Men started shouting at each other and suddenly the flaps of the tent flew open. Armed men poured into the tent, and the women started to shout at them. The men shouted back. They kept pointing at Anna and saying something she didn’t understand. There was a lot of shouting back and forth until finally, one of the men shouted a single word louder than everyone else, and everyone went quiet.

He walked over, grabbed her by the arm, and started to pull her out of the tent. The women started to shout again, but the man ignored them and pulled her outside. Once there, he shoved her roughly away, and then started to point to the east and say a single word repeatedly.

Wait, is he throwing me out? But I just helped them! Why’s he throwing me out?

He shoved her again when she didn’t move, so she shoved him back. This just angered him, and he shoved her again hard, knocking her to the ground where he kicked her, hitting her in the side of the leg. He moved to kick her again, but she shuffled away not wanting to get hit.

What’s his problem?!

He went after her, kicking her again. She shuffled away and held out her hands for him to stop, scrabbling to her feet and backing away.

“I’m going, I’m going!” she said in common while backing away.

She kept her hands up as she walked away from the men, looking over her shoulder every few moments so she didn’t trip on something.

The men followed her until she was at the edge of camp where the man that pushed her pointed off into the desert while glaring at her. She stood there for a moment fidgeting. She knew that they wanted her to go, but she really didn’t want to be alone anymore.

“Please, I…” she said.

The man screamed something at her. She could see hate in his eyes. She turned and ran away, heading to the east as fast as she could.

After running until dawn, she stopped and sank to the ground, her rear resting on the cool sand.

What did I do? Why was he so mad at me?! Why did they make me leave? I was trying to help them! I just wanted to help them! I just wanted someone to talk to! Why do I have to be alone?

She put her head in her hands and started to cry.

Why didn’t they come back for me? Why did they leave me? She said she’d find me! She said she’d always come look for me! Why didn’t any of them come back? Why don’t they want me?!

She broke down, falling over onto the sand, the last few weeks finally catching up. She lay there crying on the sand until the sun came up. She sat up when the first light of the day brushed her face. She looked out across the seemingly endless desert, and a flash of rage coursed through her.

“FINE! IF YOU DON’T WANT ME, I DON’T WANT YOU!!!” she screamed towards the west.

She stood up and turned to the east, walking away from the sea, the nomads, and her former friends.

Days pass as she walks aimlessly, heading towards the east. Suddenly, the wind started to blow, whipping up the sand. There was a horrible howling sound moments later, and she turned to see a wall of sand rushing towards her. She started to run, heading away from the sand, but it caught up to her moments later, lifting her from her feet and tossing her through the air.

She flew along, bouncing off the sand every once and a while, feeling very much like a leaf in an autumn storm. The storm carried her for hours, the harsh wind and sand tearing the dress she’d just received from the nomads to tatters.

It finally deposited her on the ground and blew past, leaving her covered in a thick layer of sand. She pushed herself up and looked around. She saw the storm receding in the distance, reminding her of a huge wave on the sea. Her clothing was in tatters now, and the storm had pulled the hair cover from her head, though she didn’t consider it much of a loss. She shook as much of the sand off as she could and then kept walking.

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The sand next to her exploded, and she jumped away like a startled cat. A massive worm-like creature popped out of the ground. The front part of it split open revealing a maw filled with dagger-like teeth.

“You have got to be shitting me!” she said.

The worm slammed down, attempting to swallow her, but she jumped out of the way only to find that more of the worms had started to pop out of the ground. They started attacking her one after another as if they were in some kind of feeding frenzy.

Thousands of the beasts started to spring out of the ground. She stared stupidly at the scene for a moment before dozens of the creatures came after her. She rushed around, jumping out of the way of each of their strikes. One of the smaller ones dove at her. She jumped onto its back and slammed her fist into its thick leathery skin. The impact caused the worm to rupture like an overripe melon that fell off a cart onto a stone path and flung her into the air once more.

The other worms swarmed the dead worm and began to feast on its torn corpse. She landed on the back of one of the worms and then jumped away. The moment she touched the ground, she started to run from the monsters.

“FUUUUUUUUCK!!!” she screamed.

She bolted away, dodging them left and right, before finally making it away. When she hadn’t seen a worm in a while, she turned around to make sure none of the worms were following her. The worms were swarming over the debris that the storm had deposited, gulping down anything edible, and stuff that probably wasn’t. She watched them for a few minutes before turning around and walking away, hoping not to end up in the middle of any more worm feeding grounds.

She reached a huge line of sand dunes and climbed to the top. The desert on the other side of the dunes seemed to flatten out, looking more like the ripples in a pond. She could see the air shimmering above the new flat expanse, reminding her of a hot forge. She walked down the dune and started to make her way across the vast empty space.

Well, I think I found the ass end of nowhere!

She giggled at the thought and then sighed, remembering that Thokri had been the one she learned it from.

Days turned to weeks as she wandered the desert aimlessly, across the seemingly endless sands. She spotted a strange pattern in the sand and headed towards it. When she neared, she smelled fresh blood and heard a strange hissing sound.

Wait, something’s here!

This was the first sign of life she’d seen in weeks, and she was a little excited. She rushed over to see some strange snake-like beast men sitting around a huge lizard carcass, carving it apart.

“Uh, hi,” she said.

The snake men jumped at her sudden words and picked up weapons, holding them towards her and hissing.

Oh, no, please no, don’t make me leave!

She put her hands up in surrender, hoping they would understand she wasn’t there to hurt them. The snake men hissed at each other, clearly speaking some form of language. One of the snake men took a rope that was coiled up next to him and began tying a loop into it.

What in the world is he doing that for?

He walked over to her and put the loop over her head, giving it a yank to tighten it around her neck. He then roughly pulled her into their camp where her wrists were bound before she was forced onto her rear.

The snake men went back to butchering the huge lizard, cutting huge chunks of meat from the carcass before tossing them into the beast’s hide. It took them a few hours to break it down completely. They ignored her while they worked. Once they finished, a few of them went over to the pile of meat and picked up a chunk.

The one that had put the rope around her neck tossed a small piece near her and then gestured for her to eat it. She picked it up and took a bite. It had a strong gamey flavor and was tough as old boot leather. None of these things bothered her all that much though, so she kept eating. The rest of the snake men got a piece of meat, and they all sat down and started to eat.

This isn’t so bad, I guess.

Once the snake men finished their meal, they wrapped the meat up in the hide, then tied it up with thick ropes. The snake man who tied her up walked over and tugged on the rope around her neck, clearly wanting her to stand. About half the snake men took hold of the ropes and started to pull the bundle. The other half picked up weapons, and they started to head off towards the southeast.

The snake man holding her rope gave it a tug to get her moving, and she started to walk with them. She looked around at the snake men as they traveled. They were odd creatures with serpent-like bodies as well as long spindly limbs. They wore no clothing. They only had a few leather straps wrapped around their waists and torsos to carry things.

They walked in silence, watching the sands as if something were about to jump out at them at any moment. When the sun began to set, they stopped for the night. She was pulled close to the bundle and pushed to the ground. The snake men that had been pulling the bundle curled up on the ground and went to sleep, leaving the other half on guard.

Sometime after midnight, the sleeping snake men awoke and switched places with the guards. She just sat where she had been forced down and watched them all with unblinking eyes.

The next morning, the snake men who had been sleeping got up and started to pull the bundle. The one that had tied her up was with them this time, so another snake man tugged on her rope. They walked off to the southeast, heading for some unknown location. She looked at her captors as they walked.

Well, at least I’m not alone anymore, but I think learning their language is going to be kind of hard.