In order to get to the castle, we had to pass through the desert. The desert spanned about 20km, so it was going to be a long, tiring journey towards the castle. The sun beat down on us relentlessly, draining what little energy we had left.
The first day began with us trekking through the desert. Nothing happened during the day, but at night it was a different story. The silence was oppressive, and the only sound was the howling wind that seemed to carry the whispers of the dead.
During the day, we suffered from the intense heat of the scorching sun, but at night, it was the complete opposite. The temperature dropped to about 2°C; we were basically freezing as we stood in the desert. The cold seeped into our bones, making us shiver uncontrollably.
It was as if we were in a completely different place – if not for the plain field that reminded us of the desert. The stars above twinkled like diamonds, and the moon cast an eerie glow on the sand.
'How could a place like this exist here?' I thought. The question echoed in my mind as I stared at the endless dunes.
It was quite unnatural for a dry land to be found in a sea, not to mention a desert. The laws of nature seemed to be twisted and distorted here.
'This must be the work of a god,' I thought as we continued moving. The thought sent a shiver down my spine.
In order to combat the cold during the night, we had to start a fire, but considering the scanty vegetation, it was quite difficult to gather them. We scavenged for twigs and branches, our hands shaking with cold.
All in all, the first day was a welcoming ceremony to us, considering the other days we had spent. We huddled around the fire, trying to warm ourselves up.
Day two began with an unexpected twist: all our supplies were stolen. Nobody knew who stole them, and with our supplies gone, our days were numbered. The news sent a wave of panic through our group.
We continued walking towards the visage of the castle, albeit at a slower pace. At first, we didn't feel the heat of the desert, but after two hours it felt like hell. The sun beat down on us, relentless in its intensity.
We were not only tired but thirsty, and the last water reserve was drunk by Mark. We couldn't even stop, given the strange expression on Quinn's face.
He had the face of someone who couldn't wait to get his hands on something – someone who was impatient. His eyes seemed to gleam with a fierce intensity, and his jaw was clenched tight.
It was quite unusual for him to have this expression since he was mostly calm and composed. I wondered what was driving him.
'I guess everyone has their other sides,' I thought.
Quinn stared at us, urging us to hasten our pace. His voice was low and urgent, and it sent a shiver down my spine.
"With this pace, we'll get there only after two weeks if we don't die of thirst and hunger. So, hurry up!" he urged us.
We kept moving until we stopped, gazing in shock at what was ahead of us. Each one of us felt a feeling of dread. A massive creature stood before us, its eyes fixed on us with a cold, calculating gaze.
"How is this possible?" That question came out of my mouth as I stared wide-eyed at what was ahead of us.
Nobody could answer that question, not because they couldn't speak, but because no one knew the answer.
At first, we were lucky since what was ahead of us didn't notice us until one stupid fool stepped on a branch, alerting it. The thing raised its head to regard us with a cute face, but suddenly the face turned murderous.
We did nothing to it, but it wanted to kill us. The air was thick with tension as we waited for it to make its move.
"What the heck was that?" I muttered before I started running for my life, leaving the others who were still reeling in shock.
"Run for your life!" Edward shouted.
Surprisingly, it was Edward who first snapped out of it, alerting the others. By the time they started running, I was about twenty meters away from them, even though I was carrying Peter, who was surprisingly light.
Within 5 minutes, I was left dazed as the three caught up to my speed effortlessly, and I could feel they could go faster, but they refrained from doing that.
"BD-109 is truly outstanding, but there are unknown variables," I uttered under my breath.
From the time our supplies were stolen to being chased around by an unknown beast, this very day felt truly unlucky.
The beast following us was abnormal, if not an anomaly. The beast had a male upper body while its lower body was that of a horse.
The beast was currently naked, wearing a stripe to hold its arrows. In its hand was a bow, and an arrow was pointing in our direction. And by its side was a sword.
The aura of the beast was not as oppressive as the Kraken, not to mention Scylla. The beast kept chasing us until evening came.
At evening, the others were tired of being chased, so they decided to attack the beast due to their improved human strength.
"Edward, take the rear; Mark, attack the side while I act as bait, distracting him from noticing you," Quinn said.
Both of them naturally followed Quinn's plan without questioning him – why would they? He was the one who led them during the attack on the Kraken and Scylla without them sustaining injuries.
I was taken aback when I heard their plan, since Quinn was mostly the one who dealt the final blow, not acted as bait.
'Interesting; is he that confident that they would kill it without him needing to land the final blow?' I asked myself as I stared at the battle.
The battle began with the beast striking first. At first, they thought the beast would be at a disadvantage since it was mostly adept at long-range attacks, but to their surprise, they were given a shock.
It brought out a sword, which was ignored by all as we mostly focused on the bow and arrow, completely forgetting to take into account its specialization in short-range attacks.
It swung the sword to perfectly deflect the punch that was about to hit it.
"Shit!" Edward cursed.
Using the momentum, the beast moved forward and swung its sword directly at Quinn's neck. One could see that the beast was aiming to one-hit Quinn.
Quinn wasn't prepared for the attack, so he had to move his body slightly and use his hand to block the attack.
"Now!" Quinn shouted.