Aside from the strange person wearing a mask in front of me, I was mostly alone. I had no idea where I was. I admit I was a bit…disoriented. Which is why it should come to no surprise that when I found a stone knife near me, I grabbed it and pointed it at the masked individual.

“Who are you?! Where am I?”

The masked person held their hands up and spoke again.

“Calm yourself, Hadrian. You are among friends. Put the knife down.”

“How do you know my name?!”

The person continued to hold their hands up. Slowly, they took the large tribal mask off. The mask itself was of a design I could not recognize. It was a multicolored elongated mask that had a small mouth stretched downward to the chest. The mouth and eyes were small slits. The mouth was the smallest, to where only a coin could enter it. The eyes were a bit larger, but not by much. The nose of the mask was pronounced and angular. Meanwhile the forehead was stretched and was bulbus. It was heavily decorated and painted and even had a mane of fur acting as the hair. The mask itself was a very large size. It was more comparable to a shield rather than an ordinary mask, with a large cloth that draped over much of the body. My best guess was that this was used to intimidate the enemy and especially the bugs that had bitten me. The same principle of making oneself look larger than they really are, but in a constant form.

When the mask was lifted and set aside, I could see that it was a woman. Her skin was a dark shade of ebony that had many encounters with the sun over the years. She was young and beautiful. The sides of her hair were shaved off, leaving a strip of dark hair in a mohawk-like manner with braids going down from the back of her head like a horse’s tail. She wore loose fitting robes that draped over her hips. It was plain in color, and the sleeves only reached down to her elbows. She was adorned with many trinkets around her neck and her wrists. They were made of metal disks and beads that clung off her body by small leather strings.

Her short robe’s skirt left little to the imagination as I was able to see her hips and her exposed legs. The only thing she wore around her legs besides the cloth that kept her modesty were anklets that clung to her. For someone who had been living in that wasteland for most of their lives, she hardly had any blemish on her. She was incredibly beautiful to behold. I was still weary to put down my weapon, but I was calmer. For a moment I looked down at my bandaged leg. The pain was still throbbing in my limb as I stood. I looked at the woman, still holding the weapon tightly in my hands.

“Who are you? Where am I?” I repeated from before, not as frightened but still alert.

The woman held her hands up in a non threatening way. She made no attempts to move any closer than I would allow her.

“My name is Jes’Talali. I am the healer of this village. We are the Uchanti. The children of the shifting sands. We are peaceful nomads. We made our camp here and I was looking for herbs to use as medicine when I saw you and your group being attacked by the Desert Devils. Had I not saved you, their venom would have killed you.”

I sensed no ill intent from the woman. Her desire to heal was genuine, and I owed her my life. With what little dexterity I was granted while I was unwell, I flipped the blade around with the spine of the knife on my hands and the handle pointing out towards her. She gingerly took the knife from me and set it on the table where I had laid down. With the situation calmed, relief washed over the both of us.

“Thank you for not trying to kill me, Hadrian.” Jes’Talali said with an alleviated sigh now that the danger had passed. “For a moment I was thinking that things would get ugly.”

“They could have.” I said as I massaged my thigh. My leg was bandaged up with a fine layer of linen wrappings that were bathed in some type of salve. I tried to take a step, though only at that moment did I feel the sharp pain go up my leg. She came over to see me and sit my back down on the table.

“Easy there. You are still wounded from your encounter with the Desert Devils. It will take some time to heal properly.”

She left my side for a moment and began to make a fresh batch of some concoction I would no doubt be forced to drink. She mixed the ingredients in carefully and precisely. The way she moved clearly showed that she had been doing this for all of her life. She maneuvered her hands and her tools in a way that demanded the greatest of discipline and fortitude. The sound of stone crushing the ingredients into a fine powder and filled the room with strange odors best not described.

She mixed all of the ingredients into a small bowl. The contents were very earthy and dark green. It was as if someone had condensed an entire swamp into a bowl. Even now my stomach churns at the mention of that elixir. I looked up at the physician with pleading eyes, silently asking if drinking that potion was really necessary. She gently shook the small bowl in her hand as confirmation.

I sighed and then took the cup. To get the event over with, I shot the drink as far back as I could as if taking a quick drink from fire water. The taste was almost vomit inducing. It tasted like rancid fish that had been left out in the sun for a month and featured several maggots writhing around to add to the flavor. I forced myself to drink the entire cup before setting it aside. I coughed violently as if I had been poisoned. For a moment, I thought that was exactly what was happening. Jes’Talali patted me on the back and stroked me to help me get through the misery. She filled up a cup of water to wash the vile taste out of my mouth. I sloshed the water around my mouth and then spat to the side away from the healer. I rubbed my forearm across my lips to wipe away what residue and saliva still clung to my mouth.

