After they put some distance between themselves and Rant, Diago had taken note of how few forests there were. He had never known how sparse Tunaan really was.

  “No wonder they call us the desert kingdom,” he thought to himself after passing from a salt flat into yet another pass through monstrous dunes. After they passed through, they came to a road.

  “There it is!” Cried Finch over the constant drum of the talard’s march.

  Ahead, there was a splitting of roads. One side took an almost ninety-degree turn and lead east. It was the road that took a long circumvent around the Darkened Path. That path lead straight through a rocky canyon. This canyon was not at all like the racing canyon outside of Rant. This canyon rose above the landscape to a plateau above. The road lead directly toward an opening in the striated cliffside. “Not very dark is it?” Aylah commented soon after spotting the path herself.

  As it happened, the sun was directly overhead and illumined the inside of the pass quite well. She could see the path ahead, though it quickly turned within the rocky scape.

  “It’s not for lack of light they called it the Darkened Path. It’s the lack of people that live through it!” Finch said and looked over with a bright smile

  “How much time do we have?” Thatch called out from behind Aylah.

  “We will have to press on until twilight!”

  And press on they did. Diago continued to stay a short distance behind on Saama, though whenever they noticed the talards slowing, Diago would come closer and the pace would quicken once more. They all had guilt over pushing the beasts so hard, but they had no choice. The path had many outlets and once or twice they realized they had to turn around, but thankfully they were making good time. They might even be able to make it before twilight and have time to rest up, or so Finch claimed.

  Diago followed his companions through the twists and turns until he turned a corner into a widened opening in the pass and found them all stopped. Diago braced himself as Saama slid to a stop.

  “What is it?” Diago asked but was met with the answer when he looked around himself.

  On the canyon floor there were weapons and armor strewn about and littered throughout the space were bones…bones that looked picked clean. Some were broken and hollow.

  “What is this?” asked Aylah as she reached for her bow.

  “Don’t move!” Finch whispered with intensity.

  Aylah halted and everyone else froze as well. That’s when Diago finally spotted what caused them to stop in their tracks. A creature that he had only heard about, but hoped to never face. The beast’s body looked like an unholy cross between a worm and a snake with one difference being the powerful arms that were currently picking at a pile of bones. Its claws were webbed, but rather than a thin membrane, this webbing was thick and sturdy. Its head was narrow and had many rows of small, serrated teeth. There were two pale white eyes right above the creature's opened mouth. Its barbed tongue was licking clean the bones it held. Thankfully it was too distracted at present to notice them.

  “A canyon ruler” Diago whispered under his breath.

  The creature sat back on its coiled lower half and stood roughly ten feet tall.

  Saama fidgeted below Diago, the same way she did before the races. Diago knew she was ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. He placed his hand on her head and she calmed a little.

  “What do we do?” Diago whispered to Thatch

  “I could try to weave into it’s mind, but its risky. Animals don’t work like people. There is a strong likelihood that it will lash out the moment I try,” he replied with a concerned glance back toward Diago.

  They whispered low, but Aylah still heard and anticipating what would need to happen leaned over to the determined-looking old man, “Mr. Finch, get ready to run”

  “Are you nuts? We can’t-”

  A screech came from the creature. It sounded like iron sliding against iron. the guttural cry echoed off the canyon walls. quick as lightning the canyon ruler whipped around toward the intruders. As it approached, it rose up into the air and stretched out its powerful looking arms and dove toward the loose sand below. When it was about to make impact it used its webbed appendages to furiously claw at the sand and burrow underneath the surface.

  “It didn’t work,” Thatch said blandly

  “RUN!” Diago cried out

  Talards are notoriously horrible at changing directions unless it is in a long curve, so forward they went. They made a break for the far end of the opening where the Darkened Path continued. Finch made it through first carrying the rains of the spare talard that they had with them. Thatch was next. Before Aylah could make it through, the canyon ruler burst through the sand in a flurry of sand and debris. Diago took out his Kurigan, frustrated that he hadn’t had time to switch from the bludgeoner. The creature swiped at Aylah with blinding speed. Aylah managed to jump off her mount before she felt the sting of a rapid death. Her talard was not so lucky, having been thrown to the side and into the wall of the canyon. Saama rushed forward at the precise moment Diago had hoped she would. However, as he rushed in, he felt something. A tug on his gut and an impulse in his hands told him to pull Saama to the side without losing another second. He did and not a moment too soon. The ruler’s spiked tale came up from underground right where Diago had been riding. He didn’t have time to wonder what that feeling was or where it came from, but he did risk sparing a moment to see what happened to Aylah. She had unfolded her bow and was climbing up the side of a canyon wall at a pace only she could achieve. She was okay for now.

