I traded grains of sand for water unbound,

Only to find it a salty brew.

A dream of land tragically run aground,

From treachery by my own crew.

Cast away to drift the world around,

The centuries passed by in a blur.

But time charges interest in change compound,

I returned to an abandoned Mur.

— Lost Winds, by an unnamed traveler

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The Lost City

On the tenth day, Mursa Shang's light whistle pierced the quiet atmosphere. It accompanied a subtle shift in his Domain — the faint shimmer of gold winked into existence against the darkening sky, reminiscent of the stars.

Meera rode up to them, her expression a mask of conflicting emotions. Somberness shadowed her usually sharp gaze; a wistful yearning tugged at the corners of her lips. The look was mirrored among all of the other mursashu, with varying degrees of intensity.

"We're home," Meera explained in a soft voice, in answer to Primrose’s questioning look. It was a stark contrast to her usual vibrancy. "Just over that dune."

The camels snorted, seemingly sensing the shift in the atmosphere, and pulled their sleds with renewed purpose. The rhythmic crunch of their steps echoed across the vast expanse of the Endless Sands as they pulled their sled over the giant dune. Kalle let out a gasp, and Primrose barely covered her own sharp intake of breath.

Sandstone walls loomed just ahead, silhouetted against the fiery orange glow of the setting Sun. Once magnificent, they were now etched with weathered scars from centuries of neglect. The Lost City's sheer size dwarfed all the other adjectives Primrose wanted to associate with the place. Even from this distance, she saw crumbling domes and towering spires piercing the cloudless sky, their once vibrant colors faded by the Sun. Yet despite the ravages of time, the ancient City's grandeur still remained, a testament to what had once been.

Mur. The home of the mursashu.

A sense of foreboding brought Primrose back from her awe, and she pulled aura into her eyes. Nearby, Kalle was peering through his small glass lens as well.

"By the Gods," he muttered. "You See that?"

Primrose nodded. A wispy aura suffused everything outside the Mursa's Domain in an eerie black shadow. The miasma was far reaching, almost like a Domain, but it was there that the similarities ended. She almost wondered if it was the same color as the Prince's, but it was a shade lighter than the power she had seen the OutCast call upon while trapped. She looked towards Meera. "I assume what I'm Seeing is…?"

Meera nodded bitterly. "The reason we can't live in Mur for more than a few nights. DuskWing's Curse. Just the lingering remnants of his aura, but it’s more than enough to be deadly." She fell silent, guiding her camel alongside them as the group slid down the dune. Kalle's guiding hand maneuvered the paddle, digging it in sideways to ensure the sled didn't crash into their camels. "I've heard it's a daunting sight to those who can See," Meera added when they were halfway down the dune. "Just remember to stay within the Mursa's Domain when we take refuge there for the night."

Primrose found herself licking at her lips. The desert wind whipping through her unbound locks only exacerbated the sudden dryness in her mouth. Though she had relaxed her Sight, the image of the auric coils curling throughout the Lost City remained vividly in her mind.

An unsettling thought snaked in. For some reason, she couldn't help but associate it with the seeking tendrils of the Khaken prowling about the Sands for the past few days. She'd seen what happened when one of the untethered camels had run off from its handler, mistakenly exiting the Mursa's Domain. For some reason, she'd expect the Khaken to make sounds, but they didn't. There was no roar, no menacing growl. Perhaps that's why the camel didn't run. It remained blissfully unaware of the danger until the sinuous leg erupted from below, piercing through the camel's body with horrifying ease, and by then, no amount of distressed bleating could save it. The Khaken silently lifted the camel up to its main body and all Primrose remembered hearing was the sound of harrowed braying — an agonizing pitch — until the calls were no more.

But why did she remember that? Primrose shuddered. Something about those aura tendrils in Mur lingered in her mind. Perhaps it was the way they twisted as they reached up to the skies. Almost like they were also searching for…

"Look sharp!" Meera shouted, breaking Primrose's thoughts. "Gate ahead! Kalle, you and Primrose will wait outside with the others while I join my mursasho to scout out the inner City with the Mursa. Only enter once we've confirmed the area is safe."

"'Safe' is the last word I'd use for Mur," Primrose grumbled, looking up at the walls. Perhaps it was because they were close enough to now see their height, or maybe it was the increasing darkness as they lost the Sun's light; the City seemed more foreboding now that she knew what permeated it. Primrose spied Molam and Mursa Shang heading towards the large metal gates, each of them sitting astride a camel.

"Meera," she said urgently, catching the mursashu rider's attention as she guided her camel towards where the other riders were. "Is it safe for Molam to enter Mur right now?"

