Everything minus one

"Please, I know that it would seem crazy, but... I need you to stop my father! He changed, He changed a lot since the death of Salian. He lives in the past and can't accept reality, putting his kingdom in danger! My life doesn't matter, but the ones of the thousands of inhabitants of Rudhetria... Khal the Dune Walker, you're my only hope..."

The princess's words were only the tip of the iceberg for Khal. Camelia had in her something that her father seemed to have lost. But the way she put all her soul into this speech benefited from grabbing his attention. It was with such devotion and love for her country that she was talking. A love even stronger than the one she showed earlier for her lover. A deep relationship with the city; the real meaning of a ruler…

She pointed him out her window, a burner not far from a body bundle ready to go into ashes. The corpses were from the underground prison where innocent habitants had suffered some strange test or experimentation. Always ending by their death without trial. The Sultan was attempting something, but the thing was unknown by the girl.

"Since when did your father's behaviour change?"

"It began after the death of my brother. Shortly after, a Dune Walker presented himself on the court, and my father's goal changed… He began to push me aside from the royal operation. He didn't even consider me or anyone as a new heir… I stopped being his daughter, ever since… I'm sure he lived in denial of my brother's death."

The girl clenched her fist, looking at the sky from the window. Khal walked to her side and looked at Nemu flying on top of the Palace, waiting for him. His eyes watched at the sky, but his mind was elsewhere...

"Dune Walker are also individuals of regret, living with a curse that humans can't comprehend... After dying, everything returns to the sands. From your name to your existence itself... We are people from the past, stuck into the present…."

Khal turned his head to face Camelia and stared at her with vivacity. Seeing inside her another woman from a distant souvenir.

"But you know… Humans can go further. Sometimes… they only need an inch of help, to overcome the dunes from the past."

He then walked out of the room, waving his hand.

"Sleep well and prepare your things. Tomorrow night we will look for a way to deal with that."

Camelia smiled and ran to the door to see him going through the corridor. She didn't understand well but thought that maybe… He's not that emotionless after all.

---

Camelia leads him successfully to some of the secret entries dispersed on each palace side. When they reached a little door leading to the main corridor of the lower level, Khal asked where they could look for helpful information about her father's behavior. The girl explained that usually, the old library that made the city's name was close to any citizen. But recently, counselors of all kinds started to collect books in it. All by order of Bilal. The goal for the undead should be to quickly set the level of involvement the king made in his project and react to that. Even stopping it, if it was possible. To reach their target, they need to pass from the lower levels.

It was the second time that he dived into the underground, but his feeling was confirmed this time. Anubis was there and powerful each second. He took some precautions and equipped Bag with sand and water for future battles. A scent of foes was lurking this time in the tunnel.

They passed the palace's room with ease, but the underground was prowl of multiple guards. Even if the city was not fully protected from the Kamarupa attack, the Sultan himself amended this zone to stay restricted to the public. This remark was another proof for Khal of the danger of their experiments under the city floor. Even for her young age, Camelia had a facility to lurk through the passage unnoticed. She was alternating from the official paths to secret galleries leading to multiple hidden rooms. The alleys were cramp and small, Bag had a facility to follow her, but it was not the same for Khal. Constantly hurting himself with some incredible contorted move. Even with his fit but thin body of 5 foot 11, the man was having a hard time. Scratching his outfit on the border of the wall.

"My outfit of 100 golds from Balibar! If Nemu had to pass here, she would have been crazy in this small passage."

"Hahaha, it's you, Dune Walker, who seems under pressure right now!" answered Camelia. "We are not far from the library right now. Keep up with me."

They quickly cross the small path they were on and come out in a broad and empty corridor. The hall was less illuminated than the other official aisle they encountered. Still, the whole structure seems more important and large. Now, not even a root maintains the structure, and a massive pillar sustains the entire base to crawl. The alley was sprinkled with white slabs of incredible quality. The design was closer to what the palace had to offer than the other underground design they had passed.

