“Incoming.”
“Ah. It’s another crawler.”
“Whose turn is it?”
“Na’heb’s.”
“A crawler? Again? Forget it. I’m not wasting any more of my arrows.”
“It’s your fault those arrows were wasted, not ours. It’s your turn, so you better start shooting.”
They watched with amusement as he strung his bow. The ghoul was clawing obsessively through the black sand slope —hence the name they gave them, crawlers— and towards the sandstone wall that Theos and his group garrisoned.
Theos leaned on the wall and watched the creature, one armed, nothing beneath the stomach. It would be a hard target to hit even if it wasn’t nearly as black as those sands it crawled on.
Na’heb waited for the ghoul to get closer to take his shot.
“So, pay day’s soon, what are you guys getting with your – hopefully heavy – pouches?” Heras asked no one in particular.
Everyone’s eyes remained fixed on the ghoul since this was one of the few fun activities they could get out here, in the desert. Na’heb picked an arrow from his quiver.
“After I give the chieftain a cut?” Moswen, their captain, responded, “they wouldn’t be that heavy. I would be adding to the dower cache, too.”
“Why would you want to waste your money on that awful woman’s demands?” Heras scoffed, “you could start your own flock for that many daniers, you know?”
Moswen shrugged, a tight smile on his face. “I’m more concerned with why I’m paying the chieftain.”
That earned him a scoff from Heras.
“I would be giving some to my chief as well,” Theos answered, releasing a sigh without meaning to. He did not have any plans for the rest of it as of yet.
He left out the part where he might try to get a new weapon and tried to not look at the weapon that rested broken on his side. The horrible mocking spree will start again.
Granted, even he laughed when the ghoul ran into the black desert with the dagger’s curved blade jutting out of its neck after he failed to decapitate it.
The arrow wheezed through the air as Na’heb decided to take the shot, it flew towards the crawling undead. Just in its general direction, it wasn’t going to hit the thing. It was hard to aim at the crawlers, precisely because of the crawling – the missing lower half didn’t help either.
The arrow landed far behind the target. He sighed and nocked another arrow.
“At least we all know where Na’heb’s money is going.”
“How many quivers did he go through on this round?”
“This is his third.”
“Can you guys shut up?” He growled, “I’m trying to aim here, and you are distracting me.”
That earned him a few laughs and mocking sounds, but also some quiet before he let loose the second arrow. Theos stared at the falling arc. It looked like it would miss, again.
“So, his third quiver?” he asked, “does that include the two we had to buy when we started this round?”
“No,” Na’heb sighed, “I will end up owing money to the outpost by the time we get paid.”
“Fine,” Heras snatched the bow from him and nocked one of his own arrows. It took him a quickly aimed, single shot to hit the ghoul. It wasn’t a surprise since he was the best archer in their merry group. “This one’s on me,” he grinned as he returned the bow.
“And why is this sudden act of generosity?” Theos raised an eyebrow at him.
“I am still in my first quiver,” he shrugged like it was a normal thing and not him bragging. We just grunted at him. He would be getting an extra silver piece and some change in copper.
“At least I’m not on the mine’s guard duty,” Na’heb clicked his tongue, “those guys got it rough with the recent increases in attacks.”
“They do get better payments, some even manage to smuggle out ore, or small gems if no one notices them,” Heras grinned, "despite having to stand face to face with shades, of course," He quickly added.
“I value my life. Thank you very much,” Moswen snorted, “after managing to survive shades, ghouls, and skeletons, only to be whipped for smuggling,” they all turned, looking back at the twin stone pillars that stood in the middle of the outpost.
Theos could even see some of the dried blood on the sun burnt sands.
“Or worse,” he continued, “get banished to the Black Dunes.”
They turned again, this time towards the sandy slope that the crawler scaled. Surrounded by steep mountains that contained the black sand crater within them.
Theos have never heard of anyone returning alive after being banished there. He saw some that did not make it beyond the first few steps before something got them. “We should be thankful that most of those things don’t crawl out of the black sands more often,” he muttered.
