The desert wind carried with it the taste of salt and iron on the tongue.
I could only imagine the number of lives had been taken since the awakening for the air to smell so much of blood.
I pulled the scarf tighter around my face, squinting against the glare of the suns in the sky.
The Ashen Sands Clan's settlement had long since disappeared behind me, swallowed by the sands of the horizon.
I was alone now, truly alone, for the first time since I had found the twins in that cavern town.
'What were they called again?' I paused to think.
"Ah yes, the Anilli tribe that had all but been annihilated by some unknown that I had assumed was the flaming hyenas," I muttered.
I was back to talking to myself to hear a voice.
Every step felt heavier than the last, not because I was tired but I just felt very burdened down.
Abu and Ayesha's tear-shimmering eyes lingered in my memory, even though they had tried so hard to be brave.