When they entered it, Camelia jumped in the middle of the way, looking around with excitement.

"It's been years since I last entered this area! The last time was with Ali!"

"Where are we?" answered Khal, looking further into the corridor. Sensing a strange gaze on him.

"We are in the old library, to be precise, the old entry to the library. The door has been closed for years, but I snuck in multiple times. It was even here that I met Ali."

The undead continued to walk in the direction of the eyes that he grasped. Persuade that somebody or something was not far. The smell of a demon was more pungent at each of his movements, and he slowly made appeared sand from the belly of Bag. He was ready to react to an imminent danger…

"You said, Ali? How could Ali have access to this place?" he answered, sauntering to the border of the aisle. Right before a bifurcation to another side.

"Apparently, his father showed him how to get to the library. It was there that his dad studied when he was a kid. He liked his father so much that he came here a lot of time to read and became himself a scholar. You know, to make his father proud."

"So Ali likes his father after all…." replied Khal, a few meters from the border. A sound became louder… and it was human breathing.

"Of course, more than anything!" cut Camelia with force.

Khal took advantage of the scream and jumped on the other side, forming his chain on the way. A man dressed in a whole black suit with a turban on his face was standing right in front of him.

When they had eye contact, he started to run to a massive door at the end of the passage. Khal stretched his chain and successfully caught the right feet of the other intruder. The man debated on himself rolling and hitting the ground, trying to pull out the chain with his hands, but unsuccessfully. Khal began to pull the chain to him slowly, to the dismay of the poor man.

"Plea… Please, Let me just go. I don't want any problem!" implore the man whining pathetically.

"Your voice makes me think of someone? Do I know you ?" asked Khal, grabbing the leg of the fugitive. Putting him right in front of him.

"N… no," answered the man, changing his tone.

"Let me have a guess… you are…."

Then a holler from Camelia stopped him from removing the turban. The man availed from the distraction and kicked the Deadman's feet before fleeing away from him, the chain still on his leg. The rattle of the chain resonates in the room while accompanying the short breath of the strange man.

Khal ignored the coward and ran back to the entrance to help Camelia. When he arrived, a dozen men with many books in their hands were encircling the sultan's daughter. They were dressed in long tunics and were all old with small glass on their eyes. They were all shouting and gossiping all around the frail girl: "Why she is here?", "The young princess," "She needs to get out of here," "Quick it's coming," "impossible it lost us."

"Is it how you treat lil' girl ol' man?" clamoured Khal pulling Camelia from the circle.

"You can't be here! Neither does she!" answered one of the oldest ones. "You are not in security right here, princess. Come with us to the surface."

Khal ignored the man and put her behind him before appearing with his scimitar on his right hand. At this sight, the whole crowd of elders blanched and curled up on themselves.

"You are… The Dune Walker? Right?" demanded the same one.

" Who asks?" asked Khal, walking closer to the feared group.

"We are simple counsellors of the Sultan. We are putting back these books to the library where they belong. Maybe you can hel…."

"Why did the Sultan suddenly decide to stop his research?"

" The new white-haired scholar and his assistant, they found the solution! Tonight everything will be settled."

Khal's face crumpled and darkened. The concern could be read easily in his expression. If the assumption that he was garning in his head were valid. It was already too late for the city. The vanity of the Sultan would have already reached the limit acceptable, all by the fault of the man called Nas.

"What they did or plan to do ?" screamed Khal brutally. The anger on his face rose at each moment. Even Camelia became scared of this new attitude.

"We don't know, but please help us. They are coming! We can't fight! protect us, I beg you."

"What are you talking about?" asked Khal, putting away his sword.

"I… I think they are talking about that," answered Camelia, pointing to the ceiling.

A vast amount of little spider-like demons appeared crawling and dispersing through all the passage. Like a unique wave, they ran to the group of men furiously. All wearing Anubis symbols on their head. Frozen by the view, the old counsellors stayed in place, praying with animosity to their god Geb. Khal grabbed Bag from his back and pulled out a good amount of sand before sending him to the girl.