They all made the sign of thanks.
“Let the new guys handle that corpse,” Moswen stretched, “and maybe let a certain someone get the arrows he fired back. If he wants to.”
“I’m not going to the dune’s slope, not even for a chest of gold.” Na’heb grimaced, “I’ll lie about the number of ghouls I had to shoot, and if that fails…” Na’heb turned around, face serious. “I’ll beg for leniency.”
“Some people have no shame,” Moswen laughed.
I turned towards the west, where the sun dulled, bit by bit, from a flaring yellow to a quiet orange. Soon our watch will be over and we will get to get some rest. “Do you think the western outpost is still overrun?”
Moswen shrugged. “Never heard of master ghouls letting go.”
They got startled by the voice of the warning horn, coming from the mines.
“Money on skeletons.” Heras grinned and rushed down the stairs.
The others watched as people gathered around one of the mine’s entrances like a stirred hornets’ nest.
Theos grumbled as the people piled up on each other to check the entrance and wondered if they were genuinely seeking death.
If it was an undead attack, wouldn’t a sane person want to be at least a safe distance away from the place they would jump from?
Seems like that wasn't how the majority of the outpost denizens thought. Curiosity and the desire to find out the recent gossip got the better of most of them, it seemed.
Heras was pushing his way through the crowd and to the front – The king of idiots, Theos mused – of the gathering and remained at the entrance for a good while. Whatever happened, it was probably still going on.
“Theos.” The captain called. Theos saw another ghoul trying to climb the slope. A limby.
An easy target, Theos thought as he nocked an arrow and took aim. It was hard to miss this one. He loosed the arrow and it flew in a small arc then landed right into the ghoul's chest. That was all it took.
A single hit to a vital spot.
“I wish I had a limby.” Na’heb sighed.
"You would've missed anyways," Moswen patted him on the back. "Why isn't anyone removing the bodies?"
“The new guys are at the entrance, and no, I’m not going down there when we are this close to leaving,” Theos replied. The bodies of the ghouls they shot today were all over the slope, slowly sliding down. Just like the sun was sliding behind the mountains.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“They will have to get those when they are back then,” the captain grumbled. “Should’ve strapped them on the post myself last time.”
Theos watched as more people flocked to the mine’s entrance. “Just one sphinx,” he said before mimicking a claw strike, then a splatter gesture. That would be all it takes to kill every last one of the people gathering there.
A single blow.
“They are bored after three months of this,” Na’heb replied.
“Dying just to learn or see something interesting isn’t the way to get around boredom,” Moswen laughed, then stopped for a moment. He looked thoughtful for a second before asking, “do undead feel bored?”
“They walk in a desert all day and rush at the people who get close,” Theos answered. “They probably do.”
“Not even death can save you from boredom,” Na’heb nodded sagely.
They contemplated as the last wisps of the day’s sun vanished behind the mountains, and dusk began.
“We are done here.” the captain smiled and turned to Na’heb, “go get the night squad.”
He was more than pleased to go and call them. Rushing down like a kid after being told that the Greenline merchants have arrived. Theos thought it might have to do with his quiver having a couple of arrows left.
No wonder he jumped down that fast.
“It’s a shade,” Heras clicked his tongue as he returned, “my mood is completely ruined now.”
Theos looked back at a rather empty mine entrance. He missed the amusing sight of the crowd that must've dispersed so quickly after the mention of the shade.
“How many?” he asked.
“It killed five miners, Swary’s squad is still missing inside the mine.”
Those poor bastards are more or less dead now, Theos thought, they wouldn’t have stood a chance if they didn’t have experience dealing with the shades, even if they were told about them beforehand.
“Is the creature still inside?” Moswen looked annoyed now, mentions of the shades usually had that effect on people.
“A new squad said they got rid of it,” Heras grumbled.
“If I never see a shade again, it will be too soon,” Theos grumbled.
