Raven hated the heat and unrelenting sun of the bush desert. She and her adventuring partner Mazen had been traversing it for the last two days. All because of a foolish quest from the guild. Her down was much too thin to keep the sun off her skin leaving her to drape her head crest in a veil to prevent burns. It was one of the few times in their partnership that she envied the chelkren with his hearty shell and tough skin covered in tight scales. He even had desert dwelling ancestors that left him not needing to hydrate as much as many chelkren do.

  Raven had been trying to keep herself as hydrated as possible with her magic. That was a boon too really. They could travel light. Mazen was built for desert travel even if he did enjoy a good swim. Raven wasn’t but she could draw on enough magic to make water for them both to drink so they didn’t need to carry it with them. Her only problem had been the food. Again, enough for him between the bushes themselves and the occasional small creature he didn’t mind eating raw. She had packed bread, dried fruit, and nuts for herself.

  It wasn’t until she was in the shadow of the looming mountains they had been trekking towards that she breathed a sigh of relief. Next to her Mazen pulled his sword free, scanning the area. While the desert itself was mostly flat, broken up by clumps of dry bushes, they had finally made it to the piedmont, looking up at the slopes above. The dark opening in the cliff made way to a cave, the perfect nesting place for the giant serpent that began to descend upon them.

  Raven unslung her staff, taking a few steps back even as Mazen was rushing forward to begin combat. He had always been so hot-headed, leaving her to watch his back with magic. But this time they both had an error in judgment. The giant serpent had dominated their attention since it was an easy to gauge threat. But there was another. Bushes grew thickly here. Between them and boulders that clumped up at the base of the cliffs other creatures nested.

  A flock of knee-high raptors burst from their cover, nipping and clawing at her as Mazen fought the snake alone. The little dinosaurs had brown and white feathers letting them easier blend in with the terrain. Their claws and teeth sharp enough to penetrate even Mazen’s tough skin. She cried out in alarm, using her staff to fling the nearest predator off her.

  It was Mazen’s scream that alerted her next as she was kicking out at another of the flock. She looked up in time to see the snake coiling around him as he tried to stab it. Her next staff strike sent a raptor flying into the side of the serpent, letting Mazen get his sword free. The blade punched down into the creature’s neck even as its large jaws snapped down onto his arm.

  “Mazen!” Raven cried out, the flock in retreat, no doubt deciding that she was much too dangerous to take down. The snake meanwhile dropped Mazen with its own shriek of pain as the warrior used his remaining hand to grab hold of the embedded sword and drag it down even as he fell.

  The blow must have hit something vital as the serpent’s blood drenched both of them as Raven got near enough to her partner to see the damage to his arm. The left arm was gone up to his elbow. She called upon her magic as she touched the wound, letting it seal over so he wouldn’t bleed out. The snake only got as far as the boulders before it collapsed, becoming a meal to the same raptors that had just attacked her.

  “Don’t move.” She told him as he tried to get up, “I think we are safe for the moment. Those little things have a lot of meat and probably won’t bother us for now.”

  Mazen grunted, “I thought they were going to strip you to the bone right then and there.” His green face grayed slightly, concerning her that now that the adrenaline was wearing off that he might be headed towards shock.

  “I’m not that delicate Maz, just because I’m not a blade master doesn’t mean I can’t kick things off me.” She loosed another healing spell into him before herself. The small cuts and bites on her own flesh sealed over, leaving her skin down free in places. The sail that grew between her neck and the back of her crested head flared up for a moment, pushing the veil she was wearing away. This whole quest was shaping up to be a disaster.

  “We have to complete it..” Mazen told her as if reading her mind. He didn’t have that kind of ability but they had partnered long enough for him to recognize her mood from such a display.

  “You lost an arm… even the guild will understand why we needed to return without finishing the mission.”

  “But if we do we don’t get paid and all this will be for nothing. We just have to get into the old mine. I can swing a sword right handed. And if there is more than just dust and skeletons down there well maybe it will be enough to get me a replacement.”

  Since they were out of the direct sun Raven tugged off the protective veil and stuffed it in her pack. “Alright. But you’re sitting here for the next hour so I know you are not going into shock. I can’t carry you out of this desert.”

  Mazen looked at the stump of his left arm, his almost beak-like mouth going into as much of a frown as it was capable of. “Fine, but I don’t need to be babied. I’ll get through this. Just you watch.”

