The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 267: The shifting sand (1)

Chapter 267: The shifting sand (1)

"Treasures? Here?"

Hex didn’t believe it. Sterling wasn’t one to joke about treasures. That he knew. But looking at a vast landscape filled with only sand, he couldn’t fathom how it could have something of value.

"Hard to believe, isn’t it?" Sterling sniggered. "There are many things of value buried under all this sand. They are either hard to find or dangerous to retrieve. People still manage to find them. Treasure seekers, scavengers, nomadic tribes, everyone who wanders long enough in this place finds something. It makes them rich, crazy, or dead."

Hex knew the silver-haired man tended to be dramatic. The flickering light of the small campfire they had lit, helped him with it. The warmth was nice too.

No one ever mentioned that the nights in this land of sand could be as cold as the nights high in the mountains. Thanks to his Ice element, Hex didn’t suffer much. But he saw others shivering.

It had taken some time for the people to regain consciousness. The crew on the deck and the crew manning the flow runes on the lowest deck, all suffered the most injuries.

The people in the middle deck remained safest. Only when they used the broken pieces of the boat to set up a camp on the hill, did Hex realize the number of things and people on board.

While helping shift the injured, Hex did a quick head count. There were over forty crew members and staff. For about twenty passengers. Every person on board, be it crew or passenger, was at the Knight stage at least.

The highest were Refined Knights, with one exception – the old man at the Enlightened Stage. Hex recognized him despite the bag-of-bones look of the man.

According to Sterling, Lord Perl – that was the name of the old man – weakened after his battle against the King of Asterella. Apparently, the old man regressed to the level of a Squire. It was a temporary setback for the old man. He could regain his stage. It only required some time and resources. Sterling didn’t explain how much time or resources. Hex had seen the way Sterling scrunched his forehead, though. It made sense. Resources to allow someone to regain their way back to the Enlightened Stage couldn’t be cheap. Or easy to acquire.

But even the old man’s presence didn’t shock Hex as much as the horses. Yes, horses. Lean and sturdy horses. They looked a bit different than the ones he usually saw. These had longer legs and a bulging sack on the lower side of their necks. Based on Quid’s explanation, this breed of horses excelled at long treks without stops.

While setting their camp up, Sterling ordered the twin female Knights at his side and Gronke to demolish the boat as much as they could. Hex heard him say it shouldn’t resemble a boat but a crashed caravan. Hex agreed. A boat in the middle of a land filled with sand would raise more questions than they wished to answer.

They didn’t leave the crash site. Hex had proposed to do so. But Sterling refused. There were two issues in doing that.

"We could leave. It would be easy in the beginning. But we don’t have enough ration to last us long. We need to find a Sandcastle, even one with a single spire would suffice. And that brings us to the second issue. The customs of Edune say to offer something to the first Dunelord. If we don’t and we are caught crossing the territory from one to another due to being lost, we will be blacklisted all over Edune. No, they won’t attack us. They will just issue a penalty. At every castle. For everything. You will end up paying ten times the price for everything. Even to enter, sit, shit, or eat."

He remembered Hestia telling him that Edune was ruled by merchants. Sterling helped him understand. Edune was filled with treasures. The ones who discovered and amassed them in the earliest times of the land increased their strength. But after a while, they realized that not every treasure they found was of use to them. So, they started to barter with each other. And then, one person came up with the idea of creating a place to let multiple people gather and exchange. He could even pick from all the people entering.

"Isn’t the same way cities emerged?" Hex learned that during his time in the cloister.

"Yes," said Sterling, "but there is one difference. You see, the sandcastles can shift. They are made of sand and can easily be moved. They shift with time and territory won by the lord."

Hex took all the information, feeling some awe. Edune was close to Asterella yet seemed worlds apart in the way things were done. There was a lot on his mind, but seeing and living in a new place excited him a bit. He missed Grindeston too. Only, they couldn’t go that way. He would put the people of the little town in grave danger. And he wouldn’t find the answers he sought.

"So, we sit here and do nothing?" Hex understood the things Sterling said and did. It made sense. To an extent. But if they lacked resources, wouldn’t sitting idly worsen their plight?

"Yes. For now. Well, we do one thing. Listen. As I said, treasures appear once a sandstorm passes an area. Some are buried again. Some are not worth it. There is no guarantee people will acquire it or get rich from it. But what I can guarantee is that there will be people coming this way to look for it. Over here, the only thing as numerous as the grains of sand around are dreams."

So, they waited. As the night ticked away, they listened. But aside from the sand shifting now and then, nothing else could be heard. Most people dozed off. Only Hex remained awake. And the Warlord. He gulped out of his flask. He didn’t speak. Nor did Hex. They stared into the fire.

’It will dawn soon. I wonder how many nights we have to waste before they decide to move. There is nothing to listen –’

"Aahhh!"

Hex jerked his head. Was there a shout? Or did he imagine it? But Gronke stopped drinking too.

"Help!"

"Somebody!"

"Anybody!"

There was no mistaking it. Someone was screaming. And running toward them. Hex jumped to his feet and Gronke stood still. The others were roused too.

"Not the sound I was hoping for but anything is better than nothing, right?" Sterling said as he instructed the others to remain put.

Hex was already on his feet and peering in the direction the shout came from. Sterling and the twins joined him.

"There."

Hex was the first to spot the lone figure coming toward them. He was on his feet. Stumbling and crawling forward.

Hex followed the trail behind the man. He couldn’t see anyone or anything coming. But he noticed the sand shift. It rustled as it came toward the man.

Sterling knew about it. He sounded wary as he told Hex about them.

"Sandsnares!"