Arkham decided to ease off on attacking the remaining Frebrans for now, he wanted to know why they were here. The soldier he heard said something about meeting up with a caravan, whoever it was were friendly to the Frebrans. At this point, Arkham had killed enough Frebrans to see where he stood in the Iunia and Febras conflict.
The soldiers were on high alert, so Arkham just hid himself in the sand and waited for them to move. But first he had to wait for them to decide that danger wasn't around anymore. Remaining motionless in the sand was actually easier than he thought, perhaps this new body was also affecting his mind.
With nothing else to look at, Arkham turned his attention to the stars. They were bountiful and beautifully lit up the night sky. This brought back memories for Arkham back at the capital, that all seemed so far away now.
'Reyla.' Arkham thought of the girl who was in his thoughts the most back at the school. She had been kind to him and they were on good terms. He had hoped to one day tell her how he much liked her.
'Nothing more but a distant dream now.' Arkham that by the time he could go back, anything could've happened to her. The only thing he could possibly count on was Phineas' and Edwin's
snake like tendencies to crawl their way to the top. They were the kind of people to stab you in the back and sell you out in a heartbeat, or at least that's how Arkham felt.
'Damn them!' Arkham cursed in his mind as he thought about it. He decided to stop thinking about those things right now, he was getting more and more angry. In the moment, he needed to be calm and collected. Arkham needed to take things one day at a time in his current position.
The sun slowly crept its way up and yet Arkham still wasn't tired. It was strange, he couldn't remember the last time he felt any form of drowsiness. His mind was focused too, the limits of his human body were all but gone. The only thing was that he now ran on souls. The emperor must have been really powerful if he got five people with powers like this to listen to him. But that was assuming that the skeleton did indeed belong to the emperor.
"Get ready to move out! Whatever it was, it seems to be gone now! We don't have time to waste, everyone work faster!" A loud shout echoed through the dunes to where Arkham could hear it.
'Finally.' Arkham smiled the best he could with a scorpion's mouth.
Within an hour of sunrise the Febrans packed what they could and started to move out. Arkham once again did his best to slowly follow them from behind without being seen. But he was actually about the direction they were going in, they might actually encounter the Iunian guard Arkham was with if they continued along.
The guard would be slaughtered by the Febrans' numbers and Arkham didn't know whether or not he'd risk exposure to help. Though they might ask to team up against the monster that suddenly showed up.
Arkham's predictions came true as they finally made out the rock formation that the guards were using as a base camp. But from what Arkham could tell, there was no one there.
Most likely they had made the right decision to return to the city, Arkham hoped. He was then intrigued as the Febrans started to march westwards past the area.
They didn't stop moving until the sun started setting, this was when they had arrived at a rock plateau covered by the sand.
The Febrans started to set up their camp at the base of the valley, this time they made sure nothing could go by unnoticed. Arkham decided to climb the rock since they were so alert on the ground. Soon his diligence paid off, a man with a lantern could be seen walking from the other side. A man who looked like the leader of the Febrans greeted him.
"The supplies?" The tough looking man with a beard asked.
"All in due time, Commander Ars. The transport is not far behind." The finely dressed man bowed when he saw the commander.
"We paid a lot for your lord's loyalty, it better be worth it!" Commander Ars grimaced, he was unsure of their contact in Iunia.
"Of course, he just asks you to remember him fondly when you decide on the ruling parties after you take Iunia." The man smiled with both his mouth and his eyes, making him look like a snake briefly.
"Hmph! That's not up to me but I'll pass along a good word to my superiors. Now, when exactly will they be here?" Commander Ars shrugged, nobles were the same no matter where you go. They only cared about themselves in the end.
"A little jumpy, are we not Commander?" The man asked as he noticed the commander's eyes flickering everywhere.
"Several of my men went missing last night, two patrols were targeted. The three patrols were supposed to pass each other twice, it only happened once. The bodies were discovered to be in pieces, so I doubt it was human! So yes, I am a little jumpy!"
"May I interest you in some War slaves then?"
"Slaves? Yes I do remember hearing something about your lord being quite powerful in the city of Septus" Commander Ars frowned.
"Worry not sir, none of them are from the 12 cities. I can assure you, they are all captured warriors of the south."
"I assume you want compensation for them?"
"Of course, Commander. It was quite difficult to capture them alive."
" I suppose we do need more hands now."
"Excellent, we had a convoy heading towards Iunia already. Well let you have the pick of them before Iunia does!" The man laughed as he took another bow before leaving.