  Another screech threatened to burst Diago’s eardrums, but it was worse for Aylah. She had made her way to a perch but had cried out and had fallen to her knees clutching her ears in the wake of the blood-curdling cry produced by the canyon ruler. The beast had heard her cry and turned toward her, rushing forward with malice in its eyes. Saama rushed forward alongside the slithering foe, without instruction. As she ran, Diago felt as though he could understand what she intended. Then the tugging came again. Something deep inside himself told him that the canyon ruler was about to turn on him. He pulled up on Saama’s neck and hoped that she would understand his desire. She jumped and flapped her webbing once to give a slight boost to her aerial climb. The moment she did a powerful, clawed arm swiped at the exact place where they had been. Diago could feel the rage and surprise emanating from the furious creature. Saama gripped the canyon wall and took two mighty steps upward. Diago saw that Aylah was now standing, trying to string her bow. She looked dazed but determined.

  Diago knew what to do and so did Saama. The jynx turned to the side toward the purch Aylah was standing on and Diago began swinging his Kurigan around. As she did, the place where she had been headed was crushed by the strike of the canyon ruler. The creature retreated a ways, preparing to strike again. Now or never. Saama approached Aylah, preparing what she hoped to be her final move.

  Diago had another gut instinct and yelled out,

  “behind the eye, below the ear!” He didn’t know where the idea came from, but he knew it was the right decision.

  Four things happened simultaneously: Saama jumped off the wall, above Aylah’s head, the canyon ruler pounced in a flash of motion, Diago whipped the bludgeoner and hit the Ruler’s snout moving its head to the side, and Aylah loosed an arrow directly where Diago had called out.

  Diago and Saama landed on the soft sand with a thud. Diago whipped around, hoping to the Great One that Aylah hadn’t been crushed and that the canyon ruler was at least too injured to continue fighting. When he turned he saw the newly made corpse of a canyon ruler and Aylah off to the side. She had jumped out of the way in the nick of time right after shooting the arrow. Saama wheezed and

  Diago gave a sigh of relief and directed Saama to Aylah’s side. When they reunited, Aylah was standing over the Canyon Ruler’s head pulling out her arrow. Diago came to a stop and dismounted.

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  “How did you know that would kill it?” Aylah asked

  Diago thought for a moment, but couldn’t find the answer, “I don’t know”

  Aylah cocked her eyebrow, “a lucky guess then?”

  “I guess” Diago shrugged

  “And you call me the freak,” said Aylah, shaking her head.

  Diago didn’t have the energy to give any rebuttal, so he let the insult stand. Aylah noticed how perplexed he looked and decided to drop it. She lightly punched him on the shoulder,

  “Hey, come one. Let’s go find the others”

  That shook Diago out of his thoughts. He nodded, “we’ll have to ride Saama”

  Aylah looked over and Saama met her eyes with a growl. Though Diago could tell she was being playful, Aylah could not. She certainly could not tell when Saama bucked her off the first few times Aylah tried to get on her back. Diago could not help but laugh as Aylah dusted herself off and glared at him.

  “We don’t have time for this Sunburn!” She said with a growl in her voice

  Diago’s laugh subsided. He knew she was right, but it was nice to have a release of pressure after the intensity from moments ago. He placed his hand on Saama’s head and told Aylah to try again, knowing that Saama would behave this time. Diago mounted in front of Aylah and they shot off toward the path.

