Mesikiah ran as fast as he could, but the yellow sands of the Lybrian interior were soft and had a way of allowing the man’s feet to slide backward every time they found the slightest purchase upon its grains. Mesikiah removed his jacket, despite the chilled early desert morning, his flesh was expressing sweat like he had never experienced before. In fact, Mesikiah thought, he couldn’t remember the last time he had to run anywhere. He approached a large, windswept rock, he thought perhaps he could hide in one of its gaping crevices, but he hadn’t the energy to climb at the moment. The man instead sought refuge on the western side, shielding himself from the morning sun. He removed his cumbersome pack, rifling through it until he found his telescope. He extended it to look eastward in the direction he had come. He saw only sand and sky. “Good.” He spoke, still catching his breath. “She probably didn’t even see me.” “No, I saw you.” He heard a middle aged woman’s voice ring out behind and above him. Mesikiah let out a yelp and scrambled backward away from the rock. 

The woman took a casual step forward, dropping down into the sand at the very spot Mesikiah had been resting. “Mesikiah, you mutinous prick!” The man drew his falchion nervously pointing it toward the woman. She began taking long confident strides towards the man as he continued to nervously shuffle backward. “I…I didn’t–” “Oh? You didn’t? You didn’t, what?” She interrupted. “Captain please, it wasn’t my idea.” The man pleaded. “Oh, please know I am well aware it wasn’t your idea Mesikiah. You can’t even handle a square rig, you ignorant shit!” The captain shouted, grabbing the blade of the Mesikiah’s falchion. She easily ripped the falchion from his hands and threw it to the ground. Mesikiah let out a scream then turned and began to run from her. The captain let out an exhale of disappointment. She retrieved the man’s sword from the sand and, in one fluid motion, flipped it in the air so she could grasp it by the handle and threw it. The falchion pierced the man’s neck. By the time the captain had arrived at Mesikiah’s body, he had already bled out. The captain now let out an exhale of empty satisfaction. “Great.” She said to the corpse. “Now I have to carry you all the way back.” Gesturing to the rock almost thirty paces away. 

The captain picked up the body, slung it over her shoulder and began trudging back towards the rock. As she neared her destination she was surprised to see the gaunt fearful face of a boy staring back at her. His face was wide eyed and frozen in fear. She dropped the corpse of Mesikiah on the ground and drew her saber. Pointing the weapon in the boy’s direction she proclaimed, “I am Captain Zoza of the ship Penumbra!” Damn, she thought. I can’t believe I didn’t check the rock for a possible ambush! Maybe you are becoming an old crone. “How many do you have in there with you?” Captain Zoza stood there, her saber pointed, like a statue. “Just me.” The boy let out. “If it really is just you, why did it take you so long to answer?” Again, the boy was silent a little longer than the captain would have preferred, then, he spoke. “I considered lying to you, but…didn’t see much point.” The boy let out a scream and scrambled backward. To his surprise, the woman was already on top of the rock standing over him. He laid there on his back looking up at her in shock. She seemed almost mythical, like some kind of demigod. A smirk crept across the woman’s face. “What’s your name?” The woman requested. “Kemel. Like…like the bridge builder.” “Fine. You don’t have to tell me your real name if you don’t want to. Stay there.” She commanded.

