Summoned To A Shattered World - Chapter 33 The Desert Of Shifting Steel

Once the wagons Vorisen’s men had brought were loaded with supplies, we set out. The great four-legged hulks of muscle that pulled them, one animal to a wagon, were vaguely reminiscent of oxen. Other than their asymmetric misshapen bodies their basic structure was similar, at least until you got to the heads. Namely because they didn’t have any; just three gash-like mouths in a circle on their torso surrounded by a number of eyes that varied from one individual to another. They appeared docile but I kept a wide berth. There was no telling what something so grotesque might do, especially in a world where magic was a part of everyday life.

With the ogres some distance behind us, we walked at the back of the column. I assumed our position at the rear was a deliberate slight, but it suited me just fine. Let them face whatever we ran into while we were safe back here, they deserved the face the brunt of the danger.

After we left the manor behind and entered the actual wilderness beyond, I looked around. “Are you sure we’ll be able to find them?”

“If we can’t, they’ll probably find us.”

“Isn’t that pretty dangerous then? They could easily just lay an ambush for us.”

“Of course,” she sounded awfully matter-of-fact about the whole thing, “we’re marching right into enemy territory, what else would you expect? I suggest you keep your eyes open.”

I’d been feeling relatively okay about this trip but her words made me a bit anxious. Somehow the idea of us probably walking into a trap didn’t sit too well with me. “Well, can you tell me what I’m supposed to look for at least?”

Elmidath shrugged. “You’ve seen the Tertiums before, right? Big, hairy? See if you can spot any of those and let me know if you do.”

“Uh, won’t they be hidden?”

“Only if there’s somewhere to hide. Watch out for any likely places, I guess.”

I was going to do as she suggested, but I had little confidence that I’d be able to spot anything. Everything was too unfamiliar out here. I assumed the demons marching in front of us would have a better chance of it, or so I hoped; this was their homeland after all. What was left of it at least, considering what Elmidath had said about the history of the world.

Looking at the hard, glossy ground around us, riddled with cracks, I wondered what this place had looked like once. Had it been a pristine forest or grassland? Or something even more alien than what was here now? Maybe this particular region never existed in either world and the resulting combination of the two had created a shape unlike the others. Speaking of shapes was this world even a sphere? Now that I thought about it, I really had no idea but no other shape made any sense to me. “Hey Elmidath, sorry if this sounds like a weird question, but is this world round?”

“Uh, yeah.” She gave me an odd look. “Why?”

“That’s good, I was just wondering.”

Putting any strange notions about this planet’s form to rest before I got started probably saved me a lot of painful thought. Even my initial thoughts in that direction had been enough to make my head hurt. Despite all the magic and demons, knowing this world was the same shape as Earth somehow made me feel more at home. My new-found familiarity quickly faded as we passed beyond the area I’d spent most of my time in.

Skirting the deep ravine that marked the edge of Azurius, the region in which Elmidath’s domain lay, we passed westward into Phengaris. The stretches of blackened earth ended, replaced by fine brown-red sand with a silver sheen. Even the air tasted of metal; to the point where I could taste nothing else.

Swirling through the air in little clouds, the sand’s movement seemed to have nothing to do with wind. Instead it moved either toward or away from uneven trapezoids buried by the shifting dunes. It floated through the air or shifted along the ground like a living thing. And yet when the wagons rolled forward they didn’t get stuck, indeed they flowed over the ground like it was a paved road.

The patterns of the sand, glittering beneath the red suns, had a certain hypnotic quality to them as they moved through the air. It seemed almost like some sort of strange dance performed by the metallic particles all around us. This was where the Tertiums were living? Though not exactly a hostile environment, there wasn’t a single animal or plant in sight.

There wasn’t even any sign of water. How could anything biological survive here for extended periods? I suppose I didn’t really understand how the demons survived in Azurius either. The landscape was less alien but little more hospitable. They seemed to eat food much like a human would, so where did it all come from? I reached into my pack, pulled out a piece of dried meat and held it out toward Elmidath. “Do you know where this meat came from?”

She glanced at it. “I’m not sure exactly, but it’s probably from somewhere in eastern Azurius.”

“What do the animals it came from eat? Are they raised by demons or are they wild?”

Elmidath snorted. “Animals? You think we can afford to eat that sort of thing? All the meat we brought with us is from plants.”