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“The medicine will help you overtime.” Jes’Talali said in a comforting, motherly tone. “It tastes revolting, but it will help you get better. There is still venom in your body. This will help to purge it.”

I used my teeth to scrape my tongue and spit on the ground some more, finally getting over the horrid taste. Despite the foul flavor of the drink, I trusted in her that she would help me recover.

“How long have I been unconscious?” I asked tentatively, worried about what answer I would get.

“You’ve been laying here for two days.” She said plainly. A relief washed over me. But two days of being in the darkness of my mind took its toll on my body. I needed food and water. Thankfully, Jes’Talali made sure to give me plenty of these.

I was in no condition to travel yet. I needed at least a few days to recover my strength. Such was my lot in life.

“Where are the others right now?”

“They are waiting outside of this chamber. I’ll lead you to them if you wish.”

I nodded, taking it as an excuse to get a better look at my surroundings. The nomads of the Uchanti had carved alcoves into the rock to hide from the desert devils and all other manner of creature that treds through the wilds. These alcoves had been carved into the stone over the course of centuries each time the Uchanti returned to that place. Over the years, the Uchanti would carve more structures into the rock to expand in greater numbers while other areas were improved upon. The alcoves were nestled carefully in walls in a secluded canyon that protected the Uchanti from the harsh sandstorms and predators. Bridges were connected from point to point between the walls so that transportation was easier on the tribe.

My companions had been taken to an alcove where they could relax during the day. It was deep enough into the stone to accommodate them all when not sleeping. When I arrived, Octavian and Cao Tzu were the first to come close to me to inspect me while Brutus hung around in the back with Straden and Mil’Tuk.

“My lord, you’re finally awake!” Octavian exclaimed happily as he saw my approach. A sense of relief washed over him.

“I live.” I told him with a straight face and a stoic tone in my voice. “These ‘Desert Devils’ as Jes’Talali’s people call them are deadly, but Ille’Sethak smiles upon us this day.”

Jes’Talali tilted her head as she looked puzzled at me. “Ille’Sethak? Is that your God?”

“Indeed he is. The great serpent has guided me to this place. All that and more.”

I limped away and ventured to sit down. I had been limping almost nonstop, and my leg already ached.

“Jes’Talali, If you’ll allow me to rest for a bit and speak with my comrades in private, I will be grateful. I won’t be long. I simply wish to catch up with them.”

The healer woman simply bowed her head. “Of course. I understand. I will return shortly.”

She left us there, crossing the bridge to some other part of the labyrinth of alcoves. I leaned forward and spoke to my fellows in a hushed voice, making sure that Octavian and Cao Tzu were the closest to me.

“Octavian, Tell me. Do you know anything about a group called the Ophidians?”

“Ophidians, my lord?” Octavian cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms. So far for easy answers.

“I saw him, Octavian. I saw Ille’Sethak as I laid there in my slab. I will explain in greater detail, but the serpent has commanded that we find his people, the Ophidians.”

“But what of our people? The escaped slaves?” Straden interjected as he leaned forward on a table next to me.

I said “They are a priority. However, Ille’Sethak would not give us this task were it not important. He stated that the matter is urgent and we should find them as soon as possible. Before he could tell me, I began to wake as if from a dream.”

Brutus would add his own two copper to the table.

“What does it matter? We will do what Hadrian says, as always.”

“Do I hear a hint of discontent, old friend?” Any smile I might have had was gone at that point. I do not enjoy being questioned, especially by those who would call themselves my friend. Brutus had truly begun to test our friendship with the constant questioning of my command.

“Forgive me, Hadrian. What I meant to say is that it doesn’t sound right. We should focus on the people we know will be there. Not some people who may be there. You did hear this information from a dream, after all.”

“It was the words of Ille’Sethak.” I said, raising my voice slightly before I felt the throbbing pain in my leg again. “Do you truly wish to question a God?”

Brutus paused for a moment. His fist clenched as he held back his annoyance and then shook his head. “...No.”

“Then we shall seek out the Ophidians. Think about it. If we get them to ally with us, then our armies will swell.”

Mil’Tuk was next to offer up his own opinions, placing his fist on his hip.

“Hadrian, we have potential allies here. These people. The Uchanti…I feel a kinship with them. They may even be my own people. I was born into slavery. I don’t even know who my parents were, but this place? This place makes me think of a home I never knew. We should make alliances with them first.”

“I intend on doing so.” I said, feeling calmer than I had been before. “Who knows? Perhaps our new friends here will give us the answers I seek. They know the lay of the land better than we do at the moment. After saving me, I intend on seeing that they become a great asset to our people.”

Negotiations were indeed on my mind. The Uchanti had saved my life, and for that I owed them a debt. For bringing me back out of the darkness within my mind, I intended on giving them something more than gold. I would give them glory. I would give them strength, and I would give them security. In order to survive, my legion needed to grow, and the Uchanti would be some of our first recruits.