Moments later as the young man sat there trying to keep calm, a corpse fell into the crevice from above, followed by a large rucksack and the dead man’s jacket. Finally, Captain Zoza dropped in opposite Kemel. The captain stood there a moment, examining the space. “Nice place, decent shade.” She stated, nodding with approval. “Who was he?” Kemel asked. “Who? Oh! This piece of shit, was a part of my crew.” She proclaimed as she kicked his lifeless body, startling Kemel in the process. She began rooting through his pockets, finding only a single silver piece. “Heh…” she let out a breath of exhausted disappointment. She stood up. “This. This…naughty. Little. Boy!” She yelled, thrusting the toe of her boot into Mesikiah’s corpse in time with each word. “This waste of space and his crewmates decided it would be best that I be thrown overboard and they divvy the loot up amongst themselves. Now, myself being a woman of decorum and diplomacy, I negotiated a few rations along with the ship’s lifeboat. In exchange for not putting up a fight. Knowing full well mind you that those fools would begin bickering amongst themselves in no time at all.” She continued. “Why, as they abandoned me I could hear them arguing and squabbling. Still well within earshot I could hear crewmate after crewmate thrown overboard. Their corpses, creating an unmistakable splash as the ship left me behind.” The captain paused for a moment as she began rooting through the dead man’s jacket. “One hour, can you believe that? One hour it took them to run…” she paused as her eyes brimmed with tears. “One hour to run my beautiful baby aground.” She took a moment to regain her composure. “The Penumbra, my beautiful baby!” She paused for a moment, examining a slip of paper she pulled from one of the jacket pockets. “Anyway, I’ve been tracking my remaining crew ever since.” She let out an exhalating laugh as she finished examining the slip of paper. “This one,” she said, gesturing to the corpse sharing their company. “Already gambled away his share of the loot and then some.” She said as she held up a slip of paper with a signed I-O-U scrawled across it. 

“Well, Kemel…I have a business proposal for you.” She says, as she flicks the silver piece towards the boy, landing on his chest and sliding down into his shirt pocket. The silver made a quiet yet unmistakable sound of silver hitting silver. “See?” The captain said. “It wanted to be with its twin.” The captain stared for a moment at the rucksack the dead man had brought with him. “Here’s the deal, I’m going to look through ol’ Mesikiah’s pack. Now, if it contains what I think it contains,” Captain Zoza says as she grabs the sack and begins inspecting it. She places her hand on the bottom of the pack feeling for a change in temperature. “Ah! It does.” As she nods her head, flashing a cold grin across her face. She opens the rucksack and begins digging her way through the survival gear inside it. She reaches the bottom of the sack, feeling something cold and unsettling. Kemel looks up to see that the captain has removed a small skull seemingly carved from relatively unassuming stone. She lets out a sigh of relief, holding it to her chest as though it were her own child, whom she’d been long divided. She removed a length of leather cord from her neck and looped it through the eye sockets of the skull, attaching the artifact to her belt. 

“Now then, Mister Kemel. This corpse will soon begin to give off the unmistakable smell of rotting flesh. This is bad as it will attract the attention of all sorts of Lybrian creatures. So, I propose, in exchange for this man’s personal effects, you and I move this body at least several hundred yards to the west. Where, apart from sparing us the overwhelming stench, the predators and scavengers of the desert will be drawn there rather than upon us. So, what say you?” “Al…alright.” Kemel replied. “Great. That’s wonderful news Kemel. Now help me get his clothes off. Lesson number one young man. In a desolate desert such as this, nothing goes to waste.”

Kemel began removing the man’s boots, but was struggling to get them off with the use of only his right arm. Captain Zoza took notice of his struggle. “Both hands kid, c’mon put some muscle into it.” “I…I can’t use my left arm at the moment.” He confessed. “What?” the captain replied. “Here, let me see.” The captain moved towards him, reaching out to inspect his left arm. The young man instinctively pulled away. “Woah! It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. I just need to take a look at your arm.” Kemel nodded solemnly, pulling his shirt down over his shoulder. It was bruised, ranging from black to purple to blue and black again. “Yep, thought so.” The captain surmised. “You dislocated your shoulder. I know I said I wouldn’t hurt you, but if you want me to fix it, and trust me, you do want me to fix it, this is going to hurt pretty bad.” Kemel was about to speak out in protest, but she interrupted him. “But! Only for a moment and then, you’ll be able to use your arm again, understand?” Kemel thought for a moment and then nodded. “Good.” The captain stood up, scanning the horizon all around making sure nothing was nearby. “C’mon, we need more room.” She told him, gesturing upwards to the surface of the large rock they had been taking refuge in. With a little help from the captain the pair found themselves on the atop the rock. The captain scanned the horizon yet again. Still nothing. “Here we go.” Captain Zoza said, letting out a long breath. She straddled the young man face to face. At Least, they would have been face to face were she not a full head taller and further boosted by the young man’s legs she was resting on. “Under ordinary circumstances, I’d expect you to buy me a few drinks first.” The captain said, forcing a light smattering of laughter out of the young man. “Hey! There we go. Nothing like a bit of levity in an otherwise dark situation. “Now, like I said, this is going to hurt. The coast is clear at the moment, but I need you to stay silent. You never know what manner of creature could be lurking nearby. You get me?” “Uh-huh.” The young man replied with a jovial tone. If he took nothing else from his time at the monastery, he knew how to keep quiet through all kinds of pain. 

