Salvation from insects

The next morning when the sun had risen, Rufus, Joan, Doreen and Yosef decided to risk it and try and find someplace where they could get help. They saw that the small group of Saracens had traveled toward the south. It was their only clue in deciding which direction to take.

"Rufus, why can't I go with you guys?" Haley asked right before they left.

"I need you to be with them. The grey skins are too weak and unused to this heat, so I need you to be here with them," Rufus answered as they looked at Pema, Amala, and the Ghersengs hiding in the shade.

Haley saw how miserable they looked.

"Haley, if we fail, you have to be in charge of finding a way out of this hell hole," Doreen explained.

"When would that be?"

"When all of us are either dried meat or giant antlion's food," Yosef explained who was not too enthusiastic about leaving.

~~

The four of them left. They covered their faces with ripped clothes to cover from the blistering sun. Doreen, Joan and Rufus were sweating a lot, but Yosef, being an Eichi, was fine.

They reached the location where they saw the local Saracens a few days ago. The winds of the desert had made the tracks disappear. Joan tried her best to find anything that they could use to decide their next direction possible but found nothing.

"From here on onward wherever we go, will be gambling with our lives. If we choose the wrong direction, we might as well be as good as dead," Joan explained.

"So basically like any other day for us," Yosef sneered.

Rufus looked around into the vast empty desert. He then saw a large rock formation in the south and felt a slight divinity coming from that direction.

"We will head that way," Rufus ordered them.

The gamble had started.

~~

After six hours of walking in the hot desert, they finally reached the rocky cliffs. Yosef touched the large rocks it burnt his hand. The cliffs and rocks formed a maze-like structure where they could get lost into.

"You still think we should enter into this rocky terrain? I don't see any reason for people to live anywhere near here," Joan thought.

"It is you call Rufus," Doreen said.

Rufus then without words stepped into the unknown with the three of them following him. Unbeknownst to them, an unknown person wearing Saracen clothes that covered their face followed them while holding onto a scythe.

~~

Doreen started to walk slower as they wandered through the hot rocks. Slowly the night came and the rocks started to cool down, making it easier to move around, but harder to navigate.

As they were wandering around they saw they had started to walk in circles.

"Fuck, we need to find a way out of this place now. Any longer here will make me go mad," Joan yelled in frustration.

Doreen fell to the ground. Rufus ran to her and saw that no more sweat ran through her body. She was dying out of dehydration. She was still conscious, but barely.

"Joan, jump to the top of the rocks and try to see something. We don't have much time," Rufus yelled.

She then started to jump and climb to the top of the cliffs hoping she could find a way out of there. When she reached the top, she saw an endless terrain of rocks that rose from the sand. In the middle was a large pillar-like structure, that looked like it had a roof on its head with windows.

Before Joan could yell and tell what she saw, she felt that someone was about to attack her. She took out her greatsword and cut the attacker in two.

It was a giant ant that came at her. It was around the same size as a large dog and was pitch black.

Soon she saw more ants coming at them from holes in the rocks. Tens to hundreds of giant ants swarmed her.

She jumped off and came back to the three of them.

"Prepare to fight guys," she said.

Soon all the ants started to charge toward them. Rufus conjured divine spheres and threw them at them, killing hundreds, but more just came.

"What the hell did you touch?" Yosef yelled.

"I didn't touch anything. More insect killing, less complaining!" Joan yelled back.

Yosef summoned his puppets to defend against the insect, but soon they were starting to be overpowered.

Joan cut more and more ants along with Doreen, who tried her best to stay awake. Rufus destroyed tens with just a single divine sphere that he threw around and touched many to make them vanish into dust. Still, the ants kept coming.

Before the ants could swarm them, two large claws came from beneath the earth and killed many ants. Three large antlions came from beneath the sand, attacking the ants.

The ants stop focusing on the four of them and instead started to attack together against the antlions.

"This is our chance. Let's go!" Joan yelled.

As they did, four large claws came from beneath the sand that charged at Doreen. She shielded herself with her shield. She fell to the ground and yelled as she barely could protect herself.

From under the sand came the largest antlion they had seen. It had four claws instead of two and had even double the number of legs compared to a regular one. It had many eyes and saliva came from its mouth.

It stopped them from escaping and seemed to be interested in eating humans rather than ants.

The giant antlion then came at them and made the rocks shake and crack with just its steps. They ran away and were able to dodge the monster's attacks. When it looked where its prey had gotten, it saw Joan, dropping right onto its forehead.

Joan then lunged at the beast and cut many of its eyes. The beast cried in pain and didn't feel someone walking on his back. Soon a spear lunged through its back piercing its head.

Rufus then finished it by completely evaporating the monster's body with a single touch.

After the monster was destroyed, Doreen fell to the ground unconscious with Rufus grabbing her before she fell. The ants then quickly took care of the other antlions and soon started to attack them.

"What's the plan now Rufus!?" Joan yelled.

The Saracen that had been following them dropped from the sky and came between the ants and Rufus.

The ants stopped. The unknown person turned around and revealed himself to them. It was a young girl, no older than Haley. She had a scar on her mouth and dark eyes.