Ha! Ha!
Altan struggled to breath as he collapsed on the floor.
After a tiring battle that lasted well over an hour and after some inescapable sacrifices, the protectors finally managed to drive the Giant Desert Beetles back.
Amid his rapid breathing, the first thing that Altan thought of was thanking his god for saving his life as he made a brief praying form to the east.
After that, he just stayed lying on the sand, looking at the blood of the beetles that stained his body and that also stained his war sickle.
His war sickle was a customized weapon. Before becoming a warrior, he was a farmer who served the Tree god by trying his best to nurture the few trees that can grow in the extreme conditions of the desert.
He believed that the Tree god was eternal. The fact that a tree could survive in a desert as hot and dry as this was proof that his god was eternal.
While resting, he looked at the corpse of his comrades that were already being taken care of by the rangers.
