The massif did not look the part.

It seemed small, most of the rock hidden under a large dune of sand.

“There,” Orev pointed, “the entrance is hidden over there.”

“I see. Let's go say hello then,” I said.

“An unknown group of armed men led by a beauty like you? They'll collapse the tunnel on you in a heartbeat,” he said. “You will have to enter on your own first, alone and without a camel.”

Did I now?

I looked at Acharo, gesturing towards the group of men huddled together behind my guards.

“Kill anyone who flees,” I said, raising my voice to be sure I'd be overheard.

“Allow at least one to flee,” I signed at the same time.

"As you wish, my lady," he said, acknowledging my order with a sign of his own.

Now then.

I jumped off my camel, raising the sand to absorb my fall and hardening its surface so my heels did not sink in.

With one last warning tug at the sand in my recruits lungs, I marched towards the hidden entrance before me. It did not even cause a single disturbance in the aether!

How bold to use family arts like that! Come to think of it, that's probably how a bunch of magically inept bandits managed to hide from me like that.

With one last sigh, I entered the cave before me, sand trailing my steps as I made my way deeper into the rock, my heels clicking loudly as I stepped on the barely worked sandstone. I took another step when my connection to the aether outside of the massif cut off, hundreds of humans suddenly appearing in the previously impenetrable rock before me.

“You actually did it,” I mumbled. “I'm impressed.”

Disconnecting an area under influence of your domain from the standard aetheric web was difficult, but doable. And no danger to me. With knowledge of what was ahead, I picked up my pace but kept my senses peeled for further bandits hidden like my new recruits. It should not be possible inside of here, but it never hurt to be careful when alone.

After a few minutes of walking down the winding path of the cave, I arrived at a large wooden door, a pair of guards decked in full metal armor looking at me with weary eyes.

“Move aside,” I commanded. “I'm here to see my brother.”

“And you are?” the left minion asked.

“I am here to see my brother, the leader of this quaint little town,” I repeated slowly. “I have been told you do not care for large unknown groups entering, so I'm here myself. Do not test my patience.”

“I'm sure a pretty girl like you can find a better argument than that to enter,” he said with a suggestive smirk.

“You have two options,” I said coldly. “You allow me and my party to enter right about fucking now, or I will bust down this expensive wooden door and make a scene so big you better start running to get a headstart from my brother’s wrath right about fucking now.”

"Do you think you can threaten your way in?" he asked, a pitiful aura flaring to life around both minions.

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I sighed.

"I do. Don't say I didn't warn you," I said, my domain manifesting around us. Two streams of sand shot out from the sand trailing my feet, enveloping the guards in a tomb of sand, lifting them off the sheer rock before they could react.

I moved the useless minions out of the way and started a small sandstorm, grinding the cave walls around me into more sand for me to use. I stepped around a couple of rocks shooting out of the ceiling with an amused snort and closed the sandy prison, cutting off the air supply of my brother’s minions for now.

I waited for them to stop moving, slowly growing the sand I had available as I waited. Once I was sure they were out for now, I used another four streams of sand to start grinding the door hinges out of the rock.

By the time the door fell inwards with a loud crash a group of similar guards were already waiting for me, another five tunneling to emerge behind me.

"Hey there," I said brightly. "I'm here to meet my brother."

The guards drew back at my voice, wearily taking a step back as I surged forwards on a wave of sand, coming to a stop right in front of their faces.

"Now I promised these two idiots I'd make a scene so big he'd have to come out personally," I said. "And an al Roh does not go back on her word, so please do try to put up some fight."

With that, a wave of sand surged towards the alarmed guards, easily imprisoning all but one of them in another prison of sand.

Disappointing.

A powerful, decently trained aura erupted from the last guard, ripping the part of the spell animating the sand around him apart.

"Lord Lydan is your brother?" he asked, stepping past another sweeping wave of sand.

"He is," I admitted, pulling more and more sand beyond the door.

"His lordship said some very unflattering things about his family, his father and sister in particular," he said, jumping at me in a torrent of wind, a knife in his hand.

I lazily raised my left hand, a torrent of sand following the gesture and surging upwards to stop the charge. Once more, his aura tore my spell to pieces, a spell of his own blasting the now loose sand towards me.

I felt him twist in the air through my aetheric sight, shooting around the sand as the five tunnelers finally emerged out of the rock, right into a nice lungful of sand. Amateurs. At the same time, I cut the spell allowing me to walk on sand, falling down into the rolling waves beneath me as my opponent erupted out of the sand in front of me.

The five tunnelers collapsed into an oxygen deprived heap a few seconds later, joining their brethren in prisons of sand as I turned to the airmage widely flying through the room, evading the occasional blast of sand.

Time to turn up the heat.

I took a deep breath, sinking into the aether just a little more and shaped the power I drew into two spells. One to create a miniature sandstorm once more, whipping the sand in the room into a frenzy. Another to vibrate the sand, quickly raising the room's temperature to midday levels of heat.

The air mage clad himself in a shield of air, deflecting the hot grains of sand now flying all over the room as his eyes scanned the sand for my form.

I took another deep breath, drawing even more magic out of the aether and shaped it into one last spell, causing all sand on the ground to rush towards him, entombing his shield in a small mountain of hot sand, the sheer mass dragging him down into the dune beneath.

I took my third breath for the hour, increasing the power of the sandstorm flying around me with even more magic, slowly enlarging the room with tens of thousands of impacts on the walls every second, more and more sand joining into one glorious hellscape.

"Now," I said loudly, reemerging from the sand around me.

"You're not the idiot that denied me, so you may surrender and spare yourself the pain,” I offered reasonably.

“I surrender!” the heap of sand yelled back immediately, the shield collapsing in itself moments later, the guard emerging with his hands raised in the air

“Very well,” I said, knocking him out with a well placed shot of sand from the back and adding him into the small dune behind me.

I looked at the room around me, all tasteful wooden furniture trashed, all cloth dissolved and anything else shattered. Yes, this was good enough.

I took another deep breath, staggering just a little as a small bird of sand formed in my hand, fluttering back through the tunnel as I formed a throne of sand, my prisoners tastefully arranged behind me.

“And what exactly is going on here?” I voice boomed moments after I sat down, a well dressed man stepping out of the wall to my right with barely a ripple.

“I'm here to meet you of course, brother dearest,” I said sweetly.