Chapter 24

The familiar feeling of rumbling wood laid beneath my back.

As consciousness slowly returned to me, that feeling became accompanied by the sounds of sloshing sand and hushed whispers. I didn't have to open my eyes to know I was on a cart again.

At the very least, this time I didn't feel a burdensome metal weight linked around my leg.

Groooowl.

My stomach cried out at me, but this time the thunder came before the lightning.

Moments later, the feeling of emptiness that had accompanied me through my final hours of consciousness returned.

The aching and gnawing feeling of hunger.

I stirred, opened my eyes, and tried to gain some semblance of my surroundings.

"Just lie there for now." A familiar voice emanated softly from above where I lay.

A pale hand passed me a piece of bread, then a bowl of a murky white soup. It smelled similar to a homey white bean soup that my mother used to make. Just that was enough to send me into a frenzy.

My weakened body used every ounce of its remaining fuel to scarf down the meal. I knew that you were supposed to take things like this slow, but I lacked the self-control to eat it properly.

After a good few minutes of ravenously eating, I look up at my savior.

Fie simply gives me a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. Behind her is a cacophony of sand and stars.

The two of us were on a rather large roofless wagon somewhere in the desert. I looked around me to see other carts of varying sizes following the same path. Behind us lay a shrinking pyramid, already with a large number of miles between us.

I sighed in relief.

If the caravan had already left, then they must have understood what my solo return had meant. It was a huge weight off my shoulders knowing that I wouldn't have to face Dulmir like that, telling him what happened to his former comrades.

I looked down at my plate polished clean, then back of at the cross-legged Fie.

"Thank you, by the way- I don't know if you made it, but I loved it," I whispered out the thanks, my voice raspier than I expected.

"It's no problem, now rest. We'll talk in the morning."

My body asked no questions, the fatigue forgotten because of my meal quickly returned. I didn't fight it and shut my eyes, a small layer of the burden removed.

-

It was only a moment before Fie could hear Hale's quiet snoring.

"Thanks, I made it myself," She whispered, far too quiet for anyone to hear.

-

Morning came quickly, but the wheels of the caravan did not stop turning. It seemed that most of the caravan wanted to get out of this sandy wasteland as soon as possible.

I didn't blame them, especially considering that most of their planned expeditions were put on indefinite hold.

There were quite a few unfamiliar faces around, but most kept to themselves.

By most, I meant all of them. According to Fie, my arrival had been quite the spectacle. I had done a good job of scaring the last few holdouts from wanting to enter.

Fie and I made idle chat, but it seemed that neither of us was too keen on recounting the stories of the last few days.

She inquired about my Tal poisoning recovery, to which I responded by telling her what I knew about my own situation, without giving her the context of the situation. Throughout the story, she seemed surprised and intrigued, but I could tell that she agreed that the solution wasn't sustainable, even if she didn't say it.

Then, Dulmir arrived.

He looked far more professional than before, his armor polished and expression tired.

He sat quietly as I retold the events from my perspective, not interrupting once. I didn't include the bits about my 'system,' but tried to tell the story as accurately as possible.

He sighed a few moments after I finished.

"A fitting way to go for those two," He clasped a hand on my shoulder and looked me dead in the eyes, "don't dwell on it, son. People die in dungeons every second of every day. Just, make it a worthy sacrifice."

Dulmir gave me a toothy grin, trying to inspire some sort of confidence in me.

I looked around at the other caravans, "I haven't seen Lail or Tarkas since I woke up. Did they end up going in a different direction with some other group? I wish I could have at least seen them off."

Dulmir's expression darkened and he glared at Fie, "You haven't told him?"

Fie's face paled as she clasped her hands together, "Well, he was recovering... And there wasn't a good time."

I looked back and forth between the two of them. My heart had some idea of what they were saying, but my brain didn't want to process it.

Dulmir looked back to me, "There is no other Caravan, Hale."

The color drained from my face, "No, that can't be- Then where have they been hiding?"

Fie didn't look at me, "They never came out."

"What?"

"We are all that's left of Panacea."

Her voice bounced around in my head.

Disbelief turned to panic, "We have to go back for them," I quietly shouted.

"Hale, look-" Dulmir started.

"No, Dulmir are you crazy? They could be alive in there, like me." I pointed towards the pyramid.

"We had an agreement Hale, 7 days."

"Wait- No, did you lock them in there?" My eyes widened in anger. "How could you? They were our party members, we have to go back what if-"

"If they didn't come out in-"

"So you gave up on them? I thought we w-"

SLAP.

I was cut off by a brutal slap.

It was hard enough to tinge my skin a bright red. It was a few moments before I even processed what happened.

I looked up at the offender. Fie sat there with tears running down her face, a contorted mess of anger and sorrow on her face.

"Hale, that's enough. Please."