Friedrich put his hand in the river and scooped a handful of water to a mouth, taking a sip; it was fresh. He took his wooden, filled it up and tightened the lid. He took Marina and Teleri’s in turn and filled them up. Once he handed them back, he wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve

“Who would have thought a desert would be hot, eh?” he joked with the two.

“I’m fine,” said Marina as her dress swayed in the wind. “Plenty of ventilation in this.”

Teleri, however, looked miserable. She pulled her hood down and threw her hair back. “It is too hot for us to keep trekking across the road.”

“It’s only been four hours,” said Friedrich.

“I am aware of that Friedrich, but I say we wait for nightfall when the air will be much cooler. I cannot even sit on the ground to rest without my rear burning.”

Friedrich’s eyes were instinctively drawn to her leather-clad backside, but Marina shot him a dirty look, slapped him on the arm and broke his gaze. She shook her head and rolled her eyes, tutting quietly.

“It seems to me,” said Friedrich, rubbing his sore arm, “that we’re making a mistake in walking along the road. If we go across the sands, we’ll be able to seek shade in the shadow of the cliff. Would that be more acceptable?”

“Yes,” said Teleri and then taking a drink of water.

“Then let’s keep moving,” said Friedrich. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover before stopping.”

“You really think we can reach the ruins in three days if we’re on the sand?” asked Marina. “It’s not going to slow us down, if anything.”

“Three days may be optimistic. I think it may take us four, considering how many times we’ve stopped already.”

“If we can make it in five, I think we’ll have done well.”

“Forgive me for being the eternal optimist of the group,” said Friedrich, shrugging.

“I’m optimistic and realistic at the same time,” said Marina.

“I’m going to squash that realism and get us there in four days,” said Friedrich, pointing towards the sands. “Let’s move!”

Friedrich led the way across the sand with Marina walking merrily alongside him and Teleri moving sluggishly after the pair. It was rare to hear her complain about having a difficult time on the road, but the hot climate and her poor choice of attire were not making things easy. Marina had suggested buying something less suffocating just before they left Port Balsia, but she had refused.

The sand was indeed more difficult to traverse than the more solid path, but Friedrich had any idea. He took the fox mask that hung around his neck and placed it upon his face, transforming into his golden fox form. He pawed the ground and ran in a circle, now finding it much easier to move across in this lighter body.

“Lucky for some,” said Marina with a laugh as Friedrich ran ahead while most of the heat bounced straight off his shimmering fur.

After five minutes, he transformed back. Finding it a chore to walk along the sand, he waited for the soul magic to replenish and assumed the form of the fox once again. He did this a couple more times until the trio had reached the shade of the cliffs, where they all sat down in the shadows, enjoying having the sun off their backs for a short while.

Teleri took a long drink of water from her canteen, almost depleting it. “Coming here was a mistake.”

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“You two and your complaints,” sighed Friedrich.

“What did I do?” asked a shocked Marina.

“You moaned the entire time on the boat about feeling sick.”

“I was sick.”

“That’s beside the point.”

“What do you mean that’s beside the p—"

“Hush,” said Teleri, raising a hand to silence the bickering humans.

Friedrich and Marina listened, but their ears were not as strong as Teleri’s pointed, elven ears. It took them a few seconds to pick up what she heard. It sounded like rough, garbled mutterings, but the two could not decipher it.

“What is it?” asked Friedrich.

“I cannot say for certain,” said Teleri, “but it sounded like goblins.”

“I hate goblins,” said Friedrich bitterly.

“Me too,” said Marina. “I thought we had seen the last of them after leaving Mercia.”

Teleri had a look of disgust on her face. “Goblins are an invasive species that will plague whatever land is foolish enough to not exterminate their kind on sight. They plunder, rape and kill their way through the world, multiplying at an alarming rate. To call them animals is an insult to animals.”

“Alright,” said Friedrich, heaving himself up to his feet. “Time to slay some goblins.”

“Let’s make it quick,” said Marina, as Friedrich pulled her to his feet.

Teleri listened carefully, trying to pick up their location, but their foul voices had faded away. They were on the move.

“I cannot hear them,” she said.

“There’s an easy fix for that,” said Friedrich, pulling out Kitt’s mask and transforming into a fox once again.

He sniffed the air, picking out the filthy smell of the odorous goblins. He was somewhat thankful the smell was weak, but it meant they were moving quickly. Friedrich hurried after the scent as Marina and Teleri followed him, keeping in the shade of the rocky cliffs as they ran.

Friedrich could smell himself getting closer to the goblins, but there was another smell in the air. Something was burning and it had come on so suddenly that it took him by surprise. What were the wretched bipedal rats up to? Whatever it was, it could not be good.

“Smoke ahead!” called Teleri.

The trio ran towards the pillar of black that rose into the sky and spread out as it climbed higher. They ran and they ran, seeking the source of the smoke, which was revealed at the top of a dune where they spied a burning wagon sitting in the pit where the bottom of the sandy hills converged.

“Where did they go?” asked Marina.

“I do not know,” said Teleri, her ears twitching as she focused. “I do not hear them any longer. Can you smell them Friedrich?”

Friedrich shook his furry head; all he could smell was the smoke. He ran to the top of the dune, looking around to see where the goblins could have run, but the truth was they could have been anywhere by now. He had expected them to be where the smoke was.

“Kreee!” cried a voice as an arrow plunged into the sand beside Friedrich—it had come within inches of his head.

“The cliff!” cried Marina, twirling her staff and launching a lightning bolt at the smattering of goblins that were launching arrows upon the trio.

The bolt crackled as it soared through the air and struck the cliff, smashing a large chunk of the stone to pieces and sending half of the goblins plunging onto the sands below. They screeched as they fell, hitting the ground with a burst of sand, but they were still moving.

Teleri unleashed arrow after arrow at the goblins still attacking the party from the cliff, but they were slippery little beasts and the elevation gave them the advantage. She moved to the top of the dine, where Friedrich was distracting the goblins and drawing fire by running in circles.

Suddenly, the goblins at the bottom of the cliff stirred. Marina faced them and focused as they drew their bows once again, taking careful aim. The purple amethyst in her gnarled staff began to glow and fizzle and then, with a yell, she unleashed a more powerful lightning bolt than her last that thundered through the air and struck one of the goblins. The ugly little beast was sent flying in ten directions as a wave of blood and guts, to the scream of its comrades who were hit by the rain of gore.

“They’re running,” said Teleri, as she pierced a goblin through the throat with an arrow. It tumbled from the cliff as it tried to pull the arrow out of its neck, but it was much too late.

The rest of the goblins were indeed fleeing in terror. The ones at the bottom of the cliff ran to the north, while the ones at the top backed out of sight. Not content with having these vermin return for them later, Friedrich gave chase.

“You’re vulnerable in this form!” cried Marina as he ran, but Friedrich did not listen.

Not only did he want to ensure the goblin’s demise, but he felt as though something was pulling him after them. It was not the tug of bloodlust, but a sense of knowing that this was the right direction to go. Kitt was telling him that what he wanted to see was where the goblins were running to.

Marina and Teleri followed him as he tracked the goblins around the cliff, which came to an end and revealed a slope leading upwards. Upon reaching the base of the slope, the magic of the mask was depleted and Friedrich returned to his normal self.

He stood perfectly still as Marina and Teleri caught up to him. “We have to go that way,” he said, pointing after the vanishing goblins.