The underground city shrine spanned such a distance, that even a full day of walking didn’t seem to get them close to the other side.

Myla showed the trio to a small house, cosily furnished for them to rest the night.

Sneaking off while the others were sleeping was becoming a habit for Xellie, who went looking for Myla as Mattos and Ary rested.

With no clue where to look, Xellie settled for simply exploring. She figured that Myla would pop up when she was seen randomly looking around.

She looked up and the spires towering over her. This building appeared to be some place of worship.

Inside, wooden pews lined the aisle. A granite statue of a winged figure stood over the alter, its sword plunged through the middle.

Xellie barely heard the sound of sandaled footsteps behind her.

“You’re not human, are you?” She asked Myla, not turning away from the statue. “This is a Valkyrie shrine.”

“I am regrettably, incredibly human,” Myla responded tersely, stopping to look up at the statue herself. “Well, my spirit, my soul. Obviously, this is not a human body.”

“What is it then?”

“Just energy. I hold myself together with the thoughts that I will kill the Valkyrie bitch that killed me.”

Xellie turned to Myla, regarding her cautiously.

“How old are you?”

“I dunno.” Myla shrugged. “I was defenceless, a tiny baby. I created myself by imagining what I could be to fight them... It’s been... What might you call it? A century?”

“And they know you’re here?”

Myla nodded.

“I can’t leave this place. My physical resting place is here.”

Xellie sighed and turned her gaze downward. This place had to be connected with the dreams she kept having of killing children and mothers.

“Do you... wish to leave here?” Xellie asked. “I will help you if I can.”

“It’s not your responsibility,” Myla replied with a smirk. “I’m happy to rest here once I have revenge. You go deal with Ashmeviti and I believe the world will be put to rights.”

“Cryptic...” Xellie shook her head with a sigh.

“Everything you’ve seen down here is because of him. Everything.” Myla narrowed her eyes in thought. “He is only here because of a dumb Valkyrie.”

“No way!” Xellie gasped, her eyes widening. “Is this something like, they enjoy the conflict so they have souls to reap? Did they summon him on purpose to do that?!”

“No... no!” Myla started to fidget with her hands as she spoke. “It’s not like that, he was summoned by a human to get revenge on a valkyrie... and now... This is what they do! They don’t clean up their mess, they just kill kids so they can’t be corrupted by him. And what, they send a kid to get rid of him? They’re terrible!”

“I can’t say I’m shocked.” Xellie exhaled deeply, sinking onto one of the wooden pews as she took in this information. “They really do some awful things.”

“Perhaps it’s too much for us humans to understand.” Myla reached to her waist and handed Xellie a small dagger, sheathed in blue leather. “This thing cannot hurt a human, but should it ever be needed, it would slice the soul of a spiritual being, like a Valkyrie, or demon, or a hybrid. clean in two. With what you are facing, I think this will bring you some comfort.”

Xellie took the dagger into her hands and inspected it, running her fingers over the embossed sheath.

“I think I understand what you’re getting at.”

“You’ll know the right time. Just not too soon. You have so much to do and so much to use to get it done.”

“Thank you...”

Myla gave an affirmative nod, then turned and walked out of the temple.

Xellie breathed in deeply, clutching the dagger against her chest.

She’s given me a way out when things get too bad... I can use this on myself...

Much to her surprise, Mattos was sitting awake waiting for her to return.

“I couldn’t sleep either,” he commented as Xellie sunk to the floor leaning against a small sofa in the corner of the room. “What did you learn?”

“The Myla girl is human and whoever built this place had fantastic architects,” Xellie replied cooly with a shrug.

“Sounds like a fantastic use of what could have been sleeping time.” Mattos gave a yawn and pulled his sleeping bag over his head.

After an unexpectedly peaceful and restful sleep. Xellie and her companions followed Myla to the exit of the city, through a winding stone passage.

The trio ascended the passage to the surface. The exit was blocked by a large stone door.

They gripped the door, pulling it aside, unleashing a torrent of sand through the gap they created.

"stop!" Ary cried out as Xellie and Mattos hauled the door aside.

"Eww..." Xellie looked down at the sand. "I guess it will go down there?"

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"I like sand! "Myla called from the depths. "Don't worry about it!"

Xellie shrugged and pulled her scarf up to cover her nose and mouth. She had spent long enough in the desert areas that she knew what would happen next.

The door groaned and opened, the sand flowed down a channel carved into the floor.

The passageway air filled with dust, causing Mattos and Ary to cough.

"I forget non-desert people aren't used to this." Xellie hid a laugh under her burgundy scarf.

"You're laughing at us... Aren't you?" Mattos spluttered.

"It's just a little dust!" Xellie giggled, looking up at the bright sunlight, now that the sand had stopped flowing.

Rubbing their eyes and trying to adjust to the blinding light and scorching heat of the desert, all three tried to get their footing on the sand.

"Yikes." Mattos shielded his eyes from the brutal sun as he looked around at the expanse of dusty yellow sand, blotted with patches of blackened ground.

Smoke and steam rose from the scorched land, winding their way upwards, sometimes indistinguishable from the dust devils of normal sand and dust.

"Which way to Anshara?" Mattos shouted over the desert wind. He pulled his cloak up to cover his face.

Xellie scanned the horizon, then the sky, looking for the sun.

"That way!" She pointed over a strip of burned, smouldering land.

