The kid's shackles made a racket, the heat was unbearable, and sand had found its way into every bodily crevice. Worst of all, the three of them would need to backtrack two days worth of travel time. The two kidnappers underestimated the winds that shaped the dunes of this desert. Their carefully placed landmarks had been getting progressively more buried the closer they came to reaching the border. Yesterday, it reached a critical point. They could no longer see the end of one of the stakes they had driven into the sand a week prior. As a result, they had completely relied on the light of the sun for directions today.

Expectedly to the boy, this reliance on the sun for navigation had completely backfired. Despite knowing this, the boy dared not to speak and slouched in silence as the two men sat tall aback their camels. They scanned the horizon atop a huge dune for their next stake. However, again their landmark was nowhere to be seen.

"Son of a whore!" One of the men shouted. "We just extended the job in this inferno by another week at least! It was foolish to not bring a star guide, this map is all but worthless when the dunes change heights quicker than a slut's attitude!"

"Whores, sluts." The other man complained. "Perhaps if you'd kept your cock away in Pentalias your mind wouldn't have been on desert bitches and instead would have been focused on better preparing to get this job done you fool." The man paused for less than a second; leather whistled as cool bronze tore the lining of its scabbard. A trickle of blood ran down the shortsword's edge as it lay atop the man's ear.

"Perhaps those couple of bitches you keep in that locket ought to see what Daddy looks like with just one ear?" The other man riled in anger.

"You'd dare commit such an affront to my senses? We may be thieves, but a transgression like that would never stand without punishment in Alliance territory."

"I don't see a damned courthouse out here you Alliance rat! I should slice both of those pale ears off and then lop your head off for commenting on where I spend my hard-earned gold."

"Kill me and the savage boy escapes without issue. Allow him to use his abilities even once and you would be buried in the dunes along with me the second you lay to rest."

Whipping his bronze shortsword away from the Alliance man's ear the other thief pointed the sword at the hunched and chained-up boy.

"This little fool does not have the means to kill me! I doubt he's even partaken in any of those freakish practices these subhumans rely on to survive out here." Rage fueled the boy's heart hearing the ways one of his own people spoke about his tribe's ancient practices. He averted his eyes from the two men and bit the inside of his cheek with a vicious contempt.

"Look at him shaking in those fucking chains! Ha Ha Ha! That pitiful fear of his has been the only good thing about being out here so-"

The warm-skinned thief looked down at his waist and saw a sizable hole had been pierced through his fluttering clothes.

"Well, let's call it even there pentalian. We need to get back in the city before the whole damn sandscape is crawling with the Alliance's royal abductors. They'll seize our walking sack of gold and our heads right along with him. Even if they did spare our lives, thieves like us tend not to last long in Alliance custody." The pale-skinned thief explained. Fraught with rage, the other thief turned to face his partner and responded.

"Damn you Stradland Alliance rat! If you knew about the royal abductors why didn't you pony up with them in the first place? I never would have taken this job if I knew those vicious knights were coming to Pentalias to enter the sandscape with us!" The rage of the man's expression subsided into a deep-rooted nervousness, teetering on the edge of fear. Regret for his actions then made an appearance. The thief calmed his voice and spoke to his partner. "As much as I despise you for not including that information when I agreed to this job, there's not a point in bitching about it now. You are right; we dont have time to search for our markers anymore. Backtracking and relying on the sun is our only hope of making it back to Pentalias in decent time."

"I'm glad you're beginning to see reason sir. Let's be off then."

Following their tracks from the direction they had come, the two thieves were silent and attentive. The boy's chains spoke for him as he struggled to maintain pace with his captors. Exhausted, frustrated and sadder than he ever could imagine himself being, the boy passed the time focused on planting one foot after the other. That focus didn't last long. His walking pace was sloppy because his mind was still filled with rage. Particularly, the thought of being in a life or death situation, just as the monsters dragging him along were, drove him to near insanity.

He gnawed away at his cheek, swallowing his saliva along with the mucosa he'd chewed off the inside of his mouth. The self-inflicted pain kept the thoughts of his own weakness away. For a long while as the group walked, he felt much purpose was not left for him, all he wished was that his soul would be judged with mercy by Attab. Then suddenly the emotions he had been feeling escaped him and a memory of a girl replaced them.

She belonged to another tribe and eight sky cycles had gone by since he last saw her, but the picture of her remained fresh. She was a pretty girl; skin of auburn with long black hair that matched her eyes. The bridge of her nose sloped down at a perfect angle and gently curved at the tip. Faded pink lips without a single crack or blemish, when she laughed her upper and lower lips separated like she was singing a song. As she spun round and round in delight, the loose fabric of her clothes danced in her current. The boy watched her from a crack in his tent completely mesmerized with her. That's where the good part of the memory ended though. He was struck on the back of his head for watching her by his mother. She told him the girl was crazy, selfishly shaming her parents and their God, but to the boy, that scene was a portait of his ideal freedom.