Inspecting the morsel in my hand, I blinked. It looked like normal meat to me but it was from plants? “What? How can this be from plants?” It felt like Elmidath had to be making this up but she sounded totally sincere. Was this a reflection of how little she understood what she was talking about? That felt a whole lot more likely than what she was suggesting.

“How? I don’t really understand what you mean. Why wouldn’t it be from plants?”

She sounded convinced and explaining the stark difference in our views seemed quite difficult without any relevant examples. Had I seen any normal plants here? I suppose the closest ones would be the forest around the human city I’d arrived in. “Plants are more like those in that forest we were in. The one where I met that spirit.”

“Those horrible things?” The Demon Lord shuddered. “Humans actually eat them?” She sounded horrified, like I’d just told her they eat babies.

What the hell was this plant meat I’d been eating the whole thing, anyway? Was it even safe? I suppose it must be if the demons survived off it, I was one of them now after all.

“We did in my old world, at least. Though I don’t know how similar they are to the plants here.” I was guessing not very but I hadn’t gotten a good look at them when we were in the forest and I certainly hadn’t gotten to taste them.

“Okay, well, please don’t mention it. The thought of eating that stuff is making me feel sick.”

Her reaction seemed pretty ridiculous but I suppose this was just part of the gap between our different cultures. So, I should try to be understanding blah, blah, blah. Despite all that, it was hard for me to imagine I’d ever come to terms with it. It definitely wouldn’t be happening anytime soon. “Fine, I won’t bring it up.”

“Good. You should be glad that you’re in a more civilised world now, if anything.”

I burst out laughing. Elmidath was serious, but that only made it funnier. This was what a civilised world looked like? The idea was so ridiculous I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Forget about eating meat that came from plants, this was way more insane. I was laughing so hard that I lost my footing in the loose sand and fell against one of the buried trapezoids.

Even through the thick layer separating me from whatever the shape actually was, touching it sent a tingle throughout my whole body. It wasn’t unpleasant exactly but it was strange, and I hardly needed more strangeness right now. I had about all I could handle already.

Forcing myself to calm down, I took a breath and pulled myself away from the structure. Or, I tried to at least. There was a force pulling me toward it, pulling the armour I was wearing to be precise. Which meant it must be magnetic. With a little more effort, I pulled myself free.

The magnetism hadn’t felt especially strong but I imagine all the sand in the way helped dampen it, or something. I made a mental note to avoid them in future, especially if they were uncovered. Though I’m not sure how one would go about uncovering one, given that they seemed to be giant magnets in what was essentially a desert of metallic sand. But who knew what was possible when magic entered into the equation? Neither Elmidath nor the other demons paid the sand or the magnets much attention, this was probably no stranger for them than going to the beach was for me.

We kept on until the suns had dipped below the horizon, then made camp. Biustarn’s soldiers had a few large tents with them, while Elmidath and I had a small tent each. It was little more than a hide covering but it kept the elements out. The ogres were happy to sleep on the ground. Or at least they didn’t complain especially much about it. I didn’t get the impression there was much they were happy with. Fortunately, they were content to complain to each other for now. Complain and endlessly argue over the precise nature of their complaints and the morality surrounding them.

After a cold meal, we all turned in for the night. Feeling the sand move beneath me as I laid down was a bit like getting a massage of sorts and I drifted off easily enough. We were up and walking again the next day before the suns had even fully crested the horizon.

Much as I would have liked to complain, and very much did so internally, I could see the need for haste. The sooner we dealt with the Tertiums and the leader, the sooner the Sarinknell lands would be safe. And I imagine Biustarn’s forces were eager to get this over and done with so they could go home. That seemed the most likely reason for their zeal at least. But maybe this was the attitude Biustarn expected of his troops. Having met Vorisen, I could believe it.

As we walked it occurred to me that this place wasn’t as bad as I imagined a desert would be. It wasn’t particularly hot, probably about the same temperature as the parts of Azurian I’d visited. Though perhaps that was to be expected; the regions were right next to each other, it would be stranger if the temperature changed that much. And yet the terrain had changed so drastically. There had to be some reason for it but I didn’t much care right now. Maybe it was fatigue or maybe I had enough new information about this world that I needed to ponder and adjust to already.

For her part, Elmidath initiated little in the way of conversation. Probably some mixture of fatigue and her own concern over mission. Technically I should be more worried about the impeding conflict but I couldn’t bring myself to focus on it. It felt like an inevitability that wasn’t worth thinking about. And I wasn’t going to read too much into that; not thinking about it suited me just fine. Especially when I could be worrying about the strange nature of this world instead.
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