The past has already gone.

  The future may never happen.

  So all we have is now.

  — Excerpt from Meditations, by the Red Emperor

  The Endless Sands, SouthWest of the Pyramid

  The thing about mistakes, Molam's mentor had always warned him, is that the next one could be your last.

  Multiple rows of gleaming blade-like teeth closed around Molam. His mind clawed frantically for any final, desperate options. Use the teeth themselves as handholds and footholds? He would certainly be poisoned, but it would buy him a few extra moments before the venom set in. The mursashu had a few healers capable of temporarily neutralizing the Sandwurm venom, so major-risk-of-death later was preferable to guaranteed-death now, right?

  Molam made to lunge towards the teeth, only for the rope around his hand to yank upwards, the friction burning painfully against his skin. His hand missed the lethal edges, but it was pointless anyway now that they were inches from skewering his body. He closed his eyes, ready for the pain. There were no options left. He wouldn't even need to bring his knife to his neck.

  Krrrrrrkkkkk.

  He opened his eyes, hearing the sound of something… splintering? It was the teeth, gnashing futilely against a golden barrier wrapped around his body. He lurched sideways as something seemed to slam into the Sandwurm from its side, then the rope around his hand pulled again, yanking him clean out of the beast’s mouth. Molam floundered briefly in the air before landing painfully on his back, looking up at Primrose's furious face and Kalle's worried expression. The rope twisted around Kalle's arm told him it was the alchemist who had pulled him out.

  "Hoy, he's not breathing," said a thick-accented male voice Molam did not recognize. "Do ya think he got bit?"

  "He's alive!" shouted Jyuni, relief in her voice. Her face popped into view, inspecting him closely. "Molam, were you poisoned? Can you still talk?"

  "If I can't, are you going to kill me?" he groaned, trying to sit up.

  "I just might either way," came Primrose's cold voice from somewhere to his right. "Get him up."

  Kalle's larger hand pulled Molam up to his feet, holding him in place as he half stumbled. "Can you think?"

  Molam wasn't sure if Kalle was checking on his vitals or not. "Yes?"

  "Good, because this is one giant mess," said Primrose. "Let him see, Kalle." Kalle stepped to the side, with Primrose gesturing to the chaos behind them. "Get us out of the mess you dragged us back into."

  A dark-skinned Oasian was clambering back onto his camel. He appeared to be the source of the previous thick-accented voice, shouting to a small group of Oasian riders up the dune. "Mursa Shang and his apprentice are alive, Jyuyan! The Valley-dweller too!"

  A dead Sandwurm lay to the side. Molam could only assume it was the one that had almost eaten him. Noting the monster's half-severed head and bright red blood staining the Sands, Molam looked beyond Kalle's large form to see a battlefield.

  Multiple riders, mursashu and Oasian alike, rode in designated squads of four as they looked for an opening to attack the normal-sized Sandwurms. Five were left, similar in size and length, their only distinguishing feature being small variations in the color of their exoskeletons. They largely seemed uninjured, with only one spear sticking out of a monster where the chitin plates overlapped each other.

  "Primrose! Kalle!" shouted Meera as she rode past them, pointing to some of the riderless camels following her. "We're down half a squad! Join me; I'm heading towards the last one on the left!"

  "Primrose, my arm guard?" Molam asked hastily, not wanting Primrose to forget it before she left.

  "I don't know, it fell onto the Sands," she answered. "It won't do you much good against monsters, will it? Come, Kalle."

  Kalle cast a dubious eye at the camels, looking for the largest. Primrose gave Molam one last glare that told him he would be getting an earful later before dragging Kalle forward to the two camels Meera left for them. This surprised Molam; she had just tried to abandon the mursashu and now she was volunteering to help them fight monsters? Or not, he surmised, correcting himself. Primrose had emphasized the need to survive.

  Well, he thought as he watched them ride towards the wurms. Nothing guarantees survival like killing the murderous things that see you as food. He wasn't entirely certain how he was going to defend his decision to Primrose later. Correction; if there was a later. There were multiple problems he needed to deal with now.

