Timely Intervention

The black wings of a predator flap over an alluring woman with long, red hair. Her reptilian green eyes squint at the vultures surrounding her. Her voice seems to cannot escape her throat since she hasn't had a drop of water in a while.

Her pace is so slow that from afar, she appears to be stagnant. Dragging her feet through the soft sand, she leaves behind a trail that is soon erased by sporadic bursts of wind that cover it.

After an entire day walking aimlessly in a never ending golden sea, eyes unconsciously fall to the ground. No matter how strong her will for survival is, she cannot raise her head and face forward.

While staring at the uneven ground, her face brightens when a green sprout is at her feet. A smile forms on her face. She musters the will to lift her head up. Her eyes flow at the sight of the greenest plain she has ever seen. A couple of trees stand tall, shading the crystal lake beneath them.

'T-That…'

Unable to comprehend what her eyes are seeing, she rubs them until they redden. The muscles in her body contract when the fragrant nature smells enter her nostrils.

Her mind is blank as she moves one foot after the other, headed towards this paradise, in the middle of the Scorching Desert. Her lips bled when she tried to utter a few heartfelt words, but it didn't stop her. Livelier than before, she continues.

She trips and falls to her knees, but she still won't give up. She reaches the opaque water and leans over satisfies her thirst. Moments later, after the red-haired woman had her fill, she dives in and didn't surface for several seconds.

After getting out of the water, she takes off her clothes and hangs them on the tree to dry. Her long hair covers her breasts as she sits at the banks of the lake with her feet in the water. Her slender waist twists every time she stomps a foot.

Meanwhile, at the fallen gates of Aeptian Town, a hooded figure riding a beast with pitch black fur remains still as they look around. They pat the beast and point in the palace's direction.

The beast runs through the chaos, ignoring the royal guards battling the Desert Scorpions, which leaves everyone baffled. The general, who's at the front lines, stares at the beast. "What's a Mana Hound doing in the desert?"

With a bow and arrow at hand, the hooded figure stands on the beast while it runs and aims. After releasing the string, the arrow flies toward a young man with messy brown hair and eyes that lost their color and vibrance.

Nox has a few seconds left before his HP reaches zero. After consuming his stamina by healing people with a time-consuming antidote, running around avoiding guards and help his friends, he didn't have any time to rest, and the fatigue was about to take its due.

The latest spell of gravity when he tried to save Malia from getting caught consumed the remaining of his mana, draining his life force at a rapid pace.

The red pop-up window of translucent form multiplies as Nox loses consciousness. The count down echoes in his ears.

[3]

[2]

[1]

Old man Sholl, who has Nox on his back, comes to an abrupt stop. The arrow landed in front of him, piercing the solid stone. He looks at the arrow bewildered, pondering over who might have shot it.

Before the countdown reached zero, a dim green aura surrounded the arrow, and energy of the same color poured out of the cracked ground, blasting into the young man. Gradually, his eyes were getting their vibrant purple color back.

{Loading…}

[Healing energy received]

Nox, consciousness returns to him and his vision clears, allowing him to see more clearly the worried faces of Malia and her family.

In the meantime, royal soldiers surround them. By showing spears and swords and point them at Nox and his company, the guards force them to the middle. Malia and Kali raise their hands and Nox is kneeling to the ground, where he fell earlier.

Old Man Sholl helps him stand and supports his weight, while the arrow still emits the green healing energy.

The guards sneer. The send one of them to inform the general and King Gor of their achievement, but their happiness didn't last long, as Yulia stormed them with a pack of camels. Panting and sweating, Yulia shouts. "What are you waiting for? Hop on!"

Old man Sholl looks at the young man beside him and decides in a split second to remove the arrow from the ground and place it in Nox's pocket before helping him get on a camel. He's not sure why he did that, but it seems to help his recovery.

In his hazed state, Nox turns to Yulia. "Where's Roi?"

"He went on ahead…!"

