Realm Wars

"This is great! If a sandstorm is really coming, then this skeleton just came in the right time." Marcus readied the tapestries and fabric they brought along while Halfjack set to work to make the big bones as habitable as he could.

"Do you think those mammoths frequents this place?" Seraphina asked and brought out some rags and carpets and laid them on the floor.

"Maybe." Ryu had no doubt. There were patches of grass on the sand and leafless trees. Those really must be the beasts' food.

"At least if we ever needed meat. We could just hunt them." Seraphina hummed.

Ryu didn't comment, and not before long, their shelter was made just in time that the loud whooshing of the sandstorm hit their area.

Halfjack was peeking at their tent and stared at the ravaging sandstorm outside while Marcus was mapping their whereabouts with a banago in one hand. But from the looks on his face, he was as much as clueless as they were.

Ryu took a bite from the fruits Seraphina gave them while taking a jar of water to quench his parch throat. 

Seraphina sat beside Ryu and said, "Sorry about the Queen's Horned Mackerel." 

"It's not your fault." It was his. Ryu was thinking about it and the halfbreeds he couldn't save. The halfbreeds body loitered in the entrance of the danger zone, and they could only buried them before they left. 

"The Queen's Horned Mackerel must be in the position of the Right Oasis. They might even ate it by now." Seraphina pouted, but then she beamed. "Don't worry. We'll catch one once we get back in the real world."

Ryu didn't comment, something caught his sight, and before Seraphina could open her mouth and ask what's wrong, Ryu snatched a little creature at lightning speed before it could even land on Seraphina's shoulder.

"W-what!" Seraphina was surprised, garnering Marcus and Halfjack's attention.

"What is this?" Ryu asked as he pinched the creature by its wings and leveled it to his eyes.

It looked like a rodent-type beast, but it had two extra little heads beside its mouse head. A snake and a mantis and with a scorpion tail with insect wings.

(Pic)

"It's a Chimimera." Halfjack eyes rounded. "I'm surprised you caught one!"

Ryu tilted his head. "Chime-what?"

"Chimimera," Marcus repeated and added, "They're cute but deadly. They could kill a behemoth with just one sting of their poison."

Seraphina's color drained, and she backed away from the little creature.

"It's extremely agile and hard to catch. It's best if you don't kill it," advised Marcus, "Once dead, it emitted a type of odor that the others like it could smell. If you don't want to die in the swarms of the likes of them, then don't kill it."

"B-but. .. what if it returned and stung us." Seraphina wanted to squeeze the little creature dry. If Ryu hadn't caught it on time, she might have been poisoned! Though she could probably heal it. But the idea that a little cute, deadly thing was about to lay its creepy needle on her made her want to swat it.

Marcus skimmed his jawline. "Beast like that are common here. That's why potions against poisons are a must. They would not be a problem if it's only one, but if you happened to be stung by hundreds of them. . ." 

Marcus shrugged. "It's instant death. No amount of antidotes could heal you, and it would be too late for a healer too."

"So you suggest that we free it and let it sting us while we're asleep?"

"Uhh. . ." Marcus was at a loss. They couldn't kill it, but they couldn't free it either. With the sandstorm, it would just return in their tent.

"I have an idea." Ryu brought a Jar of Capturing Life. He then opened the lead, and the little creature was sipped inside without trouble. Since the Chimimera was just a Rank-B beast, it went inside the Jar without resistance.

"Ohh! Is that the kind of item the hunters used to catch beasts?" Marcus asked, eyes shining.

Ryu just nodded didn't want to explain more. He didn't know that the Jar of Capturing Life would come in handy like this now that the halfbreeds were dead.

Come to think of it, could he store that behemoth that they saw a while ago in the Jar? Ryu wanted to test it when they came across another one. 

"A good thing that we have that. We can just capture them inside that Jar." Seraphina looked around her, wanting to know if there were still others like it.

"With the Sandstorm. .. little creatures will seek shelter. .. ," said Halfjack.

Seraphina shivered. "They could seek shelter, just not here."

"We should rest first while we can. With this storm, we're not about to leave here anytime soon." Marcus stretched his neck and flexed his arm. "Who wants to take the first watch?"

"I'll do it," Ryu said, and Seraphina seconded.

"I'll watch together with Ryu."

There were no complaints as Marcus and Halfjack took the first sleep. But as soon as they closed their eyes, another Chimimera appeared, followed by other little creatures of the sand.

In the end, the group didn't take a wink as they were occupied with capturing the annoying creatures into the Jar. By the time the storm stopped, it was already morning.

"T-this. .. can I at least kill one of them." Seraphina's eyes were red as she stared intently at the innocent-looking Chimimera.

"No, you can't," stop Marcus. However, he was all for the idea. Those pesky little things didn't give them even a tiny wink.

Ryu stored the Jar of Capturing Life in his traveler's ring. "Let's just go."

"We should take these bones with us," Marcus said, "Let's split them so in case one of us gets separated, he'd still have shelter in this desert."

Everyone nodded, and each one took bones from the behemoth enough to build a small tent in the sand.

After which, they resumed their journey deeper into Tiamat's lair.

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