“Ugh,” Gizzal groaned, leaning over the hump of his camel. He had complained almost the entire afternoon. Although Appo knew Gizzal's pain was real, he couldn’t mask his irritation. The closer they got to Zabukama, the louder he seemed to get. Appo also had a suspicion Gizzal was just complaining to complain.

“Again, I have herbs you can use," Appo said. "Otherwise, lean up. You’re putting pressure on it.” Gizzal groaned again in response.

“Forget it,” said Isbibarra, riding on Uten’s camel ahead of Appo. “Let him squeal. We are not in danger yet.” That wasn’t reassuring.

The horizon had vanished, the immense peaks of the Fincurs now obscured by the fog of Thornestone Wood. Appo watched the Wood become more bizarre in appearance, its stony trees twisting and twirling in tighter formations. They passed what looked to Appo to be a herd of massive snail shells, with spikes spiralling into infinity. The flat, cracked ground of the desert made less sense here, with several stone columns arising out of the ground without reason.

And it was quiet, even for the Eivettä. It was unnatural.

“Mortals are unwelcome here,” Appo thought bitterly. “What are we doing?”

Their inevitable arrival at Zabukama had affected the group. The entire party traveled in silence. Even the normally loquacious Tomi had barely spoken a word since leaving her family behind, gliding beside the two camels in silence.

Another sustained cry from Gizzal broke the silence. Appo’s camel groaned in sequence. They were all making too much noise.

Uten circled his camel back. “We need to do something about this,” he said, annoyed.

With the group halted, Isbibarra lept off his camel, striding across the mud-cracked ground with a speed that surprised Appo. Isbibarra walked to Gizzal, pulled his body off the camel hump, and pressed his hand directly into Gizzal’s wound. He nearly screamed, more so out of surprise than the action itself.

“A reminder of what pain is, you waste of space,” Isbibarra sneered. “If you insist on announcing our location to everything around us, I swear by Ati I will leave you here for the screamers.” He pressed Gizzal’s wound again, leaving him whimpering. “Do we have an understanding?” Gizzal silently nodded, his entire face winced in pain. Satisfied, Isbibarra strolled back to his camel, allowing Uten to help him back up.

As the group continued, Tomi glided back to Appo. “What's going on? Everything alright?”

“It’s fine,” murmured Appo, still processing Isbibarra’s pointedness. “How are you holding up?”

“Truthfully? A little scared.”

“We’ll be fine. I trust you and Uten can handle whatever comes our way.”

Tomi snickered. “He’s still just a dummy to me. I remember when we were young, he used to piss himself. I’d call him ‘Uboo’ and he’d get all mad… I have more faith in you.”

Before Tomi glided away, Appo waved her over again. With Isbibarra being as quiet as he was, Appo needed to know more. “What else do you know about the Krazeek? Are they… people?”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“I once met a merchant in Lockwood who claimed that the Krazeek descended from the Shadeon people after the empire fell. They are the ones left.”

“A common misconception,” Isbibarra interjected, still riding slightly ahead. “The Shadeonites are gone. The Krazeek are a backwater race. They took refuge within their walls long after the empire fell.”

“Can we reason with them?” Appo asked. “We only need passage, no? Is there anything we could offer?”

Isbibarra chuckled. “You could not offer what they would want. It is best we avoid them.”

The two camels traveled between more columns and spiraled wood and cracked shale. As they rode, the ground below them descended into a gradual slope that led into another valley. The farther they went, the thicker the fog became. Even though Uten and Isbibarra were only a few meters ahead, Appo struggled to find them. It was fog unlike anything Appo had seen, for there was no moisture. It was as if they were traveling through ether.

Isbibarra dismounted from Uten’s camel and gingerly crouched to the ground, placing his hand across the shale. “We are close,” Isbibarra said. “Look for a stone column, almost too slender.”

Appo shook his head. “I can’t see through this fog.”

“That is good for now. Once the fog clears, you should be able to see the wall.”

“We’re that close already?” hissed Tomi. “We should be quiet!”

“The fog obscures our voices. If we cannot see the wall, the Krazeek will not hear us.”

“How do you know?”

“Trust me.” Isbibarra slowly rose from the ground, wiping the shale from his hand. “I can feel them.” The warning was enough to quiet the group. Even Gizzal, who had been whimpering in protest, became completely silent.

As the group slowly led their camels through the fog, Appo spotted the column. It was a thin stone promontory standing at a height of about fifteen meters, but no wider than his thigh at the top. The ground below the column continued to descend, disappearing into the fog. As they dismounted, the fog dispersed to reveal a valley. A black rectangle expanding much of the valley grew more and more in view.

“Good God,” whispered Tomi. “It’s massive.”

The wall of Zabukama was almost fifty meters in height, stretching out at least two leagues before fading back into the fog. It looked to be made entirely of black limestone, smooth despite its rugged desert appearance. Unlike the wall of Ash, this wall gradually curved as it moved along, meandering like a river. It was unlike any structure Appo had ever seen.

“Can you see it?” asked Isbibarra, clutching the promontory.

“Yeah,” murmured Appo. Although he could see the wall, Appo couldn’t visualize anything past it. He kept looking over the wall’s thick upper barricades, looking for movement, but found none. For now, there were no ape-men. “Maybe we should go before the fog clears further?”

“Do not be fooled,” Isbibarra said. “They're inside.”

“How many are there?” asked Uten.

“I am unsure. Maybe hundreds?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Tomi said through gritted teeth. “How are we supposed to get past hundreds of them?”

Isbibarra pointed down the valley. “There is an abandoned outpost in front of the gate. We will hide there. The Krazeek move in herds of about twenty, and they do not watch for arrivals. If we can approach quietly, we can wait for them to pass.”

“How long will we have?” asked Appo.

“That depends. I will need to get closer. When the fog clears, we should get to the settlement. I can track them better there.”

“This is crazy,” said Tomi. “What if any of them see us?”

“Young lady,” said Isbibarra quietly. “Maybe it would be best if you stay here with your brother, then? You have done us a service by getting us to the city.”

Tomi didn’t respond immediately, pondering how she would. “No. It’s just… a lot.”

“We’re with you until we return the necklace,” added Uten.

Isbibarra sighed. “Okay. If you insist.”

The fog soon dissipated. Appo thought he saw jagged edges of triangles through the fog behind the walls, but it was impossible to tell. The wall came into clearer view though, and Appo made out the nuanced architecture of struts and columns that ran alongside it. A little farther past a view of the curves of the wall, Appo spotted a metal gate. In front of the gate was a small outpost not even half a league away.

“There,” Appo said.

“Lead the way, please,” Isbibarra asked, before turning to Gizzal. “Leave him here, in case anything goes wrong.” At first, Gizzal whimpered before calming, as if realizing he wouldn’t immediately have to go through the walls.