However, then as he was now, freedom and autonomy was stripped from him. Experiencing happiness from doing whatever he wanted was something that would forever remain foreign to him. The sky cycles passed and the boy grew older. The joy he felt from being praised by his parents and others grew weaker with each passing day. His responsibilities to the tribe remained the priority in his life, but when he was at his happiest or saddest he'd remember watching that girl from the tent; wishing he'd been brave enough to be like her.

"These cursed sand wastes have proven quite the challenge." The alliance man began. "Compasses are useless, no freshwater sources for hundreds of kilometers, nothing to hunt, and this unbearable heat day after day."

"That's the Vates Sandscape for you northerner. The Northeastern scapes are always the most brutal to venture through unfortunately for us." The pentalian man looked back at the horizon. "Looks like we have about an hour of sunlight left. Let's disembark and pitch the tents. I'll check the kid's chains."

Hearing that, the alliance man swung his left leg over his camel's back and slid from the saddle. Planting both feet firmly in the sand, he reined the camel to a stand still and began to unpack his equipment. The pentalian man noticed the boy was still walking along the tracks the camels had created.

"Hey kid, we're done walking for today! Sit down now!" The boy kept trudging along until the chain connected to his collar was taught against the camel's weight. Still, he tried to keep walking forward. Amused by this the pentalian chuckled to himself as he watched the kid cough and sputter every time the collar choked him. Hearing the struggling, the alliance man walked over to watch the show.

"What's he doing?" He asked.

"Who fuckin' knows?" The pentalian softly laughed again. "What a stupid little savage. I can't believe that could've been me if I was born out in this wasteland instead of in the city."

"The war was eighty-four years ago and yet these demons cling to the old ways of their desert heresy. They should've resigned to life in Pentalias like the others of their kind that surrendered all those years ago."

"Pride is one hell of a human fault."

"Hah! That's rich coming from a pentalian."

"You're lucky I'm not in the mood for a fight with you anymore you rat."

The boy interrupted their banter when he finally stopped making noise and stood in silence.

"Well I guess the kid's come to his senses." The pentalian man sighed. "Let's tighten those shackles back up."

"I'm going back to setting up the tent. "

"Alright." The pentalian walked over to their captive and examined the condition of the chains, collar and cuffs.

"Cuffs are still nice and tight but this leather collar is getting worn out." He thought to himself. "Hey rat! Grab me a new collar, this one's leather is fraying too much around the metal link!" A few seconds passed without a response from the other man. "Hey did you hear me northerner?"

"I suppose northerner will suffice." The Alliance man said. "Here." He reached into one of the many bags that adorned a camel's back and tossed the other man a new collar. "Give me a moment before you swap his collar. I want to watch him as you change them."

"Fair enough." The pentalian agreed and looked into the boy's dead silver eyes. "Sit down kid." The boy didn't move. "I know you can understand me savage, do it now. I won't ask again." Still as a stump, the boy didn't move a muscle. "Gods save this fool." The man grabbed then ripped at the boy's right leg forcing the boy to fall and choke on his collar before he hit the ground. The boy now laid on his back, but was still motionless.

"Hey! Stop roughing up the kid! We gotta make sure he survives if we want to sell him." The alliance man called out. "Just because he doesn't need to eat or drink much doesn't mean he can survive every damn beating you give him."

"You'd get annoyed too if the savage ignored every damn order you gave him."

"Just take it easy a little while longer friend. He'll be out of our hands soon enough."

The boy was in a daze. He really did not hear anything the two men were saying to one another. He couldn't taste the blood in his mouth. His nose was clogged with nothing. He couldn't feel the air around his skin either. All the boy had control over was his hazy vision.

"I don't think I want to see anymore." He thought. "I wonder what nothing looks like? Maybe it's black? Or is it white?" He quickly resigned the idea. "I guess only Attab would know. The sky is dimming already. Not much blue left is there? Well, the night sky is much nicer to look at anyways. I'm sure there'll be plenty of stars tonight. I'd really like to die while seeing that beautiful sight. I hope mother and father don't think I'm being selfish. I can't do much by myself after all. It should be okay just this once."

He closed his eyes and imagined the memory of the girl once again. "I think I changed my mind, I'd rather watch her again as I die. She's so beautiful. I wish I went out to play with her even if it would've made mom upset with me. She's really having so much fun all by herself. I wish...I wish...I wish...I wish I wasn't me."

"Savage! Freak! Kid! Open your damn eyes!" The pentalian man shook the boy's shoulders with every exclamation.

"Give it a rest pentalian, his breathing is steady. There's not a chance he's going to die in his sleep. Besides, it's only been an hour since he passed out."

"And how are you gonna repay me if he does you rat?"

"I warned you not to rough him up too much so I'd say we're even. We have some time to relax a bit before he wakes up. You go ahead and get some rest. I will stay awake a while longer."

