Chapter 42: Echoes of the Past

The desert, with its endless sands, seemed to stretch to the very horizon, with no end in sight. As the old man and the mage advanced, the feeling of being watched grew, as if the invisible eyes of the dunes were following them at every step. The ruined city they had left behind seemed only the prelude to something much larger, much darker.

As night fell, they set up a small camp. The scorching heat of the day had given way to the biting cold of the desert night. The old man lit a fire, its flames dancing almost hypnotically in the darkness. The mage sat beside him, his eyes fixed on the fire, but his mind clearly elsewhere.

"This figure we encountered... he seemed to know this place better than anyone else," the mage murmured, breaking the silence. "He was no ordinary man. There was something about him that transcended humanity."

The old man nodded, reflecting on the encounter. "He spoke of buried secrets, of things that should not be discovered. Perhaps he is the keeper of those secrets, someone who lives between the world of the living and the world of the dead." The wizard pondered for a moment, before asking, "Have you ever faced anything like this before? Something that cannot be touched or understood?" The old man let out a deep sigh. "Many years ago, I crossed paths with things that could not be explained by the normal laws of the world. But I never got used to them. I never wanted to fully understand, because I knew that some truths are too dangerous to be uncovered." The wizard, normally so confident in his own magic and knowledge, seemed disturbed by this admission. "We are moving into uncharted territory," he said, his voice low. "The magic here does not follow the rules we know. It is ancient, primitive, and very, very dangerous." Before the old man could respond, a strange sound echoed in the distance, like a drawn-out wail that cut through the silence of the night. They both stood up immediately, their eyes searching for the source of the sound. But the desert, with its vastness, distorted everything, making it impossible to determine where it was coming from.

The wailing continued, now more intense, almost desperate, as if something were in deep pain or endless agony. The old man felt a chill run down his spine. Something was approaching, and he knew it was not natural.

The wizard began to cast a protective spell around them, the words rushing from his lips as he drew runes in the air. "Whatever it is, we will not let it catch us off guard," he said with renewed determination.

Suddenly, the sound ceased, as abruptly as it had begun, leaving a deep, unsettling silence in the air. The old man gripped his sword tighter, waiting for something to emerge from the darkness around him. But nothing came.

After a few minutes, the wizard relaxed, though his expression was still tense. "Whatever it is, it is testing us," he said, looking at the old man. "You want to see how far we can go before attacking."

The old man did not like being the plaything of something he did not understand. "Then let us prepare for whatever comes," he replied, his voice firm. "If you want to test us, so be it. But we will be ready."

The rest of the night was spent in vigil, both of them alert for any sign of danger. But the lamentation did not return, and the darkness remained unshaken. When the sun finally began to rise over the horizon, dyeing the sands with a golden glow, the old man and the wizard knew that they had survived another night. But they also knew that the journey was only beginning, and that the challenges they would face in the desert would be far more dangerous than any battle they had ever fought.

As day broke, they continued their march, each lost in their own thoughts, aware that the desert still held many secrets, and that the greatest dangers were yet to come.