"I will slow them down, run to the library and wait for me before closing the door."

"You don't even know where the library is?" answered Camelia, catching Bag in her hand.

"Just wait for me after the door at the other side of the alley!"

"Alright!"

Then Camelia ran in the other direction with the bag demon on her arms. When a monster appeared on the way, she almost fell for it, but Bag jumped on it and shredded it into pieces. Feeling safe, she continued to flee without looking back. The group of almost a hundred little demons of at least 2 feet began to spread and encircled the men with Khal on their side. Khal squeezed his blade firmly and used his left hand to grab his chain. He started to spin it stronger and stronger. Forming wind emerging from his movement. A light quickly began to sparkle, letting substantial sun-like energy flow. The Ankh of the Dune Walker started to infuse with the chain. One of the men held himself on the leg of Khal. Whining and crying for help.

"Please help us. I have a family…."

"If you want to survive, you only need to join the girl."

"But…."

"I will gain time and join you."

"You…"

"Just go yet!" screamed Khal letting a large energy flow from his golden eyes. Seeing him like this, all the spiders began to shout in resonance. Their animosity was only turned on Khal. Seeing that, the counselors quickly ran and joined Camelia behind the door. The only left was Khal facing the crowd of enemies. His anger was appeased, and only his classic nonchalant face was stuck on his face.

"Hello, again, Anubis."

The spiders answered with a massive scream of rage and started crawling in mass on Khal. Only a pack of spider bundles on the undead could be seen in seconds. They emerge the man until not even a hint of light could escape from him. Everything seems hopeless, but a large squeak bursts from the pile's center. Energy residue evaded for a moment. An instant later, a massive explosion of Ankh repulsed all the spiders on the wall. Then Khal, always turning his chain, made many movements around him. Forming an invisible wall killing the monsters efficiently.

One of them still managed to walk on his back. It bit Khal, who stumbled for a moment stopping his chain on the way. The Deadman grabbed the demon and squeezed him on the ground with his bare hands. Letting a large amount of black blood explode before disappearing in a cloud of dark smoke.

The other spiders took this opportunity and rushed successively on Khal, taking a stance with his sword. He smashed the first, the second and barely killed the third. A fourth jumped from the ceiling and hid his face with its body. Khal does a backflip, kicking the others facing him with his two legs. He then turned on himself and smashed his head on the wall to regain visibility. The blood, unfortunately, rolled from his hair and flowed into his eyes.

"Not now!" shouted Khal, rubbing his face frantically.

Multiple demons took advantage of the confusion and attacked the Dune Walker. He fell to the ground, unable to heal his legs. When he retrieved his view, He quickly spindled his sword randomly on his feet to liberate himself. A few meters away, the sand that he took beforehand spilled on the floor. Prevented him from recovering it from reforming his chain, which had already lost a lot of its length.

His damage made him fuming, producing black smoke from all over his body. More than anyone, he was aware of the weakness of a Dune Walker. Taking too much damage quickly could make him overheat. Making him vulnerable for a short amount of time could be fatal for the other humans in the underground. He needed to act fast.

He started to draw life energy from his reserve. Engorging his sword with an incredible amount of Ankh, enlightening the entire room. The pain he felt from the demon was enough to kill hundreds of mortals, but touching the pure Ankh from his sword with his bare hands was even more dreadful. It was like sticking a ray of sunshine to sensible flesh or being drowned in magma.

When he collected a suitable amount of power, he used his left to throw the chain on a pillar. He then pulled himself forward and utilized the motion to turn in the air and throw his scimitar full of life energy to the cellar. Making it explode in a huge blast.

The confusion started to be heard through the monsters screaming of agony before being crushed by debris. The whole building began to shake. Khal rolled on himself and finally reached the bunch of black sand. The enemies were not on him. He, fortunately, could heal his legs and stand up. He started to recite a prayer, and the sand began to float, forming a large chain covering all the surface around him. The building continued to convulse, and rock even hit his face. He ignored the pain and ended his prayer with a clap.