"Hm?" Meera seemed confused, then frowned. It seemed she also saw Molam among the gathered riders heading into the City. Primrose kept an eye on them. Molam was in deep conversation with Mursa Shang, but she had no idea what they were discussing. The Mursa shook his head, to which Molam raised a hand with three raised fingers at the Mursa. Again, the Mursa shook his head, returning a hand of his own with just one raised finger. Molam gripped his reins and guided his camel past the Mursa's silent smile, riding up to a surprised Jyuni instead.

"What do you think that was about?" asked Kalle uneasily.

Meera laughed. "I daresay our Mursa got a hand over Molam, even if it was just by whatever they were negotiating. Don't worry, Primrose," Meera winked at her, "that might not have ended well but I'm sure Molam is safest with our Mursa. Most of the riders will be entering and we're the best fighters of the group."

"I just don't think Molam should be entering with the first group," Primrose replied cordially. "Perhaps he should wait outside here with us."

"That would have been the riders' recommendation as well," Meera agreed, then followed up with a shrug. "But if the Mursa has invited him to come with us, I imagine it's quite important. Stay put, understood?" The rider waved back at them, nudging her camel towards the vanguard.

Primrose caught a look from Kalle, nodding in return. They settled in, untethering their two camels and giving them some dethorned cacti to chew on. No doubt they were both thinking of the same thing: Molam had agreed to help purify Mur, but would the mursashu continue to help them if Mursa Shang pressured Molam into doing it now?

Could Molam even do it now?

"You better not be worrying if Molam would be pressured into giving away his value early," Kalle struck up conversationally. "I've had to negotiate with him before over a flameproof cloak. I don't know how but I almost gave it to him for free."

Primrose raised her eyebrow at Kalle, then lied, "I wasn't worrying about that. Just wondering whether Molam is safe in there. Even if the mursashu don't mean to harm him, you felt the lingering aura, right? How can we be sure he's safe within those walls?"

The alchemist looked at her incredulously, then laughed. "Well, the mursashu can make the journey to Oasis because they can rest at Mur. I would guess if that aura has proven to be immediately dangerous they wouldn't be making this a designated stop."

Primrose made to respond, then stopped. What Kalle said made sense. "But," she hesitated, "something about Mur feels off. I don't like it."

"You don't have to like it. It's just a reasonably safe rest stop in the Sands, and these walls look quite sturdy." Kalle patted his camel, then came to inspect Primrose's. "I suppose your perspective does make sense too, but only because this is your first time out of the Central Valley. You've only seen the Khaken so far, right? If the Gaochun or these Sandwurms appear, you'll want as many walls and floors between you and them as possible. Not this boundless expanse where you can be chased down by something that used to be a demon's pet."

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The Gates of Mur

Molam peered upwards. Centuries of sand and wind had weathered away what must have once been an intricate mosaic on the metallic gates towering above him. What remained of the design — at least, the bits he could see — seemed to be large concentric circles with equally sizable lines running downwards. Possibly alchemy runes, but Molam couldn't be sure.

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"I heard you'd been here before, when you traveled with Mursa Khan," Jyuni said conversationally. Molam noted she didn't ask him anything about his last interaction with her Mursa. Perhaps it was out of respect for her Mursa, or out of caution after her last attempt to negotiate with him. "Did you participate when they cleared Mur?"

Molam shook his head. "I only know it's to clear Mur of any monsters that may have possibly snuck into the City, but I don't know what it entails."

"It's a standard search and sweep," explained Jyuni. Her camel reared its head, watching curiously as a group of mursashu men walked forward to the gates to attach a series of ropes to a metal ring hanging from the giant gate. A nod from Mursa Shang signaled for them to proceed. One of the riders barked a command, causing the camels tied to the gate to begin pulling hard, then the rest of the men stuck their arms into loops in the rope and joined in pulling.

"With how heavy that is, do we really expect monsters to be in the City?" Molam was curious. "I thought Mur was built on bedrock and so Sandwurms can't tunnel in."

Jyuni shrugged, patting her camel's neck. "Some fly. The Khaken can easily scale the walls if they wanted to. But a caravan found Sandwurms inside the City once, a long time ago, and we think it was because a previous caravan didn't secure the gate correctly."

The large gate shifted ajar. Molam had expected a rusty creak, but it pulled forward silently. Mursa Shang rode to the opening, a finger drawing a series of golden runes in the air. Several riders, Meera included, flanked him on the sides, their spears held at the ready.

With a pushing gesture from the Mursa, the golden runes flew forward past the opening and into the Lost City.

