"Let's go!" I ordered.
My legs ached in protest as I pushed them onward an uncomfortable heat spreading out from my knees to the muscles in my thighs.
"Dean, slow down!" Luca warned. "Or they'll notice the sand you're kicking up."
It wasn't easy running up a steep sand dune while doing our best not to get noticed by the defenders on the oasis above. In fact, those of us who managed to speed up had to leave those who couldn't behind.
That meant the entirety of Ashley's squad wouldn't be there when the fighting started. It was a shame as I was really hoping a shield wall would make things less harrowing than the last time Luca and I tried this kind of stunt.
Edo and Shanks pulled ahead of the rest of us with Pike and Enna close on their heels. That meant us slowpoke humans were dead last in the race up the sand dune's southwestern slope.