“Not our problem,” Moswen said as he gathered his quivers. “Dusk is night, and our shift’s over. Time to go back, wait a week before we get paid and go home.”
Theos and Heras waited until Na’heb returned with the night guards and as soon as they were on the wall they went back to their tents.
—
Theos sat down on the palm frond carpet in the front of the tent, looking at his share of the food.
The rations they were provided with were not something someone would enjoy eating, but they were food. They would fill the gap in their stomachs and provide them with some energy after the tasks of the day. They were food, and food was scarce and precious where they were.
The unfolded package had two hand sized pieces of dry salted bread, shaped into cubes – hardened by legendary blacksmiths into their current hardened state – a few ambera dates, and a small paper packet holding tea.
Theos poured the dried leaves into a cup that sat near a small fire they got going in the usual pit and waited for it to boil. He would need it to swallow the bread down.
They were lucky to have a functioning water well in the camp, just in case of a choking emergency.
Theos missed the times they got jerky, even if they had the awful tasks after.
“I don’t know how you can bite into those things,” Theos flinched as Ne’heb munched on his second cube of bread, producing noise that was much like teeth breaking.
“Brute jaw strength,” Heras swirled the teacup in his hand before dipping his first piece into the hot liquid in a sad attempt to soften it up. “And poor future planning.”
“De shecreth ish to-” Na’heb began.
“Finish chewing,” Theos grumbled as Na’heb spread shot crumbs all over, “if nothing else it is a waste of food.”
He raised a finger and took a large sip out of his cup to wash it down before he continued. “The secret is to know where to bite it.”
Theos rotated the cube in his hand then knocked on it with his knuckles a couple of times. The knock produced a sound much like the one it would on a wooden door. “Yeah, I don't think so.”
It was a really dark night, Theos mused, one of those horribly stygian nights. There were no stars, there was no moon. He was only glad he wasn’t on night duty. “The captain sure is taking his sweet time,” he reached for the warm cup.
“No kidding,” Na’heb was tossing the last of his dates into his mouth. “I wonder what’s our assignment for tomorrow.”
“Oh for the love of- they are stretching our tea shares again,” Heras grumbled and glared at Na’heb who did not bother to warn the tea critic about the incoming ordeal.
Theos took a testing sip out of his own cup. “This is hot water flavored with a light tea flavor,” he raised his other hand, mocking Heras.
“This is heresy, is what it is,” Heras ignored him. “Having a nice cup of tea at night is the height of my day in this forsaken place,” He nearly sloshed out the contents of his cup in his angry movement. “And what is it with the shouting, can’t a man have a night meal in peace?” He raised his voice.
Theos could hear the shouting that was approaching them. It wasn’t that unfamiliar for nerves to break after a rough day, especially between the miners. Only…
The voices were familiar.
“Moswen’s back,” Na’heb said.
It took a bit before Theos could hear him clearly.
“-ou will go back,” he said in a leveled voice that was slowly losing that calm. “And you will clean every last fucking corpse you have stashed in those mountains.”
“And he’s swearing,” Na’heb added, unhelpfully.
“We can hear him,” Theos replied in a low voice, trying to hear the rest of the argument. Moswen was often calm, which made him a great captain for their little squad. So when someone that is usually calm began swearing and raising their voice – and Theos could swear there was a vein popping up in his forehead as well – odds were that he was beyond pissed and halfway close to beheading someone.
“It’s already dark out there!” a boy complained, Theos did not recognize him. “Not a single spark of light is out tonight.”
“The new guys,” Heras said, “he was supposed to show them the ropes before we had to leave. Extra money for handling the new brats.”
“Tough!” Moswen shouted hard enough that spittle projectiles were visible in the low torch light. “Fucking. Luck,” he switched to hissing for the later words before he stopped and turned towards the new guys.
“for you, and you, and you. All of you!” he pointed at each single one before his hand gestured for the entire group of seven. “You will go, you will clean the mess you were supposed to clean when the daylight was out.”
