Fiona used her sword, and skills to fight off the tormented souls that resided in this place with her. Most were rather weak, but there were many and they didn't stay down long. She had tried to get Paul's help, his consciousness had occasionally shown up in this realm. But something prevented him from helping, she didn't think it was just fear.

She knew that was part of it, she still felt it sometimes. No, something had changed in the living world and Paul couldn't help her. At least until a few weeks ago. Something changed again. His presence stronger now, she could feel it.

With that change, the ghosts became agitated and tried to attack his being. She fought them off every day while his mind rested. Eventually, she learned how to form her will into weapons and armor to help her defend the man. She didn't blame the man for her death, that was on her for failing to defeat the Duelist. Each day she fought she grew stronger and the hordes of spirits grew weaker. Still, they persisted, like mindless undead.

Her blade struck out, glowing with ethereal power as it cleaved another spirit in two. The creature howled in agony as it dissolved into vapor. It would return. Something kept all of these spirits, including hers, tied to Paul. It was probably his conscience.

His world had strange ideas about killing someone that tried to kill you, or doing what you must to survive. Her blade flicked out again, lopping another spirit's head off. Eventually, they would overwhelm her like they always did and she would be torn asunder, just to start all over again. She didn't want to know what happened to Paul during those times. She doubted it was anything good.

She attacked another one as the rest rushed her. She fought as fiercely as possible as they tore at her, ripping parts of her essence apart. It was in vain, she still wasn't strong enough.

***

I awoke in a cold sweat, the nightmares were back. I was out of pills as of a week ago. I didn't go to get more because things were moving too quickly and I hadn't suffered for a few days. I sat up, looking at my surroundings. The wind had blown the sand a few feet closer to me while I slept, I was glad for my elemental resistance though as the hot sun beating down had not been able to fry my skin to a crisp. I got up and stretched my sore muscles while I tried to recall the specifics of my nightmare this time.

I saw Fiona fighting off the other faces of people I murdered, or allowed to die. It was never enough though. They dragged her down and tore her apart. I swear I remember her looking at me and smiling before her form faded away. As far as nightmares went it wasn't the worst one I've had to date.

I had no idea what time it was, the sun was setting so it was closing in on evening. I must have slept at least four hours as my Second Chance buff had run out. I recast all my buffs while I stretched. Now that I had solid Earth to work with I decided to try something.

I stood in the center of the area and concentrated, utilizing Metamagic and Earth Fist. Ever so slowly I lifted a five-foot section of the ground I stood on. I got it to a height of two feet before I had to stop and recover mana. 'This is going to take a while.'

Two hours later I managed to get a stone pole thirty feet into the air. I was a good ten feet above the highest dunes. I slowly scanned the area for anything. Now that it was after sundown lights of any type would be much easier to spot. Eventually, I spotted a slight glow far in the distance. I might have even missed it if I hadn't upped my perception at the last level.

I jumped from the top of the stone and set off towards the light.

A few more hours of travel brought me to a small walled compound. The sand devourer was nowhere in sight. It must have finally moved off to stalk other prey. The gate was open and two lizards in metal armor guarded the entrance with long spears. They eyed me but otherwise let me pass.

Perhaps it was the fact that I had my weapon stored. Or the fact that I was wandering around the desert in my underwear and a shirt tied around my head and nothing else.

I thought it might be the latter as other lizardfolk gave me curious gazes as I walked towards a central fountain. I fell to my knees and drank deeply of the fresh cool water. It turned out my Regenerating Rain spell was not very helpful at refreshing my thirst. It was harder than I thought to catch the droplets in my mouth.

A yellow and red spotted lizardman wearing a white scarf on its head approached me as I drank, "Greetings traveler. What brings you to my tiny piece of heaven?"

I pulled my soaking head from the fountain, " I just needed to cool off. Sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused."

"No need to apologize, the desert is an unforgivable mistress for those not born of its loving embrace. My name is Gok, what is yours?"

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I stood up and accepted the offered hand, "Paul, and I was dumped in the desert by a group that I thought I could trust. Well, at least one that had goals that aligned."

"A sad tale, I'm sure. I could allow you to stay one night but we have few amenities out here. If you are looking for a village or the edge of the desert I can point the way."

I kind of got the feeling that while a gracious host, they didn't care for outsiders. I decided just to get directions to the nearest city and go from there.

"If you could point me to the closest city I would appreciate it."

"Very well, head east for three days. The city of Arman lies at the edge of the desert. It is not a city I was familiar with before."

I assumed he meant before the system transported him and his people over to Earth.

"Thanks again, Gok. You wouldn't happen to have a waterskin or something I can transport drinkable water in would you?"

