A New Dawn 72 Hundreds of soliders in the desert...

Because it was slightly elevated, and quite far away, the limbs that were planted in the desert were relatively small. But the message that was sent was quite clear. Using the common tongue of the humans, legs and arms were forming a deadly message "RUN". By now, it was confirmed that the snake possessed a true intelligence, and could even understand what they were saying. In the back of their minds, they didn't realize it, but they far more reluctant to shout their orders.

What was the point of coordinating their attacks if the opponent could easily hear it and prepare for it? Without even fighting, just by its presence and its actions, the monster was pressuring the two officers. Because they couldn't let anyone notice that word made out of body parts, Adin checked if everyone was in position.

"Lieutenant, is every one armed and ready?" The trusted aide nodded at those words but hesitantly lingered a bit more. It seemed that he was reluctant at leaving without asking anything. Feeling the sentiment of his subordinate, the commandant ran out of patience and bluntly asked what was on his mind.

"What is it? Is there any problem?"

"No sir, there is no problem. But I heard people talking about … unapproved actions. They are angry about the group of survivors that brought this on them and are thinking about escaping while leaving them as bait. The team leaders quickly made them shut their mouths before it was too late, but it was useless. A very unhealthy tension is lingering in the air, and the fact that the monster hadn't appeared doesn't arrange anything."

"I see; tell the team leaders they did a good job. As for the monster …"

"You shouldn't expect its arrival, but more hope that he will never come. You're dismissed." Adin cut the commandant and the lieutenant, not improving in the slightest the mood. The soldier still bowed before leaving the two commandants alone. It had been several minutes since he made his speech, but no traces of even a single scale was found. The more this situation kept going, the more unstable it will be for them. Even without saying the bloody message on the dune, the warriors won't be able to pass an entire night on their guard.

"You may be the one in charge commandant Adin, but you are not the one that was with them for nearly two years already. Maybe you should take a small rest, you are maybe tired of your run in the desert. You still haven't even seat since then."

It was only then that Adin realized how tense his body was. He did saw the men under his orders instantly laying on the ground when they arrived, too happy to finally have reached a safe haven. Even now, most were still recovering, especially the injured ones. Thinking that at least resting on a chair couldn't hurt, he tapped the shoulders of the commandant.

"You are right, sorry about that previous order. I was so focused on that monster that I forgot myself. I let you command your men, just make sure to wake me if something happened. It's going to be a long night, and every moment of rest are good to be taken."

Right when he was departing, the lieutenant rushed in panic, shouting at them.

"COMMANDANTS! IT IS HERE!" The loud sound of panicked voice resonated clearly in the silent encampment, every pair of eyes was staring at him. Even the maniac that was the magus stopped looking at the black bomb for just a second, before seriously scouting everything around her, to protect the deadly device.

"COMMANDANTS! COMMANDANTS! IT … IT … IT!"

"Calm yourself, where was it spotted?" The commandant of the base grabbed the shoulders of the lieutenant, trying to calm him. Adin arrived right after, and he also wanted to learn immediately what was happening.

"It already has …" The poor man stopped right in his track and looked around him. He saw the numerous soldiers, yearning for a way to avenge their brothers or to know where to flee. And because he was the only one that realized what happened in the calm time, he suddenly turned mute. Talking as quietly as possible, in the current situation, he murmured the terrible truth to the all ears opened men in front of him.

"The soldier you brought with you, commandant Adin. The soldiers, they are all gone!" Without any delay, Adin immediately dashed toward one of the closest tents around them. He clearly saw one injured man getting transported there and most likely didn't stood up even after everyone took their positions. But after nearly tearing apart the tough fabric that composed the tent, what he saw was a small hole on the ground.

Everywhere else on the ground, carpets and mattresses could be seen, allowing the soldiers to not deal with the sand. It is coarse and it gets everywhere. No one liked the sensation of sleeping with something like that in their clothes. But on one location, the perfect ground made of tissue was torn apart, showing the yellow desert under it.

Leaving in a hurry and merely shaking his head at the intention of the commandant, Adin searched all the tents, but he met no one inside. Leaving behind some baffled and curious soldiers, that were so surprised by his behavior that they also checked the condition of the exhausted warriors. Shouts and panic spread when they realized they were gone, and no one even heard them being taken away by the monster.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP! AND GET BACK TO YOUR POSITIONS!" Feeling threatened by the invisible threat, the commandant quickly reacted and tried to appease his men. But it was to no avail, and he had to reiterate his orders multiple time before they listened. During that time, Adin had the possibility of checking everyone that arrived with him. But to his despair, he was now one of the last survivors of his base.

