Chapter 5: Si Wong Rock

We spent some time in a remote village on the edge of the desert. Having earned some coin drying timber, Tassad decided to approach our newfound opportunities with a sharp mind and began planning his future moves. He simply couldn't let such a chance slip through his fingers. As for me, I continued hanging out with Bael and Hamri, often spending our time not just in training, but in simple conversation.

"Dagoth, did you see that girl in the shop? Bet I can get her to go on a date with me."

"Hamri, I’m not going to wipe away your tears again."

Those two were always buzzing around me, constantly roasting one another. They also loved to show off, especially their sword skills. Since I had never practiced the art in my life, I was oblivious to a gigaton of nuances. They, however, shared their secrets gladly, as if they had no one else to talk to, and, of course, they couldn't resist a bit of flexing; not a sentence went by without it.

"You're sharpening the edge wrong," they said at one point. Seeing the dagger I had fashioned from sand, they sat around me and produced a real iron blade. "Swords are usually sharpened at a forty to forty-five-degree angle. That keeps them sharp without dulling too quickly. The tip is sharpened at twenty degrees. But you’re making a weapon out of a material that can maintain a constant edge."

"You could easily sharpen it to twenty degrees and not worry about wear and tear." They showed me the approximate angle the blade should be at. With a serious expression, I focused my power on the dagger and carefully honed it. Any more, and the sandstone would have crumbled. Swiping it through a piece of fabric, I sliced it with ease.

"Thanks..."

"Ha-ha, brother’s getting dangerous. I’m starting to get twitchy about sparring with him," Bael chuckled.

"Mind if I stop by for you to do my kitchen knives?" Hamri asked with total sincerity.

Still, we didn't rot in that hole for long. My father gathered his thoughts and called us to the boat; we were heading home. Given the smile on his face, it was safe to assume he had developed some solid ideas for a profitable business. The repaired catamaran jerked forward, and the mood was high. But, squinting against the sand whipping toward us, I looked at the horizon with doubt.

"Hey... is that a sandstorm heading our way?" It looked as though a massive wall of sandstone had formed in the middle of the desert, lumbering steadily toward us. Anxiety stirred in my heart.

"That’s the one. We’re going through it," he said, making my eyes widen. "It’s safe for Sandbenders. We can easily deflect the particles, and we’ll even pick up speed thanks to the wind gusts."

If his words were to be believed, the storm was something of an accelerant. Tassad actually seemed pleased, likely at the prospect of reaching home sooner to execute his plans. As for me... every survival instinct I had told me not to go in there, but Anubis remained silent as a grave, which meant the danger didn't even warrant a choice. Gritting my teeth, I stared straight ahead.

But perhaps I shouldn't have.

"Yah-ha-aa!" A piercing cry erupted from behind us. It was hard to notice at first through the concentration, but three boats had latched onto our tail. In their attempt to catch us, these mysterious pursuers used three Sandbenders each to create waterspouts of sand, and soon these strangers were on every side. Desert bandits.

SHUKH—

Evidently planning to stop us, they raised a massive pillar of sand in front of our boat, capable of killing all our momentum. Out of pure lack of experience, I closed my terrified eyes, barely noticing as a tiny gap appeared in the giant geyser, which we shot through.

"Hold on tight," Tassad said in a deadly serious tone, which I could barely hear over the pounding of my heart.

SAKH—

Bursting out of the tunnel, he suddenly launched sharp spears at the pursuing boats, shattering their skids and impaling one of the pirates through and through. The brutal sight made me fear for my own life. A single attack had taken a life so easily, what was to stop the pirates from doing the same?

And they did, though in a different way. Amidst the sand rising everywhere, I didn't notice the grains tightly encircling my arm. It was as if a whip had lashed around me; with a sudden, violent jerk, I was yanked from my spot.

"A-a-a-ah!" I couldn't hold back a panicked scream. The boat vanished from beneath my feet, and my father drifted away as I was pulled toward the bandits. My neck ended up in the grip of one of the benders, and a sharp dagger was pressed to my face, turning me pale as my life flashed before my eyes.

"Shut it, brat. Stop your boat, or we gut the kid!" they screamed at Tassad. I should have been wetting myself, but... the experience of being in near-death situations quickly forced me to shut my mouth. Even through the adrenaline, I realized that if we stopped, we’d be surrounded and slaughtered instantly. I didn't know what the pirates wanted, but we were on relatively equal footing as long as we were moving at these speeds.

Before my father could stop and get us all killed, I looked closely at the hand squeezing my throat, cutting off my airway. My cold fingers slowly gripped his arm; imagining the muscular limb as a wooden log, I abruptly and ruthlessly absorbed all its moisture.

"Ss-u-a-a-a-ah!" The bender’s body began to heave and thrash in a paroxysm of agony. The pain made him lose control over his bending, and his body suffered the exact same fate as the timber. His muscles began to coil toward the core, crushing his bones from all sides. Consequently, the bones became brittle and shattered instantly.