"If you are willing to trade we might be able to provide you with something."

In the end, it cost me all of the weapons I had taken from the Black Dragon members to secure a child-sized water pouch. None of the lizardfolk was willing to give up a larger pouch. I understood; water was life, out in the desert. I thanked them for their hospitality as I exited the compound and headed east.

I was three hours into my journey across the burning sands when I thought I spotted something in my peripheral vision. My staff appeared in my hand as I whirled towards what I thought I saw. Nothing was there, except the rising heat off the baking sand. 'Heat must be getting to me.'

It happened again an hour later. I swear I saw a wispy form of something. I chalked it up to delirium and the heat. With my water bag and my old set of armor, I managed to funnel enough of my spell's water into the thing to refill it. It wasn't a quick or easy process. Once that was done I continued on.

***

One of the communications people rushed in, "Sir, we lost communications with Chicago."

Randy gave the man a withering look, "What do you mean by "lost communication"?"

The man gulped audibly before responding, "We are unable to contact anyone at headquarters. We tried all the backup channels as well. We thought it might be some power or magic blocking our communications so we also reached out to the closest outpost to HQ... th- they picked up without issue."

"Did they have anything to say about headquarters?" Randy asked, annoyed.

The man hesitated for a bit before answering, "They said there was a slave revolt, sir."

Randy slammed his hand into the table, cracking it, "I warned my younger brother that he was playing a dangerous game. Any word of my family or Obidiah?"

"N-no, sir."

"Dispatch Michael's team to find out what happened."

"R-right away, sir," the man said, giving him a salute before he left.

"What's the status of New York?" Randy asked, turning to his Lieutenant.

"Mostly secured, many of the factions killed themselves off in the early days of the fighting. The rest were easy to take down with our teams."

"Good. Once we're done I will be taking team four and heading back to Chicago to meet up with Michael to see what he discovered. You will remain here and consolidate our position. Eliminate anyone that doesn't fall in line."

Randy turned to leave but stopped and turned back around, "execute all our current slaves."

"It will be carried out immediately, sir."

He always thought slaves were a liability they didn't need. If it was true that a revolt had happened, they were now more of a liability than a help. Randy ripped the black armband off; it would no longer be needed after today.

***

I was glad to still have my Trubar armor, the nights were beyond frigid in the desert. With no safe place to stop and rest I just kept going. I would pause occasionally to rest my muscles or eat and drink. Whatever I had seen during the day had left me alone after sunset. I still thought it might be a mirage brought on by the heat, Identify hadn't been able to detect anything.

As I crested the next dune I spotted the top of a palm tree in the distance. It was so shocking to see that I just stood there motionless for over a minute. I ran down and up the dunes as fast as I could to get to the tree. I even went so far as to use Blink Step, to get there faster. Trees meant water, and water would likely mean a place I could rest. Each hill brought me closer and I started spotting the tops of more trees. I pushed myself even harder, cresting the last dune ten minutes later.

A small oasis greeted me, about twenty trees around a small pool of water, surrounded by thick vegetation. As much as my body demanded me to just rush in and fall asleep on the inviting green grass, I decided that caution might be prudent.

My staff appeared in my hand as I stepped into the grass. It was about knee length and soft, blowing in the slight breeze of the night. The area was quiet, no sounds of any animals or bugs intruded on this sanctuary. I made a lap around the area, checking for any animal tracks. I didn't find any signs of life or bones for that matter.

I searched the entire oasis without finding anything.

"I'm going to name you the Hidden Gem."

I waited but no notification presented itself. I guess that answers my question. Someone had already been here. The water looked clear and inviting as I walked up to the edge of the pool. I dipped a stick into the water. It came out intact.

"Well, at least it's not acid. I guess I'll try a drink."

I scooped up a handful of water and lifted it to my lips.

You have been poisoned

I quickly checked the icon before I started any healing.

Sand Serpents Kiss debuff: Your body withers as all of your fluids are expelled. Causes 300 damage every 10 seconds, 4m 51s remaining.

I braced for the first tick of damage. The pain was excruciating, I could feel sweat pour from my body as my skin started to dry out. Thankfully I had my 'Grin and Bear It' title reducing poison damage by 50%. I tried to cleanse the poison but my spell failed to do so. I quickly started healing the damage. Nothing to do but wait.

I guess this explained the lack of bodies. Even bones would be reduced to dust under the effect of this poison. It was a weird balancing act of healing and drinking water while refilling it with my other healing spell. After the poison wore off I was exhausted. I pulled out my sleeping bag and fell asleep in the grass.