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The landmark Palan recognized was the sky pillar. It was a column of glossy black rock extending from the desert sands towards the sky. Five fingerlike extensions jutted out from the top like a hand grasping at the clouds. It was a popular breeding spot for the vultures as well as a well-known landmark amongst the inhabitants of the desert. While observing the landscape from the different portals Pyre had conjured, Palan had realized how much he didn’t know about Eljiam. Roughly half the planet consisted of a desert, but the other half contained a frozen wasteland and a burning hell while other parts were covered in purple mists. The only reasonably inhabitable place Raea acknowledged was Haalbeh. At least it had grass.
“You’ve lived here your whole life?” Cory asked as sweat poured down her body. She had tried flying, but that made her even more miserable. Her wings were damp and pressed against her body. Every so often, she’d shake the water out of her feathers, but they’d refill within a few minutes. She was perched on Crimson Snek because walking on the sand burnt her scaly feet. “I thought living underground was bad. I almost never want to see the suns again.”
Raea fanned herself with her wings. Like Cory, she was sitting on one of Palan’s tails, using his back to provide herself with shade. “This place is terrible. I can feel the mana leaving my body,” she said. Maybe demon’s had a much more difficult time evolving than angels was because their world was against them. If her mana reserves were a pool she drew water out of, after entering Eljiam, it felt like someone had covered the pool with a thick blanket. Something was absorbing it and preventing her from easily accessing her powers.
“It really is unpleasant,” Pyre said and sighed. When Palan had seen the sky pillar, he had wrapped his tail around the half-angel and threw him through the portal first. “No wonder why my father chose to stay in Div’Nya even at the risk of death.” The half-angel was walking alongside Palan, surprisingly in better shape than Cory and Raea. Maybe it had to do with the demon blood flowing through his veins. He glanced at Palan who hadn’t even broken a sweat. “Do you know where you’re going?”
“East,” Palan said. The only landmark was the sky pillar. Everything else was comprised of an endless sea of yellow with a shimmering haze in the air. A few sand particles blew past, stinging the parties’ skin. “Also finding shelter.”
“Shelter?” Pyre asked. “Here? Shouldn’t we be heading towards the giant rock then and not away from it?”
Palan shook his head. “You’ll dehydrate if you continue talking.” Earlier, he wanted to use his powers to leap and travel faster, but his and Raea’s mana regeneration rates were seriously lowered. He never noticed because he never had powers until he went to Div’Nya.
Pyre shut his mouth and continued to walk alongside Palan. Every so often, he’d pull a canteen of water out of his bag and drink from it while sharing with Cory and Raea. The suns were still rising, nearly approaching their zenith. He found it unbelievable, but the temperature rose even higher, and his red skin reddened even further as the sunrays burned him. There was no sign of any shelter in sight. Pyre opened his mouth to speak and found his throat parched. Hadn’t he just taken a swig? “Shelter?”
“Found one,” Palan said. “We’re close.”
Pyre squinted and shielded his eyes with his hand. How close was close? He glanced at Raea and Cory. Though they were also uncomfortable, they looked a lot more at ease than he was. Why couldn’t he ride Palan’s tails? When Pyre was about to collapse, Palan stopped walking.
“We’re here,” Palan said, staring at the ground. He crouched, and Cory cried out as she was exposed to the sun, but Palan ignored her and thrust his right arms through the sand. The muscles on his shoulders bulged as he yanked his arms up, pulling a tarp out of the ground.
“Bastard!” a voice shouted from the large object in Palan’s hands. A bone spear shot out of the tent, stabbing towards Palan’s chest. A tongue flickered out of his torso-mouth and yanked the spear away. His stomach swallowed the weapon but spat it out a second later. Palan frowned. He wasn’t aware his torso-mouth was a picky eater.
The tent in Palan’s arms squirmed, and an emaciated demon fell out, landing on the ground with a thump. He glared at Palan, but froze at his appearance. The demon sighed. “I’m dead, aren’t I?”
Palan responded by crushing the demon’s head with his foot, splattering black matter over the sand. He crouched down and rummaged through the demon’s bag, retrieving supplies needed to repair a tent. While Raea was still stunned by Palan’s sudden action, he had already fixed the hole in the tent and was digging out a shelter with his tails. “We sleep during the day because of the heat,” he said and lined the hole with the tent’s tarp. “Get in.”
“I thought I got used to you killing people,” Raea said and furrowed her brow. She stared at the corpse before shaking her head and entering the shelter. “I guess that’s just something I’ll never be accustomed to.”
“Kill first, ask questions later,” Palan said. “Besides, he attacked first.”
“You dug him out of the ground while he was asleep,” Raea said and rolled her eyes. “Of course he’d attack.” Palan opened his mouth, but Raea spoke over him. “I’m not saying what you did was wrong, okay? I was just surprised that you didn’t even try to talk to him.”
“Exchanging words with the dead is pointless,” Palan said as he made Danger Noodle swallow the corpse. It’d be annoying if it attracted scavengers. A smile appeared on his face as he entered the tent while concealing it with sand, insulating it from the suns’ rays. He’d been away from Eljiam for too long. He almost forgot what it felt like to leisurely hunt someone. Sure, he had Sariel as a target in Div’Nya, but he didn’t know anything about his surroundings or opponent. Here, he knew everything. He looked forward to seeing Abaddon’s and his sister’s expressions.