  But something about the way these monsters moved had changed, Molam noticed. They no longer struck directly down at the riders as the shieldbearers came within reach. No matter how much the riders goaded them, the Sandwurms would roar with frustration and attack in other ways. A stray tail swipe knocked over several riders and their camels, leaving two riders exposed on the Sands. The monster seemed to attack then, but held back as soon as the shieldbearers rushed forward, closing its maw swiftly at their approach.

  They saw the strategy, Molam realized. They aren't willing to open their mouths again.

  Molam looked behind him. The mursashu caravan had come to a stop, balanced precariously on the ridge of a dune. He could only guess they had stopped for their Mursa. The Oasian host had also stopped nearby, with their sand sleds parked atop a separate sandy hill.

  "Are you done looking around yet?" asked Jyuni testily. "We're only dealing with a crisis here!"

  "My assessment would have been faster if someone could have filled me in on the details," Molam threw back at Jyuni, then softened his tone a bit. "I'll treat it as my punishment for being caught unawares. I think I have the gist of what's going on, but several final questions. Where's Mursa Shang, where's the Shield, where's the big Sandwurm, and what happens if these things won't open their mouths?"

  Jyuni opened her mouth to answer, but a loud roar rumbled through the desert expanse, rattling Molam's bones. He looked beyond the Sandwurms surrounding them to see the giant one held down by aura. Multiple segments of its body were encased in a series of golden barriers, preventing it from slithering across the Sands. The cavernous maw faced them, revealing thousands of razor edge teeth. The points formed a patterned ring around the golden barrier keeping it from closing its mouth. The effect made it look as though a giant golden iris was staring at them.

  It roared again, bellowing its frustration. Its gnashing teeth cracked against the auric barrier. The blow from its breath blasted at Molam, smelling of something acrid, rotting, foul. He winced at the stench, narrowing his eyes against the reeking air. Only then did he notice the lone man riding towards the hulking wurm.

  That answers two questions.

  Molam was startled out of his observation of the rider by movement in his peripheral vision. Jyuni had raised a finger to point in the direction of the Mursa, who had been pulled back onto the righted sand sled. He was slumped to the side, eyes closed and hands clutching his head. While the scene provided a third answer for Molam’s initial string of inquiries, it also raised another pressing question.

  He had heard that aura deficiency caused a severe headache and overwhelming nausea, but before now, it hadn’t crossed his mind that it could affect a Titled One. Could someone with reserves great enough to maintain a Domain ever actually be so completely depleted of aura? Given Mursa Shang’s current state, he was hard pressed to think of any other answer for what ailed him. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time to fully consider what that meant, as his train of thought was disrupted by nearby yelling.

  "Jyuni!" shouted one of the Oasians, waving a frantic hand. "Incoming!"

  They looked up in alarm. A Sandwurm had broken past the riders, rushing haphazardly around the Sands. It rolled in their direction, only to thrash about as it reached them. Molam ducked, feeling the wind gust overhead as the tail narrowly missed his head. Jyuni dove forward to crash into Molam's side and force him down into a small ditch before he could straighten up. The maneuver saved him from the tail's reverse strike.

  "Hyah!" The shouts of riders encouraging their mounts reached Molam's ears as they came up towards them, taking care to steer clear of the Sandwurm's writhing body. The monster's body rolled over their ditch, so close to him that he could reach up and touch its segmented chitin.

  "Jyuni!" came several worried shouts. Molam vaguely heard two voices shout his name as well — Primrose and Kalle. Some part of his thoughts recognized this must be the Sandwurm they had previously rode off with Meera to face. Useless information amid the danger.

  Jyuni's hand clenched tight around his elbow, dragging him backwards as sand fell around them from the monster's flailing movements. "I thought you could exert a Domain!" she hissed.

  His left arm was still light without the arm guard. Molam shook his head. "I don't think any of us should be using a Domain," he replied.

  "What do you mean?!" she demanded through gritted teeth.

  Molam hesitated, but decided to share his findings. "I think this dragon's Domain differs in that it doesn't mute aura, it simply punishes you for using too much at once." That would track with the Princess' personality.