The five of them, secured on their camels, make a run for it with the royal guards chasing after them once again. It only took a few seconds for them to stop and run the opposite way, screaming.

Malia looks pack and turns pale almost immediately. It wasn't the guards coming after them, but a pitch black beast with a hooded rider. Its red eyes send shivers down her spine and made the hair on her nape stand. "F-Faster!"

Nox, hearing the distress in Malia's voice, looks back out of curiosity. A smile gets painted on his face before pulling his camel's bridles, signaling it to stop. The others feel a sense of irritation when they see him stop instead of trying to go faster.

He gets off his camel and walks towards the beast. They are only a breath away from each other when Nox smiles and puts his arms around the Mana Hound, burying himself in the pitch black fur. "Umbra! What are you doing here, buddy?"

While hugging his loyal Hound, plentiful healing energy fills his surroundings, helping him recover at a faster pace. Feeling the fatigue leaving his body and his wounds healing, he takes a step back and smiles. "Mirena, as well?"

The silver-haired beauty removes her cloak, revealing her face, leaving Malia and the others mesmerized. Kali points at her and whispers. "That's an elf, right?"

Malia and Yulia, who are closer, hear the girl's voice and nod. Their eyes remain fixated on Mirena, since it's their first time seeing an elf. Mirena notices their gaze and smiles at them, making their hearts flutter.

The half-elf then looks at Nox, who's already feeling better. "Shall we get going?"

Nox pats Umbra and nods with a face full of nostalgia. He hasn't seen Mirena in a while and the intense climate in the Scorching Desert forced him to abandon Umbra because of its fur. Even though the beast didn't like it, it obeyed its master and returned to the village.

Now that they are all back together, they need Roi so they can leave from Aeptian Town. Riding their camels, they reach the gates. Upon analyzing the situation and based on the locations of the debris, they reach the conclusion that the gate splintered inwards after taking a forceful blow from the outside.

At the plaza where he greeted the king, Desert Scorpions and royal guards battled one another. The general's squad is in the centre of the chaos with the least casualties. They even took down a creature.

The trampling of the hooves gets everyone's attention. Their eyes widen when they see Nox riding towards the gate. King Gor, who's standing on a platform and oversees the situation in the plaza, commands his guards to stop them. Nox and company don't stop their advance as they get closer to the exit.

A howl reverberates in their ears, that left them shaking. An enormous dark figure with red eyes attacks the guards at a frightening speed. It doesn't kill them, but it bites and throws them around.

The lizard man general hisses when he sees that happening. "The Mana Hound belongs to the Demon Lord!"

The guards that later fall to the ground cannot stand since Umbra robbed them of their mana.

King Gor grits his teeth and reluctantly shouts. "Fall back. We still have the Desert Scorpions!"

"Wise choice King Gor!"

A shing to the neck gets the king's attention. His eyes roll to the corner, trying to look who's behind him. Roi puts his hand on the king's shoulder and creeps next to him. "It would be a shame if you didn't change your orders!"

"W-Who are you?"

"Oh, right, we haven't met. I'm an assassin working for the Demon Lord!"

Roi approaches the edge of the platform where the king observes the situation and, right before he jumps off, he turns and smirks at the confused king. "Remember that I just spared your life, which won't happen again!"

The general sees Roi jumping off the king's platform and leaves his post, running towards him. A scorpion's tail smacks him in the ribs, sending him flying in the opposite direction of the platform.

Yulia carries a second camel that later Roi hops on and rides with the others. Their faces, when they exit Aeptian, show bitter smiles. Yulia lived there her entire life, Malia and her family had a place to return and Nox felt a sense of belonging he hadn't felt for a while.

Roi rides next to Nox. "I'm sorry! I got little information about the lost city!"

"Haha! No worries!"

The young man pulls out a rolled piece of paper and hands it to Roi. After unfolding it, bewildered, he utters. "T-This is…"

"Haha! A map I borrowed from the king!"