Chapter 16 - Assassin in the sand

It took a day of hard travelling before the Machar finally stirred. The man's limp head, raised and he mumbled something incoherent.

"Di stop, he's waking up."

Their pace slowed to a full stop and lowered his body, allowing the two to slid off his back. The Machar's eyes fluttered open. He took a moment to look at Valor and then at the surrounding location. His eyes shifting in and out of focus.

"So, I did survive her wrath." The man groaned again and grabbed his head. His mask was lopsided, so he quickly adjusted it and glared at Valor. "I suppose you're to blame for that".

"I found you in that storm, nearly died getting to you."

Diargo bent forward and leaned his face close the Machari, "He saved your life."

The machari flicked his dark hood over his head. nodded respectfully to the gorilla, and then glared at Valor. "So, you're an idiot."

"I- wait what?"

He straightened himself up and began to wipe off the dust that was covering his long dark robes. He turned his hooded face to look at them, his eyes glinting in the shadows.

"It's a simple question."

Diargo snorted and placed massive arm between the two humans, his amber eyes glowing with contempt.

The Machari bowed to the Beast. "I meant no disrespect Great one, please pardon me if my words insulted you, my question regards the human only."

Diargo blinked and then bared his fangs in a fearsome smile, he removed his arm and took a step back. "I like this guy."

Valor gave him an incredulous look, "He just insulted me."

The ape shrugged with a lopsided grin.

"I know you're not mute, I heard you speaking just moments ago." The machari said, his eyes unreadable.

"Look dude, I risked my life to save you. Without me the storm would have buried you."

The Machari scoffed and muttered, "as was her will. Domhain wished to take me that night, it was not your place to deny that."

Valor girtted his teeth, "If you didn't want to be saved, why did you send out that signal."

The glinting eyes vanished for a moment, "It wasn't meant for you..."

The man's posture changed, his hooded head stooped a little lower and his shoulders started sag. Diargo and Valor exchanged a look.

"My name's Valor, and the Trykoori is Diargo."

The man raised his head and slowly turned to look back at Valor, his eyes looked lost and faded underneath the brim of his hood.

"Col," the man grunted, "well I'll be on my way, thanks for saving my worthless life. Goodbye Diargo, it was an honour."

"Okay, see you later."

"Hey wait a minute!" Valor's forehead bunched, "You can't just walk away, how do you expect to make it on foot."

Col waved away the words, "I really don't."

"His soul is broken. Can you feel it."

Valor continued to glare at Col, who marched forward into the setting the sun, not bothering to look back. "Of course, I can feel it, it's like my dad's."

Diargo grunted in agreement, and he sat down into the sand with a crash.

"We can't let him leave, Di."

The ape yawned and watched Col's silhouette grow smaller. "You just want to steal his fighting techniques."

The sky was darkening quickly, very soon the temperature would drop drastically. The shadows from the sand dunes were long, making the desert seem even more vast and endless.

"It's not stealing! It's- It's learning, I'm going to LEARN from him, he can be my teacher."

Diargo crinkled his nose and gave the human a look, but he knew it was pointless to argue. He couldn't help but admit that Col made him uneasy. His grief was as concealing as the mask on his face, he couldn't quite get a sense of the who the man was. What he was capable of.

Valor was already running after the man, "Col! hey Col, come back!".

With a shout of frustration, Col turned around. "If I was thankful for the rescue I would have said so… I'm not."

With pursed lips Valor placed a hand on his shoulder. "I realize that. It's not a thank you I'm looking for."

Col shrugged the hand off and glared, "I don't share my personal space with outsiders."

"You did a whole lot of sharing while you were unconscious," Valor said, his smile widening.

Col pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, "What do you want."

"I don't know how often you come here, but the nights get real friggen cold. Even the Sand horns don't like it." Valor pointed at the sun setting behind them, "I figured that you might as well spend one more warm night, and then you can find somewhere to die… comfortably."

Col saw the sun, slowly drowning in the endless sand. He could already feel the temperature drop, goosebumps rose on his neck. His heart ached for his companion. The warmth of the fur enveloping him as he slept. He would be cold forever.

"There is a chill…" Col crinkled his nose as Valor's smile grew even wider. "Wipe that damn smile of your face and I'll join you."

"It's a deal, I don't smile much anyways, Diargo's pretty boring."

"Distance doesn't matter when I can hear your thoughts, sand-head."

Col begrudgingly started to follow him, his long black robes lightly waving in the cool nights breeze.

"You know, you shouldn't insult the Trykoori. Domhain has blessed us with the company of these beasts."

"Now this is a human that knows what he's talking about it."

"Trust me, you don't need to give me the 'Great Order' lesson, that's something my Father drilled into my head… It's the OGD that may need a couple of lectures."

Col's dark eyes flashed at the mention of the OGD, "That's something you and I can agree on." He hissed the words through his teeth. "They possess quite a disturbing vision for the- WAIT."

Col stopped dead in tracks, his hand outstretched to Valor. He was staring at a spot in the sand only a few feet in front of them.

"What, what is it." Valor said, panic rising in his chest as he heard Col's alarming tone.

"Do you know what that is?" Col hissed the words through his teeth, his eyes locked on the position.

Valor followed his finger and then he saw it, a shallow depression in the sand. An almost perfect circle, its border was right at his feet. "Shit."