The Return

Minimus felt the heat of the sun as he walked across the sand. Sweat began to drip down his face. 

Minimus's mouth felt dry as he continued walking. He thought as he walked. "Water. Water. I need water." 

Asterios began to get further and further away from Minimus. Minimus thought as he continued walking. "Why is... he moving... so fast?" He said weakly. "Wait! Slow... down..." 

Minimus's knife fell out of his hand and he collapsed onto the sand. He looked up from the sand at Asterios who appeared to be getting further and further away. He stretched out his right hand toward Asterios and thought. "I can't... let him... leave..."

His eyes closed and his face fell into the sand. 

***** 

He opened his eyes and saw Asterios standing over him. 

Asterios looked at Minimus and said. "Idiot! Aren't you a Scarion?"

Minimus nodded and looked at the sweat covering Asterios's forehead. He thought as he looked at the sweat. "He must be exhausted too." 

Asterios said. "Get up!" He tossed a canteen to Minimus and said. "We need to keep moving!"

Minimus looked at the canteen that had landed next to him and then looked at Asterios as he thought. "We're continuing?" 

Asterios turned his back to Minimus and began to walk away. Once again Minimus could feel the ground shake beneath his feet each time Asterios took a step. 

Minimus attempted to get up off the ground and actually managed to do so. As he lifted himself off the ground he felt something soft fall off of him. Everything suddenly became brighter.

Asterios said with his back facing Minimus as he continued to walk away. "Keep your head covered." 

Minimus looked at his arms and thought while confused. "I was able to get up?" He then thought. "Wait! What did he mean 'keep my head covered'?" He looked behind him and saw a blanket. 

Minimus thought as he looked at the blanket. "Was that on me?" His confused look suddenly disappeared as he thought. "Wait! I understand now!" 

Minimus walked over to the blanket, picked it up, and then put it over his shoulders. He used the top section of the blanket to cover the top of his head and face.

Minimus picked up the canteen off the ground. He stashed it in the bag that was attached to his back. 

Minimus looked around at the area that was close to where the canteen had been but all he saw was sand.  He looked at the sand with a calm expression and then it suddenly switched to a panicked one. He thought as he looked at the sand. "The knife?! Where is the knife?!" 

Minimus continued to look at the sand but was unable to find the knife.  The only thing he could find was sand.

Minimus looked at Asterios and thought. "I lost it! Now what do I do?" 

Asterios had stopped walking. He said with his back facing Minimus. "Hurry up!" 

Minimus looked at Asterios and then back at the sand as he thought. "What should I do? What should I do?" 

Minimus felt Asterios's silver eyes glaring at him. He suddenly turned and ran toward Asterios. He held onto the sides of the blanket as he ran. 

Minimus stopped running as soon as he got close to Asterios's left side. He put his hands on his knees as he looked down at the ground and panted. He said while panting. "The knife... it's gone..." 

Asterios remained silent. 

Minimus looked up at Asterios. Asterios held out the knife with his left hand toward Minimus. The blade of the knife faced Asterios and the handle faced Minimus. 

Minimus looked at the knife with shock as he thought. "He had it?!" He suddenly began to laugh to himself as he thought. "So, I was worried over nothing. He had it."

Asterios said. "Take it." 

Minimus looked back at the knife and took it from Asterios with his left hand. He stopped walking and bowed to Asterios as he said. "Thank you, Asterios!" 

Asterios looked at Minimus with a confused look and then looked away. Asterios said, "We need to keep moving." He began to walk again. 

Minimus walked alongside Asterios. However, Minimus had to speed walk in order to keep up with Asterios's pace.

Minimus asked Asterios. "How much further is it?" 

Asterios replied. "I've never explored these lands before." 

Minimus thought. "That doesn't really answer the question."

Asterios stopped walking. 

Minimus looked at Asterios and then stopped walking too as he thought. "Why are we stopping." 

Asterios looked up at the sky.

Minimus looked at Asterios with a confused look and then looked up at the sky too. 

In the sky smoke could be seen. It came from the same direction as the large black building. The smoke made it look as if the sky was burning. 

Minimus and Asterios both looked at each other. 

Asterios said. "We need to hurry." 

Minimus nodded. 

*****

Both Asterios and Minimus stood in front of a hole in the wall. A hole that leads into the interior of the black building. 

Minimus thought as he stared at the hole in the wall. "Is this the same hole as before? Is this what it looks like from the outside?" 

Minimus looked over at Asterios and thought. "Are we really going in there?" 

Asterios walked toward the hole in the wall.

Minimus remained standing in the same spot as before. He grabbed the blanket with his right hand and folded it up into a ball. He then stashed away the blanket into the bag.

Minimus followed behind after Asterios. Both Minimus and Asterios stepped through the hole in the wall. 

Minimus immediately saw armored figures. He saw both black armored figures and sand colored armored figures. However, none of them moved. They all remained still on the ground. There were around twenty of them in total.

Minimus thought as he began to walk closer to the armored figures. "Are these the same ones from before?" As he got closer to the armored figures he noticed all of them had very large cuts across their armor. 

Minimus immediately stopped walking and looked at the large cuts on the armored figures with shock as he thought. "How is this-? How is this possible?"

Minimus continued to stare at the large cuts on the armored figures as he thought. "Who could do this? How can someone even cut through armor like this? Who possesses that level of strength?"

Minimus suddenly froze up. He looked up at Asterios and thought. "No way! It couldn't be! Was it him?" He looked at the greatsword strapped to Asterios's back. A cold chill went down his spine. He thought as he looked at Asterios. "It was him, wasn't it? He was the one I saw when I tried to escape this place!"

Asterios suddenly grabbed the hilt of his sword with his right hand and said. "What are you doing?!" 

Minimus immediately froze up. His entire body became as still as a statue. 

Astetios said with his back facing Minimus. "We need to keep moving."