BEHOLD THE SCORCHING SUN

they go to the desert next

                And so, we headed into the depths of the Kingdom of Midia, seeking fortune and adventure. We hadn’t packed anything; since Midoo was convinced that he could easily live off anything we would find the land.

                Our first adventure was to be set in the scorching desert of Deh’ra. We headed there easily after a few weeks of hiring carriages.

                Once we stepped into the sandy land, the sun seemed to have been amplified a thousand times. Anyone who tossed his eyes onto the horizon would have only been met with an endless desert, often embellished with dunes and lumps of wavy sand. None of the usually land-dwelling creatures were there, except for lizards and scorpions. Although I felt as if the very saliva in my mouth dried up, Midoo didn’t seem bothered at all of the heat. I asked him about that, and he simply replied “I’m cold-blooded.” And tossed at me a bag of water he had hid in his Dragon Cloak.

                After hours of walking, the tip of a few bricked homes could be seen from far away. Midoo pointed at the village and calmly said:

                “That is where we’re going.”

                I simply followed him as we dragged our feet across the desert. The closer we would get to the village, the hotter it would seem to get. My skin dried up completely, and I could easily be mistaken by a blind person as a rock, despite my fur.

                When we finally made it to the small village, we were greeted by many tiger-headed people. They looked incredibly similar to the thief back in the capitol, yet each one of them had a different pattern of colors. They welcomed us well and fed us. When we were ready to set ourselves back to adventure, one of them with the exact same pattern as the thief stopped me from going any further.

                “You… I know you!” He says.

                “Watch your tongue, you’re speaking to the Lunar Swordsman!” yells Midoo.

                “Lunar Swordsman, eh?” mutters the thief, glaring at my Luna Sword.

                “Here’s a deal, Swordsman! You won’t get out of here without a fight! If you lose, I’ll get to take your precious sword for myself! If not, I’ll probably join you, as if it was possible to win against me!”

                The thief then proceeded to pull out two swords, marked with glowing strips. One of them was blue, and the other one was green. I pulled out the Luna Sword and sighed.

                The tiger-headed fighter launched at me with such incredible speed that he could have been mistaken for a real tiger hunting his prey. Pointing the two of his short swords at me, I managed to block both of them with one strike.

                I pushed him thirty feet back with one attack. He rolled on the ground and landed gracefully on his feed. He flourished around with his two swords as if he was a dancer and not a fighter.

                As he kept dashing onto me faster and faster, I would keep blocking his attacks fairly easily. It was obviously going to be an easy fight.

                But then, the unexplainable happened. Striking me with his blue sword which I blocked, he deceived me and stabbed me in the side with his green sword.

                I felt the entire energy of my body being sucked out.

                At that moment, I wasn’t able to move as quickly. I reacted slowly. I struggled to block his attacks, no matter how weak they were. I couldn’t dodge and I couldn’t fight back.

                I felt as if a red mark was drawn on my forehead. Two shadowy figures exactly like him spawned at his side, dashing at me with incredible speed, brandishing gauntlet blades.

                Suddenly, it came to me.

                I firmly grasped the Luna Sword and absorbed all of its energy. I felt the light of the moon slowly enveloping my body as the thief and his goons worriedly watched. The Luna Sword’s light fainted as a slivery glow escaped from my body.

                Finally, channeling all the energy I had into one, mighty blow, the thief was gravely injured and the two shadow clones evaporated into the light. He fell to his knees and dropped his swords aside.

                The others rushed to heal him, as he bitterly admitted defeat.

                “Wipe that smug look off your face. It’s not that big of a deal.” He said.

                As Midoo laughed in happiness from behind, I turned back to the thief and asked:

                “What’s your name? I’m Fleabag.”

                “My name is Ronald. I am a Khajiit warrior. We have come to this land and settled in the desert in order to look for new buyers for our wares.”

                Midoo looked concerned. Apparently, they were the origin of a lot of trouble.

                We stayed during the day at a small shack filled with bed rolls. As the Khajiit hid inside their tents to escape the unforgiving sun and heat, I stayed outside and curled up in a ball and left myself sunbathing.

                I could hear the noise of summer cicadas. The horizon was blurry and distorted, as if the heat had torn our vision apart. There was no source of water for many kilometers. Nothing but rocky sand covered the area, often dotted with a few cactus plants.

                But as soon as the night came upon us, the entire scenery changed completely. Everyone was out of their tents, sitting around a fireplace that kept them from the freezing nights in the desert. As surprising as it may seem to the unknowing, the desert becomes incredibly cold once the sun sets behind the far valleys.

My friends were having fun, drinking and singing and telling tales around the fireplace, so I joined them under the silvery glow of the moon.

                I woke up the next day to a Khajiit trying to steal my belt. I forgave him, since that’s their nature. They were raised to thieve, and so they do. Midoo had already packed our bags, and Ronald had finally consented to keep his promise and follow us along.

                As the big cats waved us goodbye, we traveled to the southeast. Sharing tales and anecdotes kept us from being annoyed by the scorching desert sun.

                “Ronald!” I called.

                The Khajiit thief remained silent. Seeing it so, I continued.

                “I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you wouldn’t mind.”

                “I would mind in most cases, but go on.” He lowly rumbled.

                “About your fighting style… Those shadow clones weren’t something you’d see every day from a regular thief!”

                Ronald faced the other direction and kept silent, obviously not wanting to confess.

                “Since we’re traveling companions, we might as well share our stories!”

                He didn’t bother to reply. Seeing he wasn’t ready to fully open up yet, I left him like that and we simply walked along the entire way.

                After a walk of a couple of weeks, we arrived to the docks where I first landed foot on this land. We didn’t have any trouble finding a sea ride, since Midoo’s presence itself rushed the most proficient of sailors to attempt and drag his attention. After all, being a Dragon lord pays for it.