The Horseman of Calamity

Chapter 9 - Knights of the Dune

Having traveled for the past week without any major issues, Hung was now on the outskirts of the desert. He had to circumvent every village he came across to avoid drawing any unwanted attention, on many occasions he was chased away by the guardsmen of a local village. Traveling alone certainly wasn't in Hung's favor, it seemed that news of his escape had quickly circulated the nearby regions. The kingdom had put out a fairly accurate description of him and everyone became wary of the boy in strange clothing carrying a sword around. Yet, Hung had not encountered any bounty hunters yet, maybe the kingdom just put out a warning for him and not a bounty.

After a few days, he had to resort to stealing food and water from the smaller villages he came across, Hung was not risking traveling through the desert without enough supplies. So far he had been eating cabbages and root vegetables, they weren't exactly filling or delicious but they were full of carbs which were enough for Hung to get by. He checked his backpack to make sure everything was in order and so with that, he made a small camp in the savannah. He planned on traveling at night, but when the nights were much cooler, it was preferable to sweating an ocean in his hoodie and it would save him a lot of water.

Hung took a nap at 5 P.M. and woke up just before the sunset. He decided that he'd wear his hoodie over his head and neck like a scarf, he'd still put the sunblock onto any exposed body parts though. Risking a burn on the arms was favorable to getting one on the face. The first stretch of the desert seemed incredibly flat, Hung didn't have any issues walking over it. Boredom set in soon, but it was now a feeling Hung had become accustomed to, to pass the time and make the travel more entertaining Hung was always on the watch for wildlife. So far though, he only saw snakes and scorpions. Some of them looked like they could've been on Earth, while others were very different. He caught a glimpse of a snake with what looked like frills around its head and a stinger on the tail. At 4:00 A.M., Hung was ready to stop and sleep but he decided to keep pushing, he at least needed to find a shaded area for cover. Soon enough, the sun rose from the west and turned the desert into a stove.

Hung recalled learning about basic survival skills on the internet, apparently, when you're thirsty in the desert you should just drink any water you have. Rationing your water in the heat was a bad idea, so Hung drank from his bottle until he was satisfied. The bottle was the only thing he could use to store water but it was only a liter and Hung was sure that it wasn't going to last long. Hopefully, he could find an oasis along the way.

It wasn't until past noon that Hung realized he had vastly underprepared himself for this undertaking. He was walking at a snail's pace and wanted to sit down and rest but there was no shaded area. Up ahead, he thought he heard something screaming, he slightly altered his course and began making his way up a hill to see what made the noise. Looking beneath him, there was a herd of what could only be described as a camel and turtle hybrid creature. They were grazing at an oasis, there was a small pond of water by them. The adult creatures stood at about two meters on average and had short necks. The shellbleats had mammalian faces similar to that of monotremes, yet on their mouths they had beaks. They have shells that aren't as round as a tortoises' but are not completely flat either. Hung noticed there were no protruding ears on their head and they had massive black eyes. The legs stuck out to the sides like an upside-down L-shape. At the sight of the water, Hung scrambled to the body of water as if he was worried the creatures were going to drink all of it up. The water tasted sandy and was most definitely not safe for human consumption but Hung didn't care. After filling himself up, Hung filled his bottle up. After that, Hung sat under a palm tree for shade where two other shell camels were resting, Hung easily nodded off into sleep.

Hung's eyes opened to reveal a setting sun in the east now. Something wooden and blunt was poking his shoulder. He was sitting upright now, ahead of him stood a young man covered in a long tunic with a cover for his head. Hung struggled to make out other details due to his drowsiness but was given a proper awakening when he gave him a hard poke with whatever he was holding.