“It’s best you don’t look.” She said with the authoritative tone of a parent. Kemel closed his eyes, he began to feel a tingling in his shoulder tissue, then a quick dull but heavy pain. Letting his head fall forward he took several slow, long breaths. The captain looked down at the young man resting his head on her chest.

“Zora!” Her mother called. Zora, a young girl of eleven years turned her head in the direction of her mother’s call. “We’re over here mommy!” Zora shouted, waving her arm in broad exaggerated motions. Her mother spotted Zora and her little brother about forty yards down the coast. “Dinner’s almost ready! Finish up and bring your brother with you!” Her mother hollered. “We’re almost done!” Zora retorted. “Now, where are those stinkin’ pirates?” Zora said, as she jumped up onto an old overturned and sun-bleached tree stump as though it were the helm of her very own ship. “Lieutenant Marko! What see you?” Zora received no response. She turned to find her little brother Marko squatting in the sand poking a washed up jellyfish with his finger. “Hey! Marko!” Zora protested. “You’re supposed to keep your eyes on the horizon! And don’t touch the–” “Ow!” Marko cried. “Zoza! It hurt!” “You never poke jellies with your finger, you have to poke them with sticks Marko!” Zora lectured him. Zora saw tears streaming down her younger brother’s face. “You have to be tough like me. Here, look.” She said as she walked over to the jellyfish poking it with her index finger. “Ahh!” She let out, then looked at Marko stiffening her lips and furrowing her brow. Marko looked up at her and did the same. The two children just stared at each other for a moment as the pain slowly began to subside. Marko took several sturdy calculated steps towards his older sister then wrapped his arms around her and laid his head against her chest. Zora embraced him in turn then said, “Hey, c’mon, it’s time for dinner.” Marko looked up at her, his cheeks still wet from his tears, smiled and said, “Fizst one back get to sit in Captain Zoza captain chair!” Marko excitedly proclaimed. “Zora Marko! The Legendary Captain Zor–” Marko took off running full toward their hut. “Hey!” Zora shouted. She stood there for a time watching the gap between them grow, then began to slowly run with elongated and exaggerated movements.

Captain Zoza stood up. “You’re alright kid, just move that shoulder a little more everyday and you’ll be back to normal in no time.” Kemel tried to move his arm skyward at the shoulder, but could only manage a few inches before the pain grew too intense. “Yeah, there ya go. See? One foot in front of the other, you’ll get there.” Kemel nodded. “Thank you, captain.” Captain Zoza allowed a smirk to work its way across her face. It felt good to hear someone call her “Captain” again. “And, it’s Heug.” The young man confessed. “Hmm?” The captain replied. “My real name is Heug.” He reiterated. “Ahh! Now see? You look like a Heug.” Captain Zoza looked around, scanning the horizon once again. “C’mon, let’s strip this corpse and get it far, far away from our rock.”