"Oh, spirits," I muttered. Looking up, I saw the other benders staring at me. Problem. Bracing myself, I shut my eyes tight, just in time to avoid being blinded by the reaching sandstorm. In an instant, I felt a surge of power in my surroundings and the violent gusts of wind the benders were using to accelerate the boats. We sped up as if hitting nitro, beginning to leap high into the air over every bump.

Tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk—

At that same moment, a relentless hail of sand arrows rained down on the pirates in front of me, it was as if Tassad had gained an infinite supply of very accessible ammunition. Several surprised benders were riddled through, while others quickly adapted. The swirling sand in the air surrounded their bodies, forming a kind of armor.

"This is insane. I need to get out of here," I thought. Seeing that this had turned into a clash of titans, I gathered the floating grains in the air into a makeshift whip to pull myself back to our boat. But, noticing a blade flying at me, I sharply honed the whip and parried the projectile. Everything was so chaotic that projectiles were flying from everywhere; I couldn't even tell who was attacking. Even worse, our boat was invisible in the heart of the storm.

[Choose.]

In that moment, Anubis finally deigned to speak.

[1 — Jump off the boat (If you’re going to die, die from broken legs).]

[2 — Hide in the cabin (Say a prayer before you go).]

He actually seemed to be enjoying this. But for me, it wasn't even remotely funny. Glancing around and realizing I wasn't crazy enough to jump from a transport at this speed, I struggled into the cabin and wrapped myself in a sand shield. My heart hammered like a drum, and the thought crossed my mind: why did Anubis only suggest hiding now? And right at that moment...

BADAKH!

A massive impact rocked the boat, collapsing a pile of timber onto my sand shield. Silence fell... only the roar of the storm could be heard. I stayed in my cocoon, my eyes darting back and forth. Dozens of possibilities of what might have happened raced through my head, but I was so terrified for my life that I was afraid to crawl out. Not even the rising heat or the dwindling oxygen could force me to look. Only when the sound of the storm began to fade did my heart gradually calm down.

I could feel several meters of sand over my head. Had I been an ordinary person, I likely wouldn't have made it out and would have simply suffocated. But, clenching my hand into a fist, I delivered a light blow to the ceiling. The strike, honed through countless repetitions, caused an explosion of sand; I managed to clear the mound easily and scramble to the surface.

Only to realize that no one was around. Just a whistling breeze and a pair of legs sticking out of the sand. Looking around frantically, hoping to see Tassad patrolling the area, I realized with a heavy heart that he was nowhere to be found. I was alone. Just me and a strange mountain on the horizon. That was all.

All I had left was my hourglass. The boat was smashed to splinters, beyond any hope of repair.

"...Why didn't you warn me this was going to happen?" I stared into the empty air. "You've been silent about the dangers for so long, for what?!"

[Choose:]

[1 — Sit and cry (You will achieve nothing).]

[2 — Head toward Si Wong Rock.]

My pupils slowly contracted. Looking closer at the peak on the horizon, I finally began to understand which region I’d been thrown into. I was near the magnetic center of the desert that Tassad had mentioned...

"It's dangerous there. But if every compass points only to it... eventually, someone has to come, right?" Swallowing hard, I stood up. My father would surely figure out where I was; I couldn't just stay in the middle of the dead desert.

The sand shifted unpleasantly under my feet, making the trek difficult. It was going to be a long walk, and given the dunes in the way, I probably would have lost my mind. So, with a slight movement of my hand, I let the sand beneath my feet ease my movement. I began to glide as if on skates. The journey became much easier, and I reached the rock in less than an hour.

"Solid stone." Touching the nearly vertical cliff, I felt a tremor of excitement. Not sandstone, but real rock; yet even so, it felt like an extension of my hands. It could be brought under control and used to my advantage. But it was proving difficult to manipulate. "Well, I never learned to bend solid rock."

All I could manage was to dent the surface to create finger-holds so I could climb up. I reached a plateau where I was met by numerous burrows. Deep holes were everywhere, and a strange buzzing sounded beneath my feet.

"Why was this place so dangerous? What happened here in the show... oh, wait." I began to slowly remember. At that same moment, the buzzing noise rose, and terrifying sounds began to echo from the holes. Just as I swallowed hard, several enormous bees burst out. True monsters the size of a grown man, they began to swarm the area.

Five of them fixed their giant faceted eyes on me and opened mandibles that resembled the beak of a scavenger. Their wings whirring, they suddenly lunged at me, their massive stingers extended from their abdomens.

The prospect of being eaten by giant, unknown creatures appealed to me even less than being beaten by bandits. So, quickly gathering the sand that had been tossed onto the mountain after the cyclone, I fashioned a pair of blades and, with all my might, venting all my emotion, I sliced through them all in a single blow. Entrails and green ichor spilled out just inches in front of me.

My stomach barely held together. It was gruesome.

"...Are you saying I have to wait for rescue on this mountain? For how long?"

[The Trial of Anubis begins. By leaving home and refusing the fermented juice, you have stepped onto the path of the warrior.]

[Choose:]

[1 — Hone your sand tentacles ten thousand times (It will be easier to develop sand speed).]

[2 — Strike down 100 enemies from 60 meters while in the air (You will learn to fire sand faster).]

"...I have a feeling it’s going to be an eternity."