Soon, the rocky landscape gave way to rolling sand dunes. Both Seyari and I were nearing exhaustion from the day’s events. My body may have been fine, but my mana reserves were flagging and I could feel Seyari slowing down.

Still, she ran much faster than before the whole revelation of her identity as a half-angel. I wanted desperately to ask her more. At the same time, I wanted even more desperately to be able to comfort her. Her old identity clearly carried a lot of baggage, and she hid herself away from it.

Despite that, I had a feeling the reason she was with the expedition to my island was related to parts of her past she couldn’t or wouldn’t let go. Or that wouldn’t let her go.

I had to admit, I was struggling not to be angry at Seyari. I didn’t know what her capabilities were as a half-angel, but from everything I thought I knew about angels, and from how Lorelei feared her, she had to be strong. She had taken out Malich’s other demon by herself. If she’d revealed she was half-angel earlier, maybe Aarsh would still be alive. Maybe we’d already have arrived in Ordia aboard the Lady of Liseu. Maybe no one would have had to die to the titan scorpion.

I wanted to be furious at her. It’d be so easy. I was a wrath demon, after all.

But I’d told Seyari I wouldn’t run. That I’d stay and listen. Lorelei knew of Seyari’s past, and feared her. Maybe there would have been other issues if she’d revealed herself instead of me. Or alongside me. Maybe she didn’t have a good reason.

Whatever the case, now we were separated from Aretan and Nelys for who knows how long and we wouldn’t be going to Liseu. We were running for our lives through a desert we knew nothing about, toward a vague direction on the map, with the hope we stole enough food and water to get us there.

I could tell Seyari was hurting. She was trying too hard not to show anything. I had to be strong, and try to be there for her. I told her over and over again that mistakes in the past didn’t matter if you owned the future. I just had to practice what I preached.

And I had to hope she was willing to move forward.

As we fled south, we skirted some small settlements, though we did have to quickly cross a couple roads. The area south of Baetnal away from the River Nav fell quickly to untamed dunes. I hated the dunes, but they meant we were unlikely to run into anyone else. The undulating terrain also gave us some amount of cover, which Seyari was quick to utilize.

Behind us, the wind would blow away evidence of our passing. In front was a long, perilous journey. I will find you, Tania.

Midday turned to dusk. We’d been following the sun and heading due south, and were surrounded by nothing but dunes.

I was certain the pace we’d kept had been inhuman. Seyari, half-angel or whatever she was, certainly had greater endurance and speed than I remembered. Perhaps it was only my exhaustion showing.

In the twilight, we both looked to the horizon for any feature where we could set up camp. Climbing to the top of the nearest dune, I looked out over the sand. Nothing.

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A fear of finding a titan scorpion wormed its way into my thoughts. I tried to dismiss it, but the memory of my near-death experience lodged the discomforting thought near the back of my mind.

“Anything?” Seyari’s voice still carried the odd melodic lilt I’d noticed since the Third Prince’s estate.

I looked back down at her and shook my head. Even without my sight on, I could feel her aura as it burned the edges of my awareness. I hoped my urge to fight or flee from a source of strong holy magic would die down.

“Shit. Well at least they’re not gonna follow us out here.” Seyari plopped down on the slope and winced.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Not really,” Seyari replied, then added, “but I’ll be fine. Just wish we didn’t have to camp in the open sand.”

I sat down next to her, then had an idea.

“You said I melted sand back when the titan scorpion stung me, yeah?”

Seyari nodded. “Yeah, why?”

“I want to see if I can melt the sand into something to sleep on. Maybe even a shelter!” I smiled widely.

“I don’t know if that’ll work.” Seyari shook her head, but I could feel my earnest playfulness had softened her mood.

“I’m sure it’ll work!” I put on my best indignant face and crossed my lower arms.

“Weirdo,” Seyari replied with a small laugh.

“Hey!”

My silver-haired friend rolled her eyes. “Look, if you’ve got mana to spare, go for it, I guess. We probably aren’t going to run into anything out here.”

I smiled and stood back up, dusting myself off. I walked to the bottom of the two dunes we were between and drew on my mana. Focusing the flame as hot as it could get, I bent down and used fire from my top hands to try to melt the sand. I knew a little of temperatures from what little smithing I did, and I’d have to be able to make far more heat than any typical fire mage could produce for anything at all to happen.

Nothing happened at first. I kept at it, feeling my already depleted mana exhausting quickly. The grains began to glow and fuse. I kept at it, melting the area under my hands, grains losing definition into a mass that darkened as it cooled. Slowly, I moved my upper hands toward me and scooted backwards on four limbs.

My mana quickly depleted, but by the time I was done, I’d created a long, uneven sheet of rapidly cooling fused sand and patchy glass. Sadly, my handiwork really didn’t look comfortable. Plus, I could tell it was very thin. I’d probably shatter the sheet trying to lay on it.

“Darn,” I sighed and fell back onto the sand; grains mingling with my long hair.

“I think you may have made something even worse than sand to sleep on,” Seyari commented with amusement in her voice.

“You sure?” I joked back. “Try it and maybe you’ll like it.”

“I think I’ll wait until it won’t cook me,” she laughed.

I turned to look back up the dune at Seyari. She was leaning back on her elbows and watching me with an amused smile on her face. I didn’t help with setting up a camp, but at least I broke the solemn mood that had been following us like a dark cloud.

“So, do you want to talk about your past now?” I ventured.

Seyari’s smile vanished and she looked up at the sky. Stars were just starting to show through the red of the evening. I was worried she wouldn’t answer and almost spoke up again when she finally replied.

“Yeah. Ready as I will be, I guess.”

“Okay,” I replied.

I wanted to say something with more weight, but I couldn’t find the words. I trudged up to where Seyari lay. The half-angel looked over at me with golden eyes, then back up to the sky.

For a moment, I considered again the problems she’d caused by hiding things. Seyari didn’t need anyone to tell her that, though. She knew better than anyone exactly how much her inaction had done. I had a feeling she was being hardest on herself. Even if I knew she wouldn’t talk about that part.

I sat next to her, close as I dared. Following her gaze, I looked up at the sky as well. I couldn’t find space for four elbows behind me, so I crossed my lower arms over my abdomen. My tail had to go somewhere or be stuck buried underneath. Carefully, I curled the limb around the both of us, not yet close enough to touch.

If Seyari noticed, she didn’t mention it when she started to tell her tale. As the half-angel spoke, I watched the last of twilight fade and the stars emerge; brilliant and shining around a new moon.