Blooming in the Desert

To See is to Believe

Following the trail of hoof marks on the sand, Jaller, Ain and Rutu find themselves back at the bandit canyon. Ain complained along the way about how dangerous going back to the hideout of Roc Raiders is, how reckless it is to bring him as he can't do sand magic without his staff, and how Jaller is simply not thinking straight. To be honest, all three complains are rightly true. But Jaller simply doesn't care. If there's something that could cloud the cunning merchant's good logic and reasoning, it's his greed... or his anger. The red-haired man always had quite a short fuse and tendency to channel his anger into cold grudge – which is what he does right now. He simply won't let that stout thug gets away without a beating.

Traversing the canyon – Ain still complains all the way, but follows them nonetheless – the trio finally arrives at the mouth of the hideout. Except, the giant circular slab that seals the entrance is now rolled open, yet once again there is no one to guard it. Does the Raiders simply forgot to roll the slab back in place?

Jaller, walking beside Rutu as he pulls its reins, steps into the hideout without a pause. Ain, on the other hand, stops at the entrance. Noticing some cracks on the slab that wasn't there yesterday, he examines it a bit.

"Um, sir Jaller?" Ain calls for his employer after he finished examining the slab.

"What?" Jaller turns and answers curtly. His face, frowning and looking pretty dismayed, scares Ain a little.

"Uh, I see some cracks on the giant slab here. These weren't here yesterday when we went out." Ain explains quickly, as he knows his employer's is in a rather foul mood.

"So? Why is such thing important?" Jaller asks, his voice sounds more dismayed every second. Ain stutters.

"Uh, ummm... Th-the cracks, is not n-normal. L-like they are caused by something with a tremendous force. I, uh, I think something made the cracks, not the bandits, and maybe... maybe it gets in, that's why the entrance is still open?" Ain ends his reasoning with a question. Jaller, hearing his assistant's explanation, turns away with a "Keh" before finally replying, "...I'll be more alert." He continues to walk into the hideout. Ain, having no choice, follows him.

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At the cave stables, the three intruders find a rather horrifying scene. Camel-horses and bandits, laying on the ground, scattered all around the room, motionless. Numerous weapons lay on the ground, but not a drop of blood. Finding such situation, Jaller's reasoning kicks in, and he quickly approaches the nearest bandit to check his breath. The man is still breathing, but he is foaming at the mouth, with a horrified expression on his face. Looking around, Jaller notices that the laying bandits and animals, all collapsed with a surprised or terrified expression.

"U-u-u-uh, I-I think i-it's safe t-to say some-something definitely happppens, s-sir." Ain, approaching his employer while holding onto Rutu's reins, is clearly scared, heard from his worsening stutters. "W-we should go back already..." the boy pleads. Yet at the same time, a sound, buzzing like a swarm of wasps yet as loud as a thunder, echoes through the cave. Ain shrieked in surprise, while Jaller, cringing for a moment, turns his head toward the direction where the sound comes from, and quickly runs toward the treasure room.

As Ain quickly follows his employer into the treasure room, he sees Jaller once again checking the breath of a collapsed bandit. The same scene from the stables are repeated, with unconscious bandits wearing terrified expression strewn everywhere in the room, from the ground to the gold piles, along with various weapons they seem to have drawn before being knocked out. If he was counting, Ain would estimate that they've seen thirty bandits knocked out by now. Whatever is causing this, they can take out multiple opponents with ease and inflict such terror before incapacitating them.