  There was no time for further argument as the tail slammed into the ground near them, disturbing them from their hideaway. "Jyuni!" shouted Meera as she swiftly rode close, her hand held out while the sand tumbled down around them. Jyuni caught Meera's hand and was yanked upwards onto the rider's camel, and Molam suddenly found himself alone, trying his best to clamber out of the pit as it filled with sand. Somewhere above him the Sandwurm roared, then the tail lifted into the air and Molam recognized an incoming slam. He slipped on the falling grains and found his foot sinking, trapped with nowhere to hide.

  Better squashed than poisoned and turned, thought Molam as he braced himself for the impact.

  At that moment, an Oasian slid into the ditch with him with a large shield. "You better be worth it," the man growled, bracing the shield on his shoulder above them. Molam scarcely had time to throw in what meager strength he could offer from his right arm before the slam came down, blasting their ears in the cramped space with the ringing of solid metal.

  Pain shot down Molam's arm as something snapped under the weight of the impact. Even though he cushioned his elbow with the sand, it had only managed to prevent the worst. The Oasian grunted, lifting his shield to look up, then scooted closer to Molam in a hurry as he covered them again.

  Clang. The second slam lingered in his ears as a light ringing. Molam blinked sand out of his eyelashes, then felt hands tug on his arms and shoulders. He flinched as someone tried to pull him out of the sand using his right arm.

  "Bone fractured," he hissed at the pain, offering only his right shoulder and left arm instead. When the two Oasians and mursashu pulled him free, Molam looked around for the Sandwurm. The Oasian who had saved him with the shield tapped him on the shoulder, nodding his head towards the approaching Meera and Jyuni with several spare camels trailing behind them.

  "I appreciate you diving in to help him, Rider Jyuyan," Jyuni said, her tone formal but tinged with relief.

  "Bonus payments are accepted," the Oasian who had shielded him responded. Jyuyan rubbed his own bruised shoulder. "The Sandwurm?"

  "They're trying to control its rampage!" another Oasian shouted, leading their camels over as he pointed. Jyuyan and Molam turned at the same time, seeing the Sandwurm continuously thrashing about on the Sands as the riders — Kalle and Primrose included — attempted to corral it away from the sand sleds carrying precious cargo. And still, it refused to open its mouth whenever a shield was in range.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "Rider Jyuyan," Jyuni began. "We need to finish off the Sandwurms but our Mursa is experiencing aura deficiency. If the Shield could—"

  "Turning around for you wasn't my idea," said Jyuyan, "and I'll be damned if I let any of my riders die because of you, understand? We're only here because the Shield is friends with your Mursa, and the Shield can't even utilize his Domain right now under that dragon's aura . If these monsters won't open their mouths, we don't have to stay. Pack up, get everyone off the Sands and ready to move out!"

  Jyuni seemed to look at Molam, who shook his head. He wasn't acting Mursa yet, and didn't want to risk any improper blame. As Mursa Shang's chosen inheritor, she would have the authority to act while he was incapacitated. More importantly — Rider Jyuyan had mentioned a dragon. Molam was hoping to learn more.

  "Gyota, Teyasu, Cholani!" Jyuni shouted the names of the most senior mursashi up at the dune where most of the caravan was waiting. "We're moving! Trostani, send a healer to see to the Mursa!"

  The mursashu jumped into action, their sand sleds sitting at the ready. A female healer rode down from the dune, leading two camels to Jyuni so she could replace the ones that had originally pulled the Mursa's sand sled. The healer nodded towards Jyuni as she slid down, the two of them swiftly attaching the sled's harness on the fresh camels.

  In mere moments, they were ready. Molam could appreciate how dexterously they worked, a testament to how each of the mursashu lived and breathed the life of a nomad working with traveling gear.

  "Go, go, go!" Rider Jyuyan bellowed at his people after Jyuni signaled she was ready.

  "What are you waiting for?" Jyuni shouted at Molam. "Get on!"

