energy.

On occasions when monsters were spotted, I would accompany the lookout crew that was closest to it. Most of the time, the monster wouldn't notice us or didn't consider the risk of taking on such a large group. We also made sure not to provoke it. Monsters were once regular creatures that had evolved because of the presence of mana. This meant a rare few could use jynx. If I could compare them to humans, their skills would match that of a State Jynxist Exam participant who was eliminated in phase one.

Monsters with a similar skill level could easily sense a disturbance of mana. Attacking one with a Fire Ball may put out that danger, but would alert every other danger nearby.

This meant every monster was left alone unless attacking them was necessary to ensure our survival.

When this did happen, it was Jaime who took care of them. She had learned from Askeladd how to cut apart one of my nearly indestructible Rolling Stone boulders by changing her breathing style alone. She didn't need to activate any of her swords' abilities to take care of them.