Chapter 7 The settlement

''Mmm.'' Cyra moved her head, feeling restless. Zane tried to feed her water, but she was turning her head from his reach. water poured on her lips, wetting them. She felt the cool touch and eagerly opened her mouth, gulping the water down. She sighed in satisfaction, going back to deep slumber, looking cute and peaceful, but Zane didn't seem to notice, his mind on the distribution of mana stone to the base.

He looked at the hundred mana stones he had on hand and looked at Cyra's innocent face. He felt sorry for the fifty mana stones wasted for her to enter the base, not to mention food and water included. He sighed; he has to drink purified waterless these days.

Reaching the oasis where the base was built, he drove through, stopping for the watchers on duty to check his identity. Two women in black waved for him to get out of the car. The taller of the two saw pale Cyra under the night sky.

''What's going on with this newbie? Never seen her before,'' she said, looking at Cyra in caution and curiosity. It has been a long they have seen fresh pale skin like this; even the maneaters are dark in complexion and dirty.

The other woman spat and sneered when she saw Cyra's petite frame and said condescendingly ''She just a weakling without any use. She looks like a man.'' The taller woman burst out in laughter at her partner's last phrase.

A tick of annoyance showed on Zane's forehead. They were too noisy; it was getting on his nerves. ''Shut it. here...'' he thrust fifty mana stones at them and entered the car, driving off fast.

"Tsk, because you are feared, that's why you don't know your position as a man, under a woman.'' The both of them cursed at his back, unable to say it to his face from fear. They went back to their position, gossiping along the way.

Zane parked in his usual spot, carried Cyra out, and went to his tent. His tent was at the edge of the camp, separated from everyone else. If you look around, you'd see tents fashioned from rugged pelts of hunted beasts, standing defiantly against the elements. Thick furs, weathered and worn, formed a protective barrier against the chill of the night air. Each tent is a fragile sanctuary, surrounded by endless waves of sand and dried leafless trees. The night was silent and cold as every other night.

You would see hundreds of open tents, with the largest one in the center where the leader is based.

His tent was hidden at the back of the bare dried-up tree; he didn't like to associate with people's endless noise. He opened the tent, seeing everything was placed how it was, without any intruder's touch. seem they have learned their lesson not to enter my tent.

He laid Cyra down on the fur bed, looking at her face slowly in curiosity, wondering why she was there. It had been a long time since anyone had come from the other side. He wondered what the other side looked like, having been here all his life.

His hand caressed her face gently, fascinated by her smooth skin. ''Hmm..'' his hand paused, his face regaining its cold indifference. He wasn't supposed to get close to another being again. Helene was the last one.

Cyra felt she was dreaming when she felt the smooth surface she was lying on. Her eyes twitched and opened slowly; her sight was still blurry, blinking to regain focus. She saw her surroundings and her mind cleared up in an instant.

Fear gripped her when she saw the unfamiliar place. Inside the tent, the solar lantern cast a dim, uncertain light upon the sparse belongings, arranged on the sandy floor. The air hung with scents of dust and stale sweat, but it was clean.

She looked cautiously and couldn't see anyone. She tried to get up from the bed.

''Oh you are awake.'' she was startled by the soothing calm voice, her heart beating fast.

She looked up with the help of the dim light and saw a handsome man she had ever seen. His white long hair where braided, showing his caramel skin, his eyes a white icy white pupils. From his clothes, you would know delicious muscles were hidden. This was her dream man walking out of her dreams. She saw he frowned and knew she was staring too much. Snap out of it you pervert.