  Realizing he was still standing on the Sands, Molam jumped onto the sand sled with Jyuni, Mursa Shang, and the healer. The healer helped steady him as he landed, ensuring his broken arm didn't bang onto anything.

  Jyuni waved at the caravan, and they were off. "Rider Jyuyan," she called out to the Oasian riders as they followed their group. "What about the squads fighting the Sandwurms?"

  "They'll get a signal to retreat when we've made enough space," Jyuyan yelled back. "Just make sure your people don't get hurt! The healers can't heal in this Domain!"

  What? Did that mean… Molam turned to look at the healer on his sled, who slumped to the side with blood dripping from her nose. If the healers couldn’t heal, then that meant if someone became poisoned —

  The sound of a bellowing roar reverberated throughout the dunes. They looked behind them, seeing the giant Sandwurm flailing in place, several of the golden auric barriers disintegrating.

  More importantly, Cholani hollered at them with panic in their voice. "Teeth! From above!"

  The teeth that had splintered off from the auric barrier had been blown out of the monster's maw. It looked like a hail of haphazard arrows falling down towards them, and Molam looked around frantically for a shield.

  "Jyuni, do we have a shield?!"

  But Jyuni had frozen. His memory shoved an answer forward; he had spent so much time riding with the Mursa that he hadn’t been able to avoid passively cataloguing the sled’s contents. No shield was forthcoming. Molam improvised. He tore the reins from Jyuni's white knuckles and yanked sideways, pulling the camels sharply to the side. The sudden jerking tilted their sand sled over the dune and Molam tugged Jyuni towards the lower end, hoping their combined weight was enough to tip it over completely.

  Somewhere, Jyuyan's voice shouted. "Everyone BRACE!"

  Molam tucked his head in just as they crashed onto the sands, his left hand clamped onto the sand sled lest he slide out of the makeshift cover. Jyuni had somehow caught on, also gripping tightly as they carried Mursa Shang between them. The hot grains seared his cheek and the weight of the sled itself strained his arm, but Molam did not let go.

  The very next moment, he heard the telltale sounds of the hail of teeth thudding into the bottom of the sled and striking the sand around them. Several tips poked through their cover, but none managed to reach them as they waited in horror for the deadly rain to finish. Molam couldn't tell if he wanted to look at the thin piece of wood protecting him, or look away so he wouldn't know if one pierced through. Jyuni was quietly chanting a hurried prayer to whichever God was listening.

  It could have been only mere moments, yet it felt as though they cowered underneath the sand sled forever before the sound of falling death faded. And still they stayed, no one willing to be the first to see if there were any stray projectiles taking their time to fall. Eventually, Molam could no longer bear the heat of the sand radiating against his back. He carefully lifted their makeshift shelter then peeked out, and was greeted by a ruin of carnage.

  The camels were dying on the ground from multiple piercings. Even if the Sandwurm venom was only paralyzing and not deadly, they would still perish from the blood loss alone. Several riders had been pierced too; their bodies lay there, self-inflicted gashes on their necks telling Molam they had found the courage to do what was necessary before the venom took hold. His eyes swiveled around, noting flashes of gleaming metal. The fighters that had shields had expanded them as much as possible, covering however many they could hide.

  Fully aware that the new wave of death was just one of their many problems, Molam confirmed there were no more errant teeth before he rolled out from beneath the sled, grimacing as the movement jostled his fractured arm. He knew they weren’t out of danger yet. They were still beset by the Sandwurms, including the massive one. Having freed himself, he patted away the aggravating sand from his clothes before turning to appraise their sled. It was bristling from the teeth, and would clearly no longer serve its intended purpose.

  "Is it safe?" Jyuni's voice came from beneath their makeshift shield.

  "To come out? Yes. But are we safe? No," Molam replied, helping shove the sand sled off the two women and the unconscious Mursa as much as he could with one working arm. "There's still five Sandwurms somewhere, and a big—"

  A thunderous bellow blared across the Sands, drawing his attention back up. The giant Sandwurm had reared its head again, with just three auric barriers holding down the rest of its body. Molam didn't understand until he saw the other five Sandwurms thrashing about on the Sands, their long bodies held down by similar barriers. He surmised that the Shield must have divided his aura around each of them when the riders had fled the falling teeth. The distance between the Titled One and his targets would be taxing without having established a Domain.