  Saama was not a large jynx, but she was still a jynx and though she was a little slower with Aylah riding as well, it was plenty fast. They continued to weave in and out of the seemingly endless pathways until finally, they broke free of the cliffs. They crossed the threshold of rocks and into the open sky. Around them was yet another dune lake. Diago was once again struck with gratitude that Rant was close enough to the border that trees and forests were still relatively common, but it also made him miss home. He wondered what Sulien was up to…if he had forgiven him for leaving. He wondered how Rayna was getting along with Sun and Lun. He missed Silana. He wasn’t very close to the others, but even so, he wished he could see them.

  “Look, there!” Aylah said over the rush of wind in Diago’s ears, shaking him from his thoughts.

  Diago looked, but then shook his head, “I can’t see anything, Tantoos. Not from Onterrin, remember?”

  Aylah nodded, “I can see them, they aren’t too far but we need to pick up the pace”

  Diago thought back to the race in the canyon and had an idea. He looked around and spotted a dune just off the path that rose slowly but had a steep drop-off at the top.

  “Perfect”

  “What’s perfect?” Aylah asked

  Without answering, Diago directed Saama to take the steep climb up the dune toward the edge. Saama accelerated to counter the looseness of the sand beneath her.

  “What are you doing?” Aylah asked

  “Scared?” Diago replied

  “Never”

  “Then hold on tight tantoos! This is where it gets fun”

  Aylah gripped Diago’s waist. He decided that the little flutter he felt was from the anticipation of the jump and nothing else. They reached the edge and Saama threw herself forward as far as she could while partially extending her webbing so the wind would carry her further. Once they were far enough out Saama dove straight down. Weightlessness pulled at Diago’s gut causing him to cry out with joy. That is when he heard another cry harmonizing with his own and he realized that Aylah was enjoying this just as much as he was…it was definitely the fall causing that flutter.

  Just as they were about to hit the ground, Saama extended her webbed arms and caught the wind, rocketing her forward like an arrow freshly loosed from a bow. The ground rushed passed below them with such speed that it was nothing but a blur. Saama rose and fell and banked a few times to avoid dunes as they rapidly approached, but that only slowed them a very little and made the ride that much more exciting. Soon, Diago could see a trail of dust that led to three Talards running a breakneck pace along the Darkened Path.

  They caught up and Saama allowed herself to pass the racing Talards and then leaned upward to a steep climb. This brought her already diminished speed to an almost standstill. She arched her back and looped till she was facing toward the ground. She did a single spiral and landed. The talards skid to a halt before the ferocious-looking animal that had just appeared.

  “Diago, Aylah!” Thatch cried out, “Thank goodness. We tried to get these stupid beasts to stop, but they were too scared. They just kept running and running and nothing would stop them.”

  “Glad you aren’t bones!” Finch cackled, “How’d ya get away?”

  “Ask him,” Aylah nudged Diago as she dismounted.

  Thatch and Finch looked inquisitive. Diago saw their stares, “hold on a second, I wasn’t the one who killed it!”

  “It may as well have been you, Sunburn”

  “Wait, you actually killed that thing?” Thatch’s surprise was written all over his face. Finch, on the other hand, remained silent and fixated on Diago in a way that made him uncomfortable.

  Diago shifted in Saama’s saddle, “well…yeah”

  After a bashful retelling of the battle, with Aylah’s help to fill in gaps and tell her perspective, Thatch shook his head, “how did you know that would kill it Diago?” Diago was about to try an explain, but something stopped him. He didn’t even really know the answer himself, but he also still did not trust Finch. So, he made something up,

  “When I got close to it, I saw it guard that area and guessed that it would be our best bet”

  Finch continued to study Diago, but then shook himself quickly, “Well, you are one lucky duo!” He said with enthusiasm, “one for the diaries I’d say! Now, onward? We are making good time after that gallop, but better safe than sorry, I’d say!”

  They all agreed and set off once more down the Darkened Path.

  Their journey was surprisingly uneventful. Diago saw a few wild jynx on the path, but they were always heading away from them, something he found to be odd. He also thought he saw a the sand shifting under the dunes a few times and thought maybe a Canyon Ruler was on their heels, but that too proved to be an unwarranted fear.