  ————

  They did end up having to move a bit further along the base of the cliff, to get away from the constant sound of chewing from the flock. It also provided even better shade though as the hour turned to several Raven started a fire. It provided light and warned off the small predators at first, but as the sun drooped over the horizon it added much needed warmth. It also let Raven cook one of the dead raptors she’d killed during their earlier assault.

  “Thanks.” Mazen told her once he was offered the meat. “I guess we are camping here tonight.”

  “Yes. And you’re sleeping first. You might feel up to guarding right now but your body isn’t, it’s still adjusting to the loss of your arm.”

  He chuckled a bit, but it sounded grim to Raven as she ate some more of her dried fruit. “Well, once I get a replacement it will all be ok.”

  “You’re not getting one for a while. I might have some magical talent but not in those regards. I doubt anyone who does would go out adventuring when they could make money with their crafting.”

  “One day you might… you are gifted with healing. Survival magics can advance into repair and animations…”

  “Where did you learn that?”

  “Heard it around the guild. One party lost their healer when he joined a hospital full time. Not even a guild member any more.”

  “I don’t think that sort of thing is for me even if I did retire from the guild. I’m more likely to open a clinic or even a shop if I ever wanted to settle down.”

  “I doubt I will…” Mazen’s eyes held the fire.

  Raven sighed. She doubted he would either given his reckless nature. Not like he usually lost limbs on her watch, this was his first, but he had scars along his shell, on his legs and missing part of his tail. If he had been a [Berserker] that would be one thing, but he didn’t so it’s not like charging headlong into things would benefit him.

  She leaned back up against the rocks as much as her crest would allow. It was a bit longer than her snout, and curved a bit downward with a sail that connected it to the back of her neck. She could feel air circulating up through it as she breathed, helping her regulate her body temperature. Unlike poor Mazen who had already fallen asleep by the fire thanks to the rapid cooling of the desert. She’d have to build it better in a few hours just to wake him up.

  In most climates he was fine to get up for watch duty as his body was acclimated to it. Deserts though, even if he was built for surviving the heat and the wind, he was not good at night when it got cold. Sometimes she wondered if the guild sent him out here on purpose, maybe to see him fail. But if that were true did they not care if they risked her? Was this assignment really worth it?

  A [Chronicler] at the guild had recently uncovered something in their research about a strange mineral found out in this mine. That it had been abandoned not long after due to infighting. The guild had decided since this mine was only a few days away from their city, even if it was through the desert that no one really traveled in, that it should be checked out to see if a bigger expedition should be formed. Why they didn’t send anyone with a [Scout] level was beyond her.

  It occurred to her that if they thought this potentially nothing then sending the two of them out was all that was required to satisfy the curious. [Scout]s were too useful doing other assignments to spare for their guild. That was probably the case and she sighed, her sail collapsing along her neck as she realized it. She should probably change guild houses, go to another city that needed a magic user who could kick things when needed. Mazen too if he wanted to come. They were friends, sort of.

  His bravado annoyed her at times but he was loyal and would watch her back. That’s what a partner did, especially without a full group to rely on. They could try and recruit on their own if they got back since the guild itself didn’t seem to be helping with their numbers. She’d have liked to join another group but she wasn’t about to abandon Mazen and he was not well liked. Moving cities made the most sense to her.

  ———

  Raven slept fitfully that night. Between the concerns she was having about the guild, the worry about the flock deciding they wanted more than the dead giant snake to eat, and the possibility that Mazen would fall back asleep due to cold she had found herself opening her eyes at any little noise. By the time the sun rose she was groggy and forced herself to sit up.

  Mazen was there stoking the fire. He glanced at her as she moved but soon moved his eyes off in the direction she had last seen the flock. “Morning.”

  “Morning. Still up for the climb? There should be a road leading up but given time and erosion it’s possible that you might not be able to get up to the mine.”

  “I was thinking about that too Raven. We shouldn’t go back because of me but if we find that part of the route inaccessible to me I can guard the way while you get up there and do the job we’ve been paid for.”

  She sighed but knew it would be his answer. They’d come to far to turn back at the last hurdle, especially after he got injured on the job. “Alright. But remember I can heal basic injuries to keep you from bleeding out but I can’t carry you if you break a leg up there.”

  His beak-like face managed a smile as he kicked sand over their fire and got to his feet. “I wasn’t expecting to lose my arm to a snake Rav. I don’t plan to get so hurt that you’ll need to abandon me to save yourself either.”