"I suppose DuskWing's Curse blocks even the mursashu from inspecting Mur with a Domain?" Molam surmised as they watched Mursa Shang close his eyes.

"Yes. You tried, I take it?" Jyuni confirmed, but didn't wait for him to reply. "Mursa Shang describes it as trying to peek into a black abyss. It's almost as though all of Mur falls under a dead dragon's Domain."

"Clear!" declared the Mursa. The gate was pulled wider, enough for two sleds to enter at a time. Several riders rode in immediately, their torches held high.

"You are cordially invited to our ancient home," said Jyuni, holding her hand out in a gesture of welcome. "Shall we?"

Something about the way she kept her eyes on him told Molam that he did not want to stay in her line of sight. I'm only traveling with them, he reminded himself. I’m not one of them. "After you," Molam replied.

Jyuni accepted without a fuss. She nudged her camel forward, the two of them following the other riders past the gates of Mur. Mursa Shang was already nowhere to be seen, presumably having ridden ahead with some of the riders.

Crossing the threshold of the gate sent a shiver down Molam's spine. The sensation reminded him of entering the Slumbering Forest. A stifling silence pressed down upon his ears and somehow only amplified the sound of his breathing. His camel shook its head and snorted, telling Molam he wasn't the only one affected by … whatever it was.

Calm down, he chided himself. You've been here before.

"Welcome to Mur," Jyuni said, her dampened voice sounding as though she were much further away than she looked. "Or to be more exact, welcome back."

Molam looked around, getting his bearings. The entranceway was just as he remembered it: a giant open space where there must have once been a bustling marketplace or a general area where the people of Mur kept their animals. Crumbling buildings loomed out of the gloom, their facades scraped as bare as the gate and scarcely illuminated by the burning torches stuck into the sconces. More riders were continuing down the giant, empty street, lighting torches and checking each of the buildings.

A golden glimmer winked just down the street. Molam suspected it was Mursa Shang and his runes. His camel snorted, shuffling along the dusty ground with careful steps. Molam shared its trepidation.

"It's surprising that your people have such fond thoughts of this place," Molam muttered back at Jyuni. "I certainly didn't."

She gave him a cryptic smile. "You wouldn’t understand, as you don't have mursashu blood running through you. And still, you don't need to love the place in order to appreciate its importance as a temporary stop. Having access to Mur's water source is the entire reason my people can make it to Oasis."

A rider approached them, his blazing torch lighting his way. "Molam, yes?" the rider asked. When Molam nodded, the rider continued, "The Mursa would like you to accompany him to the City's center. If you just follow his runic markings down this street, you'll find him."

Molam knew what the Mursa wanted, but Jyuni didn't give him a chance to defer. "A personal tour of the City from our Mursa is a rare occasion," she said. "Don't mind me; I'll be overseeing the rest of the caravan's preparation for the evening."

Sleds were already coming through the opened gate. The mursashu's quick, assured movements seemed well rehearsed, with the incoming sleds making sure to move further into the entryway to clear up space for the ones after them. Molam spied Kalle and Primrose waving towards him from their place in the third row.

"They'll be here when you come back," Jyuni promised him. "You should get going. Our Mursa does not like to be kept waiting."

Molam treated Jyuni to his flattest stare as he rode past her. "Take care to not sound like you're threatening me. I tend to remember things like that."

Petty of him, perhaps; Molam knew there was no chance Jyuni was actually threatening him with Kalle or Primrose's wellbeing. But if she was going to make him uncomfortable at her Mursa's behest, then he could make her overthink her interactions with him. He still didn't know much about her, but it couldn't hurt to establish himself more firmly in her thoughts as someone she couldn't intimidate. She would be Mursa one day, after all.

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Inner Plaza of Mur

Primrose looked up as Meera returned to her and Kalle.

"The riders have confirmed the City is empty of monsters," said the mursashu. "Which leaves a decision for you to make before we finish unpacking."

"And that would be…?" Primrose asked, instantly wary. She stood up in a smooth natural movement designed to hide the way she anchored her body's weight on her back foot, allowing the natural sway of her arms to sneak a hand behind her back.

"Do you want to pitch a tent or sleep in one of the buildings?" asked Meera.

Kalle took a hurried step between Primrose and Meera. "You shouldn't tease Primrose like that," said the alchemist, chuckling nervously at the look on Primrose's face. "We're already unused to traveling in the Endless Sands. Coupled with spending the past few days watching those monsters roam just outside the Mursa's Domain, Primrose and I are quite tense when it comes to the unexpected."

