Beneath the desecrated dunes, Naela was astounded. No matter where they went, the wizard and the cat bickered. Even here, the two of them argued near a fire. The wyvern wasn't sure what to think of the duo, but she enjoyed their company. She'd never spent this much time around anyone.
A fire cackled inside of the tunnel, and Ka'nesh reached out towards the wyvern with a piece of meat. "Eat up, there is no telling when we'll find good food next time."
Naela looked down at the piece of scorpion flesh stuck to a black shell, and she held no reservations. She started chewing the meat. Though, she noticed that the flavor of cooked meat was noticeably different than raw. The wyvern wrinkled her nose.
Doran laughed. "See, even she doesn't like your cooking."
Ka'nesh's face heated up and she dug her dagger into her own piece of meat. "If my cooking is so bad, then why aren't you cooking, mister wizard? You think it's beneath you?"
"Not exactly. Rather than point your dagger at me, you should focus on trying to make yourself better like Naela. She already understands most of our words and can project her voice."
The cat girl grumbled and started chewing her own piece of meat. It was clear that even for her the meat was chewy. Each bite made her tail wave around behind her in agitation. Ka'nesh pointed her wand towards the entrance and decided to change the subject.
"It seems that the storm has picked up even more. More sand is blowing in here."
Naela turned her head towards the entrance and saw the dust storm the cat girl was referring to. The darkness mixed with the dirt made visibility impossible.
Ka'nesh sighed. "What will happen if we are buried in here? Was it really a good idea to take this path?"
"We won't be buried in here. These are magic tunnels, remember?" Doran pointed towards the entrance, and he was right.
Naela watched in awe as the sand piled up in front of the entrance, but it never went past a certain point. The sand created a small wall over time, but no matter what, it stopped at the edge.
"There is a barrier here," Doran said, "we won't suffocate or be buried alive. The only danger on this path is getting caught in the storm or dying to those monsters." The wizard pointed his staff further in the tunnel. "You scouted ahead already, correct?"
"I did," Ka'nesh said, "but the tunnel is massive. I only scouted down to where the tunnel curved off somewhere."
Doran nodded. "We will rest here, and tomorrow, we'll continue in the dunes."
"You don't want to explore the inside of the tunnel? I thought you'd be interested in it?"
"I value my life more than curiosities. While the sand worms haven't been spotted in years, there is no telling if one of them doesn't still live down there. Let's get some rest."
Yet, when they woke up the next day, the storm was still unrelenting as the day prior. They waited for hours in the hopes that it would let up, but it only got worse. For Naela, it was a blessing in disguise. The wizard spent even more of the day teaching her than he usually would.
Doran drew on the ground with the bottom of his staff. "And this is how you write sandworm."
Naela practiced drawing the word with her claws. Both the wizard and the cat girl were happy at the wyvern's swift progress.
However, after some time, Ka'nesh flopped on the ground. "I am so bored! Can we really not take the tunnel? I am sure there is an exit closer to the dwarven city."
Doran looked at her helplessly with a shake of his head. "Normally I would say no, but we might run out of water if we stay here too long."
"Run out of water? I thought that you carried plenty of that with you."
The wizard sighed and pointed slightly towards Naela. "Well, I didn't plan for someone extra."
Naela looked down at the ground, feeling an unfamiliar feeling in her chest. It brought a sense of discomfort with it. Though, it seemed like the cat girl was quick on the uptake. She rushed towards Naela's leg and wrapped her arms around it.
"Don't you worry about it! This dumb ass only understands the art of wizardry, but he can't comprehend the feelings of women."
"I've read so many books," Doran said. "All of them contain logic and reason. There are spells that I was able to learn from a young age. I climbed the rankings of magic users, and I am still continuing to learn. Magic and logic make sense, but there is not a book in this world built to understand women."
Ka'nesh balled her hand into a fist, and Doran walked further away from her.
"Hey! If you hit me, you will only be proving my point!"
Naela's laughter erupted, and the hearty, genuine sound was enough to stop their bickering. The feeling of inadequacy had faded and was replaced by a much warmer feeling. I knew that I was right to follow these two.
Ka'nesh smiled. "As long as you understand, it's fine."
After a brief strategy meeting, the three of them decided they'd traipse further into the tunnel. They encountered some bug monsters on the way, but Doran took care of them easily. At the end of a long descent, they encountered a split in the tunnel. One path kept going straight, and the other curved down to the left.
Doran pulled out a small item from his magic box and held it up. The thing was in the shape of a cube, but there was a small white light on one side. The side facing the straight path. "We go that way."
Both Naela and Ka'nesh nodded. There were no more monster encounters on this path, and eventually they arrived at a much larger open space in the tunnel.
It was a grandiose room, and on the ceiling there were small glowing blue worms hanging down. While the worms themselves were fascinating, the more fascinating thing was an archway with a large door inside of it.
The thing stood there in the middle of the place made of sandstone. It withstood the test of time, yet it didn't seem to lead anywhere. It was only a door on both sides, and on the opposite side, the tunnel continued further.
"Why would someone build a door by itself?" Ka'nesh asked. She tried to push against it, but it wouldn't open no matter how much force she applied. The cat girl looked towards the wyvern for help. "You wanna try? You have a lot of strength in that big body, right?"
Naela pressed her heavy wings against it, but it didn't open for her either. No matter how hard she pushed, it wouldn't open. At the same time, the structure remained stable.
Doran gathered magic power into his staff and used his other hand to gesture for the two of them to get out of the way. They did, and he cast a lightning bolt towards the door. There was a loud explosion and a small fireball from the impact, yet the door remained undamaged and unopened.
"Fascinating..."