"Everyone, let us rest here. There is no need to waste energy to move through the sandstorm. Let's wait for it to clear out," he said after observing the sandstorm.
There wasn't anyone that disagreed with what he said, so we set our camp at that location.
'It looks like the world doesn't want us to reach the castle,' I thought. The sand scraped against our makeshift tents like claws. Like the desert itself was trying to dig us out.
Every single time we drew nearer to the castle, something will always happen to stop us in our tracks. It looks like there is a rule governing this realm, making our journey more difficult as we got closer to our goal.
With nothing left to do, we sat down and observed the sandstorm. I looked at Peter lying helplessly on the floor. His breathing had become even, meaning the day he would wake up was getting closer.
We sat down for about five hours, staring at a sandstorm that was showing no sign of rest. Each of us tried to start a conversation, but it ended quickly with none of us replying.
I glanced briefly at the beast, looking at what it was doing. To be frank, it was doing nothing aside from sitting cross-legged.
'Is it meditating?'
It was meditating amid all the noise. This got me thinking: why would a beast need to meditate?
Well, I shifted my gaze and checked on how each of us was coping with the boredom. Mark, as usual, brought out a necklace and started mumbling something. Edward did something different; he was staring at a picture.
The picture had a young lady around his age. She had white hair and a beautiful face which complemented her amber eyes. His thumb had rubbed the spot over her face so much the photo was wearing thin. How long had he been carrying it?
"I hope I see you when I get out of here," he said softly as he held the picture.
Quinn, being Quinn, looked for a secluded spot and rested. He slept so calmly in this situation. In this type of situation, most people wouldn't opt to sleep, but he was different.
"Who would sleep during a storm?" I muttered.
And I, I just continued staring at the storm, awaiting the time it will stop. Peter twitched. Just once. His finger curling against the dirt like he was trying to grab something. I told myself it was the wind.
"Why are you staring there?" a familiar voice from my back said.
I knew that voice from anywhere. In order to confirm my suspicion I looked behind. And I was given a scare.
"How are you awake?"
This shouldn't be possible. Or maybe it is possible since he is awake right now.
"I don't know, maybe because I am conjured from your imagination," Peter replied.
"Hm, am I being delusional? It seems the desert has gotten me," I smiled weakly, removing some strands of hair from my face to the side.
"You don't seem to be. As of right now, you are the sanest person out of all of them," he smiled back, pointing at the others.
"You are just telling me what I want."
"Maybe, maybe not," he replied.
"Emily, Emily!"
"Maybe she is dead," another voice said.
I opened my eyes and I saw two people looking at me intently.
"What happened?"
"What happened is that you slept for a whole day and we are surrounded," Quinn said.
That statement jolted me, waking me up fully, and I stared at our current condition.
We were currently surrounded with firearms pointed at our heads. The cold metal kissed my temple. One twitch and I wouldn't have to worry about the castle anymore. Each one of them had a cloak surrounding themselves, making it difficult for us to see them.
"How?"
That word just left my mouth. We were not being chased, so how did they get our location? The last time I checked, a sandstorm was brewing everywhere.
'So, how did they get us?'
As if reading my mind, a young man who looked eerily human stepped forward and said.
"Isn't it a pleasant day? All of you are wondering how we caught you? Ha, that was quite easy. The leader knew one of you would be cunning, so she told the gnomes to install a tracker on your resources. Isn't it ironic?"
The young man began to laugh hysterically. Quinn's jaw locked. That tracker was his win. His proof he was smarter. And they used it to leash us. I saw his hands shake.
"What do you want from us?" Quinn asked, calm and collected, quite the opposite from his earlier outburst.
"Isn't it the cunning one? I _love_ chaps like you. Born leaders, until I carve the 'leader' out of them," he responded with a chilling grin.
"The answer to your question is quite obvious. We need you, human. You're the key after all. I never knew the leader's prediction would be correct once again. Ha, I will continue to love and follow you, leader," he stated, praising the leader.
"Boys, pick them up. You know I can't tarnish these hands and hold the leader's hands with them."
'Who is this guy? And why is he so obsessed with the leader,' I thought as I looked at him.
Aside from looking eerily human, his appearance was a complete joke. He looked like someone who was cosplaying a lady. He had sharp eyelashes on his eyes, bright red powder on his cheeks, and black lipstick.
Just looking at him makes me want to vomit.
'Who would want to marry him, let alone date him.'
The cloaked people started pushing us into the van, pointing the firearms at our heads, as if saying, 'any wrong move, you're dead.'
There was nothing we could do aside from following their commands.
'Isn't it ironic?'
I kept repeating those last words the young man said. We caught the gnomes using the tracker only for us to be caught by the same tracker — it was quite ironic.
The young man shifted his gaze and stared at the beast that had been following us.
"Isn't it Timeless, the runaway bastard. The leader took care of you only for you to betray our leader and then run away," he said with a hateful glance.
He moved closer and held the beast's neck tightly, looking at it in the eyes, he added.
"But, this time I will make you pay for what you did, Timeless."
He tossed the beast to the floor, spitting on it, and with a final look of disdain, he left it alone. Timeless didn't fight back. Didn't snarl. He just took it, eyes on the ground. Like he deserved it. And suddenly I understood why he never told us his name.
"Pick the trash up!"
The van doors slammed shut. Dark. The last thing I heard before the engine started was Eyelash Guy whispering, 'The leader's been waiting years for all of you,'