Theos frowned. Bodies hidden, a mess they were supposed to clean.
“What in the-” Heras leaned in, the post torch gave enough light to see partial facial expressions, appalled ones. “Did these idiots do what I think they did?
“Can’t the night squad handle it, or we can handle it first thing tomorr-”
Moswen grabbed the kid by the collar and dragged him to his face before he could even finish, he was a good couple of heads higher than the poor fella. “If the next thing that happens is not you walking out there and getting rid of those bodies, you will all be strapped to the post.”
The kid gulped.
“Tonight.”
That got some flinching from the new guys. Theos was not sure if it was because of the apparent threat, or the implied one. Guard duty with a bleeding back in a desert full of ghouls? That was pretty much like tying bells to a sand lizard’s tail and sending it running during the night.
Nothing would remain of the lizard come morning.
The two remained still until the boy nodded his head. Moswen pushed him off into the others. “Out!”
The stare off continued for a couple of seconds before they realized Moswen was not going to budge on this, and that they would really end up on the post within the hour if they didn’t obey.
They wisely decided to do as told.
“Harsh,” Heras said, biting on a piece of bread that he left soaking in the no-longer-piping-hot water that mimicked tea.
“Necessary,” Na’heb retorted, already done with his meal and lying down on his straw mat inside the tent.
“Typical,” Theos tried to add to the rule of three. Heras gave him a grunt and a ‘so-so’ hand gesture.
“Annoying and incompetent, is what it is,” Moswen huffed as he sat down to sip his tea flavored hot water.
“Did these guys hide…” Na’heb did not continue, as he seemed to be dozing off.
“I swear he made a pact with the sand gods to get the ability to sleep this fast,” Theos mused.
“Not only were these guys slacking all day,” Moswen took one of the rock bread and rotated it. “The whole thing with the mines made them think they could safely sneak out, and then they returned and got caught by the overseer.”
They already did that one, Theos smiled and found Heras smiling as well. They were not caught, thankfully.
“The bodies?” Theos asked.
“The ghouls we were shooting all day,” Moswen replied in an angry tone. “What, some odd seventy today?”
“Sixty three,” Heras answered.
“They dragged them behind the rocks, just to the side of the slope instead of beheading and burning them.”
Theos whistled. Random resting holes for ghoul bodies, and in the place they used to climb up. Let alone not beheading them.
No wonder he got that mad, Theos was getting slightly pissed himself.
He placed his piece of bread into the tea to soak some of the liquid, then dug into the dates and waited for the other shoe to drop. The assignment.
There was silence for a while, until Heras broke it.
“So, how bad was our assignment?” Theos noticed that he was done with his meal, too, aside from the tea. He emptied his cup on the ground. “You aren’t this pissy from just a few idiots. Even if their actions might lead to an infestation.”
Moswen sighed and took another sip, not a sign of complaining about the drink on his face. We watched him as he finished the entire thing and pocketed his food. “There is news,” he began, “from Shina.”
From the capital?
“Are they closing this outpost too?” Theos grumbled. It was getting harder and harder to find work with the dead attacks lately, and with the mine owners in the city thinking that closing things down is more profitable than trying to defend them, before trying in another, safer, spot.
“The Astral is dying, apparently,” Moswen said. “Poisoned.”
Theos blinked. An Astral would not just go and get themselves poisoned, even by accident, which meant… “An assassination?” he asked.
Moswen shook his head. “Don’t know.”
“And?” Heras yawned. “What does a god-powered idiot have to do with you being so pissy?”
Theos' eyes widened as he concluded the reason. “They want a holy stone for the ceremony.”
He nodded.
“What does that matter-” Heras froze mid sentence, “oh, fuck me.”
“What?” Na’heb stood up, clearly half asleep.
“We are on mine duty tomorrow, while the mine squads go to clear the western outpost,” Moswen said.
And he did not need to mention that there was a chance that the shade was still down there.