Chp.8: A pleasant surprise

Giving a logical and understandable explanation to the beastmen had exactly the results Zamor hoped for: people calmed down as soon as they learned that the animals that had attacked them were completely natural and all rumors of curses and hexes subsided. Calm returned to the camp, as now everyone was sure that even if the sand sharks attacked again they would show no other powers and would therefore be stopped as easily as they had been stopped the first time. Someone had tried to ask if there was a possibility that there were larger predators around, but Zamor had repeated Haku's words that sand sharks were probably the dominant predators of the desert and therefore there was nothing above them; consequently, there was no point in worrying about something that almost certainly didn't exist.

When calm returned, Zamor finally breathed a sigh of relief. Since he was the acting leader of that large group of beastmen, he knew how easy it was for a simple feeling of fear or discontent to spread and cause a disaster, and in extreme conditions like this desert, where heat and thirst already created tension, it was imperative do not ignite any sparks. If someone had started to protest because they felt that continuing the journey was too dangerous, the situation could easily escalate and risk having supplies and water supplies destroyed, or losing some of the protections they had prepared to defend themselves from the sun. A calm group of refugees, therefore, was much preferable to an agitated one.

Since the sun was still high when the situation was resolved, Zamor considered the possibility of continuing further, taking advantage of the last hours of light; after all, standing still in one spot was useless now that the emergency was over, and the beastmen were already resting far more than they usually did. Not to mention the fact that the curtains unfortunately, while protecting from the scorching light, still collected the heat, and ironically it was less hot outside than inside. So perhaps it was best to continue and stop when darkness began to fall.

However, just when he was about to give the order to break up the camp, Haku had come to talk to him. She had asked him to discuss privately; no one heard what they said to each other, but when the dragon finished Zamor's eyes seemed to sparkle and he nodded eagerly. After which he declared that they would stop for that day and that they would leave again the next morning.

After that, no one heard anything more, but someone noticed that some of the best tailors and most experienced in sewing had been summoned by their leader and seemed to have disappeared. And the dragons too, for some reason, were nowhere to be seen. This was strange, because the beastmen were now used to seeing at least one of them walking among the dunes, observing who knows what with his extremely sharp eyesight. Only when the sun disappeared behind the dunes and the sky turned black, and most of the beastmen had gone to sleep, some dragons finally reappeared to take their usual watch; however, all their siblings were still gone.

Efren found that situation strange, so since luckily Rhaegal was among the dragons that had reappeared, he decided to ask him for an explanation. "Hey, dude. Am I disturbing you?"

Rhaegal shook his head. "Of course not. In fact, it's good that you're here. At least I won't be bored during my watch shift"

Efren laughed. Even though dragons were very patient creatures, that didn't mean they didn't get bored staring at the same landscape for hours. "Well, we have to keep our eyes open. After all, we have ascertained that there are little critters around here who aren't exactly friendly"

"Tsk! Don't worry. I really don't think we'll see another shark for at least a week, maybe even more" Rhaegal said. "In the forests, wolf packs have very specific hunting territories, so if you eliminate wolves from a particular pack you do not risk encountering another one before entering another territory. And the forests are overflowing with food sources; in this desert, where there is almost nothing to eat, those sharks probably have territories tens of kilometers wide"

Efren smiled. Indeed, put that way, the possibility of a second attack sounded very remote. "I forgot you're an animal expert"

"Well, we haven't been hunting much together lately" Rhaegal replied. When he and Efren had first met (or rather, when he had forced him to help him under threat) they had spent a lot of time hunting together while he tried his first avatar, and then the human had discovered how much Rhaegal knew about animals of several species, since the dragon had spent his entire life hunting them (literally). And even after they had become adventurers they had gone on a hunting trip amidst one extermination of bandits and another. After Haku was freed, however, they hadn't hunted together anymore, and Efren was now discovering that he missed that adventure a little. And Rhaegal was starting to get nostalgic too. "Maybe we should do it again sometime. Yeah, maybe after we settle down at Thul Oasis we could organize a hunting trip and go and exterminate some of these sand sharks. They would be a fun prey"

"I don't think our definitions of 'fun' match, but it sure would be an interesting hunt" Efren said. "But after this long march under the sun I think I won't want to venture out of the oasis for a while... it's too hot for me"

"Oh, don't worry about that. Tomorrow…" Rhaegal stopped, realizing he was saying things he shouldn't have said.

Efren raised an eyebrow. "Tomorrow what? What will happen tomorrow?"

Rhaegal smiled knowingly. "It's a surprise. A big surprise"

"Does it have something to do with the fact that you've been gone all afternoon?" Efren asked inquisitive.

Rhaegal continued to smile unperturbed. "It's a surprise" he repeated.

Efren understood that he would get no more. Although he was quite curious, he decided to throw in the towel. "Then I'll see it tomorrow. I hope at least it will be something that I'll like"

"Oh, you'll like it for sure" Rhaegal said, making his friend even more curious than before.

