Amukelo raised an eyebrow. "So… did you just waste a gold coin for this little experiment of yours?"
Eliss hesitated, her expression shifting to one of faint guilt before she quickly dismissed it with a shrug. "Uh, yeah... but it's just one coin. Who cares about a single coin?"
Amukelo's gaze hardened, and he leaned closer, tapping the scorched marks littering the desk. "Only one?" he asked pointedly. "And these burned marks? Care to explain that?"
Eliss laughed nervously, brushing her hair behind her ear as though she had just thought of the perfect excuse. "Oh! It's for the sake of science, right? Science... yeah!" Her grin widened, clearly hoping this would satisfy him.
Amukelo didn't budge, his eyebrow raised even higher. "Science, huh? And how many coins exactly have been sacrificed for this so-called science?"
Eliss looked down losing her confidence. She mumbled something inaudible.
Amukelo leaned closer, his frown deepening. "I didn't quite catch that. How many?"
Eliss whispered a little louder, "Twenty."
Amukelo blinked, certain he'd misheard. "Excuse me? Twenty? For science?" His voice rose with exasperation.
Eliss flinched slightly but nodded, her eyes darting everywhere but at him. "Yes… twenty," she admitted softly.
Amukelo stared at her in disbelief. His hand slowly rose to his face, and he groaned into his palm. "Twenty gold coins? Eliss, that could sustain you for a month. A month, Eliss!"
Eliss shrank under his words, fiddling with the hem of her sleeve like a child being scolded. "I mean… it's just money. I'll get more later."
Amukelo was having none of it. He slammed a small pouch of silver coins onto her desk. "Eliss, this is worth one gold coin! If you were so bent on experimenting, you could've had a hundred tries. For just one coin! No, you know what? Even that's wasteful. Why don't you pick up some rocks? Use dirt, leaves, anything that isn't gold coins!"
Eliss kept her gaze fixed on the floor, her lips pursed tightly like she'd been caught red-handed raiding a cookie jar. She murmured, "I think you're overexaggerating. I didn't think it was that big of a deal…"
Amukelo took a deep breath, clearly trying to reign in his frustration. After a moment, he softened slightly. "Look, aside from the blatant money-burning fiasco, I'll admit it's an impressive spell. Really. Well done. I never had seen anything like this. Just… promise me you won't waste that much money again, okay?"
Eliss looked up at him, her lips curling into a wide, cheeky grin. "It's peanuts. You're just broke."
Amukelo's eyebrow twitched. "Broke? On this adventure, you're just as broke as I am, princess! What happens when we can't afford food, huh? Or a place to stay? Why do I even try to help you?"
Eliss shrugged nonchalantly, clearly enjoying the effect her words had on him. "That's your problem, not mine," she teased, her grin widening even further.
Amukelo let out a deep sigh. "Sure..." He turned on his heel and walked towards the doors.
Eliss watched him leave, her grin faltering slightly. Once the door shut behind him, she looked back at her desk, her expression softening. She picked up the pouch of silver coins Amukelo had left behind, holding it in her hands for a moment.
"Why is he making such a big deal from it?" she muttered to herself, the faintest trace of guilt creeping into her voice.
The day before the match, everyone gathered and prepared to head off to the place of the match. Naguk's leg, though far from healed, allowed him to stand upright. He leaned on his axe for support.
His voice carried over the murmuring group. "Tomorrow is the final test of this campaign," he began. "I won't stand here and promise you a victory. That would be arrogance, and I will not insult the sacrifices you've all made with empty boasts." He paused, letting his words sink in.
"But I will promise you this: no matter what happens tomorrow, what we've done—the trust we've earned, the strength we've shown—has not been wasted. Every life we've lost for this cause matters. Every step we've taken together matters." Then everyone erupted into a thunderous battle cry.
After a short respite to gather supplies, the group began to move. This time, because of the superior distance, instead of traveling on foot, they traveled on wrags. The same creatures Amukelo and Naguk traveled on in the past.
The day passed really quickly, as the travel turned into a monotonous routine. When Naguk raised his hand, signaling for the group to stop in the middle of the desert. "We camp here tonight," he said. "We'll need to be well-rested for tomorrow." And they quickly pitched tents and prepared fires to cook the bare essentials for the evening.
As Amukelo passed by Xulgag, who was sitting by his wrag, sharpening a blade. Amukelo stopped. "Hey," he said, motioning to the barren surroundings, "why don't we try to find a safer place? It feels… exposed out here. If something sneaks up on us, we won't even see it coming."
Xulgag laughed. "Exposed? You don't know much about our lands, do you, Amukelo?"
Amukelo raised an eyebrow. "Apparently not."
Xulgag sheathed his blade and clapped a hand on the wrag resting beside him. "You see, out here, what seems exposed is actually the safest. Every structure, every ruin, every natural shelter you might think would keep you safe—those are death traps. Monsters of all kinds make their nests in places like that. Stay in one too long, and you're either a meal or part of the nest itself."
Amukelo frowned, his gaze drifting back to the dunes. "That seems… counterintuitive. So, no safe places? Nothing at all?"
Xulgag shook his head, still grinning. "None. That's why smaller groups never travel great distances at night without stopping at some kind of settlement for the night. Otherwise, someone always needs to be on watch." He patted the wrag again. "But these loyal beasts, they're more reliable than most. If needed, they can stay up the entire night, keeping watch."
Amukelo laughed dryly, the memory of his and Eliss's harrowing night in the desert flashing through his mind. "Yeah, we learned that the hard way."
Xulgag's grin widened. "Oh? You've traveled at night before?"
Amukelo nodded. "Once. I'd rather not repeat it."
Xulgag clapped him on the back, hard enough to nearly knock him off balance. "The fact that you survived means something, Amukelo. Surviving a night out here without knowing the terrain is no small feat. For someone weaker, it would've been a death sentence."
Amukelo laughed awkwardly, the compliment not entirely comforting. His thoughts drifted to the strange creature he and Eliss had fought during that night. He rubbed the side of his stomach, remembering how close that encounter had been.
As the night deepened the camp settled into a cautious stillness. The wrags shifted occasionally, their sharp ears twitching at the faintest noise. Amukelo took his turn on watch, pacing the perimeter and scanning the horizon for movement. The silence of the desert was unsettling, broken only by the occasional gust of wind.
Eliss had long since retreated to her tent, likely pouring over her grimoire again. Naguk sat by his fire, his leg stretched out as he rested, the flickering light casting deep shadows on his face. His eyes were distant, his mind clearly on the match ahead.
The night passed without incident, and as the first rays of sunlight broke over the horizon, the camp stirred to life, and the group resumed their journey.