Each taking an ankle of the now naked and dead Mesikiah, they began dragging the body eastward. The captain had offered the dead man’s clothing to Heug and the boy was particularly fond of the boots and jacket. Zoza thought he looked like a little boy playing pirate, though she said nothing. Whatever this kid had been though, it was enough. It was a quiet journey for the bulk of it, though the captain found cause to talk about this and that while Heug listened. Eventually, Heug glanced back at his temporary home to find it was nothing more than a small dot on the horizon. His nervousness began to set in. He was about to speak up when Captain Zoza opened her mouth first. “Well…” She proclaimed, dropping the ankle. “This is it.” Heug turned his head forward again to find he had stopped just shy of a sizable sand pit. It sank deep into the ground at a fairly steep angle. Heug wagered that if he had fallen in, there would be no return. “Woah! Easy kid.” The captain cautioned. “You fall in there and you’re dead. Now, watch this.” Captain Zoza picked up the body and hurled it into the sand pit. The corpse landed just a little short of dead center and slid the rest of the way down to the lowest point. Heug stared at the nude corpse for a time. “What are we watching for?” He asked, his throat parched from the desert air. “It’s coming.” She assured him. Heug noticed the sands along the sloping walls of the pit started to shift and slide. He took a couple steps back as the captain stood her ground. Slowly, several long, slender, black segmented legs reached out of the bottom feeling around until they struck decaying flesh. They wrapped around the corpse and gently pulled it down into sand, never to be seen again. “Bless-ed be Arkio, god of the sand.” Captain Zoza whispered into the winds. 

Captain Zoza removed a fairly large silver flask from her inside jacket pocket. Heug noticed it had some kind of tentacles engraved all over its surface. The captain removed the cork and took a long slow drink. She stopped to notice Heug was staring at the flask. Placing the cork back on the mouth of the flask, she turned to Heug and said, “Trust me kid, you don’t want this water. Here.” She swung her water bladder off her shoulder and tossed it to him. Heug caught it with both arms as though he were cradling an infant. “Thank you.” He said calmly. If she had intended to “run me through” and toss me into the pit, it’s doubtful she’d be giving me water now. He considered removing the cap. As he raised the spout to his mouth he took note of the smell. Not only was the bladder full, the slightly unpleasant odor it gave off suggested that it had not been opened for at least a couple days. “You know…” Heug spoke, clearing his throat, his vocal cords now properly lubricated. “Alcohol will only serve to dehydrate the body faster.” “Yeah.” The captain agreed, looking west toward their rock. “We have bigger problems at the moment.” She said looking at the intermittent trail of blood the corpse had left behind. Heug inspected the landscape for a time. He eventually took notice of the blood in the sand. The sands had covered most of it up, but clumped around it as though each granule were dying of thirst. “But, you packed the wound. I saw you do it!” He protested. “The sands of Lybra have a way of tearing at a man’s skin, just as they cut through rock over time. Heug,” She said calmly and without hesitation. “I’m going to need you to run back to the rock.” “Huh?” Heug questioned. “Now?” “Now.” She stated. Heug stood there dumbfounded. What is she talking about? He wondered. “Now!” She yelled, forcefully injecting fear and adrenaline into the young man’s heart. Heug let out, running as fast as he could. He wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, but he made a mental note to never anger Captain Zoza. It was far from easy in a dead man’s boots two sizes too big. The captain stood there at the sand pit, waiting. Damn, she thought. The kid’s fast. She took a few steps forward. Under her breath she spoke, “C’mon you bitch, where are you? C’mon…c’mon.” 

Heug began to feel his legs grow heavy as he threw his feet, one in front of the other, and the hefty water bladder he was still holding wasn’t making it any easier. He decided to look back over his shoulder just in time to a large black carapace emerging from the sands about twenty yards behind him. That image alone was enough to lighten his legs again, but the fact that he also noticed Captain Zoza standing still, far away gave him cause to think she had abandoned him. I’m bait? He didn’t dare look back again. Heug looked ahead to the rock growing larger with each panicked stride. He could feel sweat forming all over his chest and back. He dropped the bladder without much thought and flung off his jacket. The cool rush of air over his body felt good. He was approaching the rock now. He leapt towards it, but his sweaty palms kept him from finding purchase on its surface. He slid down into the sand, his back turned to the east, he covered his eyes, shaking uncontrollably for what felt like an age. Then, he felt something on his shoulder and he screamed. Falling backwards into the sand and crossing his arms over his face. He heard a voice, “Hey! Hey. You’re alright.” It was Captain Zoza. How did she get here so fast? The young man couldn’t help but wonder. He slowly lowered his arms from his face, catching her strong, now familiar figure silhouetted by the sun, now high in the sky. He looked behind him to see the carapace of a decapitated behemoth scarab lying in the sand sixty or so yards away. “Here.” Captain Zoza said. “You dropped these.” Holding out his jacket and water bladder. Reaching out with trembling hands he grasped them pulling them close to his chest. Captain Zoza knelt down next to him. “It’s alright, you did good. I couldn’t have done it without you.” She reassured him. Both knew that wasn’t true, but, at least a consoling effort was made. 