  No one spoke during the ride, which gave Diago time to analyze what he had experienced in that fight. The more he considered it, the more confused he got. He had no other answer than it all being a mixture of luck and instinct. It felt like a whole lot of good guesses that he was absolutely certain were correct. Something else though was the connection he could feel with Saama’s movements, but not just her…he could have sworn he could tell what the Canyon Ruler was about to do, but that wasn’t possible.

  More questions than answers came of his rumination, but those questions would have to wait. After pushing the talards to their limits all day, they finally hit their destination. Evening had only just begun and twilight would not be for another hour or so. They crested a dune and Diago could not help but gasp. In the distance was the first forest he had seen since the outskirts of Rant. However, that’s not what caused him to gasp.

  “Ahh here we are.” Finch said with a bright smile, “and just in time too!”

  In the middle of the forest stood an enormous, jet black, elm tree with sprawling limbs. There was no foliage, but it still cast an wide shadow over the dark green trees below. The whole forest sat in a wide depression of land, almost like a bowl with the Demon Tree as it’s center piece.

  “So what now?” Aylah asked

  “Why don’t we send Aylah in first as bait and then-”

  Diago was interrupted by a punch in the shoulder.

  “Should be safe in the forest for the most part, but the closer we get to that tree, the worse it’ll get” Finch said, ignoring Diago’s comment.

  “Well then, shall we?” Thatch said driving his talard forward.

  The pressed on. Finch was right they passed through the trees with little interruption. Once, they surprised a small pack of small creations Finch called Kruul. There were about a three feet long with a food and half of that length being a thin tale with a tuft on the end. The body was petit. It ran on it’s long arms and grabbed with its lower appendages. On it’s feathery head was two large black eyes and a large beak. They were scavengers according to Finch, but if there were enough of them and they felt threatened, they would be a nightmare to deal with.

  Diago thought he saw a massive shadow moving pace with them once or twice in the trees. He mentioned it to Aylah, but she couldn’t see anything and after a few snide comments about her eyes being better than Diago’s, he decided that he would talk to Thatch from here on out. Evening was coming to a close and twilight was drawing nearer. They pressed on till they cam to the end of the tree line that came up to a clearing and they stopped dead.

  The base of the tree was as ominous and large as it looked from the dune. It had to have been no less than fifty feet in diameter and black as a moonless night, but this was not what made them stop so cold, nor is it what turned their blood to ice. What did that was the scene at the base of the tree. The creatures ought to have been vacating the area by now, or so they were told, but instead they were scrambling around the base of the Demon Tree. There were so many. Jynx were littered throughout the various skirmishes of beasts. Canyon Rulers of various sizes slithered around, one was using it’s tale to choke out a four legged animal Diago had never seen before. Krull scurried around, picking at corpses both new and old. However, it was the two large animals closest to the base of the tree that drew the attention of the terrified travelers. One was an incredibly large, white-grey wolf with two yellow streaks that lined it’s back. Standing on all four legs it must have been no less than nine feet tall and when it stood back on it’s hind quarters the size nearly doubled. It was a Grimis of Phelgan, though what it was doing all the way out here was impossible to decipher. It was locked in conflict with a Desert Guardian, or an Aazotas as it was once called. The creature was like an incredibly large lizard with a wide mouth and slit eyes. However, the Aazotas alternated fighting on all fours and standing on its muscular back legs. It had thick smikes all over it’s body, from head to tail. It had four ears much like a talard, one set above the eyes and another just below. The ears would flatten against the creatures neck as it fought, but then would flare out as a warning as well as to catch sounds that might give it the advantage over it’s opponent.

  The two massive creatures were locked in devastating conflict over something. All other creatures gave them lots and lots of space. The Desert Guardien was bigger and more powerful, but the Grimis was nimble and was doing well avoiding the claws of the beast. However, that couldn’t last forever. The Aazotas grasped hold of the Grimis with a strong arm and pulled it into a deadly embrace, spearing it with the many spikes on it’s body. Only then, did Diago, Thatch, Aylah, and Finch see what the beasts were fighting over. The Aazotas turned toward the tree and began climbing its trunk toward the lowest limb about fifty feet off the ground.

  There perched on the limb, looking scared out of his mind and trembling from head to toe, was Trigg.