  That made her own lips pull in a smile from her snout. “So back to watching each other’s backs?”

  “Absolutely. Now come on, we have to get past that nest of raptors to reach the old road, I saw it yesterday even through the pain from my arm being removed.”

  He was right about that. They moved cautiously past the remains of the snake, ignoring the angry hisses of the mostly sleeping flock. She saw the remains of a sign that pointed at the road as they passed it. Mostly eroded by wind along with the road itself, but still visible to those who were looking for it. Mazen led the way, sword clutched in his remaining hand as they walked. He was ready for anything to jump out at them but it seemed most of the dangers of this route were down below.

  It took several hours, with a few stops to rest and evaluate if the path was safe enough for walking and even if they were going the right way, but eventually they made it to where the mine sat. Old and abandoned as it was no natural cave entrance had these kind of rocks, many of which had long been crushed to gravel to form more flat terrain, flanking them. It was dark of course but Raven once more called on her magic and caused a light to spring forth from the top of her staff. A safer choice than torches just in case toxic gas was present.

  Inside the entrance was evidence that since it was abandoned for mining it had become a nesting grounds for various creatures that called the cliffs home. Feathers from raptors were embedded in the ground along with small bones. A pile of discarded snake skin lay in a corner as they walked down into the first chamber of the old mine. Raven didn’t think anything was living in here now that were any bigger than her palm. She moved her staff around anyway to give like to the dark corners, revealing the tunnels. One tunnel had old cracked lumber strewn over the entrance as if it had once been used to block it off.

  “Are you thinking what I am?” Mazen ventured, pointing his sword towards the lumber.

  “We were sent to investigate. If something bad that wasn’t recorded occurred here that tunnel is the safe bet.”

  The chelkren moved over to the wood, tapping it with his blade before turning back to her. “It’s pretty old and falling apart. I wouldn’t be surprised if it fell down on its own due to time. Probably no one has been down here since whatever happened happened.”

  A small shiver sneaked up Raven’s spine and flared her sail briefly as she joined him at the tunnel. With it blocked from this side, unless there was some other exit, anything that had been trapped beyond would still be down there. Long dead but that didn’t mean any less dangerous. Though if it was an undead it would have left once the barrier came down and it was unlikely that even the mine entrance would have made for a good nest.

  So why did she still feel like something was wrong? Maybe it was the old musty smell of the wood, soaked into the air itself as they followed the tunnel. Maybe it was anticipating the bones they came across. The remains of a miner here, another there. Just bones with scraps of clothing and rusted tools. She might have healing magic but she knew little about medicine to know how they might have died. What breaks in the bones came from such a death and what was simply time.

  “Do these mean anything?” Mazen asked, tapping at one wall where something was scratched. He was functionally illiterate, good with signs and basic things on menus beyond just the pictures, but it was easy for him to mistake hand writing for nothing but scribbles.

  Raven examined what he was pointing at, her snout forming into a light frown. It looked like a diamond pattern with hastily scrawled words under it, ‘help, shiny, voice’. Another shiver and she pulled a little notebook from her pack to copy it down. “Nothing that makes sense in this context to me. Possibly some kind of madness?”

  She moved her staff around again, revealing a side tunnel that opened off into a room. Several more skeletons were inside. Two were tangled up with rotted lumber and rusting bits of metal. A third was laying on top of a bit of wood that still had definition to it. A desk of some kind though any chair it might have possessed was long gone. While no paper lay upon it there were scraps of leather and a ceramic jar. The jar was intact and sealed.

  Mazen reached out for it but Raven slid her staff in between it and him. “Don’t open that. It could be dangerous or hold something that might be damaged in this air. The guild should be the one to see it and make the determination.”

  “Does this mean we are not going any further in?”

  “If we go further in and find something dangerous then there is a good chance we don’t come out and this never gets back to the guild. Our job was just to verify that there was something here worth the guild’s time. We’ll get our money, more if this turns out to be useful.”

  He looked at his missing left arm and let out an audible sigh. “You know, if I wasn’t hurt I’d have insisted on exploring further. There are other tunnels after all.”

  “Yep, and for once we have a good excuse for you not to go in further than the guild asked for. With any luck we’ll still have money after your injury is seen too. The guild might even be willing to pay for some kind of replacement.”

  “A hook maybe, though I can make that work until I get something better.”