  But now the large wurm was breaking free, twisting and turning its body to test the limits of its auric prison. Molam wasn't certain how the barriers worked, but they seemed to be rooted to the spot where they were created. Raw strength met aura, and the prison began to warp, but did not yet break. The behemoth roared its frustration to the skies, the cry echoing across the barren landscape.

  "The Shield can't hold them down forever!" shouted Rider Jyuyan, pulling up on his camel. Somehow, most of the Oasians had been spared from or managed to block the deadly hail. "We're leaving! Jyuni, take your Mursa's inheritance and get on my camel!"

  Jyuni didn't make a move. "And the rest of our caravan?" she asked him coldly.

  "Your people have their sleds and camels," Jyuyan snapped back. "I'm already doing a tremendous favor for you mursashu by waiting for you. As long as the Title exists, you can rebuild —"

  "No," Jyuni answered forcefully, hugging her unconscious Mursa's head. "The caravan stays as one."

  "You're a fool!" Jyuyan shouted at her, waving away his other riders. "Go, go! The Shield can fend for himself, but our heads will roll if we don't bring the jade back otherwise!" He glanced briefly at Molam before turning his attention back to Jyuni. "Steward Ryu had high expectations of you. She said you would become a good Mursa." A pleading note entered his voice. "Now, Jyuni. Say your goodbyes. Look around at your people. What is the most important thing you need to do at this very moment? Isn't it to ensure the Title passed down through the ages survives through you?"

  Molam and Jyuni looked around at what they hadn't paid attention to in front of the giant Sandwurm. The mursashu caravan had somehow found time to hide in the lee of a dune's slope, mitigating the damage the fallen teeth could have done. But the tearful wails echoing towards them told a less hopeful story. Some of the projectiles must still have hit them.

  "I don't need a Title to lead," Jyuni said, getting up and allowing the now recovered healer to take over the care of the Mursa for her. "I appreciate you, Rider Jyuyan. You are a true friend of the mursashu, but we cannot abandon what we brought here."

  "Jyuyan! We're all ready!"

  The call came to them from far away, and the Oasian seemed to hesitate. He looked up at the skies, then swore furiously before he guided his camel closer to Jyuni. "Go back without me!" he shouted back at his men, adding, "if I don't return, tell Steward Ryu I'm sorry for eating her pudding!"

  The men seemed to nod in unison, riding off without another word.

  "You don't have to stay," Jyuni said, stunned. "Steward Ryu would never forgive us."

  "You shut up," Jyuyan muttered darkly at Jyuni. "You're a stubborn and poor little idiot of an excuse for a future Mursa." His expression softened, then he added, "and Ryu will kill me if she finds out I ignored you. You're going to need every spear."

  A loud thump reverberated throughout the ground, with sand exploding into the air. They looked up in alarm. The Sandwurm's tail had broken free and it roared triumphantly, leveraging its tail and head against the ground to twist against the final binding.

  "The situation has changed!" shouted Jyuyan as he couched his spear. Molam stopped himself from looking around; if Primrose and Kalle were safe, they would find him. He and Jyuni had bigger problems to deal with, and a giant one too. "We'll probably deal with the smaller wurms; the Shield won't let the giant one reach us!"

  The Endless Sands, Primrose

  "Mursashu, ready yourselves!" Jyuni’s projected voice echoed over the dunes in the same way Mursa Shang’s did.

  But Primrose could only stare down at Meera while Kalle tried his best to tend to her. Meera's breathing was quick and shallow while Kalle gingerly pulled out the tooth that had impaled her thigh.

  "Kalle," Meera pleaded. "My knife. Please."

  The movements of her limbs had already slowed. Primrose recognized the symptoms; the venom was moving up Meera's body, delivered by her own veins with each beat of her heart.

  "Please, Primrose." Meera's words began to slur. "You promised me."

