They eventually arrived at a deep ravine and skirted steep edges that plummeted deep into the ground below. By then, they had been travelling for several hours without luck - having spotted neither prey nor Horus plants.

Bo attributed this to the storm, which he believed had sent everything - from here to the salt flats - scurrying for cover. Cover like the ravine they had just discovered.

"What's that?" Yvet asked, peering over Bo's shoulder into the abyss below. Her amber eyes glowed like searchlights, scything through the murky gloom.

The ravine stood like a gaping wound in the desert, carved by some unimaginably large sword. Sand trickled down its edges, golden flecks falling forever into the dark.

On the far side of the ravine, something was working its way out of the bottomless pit.

Yvet had spotted it first, drawing Bo's attention to the unearthly creature that had begun its ascent.

Its body was long and sleek, narrow in depth but flat and quite wide. It had neither arms nor legs, instead opting for fins somewhere down the evolutionary tree. These fins were wide and ended in sharp hooks that it used to claw its way out of the pit.

"That's a sand shark," Bo muttered, unconsciously stepping back.

"We should hunt it!" Yvet exclaimed, leaning forward on his shoulder to better look at the creature.

"It looks kind of like a ray…." She mumbled.

"A what?"

"It's this slimy thing found in the ocean, but... I suppose you don't have those,"

"Unfortunately, we do not." Bo shook his head; he would love an ocean, a pond, a puddle even. "Also, we aren't fighting it,"

Yvet growled lowly, a rumble that sounded more like a purr than anything intimidating. "Why not? Are you scared?"

"Me? Scared?" Bo scoffed, taking another step back, "I just don't have a death wish. Why would we hunt something when there are perfectly edible Horus plants that won't fight back,"

"I'm yet to see any Horus plants," Yvet pointed out.

"Shh, good things come to those who wait," Bo chided, "Did no one ever teach you patience?"

"Did Ethron say that too?"

"… No," Bo replied quietly, not sounding like he had convinced even himself.

He grabbed hold of Yvet so that she wouldn't try anything stupid and moved away from the ravine. They made their way across the sand as morning dawned, bringing with it scorching heat that was far more bearable than it ought to have been.

Bo didn't even break a sweat as he climbed the endless dunes, making him wonder if his new elemental powers were at play. He certainly hadn't felt this relaxed in the heat on his way back from the Borealis mine.

Eventually, they stumbled across a Horus plant. It was dark green and covered in blood-red flowers, some of which had begun to close in preparation for bearing fruit. The rest of the plant boasted sharp spikes that the Karak often broke off to use as spear tips.

Various roots spread out from under the plant, breaking off in every direction and occasionally poking up through the sand.

Seeing these roots, Bo broke into a toothy grin and sped up, putting Yvet off balance.

"Slow down!" She yelped, digging her claws into his shoulder so she wouldn't fall off. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to get rid of me,"

"Yeah," Bo grumbled, "You don't know better,"

In revenge, Yvet nipped his ear - the one she hadn't already bitten a chunk out of.

"Ow, stop it!" He yelped, trying to wrangle the dragon away

"Not so snarky now!" Yvet cackled, "Do you have anything else to say to me?"

"No! I don't. Now let go of my ear!" Bo pleaded.

After she relinquished her grip, Bo bent down to examine one of the roots that jutted up through the sand. Its oaky brown surface was gnarled and knotted, wrinkled like a corpse left out to dry in the desert sun.

"This one's been harvested recently," He muttered, moving on to another.

He quickly found that - while most of the Horus shoots had already been harvested - a few fresh ones remained. As he picked them, Yvet noticed he was leaving some shoots untouched.

"Why aren't you taking all of them?" She asked, leaning down to examine the roots.

"It's common courtesy to leave some on each plant - so that if someone in dire need of food stumbles across one – they won't go hungry," Bo explained, his ear still throbbing, "I've heard of a single Horus shoot saving multiple people from starvation, so I try and leave a few when I don't need all of them,"

"Those people were probably just weak,"

"You are weak,"

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Yvet responded by biting his ear again, getting a firm grip.

But this time, Bo was ready. He had devised a devious countermeasure, which involved grabbing her tail and biting it. Hard.

"AGH!" Yvet screeched, letting go immediately.

Bo raised an eyebrow smugly at the dragon and popped a Horus shoot into his mouth, swallowing it whole – he could feel the tingling warmth as it entered his stomach. The shoot quickly swept away any lingering fatigue, along with the many scratches he had gained from walking through the storm and fighting Yvet. Mostly fighting Yvet. The missing chunk in his ear remained unhealed, however.

Refreshed, Bo handed Yvet a shoot. She sniffed it suspiciously and gave the squishy innards a lick, recoiling like a fist had struck her.

"Blegh! That's horrible!" She wailed.

"I know it's a bit sweet, but they aren't that bad," Bo chided. He personally didn't like the taste much either, but anything was better than nothing.

"No, I physically can't eat that," Yvet warned, "It felt like I was licking lightning,"

Bo frowned, "Are you serious? If it's just because you don't like the flavour-"

She shook her head, locking eyes with him in an attempt to be sincere, "I cannot eat that." She said plainly. "Those are not for dragons."

Annoying as it was, Bo couldn't brush off her distaste for the Horus fruit as whimsy. He had often wondered why no other animals seemed to eat them, and if what Yvet said was true, this would make sense.

Supposing that the gods sent the Horus plant down for humans. Humans should be the only thing capable of consuming them.

"Well, this has just scuppered my plans," Bo groaned, "How else am I supposed to feed you?"

