After May was done dancing, we left the tavern and headed back on track. I thought about what the bartender said about May as we walked, yet couldn't understand why he would say something like that. I tried to ignore it but it stayed in the back of my mind nevertheless.
It was late afternoon, though it was still plenty bright outside. May's excitement could hardly be contained as she spoke. "Alright! Not too much farther and we'll reach my village in two days. Then after we get some supplies, we can start our adventure!"
I was annoyed with that time frame. "Where is your village exactly?" She then pointed next to us to where the forest ended and sand began. "On the other side of that desert." I noticed that there was a small pocket of desert that leaked into the forest, which was small enough to see the forest loop around to the other side of it. There were miles of sand on the left, and forest on the right. I also realized that we weren't walking in the direction of her village, and it looked like we were going to walk all the way around to the other side without setting foot on the sand at all.
I stopped walking and May did the same. I looked at the large pile of rocks that appeared like there was an island on the sand between each side of the forest. "Why can't we cut through the desert?" Her expression became nervous. "Um, well.." I then walked past her and approached where the forest ended. Before I set foot on the sand I turned to May. "Are you coming or not?" Her face stayed worrisome, and she then pulled the map from her satchel.
She flew over to me and handed it out so I could take it. "You can go that way, but you'll no doubt get there before me. So you can just start your quest, and if you need any more help there are plenty of others over there you can ask..." I then took the map from her and turned to start walking on the sand. "Okay." I took a few more steps before stopping to hesitate. 'Wait. Why the hell is she willing to part ways with me so easily? She was so excited before.'
I then turned to see her behind me, although now all I could see was her wings that were obviously sticking out of the bush she was hiding in. I raised an eyebrow and walked back into the forest. I crossed my arms and leaned closer to the bush. "Boo." She then popped out in panic and flew away to quickly hide behind a tree. "Ahhh!!" I shook my head, seeing her wings being completely visible again from behind the tree.
"You idiot! It's just me! What the hell are you hiding from?! What's in that desert?" She peeked from behind the tree and spoke quietly. "T-That's where the W-Wrangwobblers live..." I looked at her blankly. "The what?" She went behind the tree again starting to shake. "T-They e-eat fairies..." I smiled a little thinking of her being eaten, and me being there to see it.
"Wait a second, are you afraid? I always thought that you'd be the type of person to face their fears." She came out from behind the tree and gasped. "Are you using my own life lessons against me?" I crossed my arms with a smirk in my tone. "You could say that." She then smiled and pointed to me. "That means you're listening!" My smile dropped and she became excited again. "You are absolutely right! This is an adventure after all, there are sure to be dangers, and many opportunities to face them! Let's go and cross the desert!"
Before she turned to fly toward the sand, she paused and confusion made its way onto her face. "Wait, I thought that you would leap at the chance to get rid of me. Why did you convince me to come along?" I shrugged and started walking to the desert. "I planned on using you as a meat shield." She laughed nervously as she followed me. "You know, sometimes I don't get your jokes..."The farther we walked, I could tell that May was becoming increasingly scared. I wouldn't have cared to notice if she hadn't hidden behind me the entire time we were walking. "Stop getting so close to me!" I pushed her away and she came right back to the place she was before. She was flying, so my shove didn't do much other than increase the distance between us. "B-But it's going to be dark soon! Shouldn't we camp for the night?" I noticed that as the sun started to fall over the horizon, it turned the sky pink and orange along with making the sand I was walking on appear more maroon in color.
I shook my head. "This stretch isn't that far. We can sleep when we're on the other side. That reminds me, are these monsters you speak of nocturnal like goblins?" I continued to push her away, and she spoke as she tried to come back after every time I pushed her. "No, but they're really light sleepers, and they can smell fairies!" I then pushed her away harder than before to keep her back. "Good. You'll make great bait then." Her eyes widened in fear. "W-What?!"
My tone was annoyed as I continued to walk toward the rock formations in front of us. "What did you expect my plan to be?" I had thought of the possibilities of each scenario on the decision to get her to come with me. Either she gets killed while I use her as a distraction so I can get away easily, or she survives and I still have a direct guide to the stone. I didn't see a downside to each possibility other than if she lives she'll continue to annoy me. 'But even if she does, I can kill her myself once I complete my mission.' I thought.
May fidgeted with her hands nervously as she spoke. "I appreciate that you want me to face my fear, but I don't think you understand just how dangerous these creatures are. I mean, Damien is the bravest person I know and he doesn't even set foot here." I rolled my eyes. "Just shut up and leave it to me." This was probably the first time she listened to me after I had told her to shut up because she didn't say another word until we set foot on the base of the desert island of large rocks.
The air became cool as the sunset was ending, and stars started to appear in the atmosphere. The sky remained mostly orange even after the light had disappeared over the horizon, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I could still see clearly as I walked slowly on the hardened rock that carried the rest of the caves and formations around us. The rocks looked like clay, and the breeze lifted small amounts of sand into the air as silence did the same.
I then drew my sword from its sheath and stayed on guard as we made our way through the boulders. After a few minutes, I started to wonder whether these creatures existed, until May made a quiet gasp and hid behind me again. "They're over there!" She whispered.