The feeling of sand shifting underfoot, every step contained thoughts of caution, anxiety, fear.

Finally the village had come into view.

But, what greeted the weary group was not the warmth or safety of it's walls. But the heart wrenching screams filled with terror as they danced upon the wind. As if the tune of death was being played by the man himself.

A horde.

The like of nothing the Kuh had ever seen before in their entire history of protecting the ruins. The sand for countless miles in front of the village was obscured by the sheer massive numbers of the monstrosity.

Soon, the agonizing screams filled with terror were replaced by the sounds of growls, as the monsters feasted on the corpses.

It was if the coming of night had signaled the end of the Kuh.

Or was it just the beginning?

*****

The clicking and clunking of the gears in the sigil operated clock could be heard as the hand slowly began to turn, releasing steam into a small copper pipe. Which emitted a high pitched whistle that could be heard as it reverberated through the mansion of the renowned scholar of Valros.

It is a common saying, rumours travel upon the wind. This is very true in the capital city of Valros, Kufra. It was the mid morning rush as shops began to get ready for the approaching day ahead of them.

In a small tavern on the west side of the city located near the slums, a rumour had spread from the bars of the common folk to even the tabletops of the 8 noble families of Valros in mere hours.

This rumour had even traveled it's way to Kyr who was deep within the confines of her mansion conducting research.

One talking about demons with purple eyes, living in the vast expanses of the desert of the forgotten one, preying on trading caravans.

The rumour itself was lackluster in its overall appeal to Kyr. however a single word had caught her attention, She began to tap her finger impatiently on the hard oak desk.

As her mouth slightly pursed she uttered a single word, "Purple."

*****

"Captain, we should have met some resistance from the purple eyes by now. I'm not liking this."

"It does feel a little fishy I say, but don't get your panties in a bunch, we have to keep going."

The caravan of soldiers slowly continued their advancement into the purple yes territory, expecting to encounter a sudden ambush at any moment.

They had heard stories from the other caravans of the ferocity and ingenuity of the purple eyes as they used the desert to ambush and destroy unsuspecting caravans that had wandered into their lands.

Soon minutes turned to hours with no sign of the purple eyes.

As if the desert itself had decided to pick up the fallen torch left behind from the Kuh. The winds started to pick up, slowly the winds started to pick up slight amounts of sand as it moved in every direction. Before it finally became a raging gust, a sand storm.

It forced the caravan of soldiers to seek shelters within their sand wagons as the sand storm almost threatened to bury them alive.

"What sort of magic is this!?" One man shouted as he huddled himself near the exit of the sand wagon.

"The kind that the gods control." The captain said with a sly smirk.

Though the sandstorm had nearly buried their sand wagons they were able to dig them out with much effort, in fact they had wasted 2 days in order to dig themselves free from the clawing clutches of the sand.

The result of the massive sand storm was the concealment of the ruins, as if the gods had some sort of pity for the tribe who continued to guard the ruins until they were forgotten by time itself.

It wouldn't stop the corruption from leaking out, however it would stop the stupid mortals of this realm from venturing towards it's inner levels.

Where the corruption would even try to devour your soul.

On a golden throne in the midst of a grand temple, a feminine silhouette could be seen talking to a man who kneeled in front of her, dressed in a sand colored robe.

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"It is truly unfortunate that the guardians have been dispatched of." the feminine silhouette said, her voice would seem enchanting to any living being male or female.

"I have made a short term solution for the problem, however a few of the guardians still yet live, though are too small in number to be used." the sand robed man said as his voice seemed to carry an ancient tone within it's youthly nature.

"Sigh. If only the Elder wouldn't have tried to escape from the plane of exile I wouldn't have to deal with this headache." The feminine voice said as it spoke the 'Elder' with a hint of disgust.

*****

Within the wildfire plains, lies the company headquarters of the Raju Express. Their hopes and lives are laid resting on the success of the Red Gorge Mercenaries.

"What if they don't succeed?" A man began to pace back and forth.

"Calm down Mafu're, they are the best money can buy if they can't we will be joining them soon enough."

The Red Gorge Mercenaries hail from the Red Gorge near the Veneifer Mountain Range, where monster swarms often happen every 20 years. It is said that a mercenary of the Red Gorge is worth 20 normal men.

And as they are the best money can buy, their services are naturally.. quite expensive.

The group had seen what could not be unseen, Kou had been in a shocked state simply unresponsive. Ruka, Rekia, Mae, Rik, Rufra, and Kal had simply seem stupefied by what had transpired before them the 2 days before.  

Their home was now just rubble as it was used a nesting ground for the Horde.

"T-teacher what should we do now?." Mae finally broke the suffocating silence.

"I truly don't know Mae." Kal said as he stared at the makeshift grave he made for Refrei.

Ruka suddenly spoke up.

"We should leave the desert, we cannot protect the ruins just by ourselves and if we are dead how could we honor our ancestors?"

"But where would we head to Ruka? you know as well as I do we don't know the language of the outsiders." Rekia said with a look of disdain present of her face.

It was Ruka who ruled out trying anything to help the village and to simply hide and hope the horde didn't notice the stench of fear.

"What would you have us do instead Rekia? sit here and wait for our already decreasing supplies to run out?"

"I think we should head to the forest of the ancients." Kal said as he stared at the group in front of him.

"The elves are probably the only ones who would remember our language."

"How is Kou's condition Rekia?" Ruka said with a hint of worry on his face, Kou had been simply unresponsive since the death of Refrei, and hasn't been informed of the destruction of the village and the deaths of his parents.

"He still isn't responding to anything, I had to force water down his throat so the spoilt brat wouldn't die from dehydration."

As the adults of the group continued their discussion of where to head towards the remaining youths, Mae, Rik, and Rufra started talking amongst themselves.

"Is Kou going to be okay?" Rufra asked as he stared at Mae.

"I thought you hated Kou bullying you why are you worrying about that brat?" Mae said with a frown across her face.

"But."

"Rufra, I know you closed your eyes when the fight happened but what happened to Kou isn't something that just goes away on its own." Rik said as he stared at the lifeless Kou resting on the ground near them.

"It's almost too creepy to see him not up and causing trouble." Rik said with a sigh.

*****

The Red Gorge group after finally freeing themselves from the clutches of the desert began again on their approachment into the Kuh's lands.

Soon the scout signaled the group to stop.

"What did you see." the captain barked as his patience for this desert had grown to almost nothing.

"There's the remains of a village uphead, but we shouldn't go near it captain, a swarm has made it into their nest."