"I have an idea!" Yvet exclaimed, jumping down from his shoulder and rushing back through the sand.

Bo frowned, wondering where she was going. "That's the way we came!" He called out, "There's nothing back there but-" He froze, then scowled and finally shook his head helplessly.

"Shit."

----------------------------------------

After catching Yvet, Bo defeated her for the third time – solidifying his unquestionable position as the ruler of their equal partnership. Much to her dismay, he proceeded to mock her mercilessly - before refusing to carry her anymore.

He had decided that enough was enough, and although he didn't have any alternatives – he didn't want to fight a sand shark anytime in the near forever.

"What were you thinking?" He asked for the millionth time.

"I'm hungry," Yvet groaned, "And it's only a ray; we can take it,"

"What we?" Bo asked, for the millionth time, "It'll just be me fighting the damn thing!"

"Untrue. I can help as support. While I distract the shark, you attack it from behind," She paused, scratching her nose with a claw, "Actually, no. We can't do that. Using such devious hunting methods is beneath me – the mightiest of-"

"Yeah, yeah," Bo rolled his eyes, "But it's not beneath me, the sneakiest of humans. So, if, and that's a big IF, we decide to attack the sand shark – we'll be using every trick in the book... and then some,"

"Coward,"

"I'm going to ignore you now,"

Bo wracked his brain, thinking about what else they could eat. Unfortunately, the desert being what it was – there were few options. Crucially, there were even fewer he could kill.

Sarpa and Vesper were immediately crossed off the list, not least for the reason that Sarpa tasted like Gale's feet smelt.

He would have liked to dismiss the idea of hunting the sand shark altogether, but unfortunately, the ethos of the Karak wouldn't let him do that. There was a saying – by someone who definitely wasn't Ethron – that if you came across something to hunt in the desert, you must always take the opportunity.

The reasoning was simple. If a hunter was hungry and chose not to fight difficult prey – wandering off in search of something more palatable – more often than not, they would come up empty-handed. Ultimately, they would be forced to return to the difficult prey, even hungrier and more desperate than before. The grass, was not always greener. This rang especially true, considering there was no grass.

Bo had no plans to take such a risk, prompting him to - despite his better judgment - consider the sand shark seriously. Even if he had eaten, Yvet would need something sooner or later, and the longer he waited - the more untenable the situation became.

"It might be doable," He muttered.

"I told you so!" Yvet cheered, "So what is your devious plan, sir?"

"It's not devious; it's strategy," Bo said, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to remember how he had seen the hunters tackle a sand shark. "It must have been years since they fought one near camp," He mumbled, "But I remember them focusing on its fins; those are definitely its weak spot,"

"Brilliant! That's all I needed to hear!" Yvet moved to spring into action, but Bo grabbed her tail, wrangling her back to the ground.

When he had her fully trapped, he continued talking, "Unfortunately, we both saw those vicious hooks the sand shark has on its fins, and those aren't going to be easy to get past. I vaguely remember that this one hunter jumped onto the shark's back and stabbed it through the head, but he was crazy,"

Yvet blew a stream of fire from one nostril and flapped her wings valiantly, "Now, he sounds like a true hunter!" She exclaimed, "Why couldn't I get him as my partner?"

"Because he's dead."

"oh,"

"He died doing something stupid… like this."

"ohh,"

"But,"

"But?"

"He didn't have a dragon or dragon powers – so maybe there's a chance we pull this off," Bo said, with a grin he wasn't doing a good job of hiding.

"Ah ha! I knew there was a side to you I would like," Yvet jumped onto his shoulder and gazed off into the distance heroically, "You and I are going to go places, Bo! I'm sure of it,"

With a chuckle, Bo pushed her off his shoulder and tried remembering how the fight had played out for the hunters.

"They first attacked its tail, standing on steep rocks it couldn't climb quickly – then, they stabbed its fins with spears until the shark could no longer turn. That's when the maniac jumped on its head and killed it,"

"I have no idea how you made a thrilling fight sound so mundane, but you're saying that we need to lure the sand shark to some big rocks and target its tail and fins, yes?"

"Pretty much, yeah,"

"I may not be able to offer much in the fight," Yvet admitted begrudgingly, "But I'm sure I can do the luring just fine!"

Bo scratched his chin and nodded, "That's fair. You'd be hard to pin down thanks to your small size,"

"But how are you going to damage its fins and tail?" Yvet asked pointedly, "All you have is that weird-smelling hook,"

Bo patted his pocket, where he had stashed the Dragon's tooth. "This smells weird?" He asked, bringing it out into the daylight.

"Yes," Yvet bobbed her head, turning her nose up at the sight of the hook, "It's very… I don't know the word for it, but it reeks of bones,"

"I didn't know bones had a smell,"

"Some creatures' bones do. But only the magical ones. Dragon bones are supposed to be so toxic that when a dirge is held, the body is buried deep, deep underground – where no living creatures will be harmed."

"Really?" Bo asked, listening intently. He wished he could write this down and show it to Fran… If he would ever see Fran again.

"Why would I lie?"

Bo nodded and thought some more, wondering how he might deal damage to the sand shark. Without realising it, he'd already accepted that they would be fighting the shark and moved past the stage where he thought it was a bad idea.

"I could make a spear," He mused, glancing at the Horus plant. Its many sharp spikes were perfect for such weapons. However, he needed something for the base of the spear, which made creating one next to impossible.

As he looked at the many spikes, a devious plan sprung up in his mind – and a toothy grin spread across his face.

"I don't like that look," Yvet muttered ominously.

"Shut up. I've had an idea."