"Everyone that served under my orders is dead. I am the last … no, wait, the magus, KHALA!" In a hurry, he returned to the commandant's tent, where the injured magus was resting. Because he didn't have the time to open it, he was still unsure if he could find the magus inside. Creating a path for himself inside the sea of warriors that were finally returning to their post, he bypassed completely the commandant that was looking at him with hope.

Adin sighed, finally good news. The injured mage was still asleep, enjoying the comfy cushions that were under his body. But because it was now too risky, Adin had to wake up the magus. Grabbing in one hand a chair and in the other the feeble human, he left the tent and put the two in their line of sight.

"So, it was true? Does that mean he is the last one still alive? Weird, if it had been me, I would have attacked him the moment he was left alone in the tent." The grumbling officer had a pessimistic way of thinking, but it was true. Maybe because they were right next to it and the creature didn't dare to make action at such a short distance. And another magus was literally five meters away, guarding the precious magic bombs.

Those thoughts were filling the head of Adin, but the main issue was that they already lost more men without even seeing the tip of the head of that monster. And they had absolutely no way of preventing more of those sneak attacks. They were even more useless than when they had to face those giant birds. At least, when it was those dangerous times, they could see their opponents.

"We need to regroup everyone here. We are too dispersed. Even if the camp isn't really large, the tents are blocking our vision. Hell, some groups could have already been eaten without us seeing them. Call everyone back." Standing right behind the asleep magus on his chair, Adin ordered the commandant to rally everyone. They will listen to his orders more than his own.

"I hope you really know what you are doing commandant Adin. Being the son of your father wasn't probably a good experience, but I won't let you doom us all just because you want to regain your honor. If the situation is unsalvageable, the two magus will leave immediately. Agree?"

The two men looked into each other eyes and nodded, signing that pact. Even the lunatic woman had lost her obsession with the black bomb and had her face very grave. Looking at her peer, she shuddered about the terrible beast that was escaping all her senses. But she couldn't help but blurt her worry about the man she worked with for the last years.

"But what about you? You don't plan on dying heroically like a moron?"

"Hehehe, no, don't worry. I never liked this place anyway, but I fear that I won't make it either. Too bad, I planned on taking you as my concubine after we left this damned desert."

"Like hell, I will do something like that. Even marrying a commoner like you would make me the fool of everyone in the capital. But, I still don't want you to die like that."

Sneering a bit, the commandant watched those corpses parts that were now nearly invisible, since the torch will be extinguished in any seconds now. "A commoner that rose to the rank of commandant of a forward base. What could be better, right? Isn't it the most prestigious title for someone that hasn't been born a noble?"

Even if it was a very honorable position in the army of the Synnada Empire, it was obvious that it was filled with dangers. Whether it was the djinns or the monsters that were repeatedly unleashed from the depths of the desert, it was not rare that every few years or decades, bases were annihilated. While the warriors didn't have the choice and were most of the time randomly sent here, Adin volunteered.

It was the best way to receive rewards from the Empress, and increase the power of one's family. But when not enough people asked to be sent here and because the commandants couldn't stay here forever, some were as unfortunate as the warriors. No children of a noble or a royal family had ever been sent there against their wishes, so it only let commoners as a target. Only when one was facing death would he think about all those things.

"But enough with sentiments, just promise me to be my wife if you like me so much. LISTEN UP EVERYONE! ALL SQUADS, RALLY AT THE MAIN SQUARE!" His thunderous voice submerged the quiet answer of the magus. It was probably made that way since he hadn't expected a positive answer. Seeing the hundreds of soldiers getting to their designated position, he looked with worry at the few empty spots.

Even when people were still coming, the commandant and the lieutenant had their face paling as seconds passed. Like Adin predicted, the tents worked against them and every few groups had at least one man missing. What should have been a team composed of 10 men only had 9 soldiers in the end. Sighing about it, the commandant stood firm and stable, illuminated by the torches nearby. Drawing his saber of out his sheath, he looked like a general leading a charge.

"From now on, no one leaves this perimeter. As you can see, some of your friends, our brothers, already succumbed to this vicious beast. But we will not allow any additional deaths. The next time this coward worm dare to show its head, we will slash it, so hard, that if its scales don't break, then it will be his entire head. This …"

RUMBLE

He stopped his speech, and like everyone else, he felt the ground shaking under his feet. Looking at the magus, she was desperately trying to localize where the monster was. A few seconds of silence passed before she opened her eyes widely and shouted in direction of the commandant.

"JUMP!"

Chapter end