The golem became a memory as I stepped in circles, looking for a bit of action to break the defeated mood. Deravan looked disapproved and even Robert looked somewhat down, staring into the sand and remaining silent against the words of others. I rubbed my eye and started wadding through the sand in my footwear, assuming that Dorisma knew where she was going. I clenched my eyes and yawned, rubbing excess tears away from my eyelids as he continued journeying slowly through the undisturbed desert. I'd probably need to go to bed slightly earlier than usual, especially as my joints were aching and my arm felt messed up.

I thought about that kid a few times as we continued walking, eventually reflecting on that bastard ninja who messed up his transformation spell, at least from my perspective. Hopefully I could find a shaman or someone similar to reverse my form, giving me an excuse to fork out more than enough cash and bet for a service. The princess seemed distant and cold, not even breaking a sweat as I turned to her while still walking. Her expression seemed to be locked to flashback eyes, staring through everyone as I felt my soul shudder.

Eventually the cacti we walked past were replaced by dry bushes and sticks, grass finally growing but parched and sickeningly brown. The path we were walking on became more developed, from depressions in the sand to gravel and abandoned road markers. It seemed as if Mother Nature was trying to create rain to relieve the plants at our feet, a thin layer of silver in the sky that couldn't veil the noon above us. The view was relatively uninteresting, save for a few sticks dug into the ground and a cabin or two. No one seemed to speak during the walk as if we just lost someone, though arguably I was so lost in my thoughts that I (myself) couldn't hear anything.

Either way, I was shaken awake from my dreamless walk, no longer dozing in a zombie state. A heat wave that washed through my clothes forced my eyes open at splinters and embers swirling through the air like fairies. "What in the-" I muttered something before being interrupted by coughing and even shrieks, witnessing a cart ablaze and its occupants ready to cull us for blood. "Oh in the name of the Lord, what's going on? Why can't we just get to the dust and get this over with?"