"Shouldn't we close the door first?" Ary asked.

Xellie and Mattos turned back to the stone door, just in time to watch it slam shut. The sand piled above and around the door collapsed over it, concealing it once more.

The winds died down as soon as the door was fully concealed; the desert falling eerily silent.

"Valkyrian temple, isn't it?" Mattos asked. "Did you know?"

"Of course I didn't!" Xellie protested under her scarf. "It's the most creepy place I've ever seen! If I had known..."

"Is the Myla kid a Valkyrie?" Mattos asked snappily.

"No! She's a human ghost!" Ary cut in. "A very, very, angry ghost!"

"The Valkyries killed her." Xellie scratched her head in contemplation. "she hates them for killing kids... something about revenge I guess..."

"This is so creepy. I don't like anything about Valkyries" Mattos muttered.

“I wish I knew more about them...” Xellie mused. “Now, according to Grau’s map, there’s an outpost belonging to Ash west of here, then Anshara would be directly south. Ash usually keeps supplies and stuff there because for some reason... he likes this crappy desert.”

Trudging through the sand was an exhausting endeavour. Xellie stopped to drink from her flask every few minutes, prompting Ary and Mattos to do the same each time.

Time passed slowly in the silence, each step fighting against the shifting sands sapping their energy. The air was so dry, they could feel the moisture evaporating from their lips and breath.

A stone building, with very narrow walls and a canvas roof, emerged from the dusty air into their vision. The very sight of the outpost filled the team with renewed energy as they made the final push through the sand and sun.

Pushing the wooden door open and peering into the darkness, Xellie saw nobody, so she flopped onto the sand-covered stone floor, staring up at the canvas.

Mattos stood against the wall, emptying the sand out from his boots, while Ary shook the sand out of her hair.

“I have sand in places I didn’t even know I had.” Ary sighed.

“The desert claims everything as its own,” Xellie replied absentmindedly, enjoying the relative coolness of the shade, watching the gentle ripples in the canvas roof.

The entire existence of the underground city raised a lot of questions.

Why was Myla left there, despite her obvious vendetta?

Still, there was time to worry about that later.

For now, it was time to rest after the hard journey through the desert.

"Hey."

Xellie snapped her eyes open to see a spear tip pointed at her face. Mattos and Ary stood

pressed against the wall.

She yawned at looked up at the spear wielder, dressed in red robes, and a black cloak to protect himself from the desert wind and heat.

“I seek passage to the oasis.” She said through a second yawn.

The spear tip moved away from her face and jabbed her in the chest.

“We haven’t used that password in years.” the soldier grunted with a poke of the spear.

“What is it now then? Mirage? Safety? Market? Temple? Through the gates?”

“It’s market.” A gruff voice spoke out. Stepping out from the shadows, a thin, not especially tall man with scruffy ginger hair. “The exterminator’s sister, I take it?”

“I have a name you know,” Xellie replied indignantly, sitting up as the soldier moved his spear away. “And don’t call him an exterminator.”

“Still trying to make a name for yourself I see.”

“Listen....” Xellie mentally reminded herself she shouldn’t start a fight, despite desperately wanting to. “Ash, I need to visit the library.”

“Oh...” Ash folded his arms. “Of course you do. Have you got the fee?”

“Double.” Xellie narrowed her eyes and glared at Ash as she stood up. “Niko also requests you allow this.”

“I’m not scared of him.” Ash snorted. “If you’re done laying around then, we’ll get moving to Anshara.”

Ash waved at his soldier to leave the room and then pointed toward Mattos and Ary.

“Who are these people?”

“They’re uh... My new combat team.”

“Nice. Try not to get this team killed.” Ash rolled his eyes. “We leave in 10 minutes.”

Mattos and Ary watched the exchange in confusion, waiting until Ash left the room to supervise the loading of his cart by his three soldiers.

“Who is that guy?” Mattos whispered.

“Ash? He’s some rich kid who likes to mess with low-level demon magic. But he owns the biggest collection of books and demon artefacts in the area.”

“That sounds real... messy,” Mattos replied cautiously. “Can we trust him?”

“He can have tantrums, but he doesn’t do anything that will draw the ire of those who don’t want people who associate with demons, so he’s pretty placid,” Xellie explained back, guiding Mattos and Ary out of the stone building.

Outside, a carriage drawn by 4 horses, decorated very plainly, stood ready to go. Behind it, a wagon, also drawn by horses, the back covered with a piece of light fabric to provide shade.

“No sleeping back there!” Ash commanded as he climbed into the carriage and pointed back at the wagon.

Xellie shrugged, and clambered into the wagon, nudging Mattos and Ary to look out of the sides before they set off.

“He’s one hell of a sorcerer.” Mattos exhaled in amazement as he sat back down.

“Yes.” Xellie leaned out of the wagon once more as the horses began to pick up speed. The sand hardened in texture as they crossed it. She looked up at Ash, as he stood which his torso out of the carriage, focused on the ground before him, freezing it with an icy blue beam of magic to make it easier to cross. “But you have to wonder if this magic is because he’s a demon or something.”

“If anyone’s the demon, it’s you!” Ash called back, not turning his attention from the ground ahead of the carriage.

“Haha if only.” Xellie sighed and slipped her hand into her waistband, gripping the dagger Myla had given her comfortingly.