"takhtariq alsama!"

From each side of the rope, multiple blackbirds rose up and sank to each side of the room. Bringing with them a part of a chain going from the ground around Khal to the wall. It took only a moment, and the whole corridor was full of chains going from the man to each border. All the demons were killed, pierced by the birds and the chain. Even the building stabilized, able to sustain with the help of the cords all around the place. Now the aisle was dead calm, and only the sound from the black blood dripping from the surface of the chain could be heard.

Relieved from the stress, Khal let a large breath go out and fell to the ground. He stayed in place for a moment looking at the chain stretching randomly around him.

"That's all you can do, Anubis?'

Then Bag appeared from the passage japing heretically. He jumped on Khal, licking him frenetically.

"Aha, I'm ok, Bag. Don't need to do that much," he answered, standing up again. Happy that his only friend came to his side.

He then proceeds to put out of Bag a metallic tube and throw water all around him to stop his body from smoking. His force taken back, he joined Camelia in the library with all the other old men.

"It's time to learn the true Bag," whispered Khal before entering. The friendly demon looked at him with curiosity, and Khal answered with a small smile.

"You don't need to understand men problems lil' man."

They all jumped with joy and thanked him with tears in their eyes when he entered the room.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" shouted a man with glanders all around his face.

"It's nothing, but you know that I don't work for free…."

"Yes, of course," answered one of the old men grabbing a bag not far away.

The bag was filled with gold pieces and jewelry of all kinds. Khal invoked Heaven's door and then threw the precious objects in it. When he made it disappear, he looked at the princess and grasped the strange black-dressed man further in the shadow.

"That's not enough. I will need something more from you," asked Khal, looking at the large pile of books in the library.

"More?"

"I want to know exactly what the Sultan is trying to do. A large amount of Anubis demons is not at all a normal thing to have in a city! I think it's time to spill the cup."

The men looked around for a moment, and one of them decided to finally talk.

"We don't know a lot, but the king is trying to bring back a man from the realm of the dead."

"Salian?" asked the princess abruptly.

"Yes, your brother, princess. The prince Salian… Tonight with the help of the scholar and his assistant Lia they will try to reproduce the same processes that made the man named Nasseh yesterday."

"Are you serious ?" replied Khal firmly. Looking at the man with intensity.

"Yes… That's all we know. The experiment should have already begun by now."

Khal hit out of anger one of the rows of books, making it fall all over the floor. He then turned his head to the exit and grabbed Bag. Camelia looked at him, walking away with perplexity.

"Where are you going, Dune Walker!?"

"I'm going away from this city, princess. And you should do the same… In a few minutes, a door of Anubis will emerge, and everything will return to ashes. Any of your gold can't pay my help."

"What are you talking about? You promise me…."

"It was before this information, Camelia. Your father will cross the taboo. The story is told for a reason. Anubis really punishes foolish humans like him. I don't know how you can pay for my service. I'm sorry for Ali and the inhabitants of Rudhetria … but I'm done."

Camelia fell to the ground, incapable of pronouncing another word. Even the old men understood that the terms of Khal were radical and that they may have lost their only hope. Then the mysterious man from the shadow finally stepped out of his hiding spot and grabbed the hand of Khal before he reached the end of the corridor. Khal turned on himself to face the man.

"You finally decide to reveal yourself, ol' man."

"I can't run anymore. This is my turn Dune Wal… no Khal."

The man then pulled out his turban and showed his sad face to Khal, who looked at him emotionless. The man's gray hair, his black eyes crumpled by age and his face broken by the time. The last proud man was harboring a devastating image imploring dignity.

"It's been a not so long time Gahzo…."

"Yes, Khal, and maybe it will be the last. I want to hire you… to save my son and this city."

"Do you have what to pay, stupid ol' man?"

"Yes… You can have the rest of it minus one. "

"... the rest of what?"

"the rest of my life minus one year…."