  Primrose moved forward, but Kalle flung Meera's knife far away where it landed blade-first into the sand. He stood up, his full height towering over Primrose. "No," the alchemist said, desperation in his voice. "There's still time. We can still find another healer, who can neutralize the poison while I work on a cure, and then—"

  Primrose could only gesture silently around them. Kalle wasn't blind. The first healer had keeled over the second his aura flared. Somewhere, someone else was shouting that another healer had fainted. Judging by the sound of it, none of the healers were able to do their jobs.

  Kalle knew it too, and the man pulled down his mask to make his argument. "I can still slow the poison before it reaches the head," he said, tears in his eyes. "Primrose, please. I'll just ice her neck, and then… and then… we just need time!"

  "This is the Endless Sands, Kalle." Primrose didn't want to say anything, but Kalle refused to budge. A knife had found its way into her hand; the one she kept hidden on her lower back. "We owe it to Meera. Everyone deserves to die while they're still human. Step aside if you won't do it."

  Kalle's limbs obeyed even if he wouldn't. "Don't move," Primrose forced through her teeth, not trusting Kalle to do something stupid. "You don't have to look if you can't stomach it."

  Only Meera's eyes were moving now, her paralyzed body unable to even twitch. Primrose forced herself to look as she knelt down next to Meera, brushing a tender hand over the rider's cheek.

  "I'm sorry," Primrose apologized as she readied the blade against Meera's neck. "That all I can do for you is to end it before you lose yourself. I promise to make it painless." She felt numb, and curiously cold despite the heat of the Sun. A distant part of her mind wondered if the other mursashu nearby were having a similar feeling while doing the same for their injured. "Are you ready?"

  Meera's eyes blinked twice, then a tear rolled down her cheek. She blinked again, slowly this time, then stared into Primrose's eyes.

  Kalle howled at the skies. Primrose made it quick.

  And all around them flew streaks of gold.

  The Endless Sands, Molam

  Everything had gone wrong, but Molam was too inexperienced in the Sands to know what should be done, or whether anyone would even listen to him right now. He was still regretting his decision to push Mursa Shang to make this detour, blaming himself for wanting to see the Princess. He hadn't even gotten to see her, and now so many were dead. That was the right way to look at it, he decided, as five Sandwurms charged at their unprepared and vulnerable group.

  His selfish choices had resulted in each of these avoidable deaths.

  Somehow, the Shield was injured. He had to be, judging by the Titled One's difficulty with restraining the remaining Sandwurms. When, and how? he thought, racking his brain. What could have injured the Shield of Oasis? Even without their Domain, a Titled One specialized for combat should normally have no issue dealing with just these numbers. Unless the big one…?

  No, none of that mattered right now. Primrose and Kalle were somewhere else, hopefully safe and unharmed. But Molam had no idea what could be done in this situation. His arm guard was lost somewhere else and the feather within only worked for him in close proximity.

  The Sandwurms approached ruthlessly, their maws open in anticipation. The monsters knew — most of the riders no longer had camels, and without their mobility and speed the humans were unable to execute on their strategy. Death approached with a triumphant roar.

  Then a golden spear flew past Molam's head, sinking into the maw of the wurm at the forefront. It seemed to shrug off the blow, only for a rain of perfect copies to follow the first projectile.

  The rest of the Sandwurms reared back, mouths closed, keening in fury. The first wurm to be struck lay twitching on the ground. One of the spears must have found the mass of brain matter inside it.

  "The Spear!" Jyuyan breathed in a hushed, almost awed voice. He pointed. Molam turned, following the direction of the gesture as a new host of Oasians rode up past the dunes. A woman with a golden spear rode at the forefront, her puffy hair pulled up into a tight series of jade rings behind her head.

  The Spear of Oasis pointed, and gold streaked through the air again. Countless spears rained down upon the Sandwurms, then it seemed Molam and Jyuyan remembered at the same time.

  "No Domain!" they shouted, waving their hands at the Spear of Oasis. "No Domain!"

  But it was too late. The Pyramid flashed golden, and the expanding aura honed in.