Meera looked from Kalle to Primrose, then frowned. "Sorry," she apologized. "It's just something we always tease people with if we bring them here. The children —" she pointed to the side, where several caretakers were exploring the ruined buildings with a group of children, "are always curious about the buildings, and we offer people the choice to stay in them."

"Is it actually a good idea to stay in the buildings?" Primrose asked, relaxing her stance.

"No, Gods no," Meera laughed, "At least, I wouldn't do it. You might miss a roof over your head, but these things haven't been maintained in over four centuries. It's not worth the risk of a collapse."

"We'll set up the tents as usual then," Primrose smiled warmly. "Nothing's changed."

Meera laughed. "All right. I'll be back to help soon; I just need to help guide the camels to the water fountain later."

The rider walked off, her lit torch the only indication of where she was going. Primrose tugged on Kalle's shirt. "No."

"What do you mean, no?" the alchemist asked innocently.

"Help me get the tent up and the stew going before you go sneaking a peek at ancient architecture," Primrose demanded sternly. "There will be time for that while the food cooks."

"Wouldn't it be more efficient to split the work between the two of us?"

Primrose smiled sweetly. "That would be. If you do it fast, you might even have time to go explore while the stew is cooking."

The Northerner seemed almost reluctant, but acquiesced. "Ah, fine," he grumbled. "But you'll let me have my tools."

Resisting the urge to flick his ear, Primrose instead tried reason. "You won't be able to drive the sled correctly tomorrow if you spend all night trying to see if you can fix a rundown building."

"But fixing something is the best way to get to know it," Kalle complained, but didn't press the issue.

Seeing Kalle's crestfallen face, Primrose reminded him gently. "We aren't here to play," She lowered her voice, "we aren't surrounded by friends, either."

"Yes, I know." Kalle knelt to begin unpacking their necessities from the sled. "I know," he repeated to himself, almost half-heartedly.

Primrose knelt with him, pulling out the rolled up tent and the strings they would use to set it up. She heard the note of loneliness in Kalle's voice; he wasn't thinking of just the mursashu when he repeated himself. He was thinking of what lay ahead in Oasis: the Oasians themselves. People who had once hunted Northerners to keep as slaves.

Lyka had been polite around Kalle and Shurra, but how much of that was truly what Lyka thought on the inside? Martyker… she hadn't known him long enough, but he had seemingly treated Shurra the same way he had treated anyone else. But Oasians and Northerners did not get along. Meera had made it clear she disapproved of Molam's decision, and Primrose couldn't blame her. Primrose remembered arguing with Molam over Kalle's inclusion as well, only for Molam to ask her if she would have him bring Nettie as their alchemist instead.

She finished setting up the tent, then walked over as Kalle was lighting the campfire by striking a black rock — he called it flint — against a metal rod. Sparks flew onto a pile of black flame powder, which ignited immediately into a hearty flame. The pot of stew hung over it, weighed down by its contents.

Laying a gentle hand on his shoulder, Primrose spoke, "Molam and I will protect you in Oasis. The mursashu too. I'm sure Molam didn't bring us here so we would have a hard time."

"Yes. That's true." Kalle gave her a small grin. He had grown a thick stubble during their journey through the Endless Sands as a result of choosing to save water. Primrose thought it suited him, or perhaps at the very least, made it so that his scar wasn't the only prominent feature on his face. "I trust Molam. I chose to come here, after all."

"You have quite the way of showing it," she raised an eyebrow at him. "I saw you peel garlic for the stew, you know. Molam isn't fond of garlic."

Kalle stuck out the tip of his tongue. "You should pay attention to Molam's face whenever he tastes garlic in the stew. You know how he can focus on reading without missing out on what he's eating? It's hilarious because I think even though he hates garlic, he just stomachs it so he doesn’t have to stop reading. The top half of his face doesn’t react at all, he’s so seriously focused on his notes, while on the bottom half, his mouth is showing disgust at the taste."

Primrose laughed, trying to picture it. "Put double the amount in. I'll pay attention tonight," she said, intrigued by the mental image. "He's normally so untalkative during dinnertime I only ever focus on the conversation we're having."

"You'll have to peel it yourself if you want to mess with him like that. Now, while the stew is cooking…" Kalle held out his hands expectantly.

After a moment of consideration, Primrose relented. "Stay in line of sight," she warned him while depositing his favorite tools into his hands. She then pointed at the building closest to them. "And only that one."

"Yes, yes," the alchemist replied eagerly. He lit a torch in the campfire, holding it above his head. "I'll be back before Molam returns, don't worry."