THROUGH THE YELLOW SEA

They could see nothing but the long stretches of the barren sand, no signs of civilization or salvation and to add to it, they were thirsty. The extreme heat and drastic cold that they faced in the long hours of the day and the stretches of the night, their bodies were barely keeping up. Kai could barely move and to top it all both of them knew, no help was on its way. As the stars in the sky blurred in and out of their vision.

It had been three days since, Kai still hadn't fully recovered, they had almost depleted their water supplies, only a few sips remaining, most of the water was used up trying to rehydrate Kai and bring his life out of immediate danger, but now it seemed like they would both end up dying of thirst.

They traveled by night and rested during the day, so as to avoid the harshness of the sun, but during the night it wasn't only them that choose to be active, Cyer had killed almost 14 snakes by then, of course they were used as nutrition for their own bodies, Kai couldn't afford to be a picky eater... and Ken still wasn't back. On the map, Kai had indicated an oasis slightly of track, so on the very first day they set out towards it, but when they finally reached it, it was desolate, the watering hole had dried up and cracked sunbaked earth left in its place. They had searched desperately but couldn't find any sustenance and as such per Cyer's instructions they resorted to use their water supply to a bare minimum.

Magic... that's what could save them, but Kai didn't know the requirements. They had all but lost hope.

"I am sorry, Cyer," Kai apologized again, as his throat burned from the dryness,

"There is nothing to apologize for, Kai, what is done is done... we need to figure out how to survive..."

"But had it not been for me you would still have water, and probably would have been at your destination by now."

"Kai... things happen because they are meant to happen, this was to happen and I don't regret it ... yet, so for now let's focus on moving forward, ... I know it's hard for you but let's just keep going."

"But!"

"The map says there is an Oasis not far from here, and it is a big one so there is a great chance it hasn't dried up... so let's keep going." Cyer said as he came a few steps back to Kai's side, now keeping up with his pace. "I have been to this desert before you know."

"You have?"

"Well not exactly here, this is but a sandbox compared to the entire dessert of Alfana, far south of here in the sand sea. I came here on a mission with Master Leon, a friend of Master Allen, would you like to listen to the tale as we continue?"

"Sure."

Cyer smiled weakly and began as he and Kai continued.

"It was a few years ago, in the southern reaches of this mighty desert, I was on an assassination mission. My target was the popular mercenary and bounty hunter leader known as Rakh," Cyer looked sideways at Kai.

"Ahaan." Kai let out indicating for him to continue.

"Rakh was a noble from his clan and also the last person alive from his family."

"How come?"

"You see, the rest of his family, men, women and children were all slaughtered by the wolves when they put up resistance against the occupation that was to come. Rakh was wise or some might call him foolish for he believed that the wolf would provide for his people, what he or his family couldn't. Being alone with this mindset he isolated himself from that war, later to become a chieftain of his people and a governor for the wolves."

"Wait ... what did the wolves provide?"

"Ah, what they almost always do, better livelihoods, better health care, proper education, an open market etc."

"So... why did Rakh's family oppose them?"

"Because letting the wolves take control would weaken their control over the people and they would in a way end up losing their identity."

"err ... I don't quite understand..." Kai replied as he dragged himself forward along with Cyer.

"For the simplest reason, they had power and they didn't want to let it go. Also, it was more of a battle over traditions and modernization."

"ahh ... I see"

"So, Rakh thought of people and found that being under the wolf's control was a better option than surviving on their own. Now when Rakh rose to power, he was loved by his people, all who would have hated him were dead and he was trusted by the wolves who saw no threat from him."

"It ended pretty well for him, eh?"

"It didn't end there, Kai. For you see, as time went on Rakh was slowly poisoned by his love for his dead family, until finally he came to the realization that it would have better if he had fought and died alongside his family"

"How do you know this?"

"We do our homework on our targets; this realization was mentioned in Rakh's diary"

"I see."

"Eaten away by his guilt," Cyer continued, "Rakh resigned as governor, left his post as chieftain of his people and disappeared from the pages of history. Only to surface again as a head of a mercenary/bounty hunter organization that was rumored to be the greatest of its kind. The organization must have existed before, we aren't sure as to how Rakh acquired that rank, in any case it was such that the white wolf as well avoids an all-out confrontation with them." Cyer finished.

"It still exists?"

"Obviously... and that brings us to my mission, I wasn't alone. In face I was the lowest ranking member of the team, Mater Leon, was with us too, he had appeared out of nowhere one day and asked Master Allen to let him handle this mission."

Kai made a slightly confused look...

"Master Leon used to be in the guild but he left ... even before I joined up."

"Ah ... I see"

"So, there we were in the dessert of Alfana.