The two spent the rest of the day sheltered in the rock. They shared a meal together courtesy of Mesikiah’s rucksack. “I take it you’re heading north?” The captain assumed. “North?” Heug replied. “Y…yes, north.” Heug nodded. “You can travel with me for now.” She assured the young man. “I can take you as far as the Orothox, after that, you’re on your own. Understood?” Heug nodded solemnly. “Don’t worry, you’ll be just fine.” She assured him, as though she knew his future. “Until then,” she continued, stretching out on her back against the cool stone. “I suggest we get some sleep.” Heug doubted he would be capable of sleep, but he reclined against the stone wall all the same. As he did so, it occurred to him that he’d not slept in nearly two days, but the adrenaline still lingered throughout his body preventing his eyes from closing. He wondered how long a person could go until they dropped dead from lack of rest. As he considered this, Captain Zoza sat up with a look on her face to suggest she’d just come upon an epiphany and crawled closer to him holding his gaze with her eyes like a desert stalker. “Go on.” She said softly. “Sleep.” The word entered his left ear and exited his right like an ethereal thread. His head began to weave and sway at the neck. His eyelids grew heavy. 

Heug awoke to a gentle shake on the leg via Captain Zoza’s boot. “Sorry kid,” she said, scanning the horizon with a small telescope. “It’s dusk, time to head out. It’s just as well, seemed like you were having a hell of a nightmare.” Heug rubbed his eyes as he reoriented himself. He was indeed having a very bad dream, though; he could scarcely remember what had occurred. “We’re all clear.” The captain said as she placed her scope back in her leather-clad shoulder bag. Heug began looking around for his water bladder. “Where is the–” Captain Zoza interrupted. “Your water.” She stated, pulling a bladder from the rucksack on the ground. “Here.” She said, offering it to him. Heug released the cap and began sucking down large gulps of water. “Go easy, that has to last you to sunrise, and we have a lot of walking ahead of us.” The captain cautioned. Heug stood, grabbing the rucksack and swinging around his back. “That’s yours now.” The captain informed him. “Take good care of it. Mesikiah let go of a small fortune on that thing. He claimed it was enchanted, although he was also an idiot.” She explained as she climbed her way out of the crevice helping Heug out as he struggled with a full rucksack on his back. “You ready?” She asked. “Aye, aye captain!” Heug said, with enthusiasm. Captain Zoza acknowledged his response with a nod and polite smile.

It was nearing midnight when they stopped to drink. The desert looked beautiful bathed in the silver moonlight of the waning twin moons. Heug drank from his bladder and Zoza from her flask.  Heug pondered what could be in that flask. He never saw her drink from anything else. It couldn’t be alcohol, surely she’d have died of dehydration by now. He desperately wanted to ask her, but he knew she would just tell him to stay silent. She had told him to keep quiet and be mindful of every step he took when they had set off that day. The captain was looking around, scanning the horizon as always. She paused, bringing her head forward and squinting as she dropped to the desert floor motioning for Heug to do the same. She crawled on her stomach to the crest of the dune they had been resting on. Heug slowly and quietly crawled his way up to her. She pointed north east. Heug saw nothing at first, then he saw it. Small figures on the crest of a large sand dune making their way west. “Fools.” she whispered. “Never travel along the ridge of a dune.” Just as she said it, Heug saw several large nondescript shapes emerge from seemingly out of nowhere. They could hear the faintest of heart pounding screams coming from the same direction. After a moment, the screams stopped and the dark shapes on the horizon were gone. The captain leaned over to whisper in his ear again. “Whatever those were, at least they shouldn’t be hungry anymore.” She said, nodding to herself.