The night passed quickly and soon the soft rays of the sun began to light up the sky again. The beastmen awoke and began to break camp. Dawn was the only time he could move freely without sweating and without needing protection, since the sunlight was not yet enough to become dangerous and the sand had not had time to get hot. But as they were finishing up breaking up camp, the dragons that had seemed to have been missing all of the previous afternoon reappeared, dragging with them what looked like a thick black cloth, and with them were all the tailors and sewers who had vanished the day before. before and also some guards who were helping them carry that strange cloth.

Haku was leading the group and as soon as he saw him Zamor came towards him as if he were welcoming an old friend. The two exchanged a couple of words, then Zamor turned and addressed the crowd: "Friends! I have great news for you. Yesterday we suffered an attack by unreassuring creatures, and for a while we were even blinded from fear; but today, those same creatures that scared us yesterday have become part of a great project that the present Haku and his siblings, with the help of our best tailors, have created during the night. Haku, do you want to say a few words?"

The dragon nodded at Zamor's complicit gaze. Haku had to admit that he was beginning to feel a lot of admiration for the lizardman: even if they both didn't trust each other, he seemed really committed to making dragons as appreciated by the community as possible, as if he really believed in the possibility of a future built together. "Thank you. As you well know, we dragons are quite materialistic: we never throw anything away, and what appears to be useless we modify so that it can serve a purpose. The sand sharks were quite dangerous, yes, but they provided us with exactly what we needed for a project we had in mind for a long time: the ability to fly in this desert. All the animals we had before couldn't do it properly in this wind, at least not in the way we needed; but now, thanks to these creatures able to fly even in these conditions, the problem is solved. Behold, so, what will finally keep all of you cool!"

At Haku's signal, something started to move behind the cloth, and four large sand sharks took to the air; but their paws were tied to that gigantic tarp. As they flew higher and higher they pointed in different directions and in doing so the cloth slowly began to unfold, revealing itself to be much larger than it appeared. The sand sharks continued to fly upwards; a bird, an amphitrite or a wyvern would have had a hard time making those movements because of the desert wind hitting them and the cloth they were tied to, but these fish were specially designed to move even in such violent air. Eventually the cloth was completely unfolded and took on a square shape, with sand sharks flying exactly at the top of the figure. The sides of the canvas were enormous, and it was clear that to cover all that gigantic surface the tailors had tied together the sails of all the ships the beastmen had disassembled. It was so large that it could go from one part of the camp to another... and thus cast a great shadow over it.

The sun disappeared behind the tarp, though enough light continued to pass through to make it look like it was sunset. It took the beastmen a moment to figure out what that meant. "Finally the sun won't bother us anymore!" they yelled, bursting into cries of joy.

Even with all their protections, traveling in the perpetual hot sunlight was very tiring and everyone suffered from the heat. But now, thanks to that cloth that cast a shadow over them, finally they would no longer have to suffer from sunstroke or the suffocating heat! They could even have continued unprotected, free from the deadly grip of the sun! The only protection they would still have to wear would have been shoes, as the tarp only covered one area in the desert and then continuing the sand would surely get hot again, but other than that they could finally stay cool!

That was obviously one of the projects that Haku had previously rejected because he didn't have an animal capable of holding the cloth up in the air in the strong desert wind... but now, thanks to the sand sharks, everything had changed. Those strange fish could fly without problems, even remaining still in the air despite the wind moving around them with extreme violence. Four of them had been transformed into avatars and to further enhance their abilities the muscles of their fins had been replaced with those of ogres, making it practically impossible for the wind to move that huge sheet unless a sandstorm hits. At present the avatars were used by Teramon, Keita, Glausar and Jatara, but each day the dragons would take turns; those using avatars would ride in a chariot pulled by their siblings, as Sisna, Kotaru, Maldor, and Malchia already did. Thanks to that intrepid project and that unexpected encounter with the sand sharks, now the heat was no longer a problem: it would have been enough to move the canvas together with the refugees on the march and move it according to the position of the sun, thus maintaining a permanent shade on them and thus ensuring the coolness.

Haku had decided to give that little gift to the beastmen because in this way everyone would have been happier, the complaints about the tiring journey would have decreased and above all everyone would have forgotten the fear they had felt the day before and would instead have replaced it with happiness: after all, if the sand sharks hadn't attacked, they would never have had that giant protection from the sun. This would have ensured an almost smooth continuation of the journey. Besides, Haku hoped that in this way the beastmen would have a greater sense of gratitude towards the dragons. This would have been useful for building their future together... and even if the project failed, gratitude was a powerful weapon and through it Haku could manipulate some beastmen into doing anything.

Apparently the plan had succeeded: the beastmen were clapping extremely happily. "It seems that you have gained many new admirers" Zamor whispered to him. "Thanks, by the way. This surprise is just the kind of news we needed after what happened yesterday"

Haku snorted. He wasn't used to so much flattery from so many people, and he felt a little uncomfortable, but of course he didn't let it show. "You don't have to thank me, it was a trivial matter. Now, can we continue the march?"