"I'll pass, I'm not tired."

"Well suit yourself, that means I'm up first for a change!" The alliance thief took out his locket, opened it and stared at its contents for some time. Once he was done looking at it, he whispered to himself and was soon snoring loudly. Dissatisfied with the noise, the pentalian thief took a look over the boy to make sure he was breathing steadily and then left the tent. He walked past the resting camels and set his eyes on a particularly tall dune.

"We lost a few days of travel and now the savage boy is unconscious." He thought. "Why is that alliance prick so relaxed about this situation in the first place? If the savage kid dies we'd have wasted weeks worth of supplies for nothing." About halfway up the dune, he stopped in his tracks. "Just how many times has that pasty dog been out here? Has he been playing stupid with me? Now that I think about it, only alliance scouts enter the desert without a star guide. He says he's a thief, but I've never seen any thief involve themselves in dangerous kidnapping work like this when they have a family so far away." His mind was made up and resumed hiking up the dune. "Gah! I can't believe I've been such a damn fool; that bastard is hiding something major from me and I can't do anything now! He probably mentioned the royal abductors so I'd think that was the only thing he was hiding from me. If I'm lucky Pentalias is four days of travel away and if I'm luckier the Stradland Alliance's royal abductors won't have left the city yet." He took a moment to will the idea. "Perhaps I ought to kill the alliance rat in his sleep." When he completed that thought in his mind, he reached the top of the dune. Looking up from his feet he was shocked and immediately drew his shortsword.

"Name yourself and I may let you live." The pentalian man demanded. The person in front of him was dressed in thin white fabrics that were nearly transparent. The darkness made it hard to see much else besides a black box that was secured at the hip.

"I am nameless." She said.

"A woman?" The pentalian thought. "Is this a savage woman that tracked us down? Impossible! The women of the savage tribes aren't supposed to be able to use abilities the males possess."

"I don't believe that for a moment. Name yourself and tell me why you are out here in the middle of nowhere. I will not repeat myself, you wretch."

"Unfortunately I remain nameless, as for why I'm out here..." The woman paused for a few moments. "I think I'm supposed to find out right now."

Shortsword bronze grinded away at something the thief couldn't see and forced him to pull back his slash.

"What just..." The pentalian's thoughts ceased and he only felt the sensations his body provided him. His sight was clear. His ears listened to the desert winds howl and boom with vigor. His nose smelled blood. He tasted it in the back of his throat. He felt the air warped around his skin. The air had forcefully contorted his arms around one another. They were pierced with long and thick needles, locking his arms together. His chin dropped and he saw a needle vibrating violently just below his neck. It minced away at his flesh until his head rolled from his shoulders into his carefully cradling arms.

"Make yourself present, other wanderer." The woman said into the wind.

"Are you the contact with the Pentalian court?" The alliance man asked, hiding below the dune's summit. "I mean no harm! Please speak face to face with me." The alliance man walked up the dune with his hands raised above his head. When he witnessed the disfigured dead pentalian he jolted and clenched his teeth.

"Gods above, what did she do to him? I've never seen anything like this! I cannot provoke her in the slightest." He thought.

"Yes. I am returning to Pentalias now." The woman replied. "Shame your ally wasn't informed of my coming."

"Hah! That fool was only good for killing tribal weaklings and being a good watchdog on the merchandise. You made the right decision by killing him."

"The merchandise?"

"Oh right! My apologies, I'll take you to the boy right away."

"The boy?"

"Yes, unfortunately we were only able to capture a single straggler, but the savages have been getting more cautious over the years so it was expected. The boy I captured is in slightly poor health, but he should be able to make it to the city alive and ready to be shipped off to the Stradland Alliance if given a few days rest." The woman said nothing to the man in response to his report; it made him even more nervous than he already was. They both remained quiet until they reached the entrance of the tent. "I appreciate you going out of your way to find me, the desert's winds have made navigation rather difficult the last few days." The alliance man steeled himself and turned to face the woman. "Forgive my incompetence, I must beg for your assistance. I need to exit the desert as soon as possible. I will rendezvous with the royal scouts in five days because the Stradland Alliance's royal abductors will be moving on the midwestern region in full force within the month." The woman remained silent. Looking at her more carefully, the alliance man noticed how dark the woman's skin was as it contrasted her silky white garments. Then she spoke to him.

"You wanderers confuse me. Always quick to make enemies or quick to make friends with me." The alliance man realized his mistake too late. "I much prefer the company of the savages." The evening's gentle winds halted aggressively and the man froze in a stance reaching for his weapon. When the breeze resumed, the alliance man's head leaked blood from dozens of fresh orifices that connected like channels throughout his skull. His face, emaciated, was torn between agony and shock; he dropped dead. Bloody needles were rooted into the sand around his corpse.

A beautiful girl danced around and laughed uncontrollably while countless needles fell from the sky. In his sleep, the boy smiled.