They traversed several more large dunes, always keeping their path parallel to every ridge. Just as Heug was beginning to feel cold and his feet fatigued, they stopped yet again halfway down a sandbank. The captain pointed yet again to the north east. Oh god, what now? Heug thought. Then, he saw it. It looked like a lone mountain far in the distance, but he knew it wasn’t. He knew it was something far more impressive than a mountain. It was the Orathox. Far greater in size than he could have ever imagined. He could barely make it out, but it was there. A pyramid highlighted along its contours by the silver of the moons. Fading toward the top into obscurity. He could feel it calling to him. He had no idea what to do or where to go once he got there, but he knew he had to be near it. He wanted to touch it, to place his hands against it and feel its form, its texture. His desire to do so became overwhelming as they neared the outskirts of the once thriving city now in ruin. The sun was just peaking over the horizon as Heug and Captain Zoza reached the base of the Orathox. 

“There’s fresh water up there.” The captain spoke, for the first time in hours. “Did you notice the three tiers?” She asked him. Heug’s gaze was transfixed on the pyramid as he stood there at the base of the twenty thousand steps. He couldn’t believe such a structure could exist. “Sorry?” Heug said, turning to look back at the captain. “If you climb these steps, the first landing you reach, there’s a fountain there.” She explained. “Supposedly it has the ability to heal. I don’t know about all that, but it is water and it won’t make you sick. Anyway,” She said as the creases around her eyes lightened. “This is where I leave you. Good luck.” She stated unceremoniously as she extended a hand. Heug looked down at her hand in a daze and shook it as though he had never shook a hand before. “Thank you captain.” Heug said with all sincerity. He turned and looked back up the steps and asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?” He asked her mournfully, not wanting to be left alone. After a moment of silence he turned to look back at her and she was gone. “Captain? Captain!” He yelled. Where could she have gone? He wondered. Was she hiding in the ruins? Even if she was, the nearest ruins were still too far away to have gotten there so fast. Heug wandered near the ruins for a while thinking she would be sitting there, somewhere.

The captain was gone. Had she even existed in the first place? He questioned his own mind. He certainly hadn’t killed the man who’s boots and jacket he now wore. Who’s rucksack now adorned his back. And he most certainly had not slain the massive scarab. No. He decided she did exist. He looked back at the Orathox. So massive he couldn’t even see its peak. He couldn’t understand why he was being called up its steps, but whatever power was drawing him here, it didn’t feel malevolent. It felt, actually, he thought, it didn’t feel like anything. It just was. 

It wasn’t until he was halfway to the landing, that he realized he was becoming parched. He removed the bladder from his sack. He didn’t have much water left, but he thought it wise to conserve it all the same. Afterall, what if there was no fountain up there? What if the captain had lied to him just to get him to leave? What if… He paused on the steps. He decided right then and there to vow that he would never ask himself “what if” again. It was time, he thought, time to stop living in the past and in the future. It was time to live in the present. And so, with his new revelation, he drank the last of his water and forged on up the steps. 

The final hundred or so steps were the easiest. His pace quickened with the sound of flowing water becoming more and more recognizable. He reached the landing to find a small fountain with a rectangular basin and a depiction of a sun with a smiling face and water flowing from one of its eyes. He dropped his pack and ran to the fountain. Slurping up the water from the sun god’s eye like a ravenous dire wolf who had just made its first kill. He drank and drank before reaching around for his pack to fill any and all empty receptacles he had. As he reached out, as though exiting a trance, he looked around at the landing for the first time. As he turned to his left he found someone standing immediately next to him. He should have been startled, but he felt the opposite. His gaze rose, seeing a beautiful intricately crafted pure white robe with silken black gilding all around its edges and an ashen white staff with inscriptions running up its coarse exterior. His gaze finally stopped at the face which appeared to be covered in ornate white beads with a dark cloth hanging over where the eyes would be. Heug was at a loss for words save for one question. “Are you a god?”