Dustin's travels across the Monteraynian, Arorian, and Innutukian countrysides, though enjoyable, could hardly be characterized as exciting. He and his party traveled in fair weather each day, and whenever possible, Cheeks ensured their meals consisted of fresh delights from the little towns they passed through along the way. Around lunchtime their first day in Aroria, Jude even shot a few rabbits with his bow and arrow, and the party enjoyed their juicy meat for lunch.

Passing through a stretch of Innutukian territory for half a day proved the most nerve-racking part of the journey. More than once, the party only narrowly concealed themselves from Innutukian patrols by sneaking through a grove of trees or waiting quietly at the bottom of a hill for the horsemen to pass.

But at last, as darkness began to fall, they came to the edges of Innutuk's territory in the area. The ground under the horses' hooves gradually became less a carpet of healthy grass, and more a hard crust of dusty soil with sparse stalks of dry vegetation sprouting up here and there. The wildlands were drawing near. Before long, Dustin glanced up and spotted a wall of dusty hills marking the border.

So the party rode right up to the hills and settled down for the night, making arrangements to split resources before going to bed. In the morning, Dustin and Jude would ascend the hills and make the rest of the journey with just their two horses, leaving Chin and Cheeks to take the carriage back and half the foodstuffs. Almost all the remaining water, they delved out between Dustin and Jude's skins, given they would be the ones traveling through desert for an entire day at least.

Early the next morning, Dustin and Jude made their way into the wildlands. As Dustin surveyed the vast stretch of sand and rocks around them, he grasped Consequence's reins in apprehension. Even if he craved adventure, he didn't crave death. And death was all he had ever heard from this wretched place.

There was a reason the wildlands had been unclaimed by any nation. From all reports he had ever heard, it was a hellish wasteland where only fools dared tread. The wildlands had ravines lined with the skeletons of unfortunate souls who had lost their way. Terrible sandstorms that ripped flesh from bone. Demonic hissings that tore through the deathly quiet of the night, stealing sleep from any who attempted getting a moment's rest. Some in Monterayne even believed somewhere in the wildlands could be found a doorway to hell itself.

Dustin gulped and exchanged a glance with Jude, who appeared equally nervous. But after exchanging a nod, the two young men nudged their horses to travel southwest, where they would shortly see the peak of a massive stone formation on the horizon, according to Dustin's map.

The sun hadn't fully risen yet, so the heat hadn't become too unbearable, but Dustin recalled another man's claim that the heat of the wildlands was sufficient to melt skin and cause it to drip off the flesh like water. Shuddering, he desperately hoped that were only an exaggeration.

"I still marvel that the great Nathan Korynn would choose to live in such a place as this." Jude muttered.

"He must truly wish for nobody to find him." Dustin replied, "After all, who in their right mind would venture into here?"

"Absolutely no one. I suppose that makes us unsound of mind."

"You speak as if this is some new knowledge."

Jude laughed lightly. "Though I do have to say, my father and his companions crossed this place once and lost nobody but one horse in the process."

"True, but they only survived because the Lord caused water to spring up from the ground for them. I have faith, but planning on miracles is foolhardy, in my view."

"I must agree."

The two fell mostly silent for much of the ride through the desert wasteland, especially as the sun approached its zenith in the sky and intensified its beams upon them. Ordinary movements became exhausting under the harsh rays; even lifting up his arm to view the map proved a burden for Dustin. Spotting a ravine lay not far ahead, he took heart and anticipated a little shade for a short stretch of the ride.

As Dustin had hoped, when he and Jude entered the ravine, its steep walls of jagged rock blocked the sun's entry almost entirely, allowing them to cool off a good deal. Dustin called the procession to a halt so they could dismount and allow the horses some relief as well. He leaned against a conveniently placed protrusion in the rock wall and took a drink from his canteen.

"I could crawl into an oven to seek relief at this point." Dustin remarked with a snide smirk, "How are you holding up?"

Jude weakly nodded, rubbing a finger along his red face with a wince. "I could be worse, I suppose. We'll both be unbelievably burnt at the end of this, I'm sure."

"Oh, absolutely. But we haven't been eaten alive yet, so I say the circumstances are relatively in our favor."

"Don't speak too soon, my friend. The best may be yet to come."

Dustin nearly spit out his water in laughter, but managed to hold it in and keep from wasting the vital liquid. "Pessimistic as always, are we?"

Jude narrowed his eyes slightly in amusement. "I'm hardly a pessimist; I merely am more intimately equated with reality than yourself."

"Oh, so now I'm the one who..." Dustin trailed off at a strange scratching sound over his head. With furrowed brows, he glanced back and found no explanation for the noise, but a pebble bounced down the rocky wall and landed at his feet. He exchanged a glance with Jude.

"I heard that, too." Jude volunteered, "What could that be?"

"Could just be rocks settling up there. What does the pessimist say?"

Jude rolled his eyes and chuckled. "I say it's a winged demon making an appearance."

"Ah, the merits of—"

A shrill screech from within the rock formation drowned out Dustin's voice and caused his blood to run cold. He leapt back against the opposite wall of the ravine while exchanging a glance with Jude, eyes full of terror and confusion intertwined. Jude glanced about quickly before reaching for his bow in a pocket of his horse's saddle. With swiftness and grace, he nocked an arrow on the string and peered at the wall.

Another scream pierced the air as a mottled black creature exploded from a hole in the rock wall. Dustin froze in his tracks as he beheld the abomination—a winged, hairless devil the size of a house cat, four hand-like feet, a wide face full of spikes and fangs, and most terrifyingly of all, scarlet eyes that gleamed in sunlight and shadows alike with equal intensity.

Dustin leapt aside just in time before the demonic being could sink its claws into him. Instead, its feet scratched against the rock face, and it clung there as it regained its orientation. It swept a deep red tongue over its fangs as it ascertained Dustin's new position and flicked its scorpion tale.

Quickly sucking in a deep breath, Dustin unsheathed his sword and held the point between himself and the hairless monster. He flinched when it lunged again, wings spreading wide as it glided over, only for its flight to abruptly end. It spun to the ground with an arrow lodged between its ribs.

Dustin gave Jude a grateful nod before both stepped closer to the twitching creature, clearly near dead. Transparent liquid oozed from the wound, more like some strange sort of thick water than regular blood. Jude reached down carefully and ripped the arrow from the demon's flesh in order to worsen the injury. At this, its wide maw parted, and a trilling whine echoed through the ravine.

Dustin and Jude exchanged a mortified glance as the scratching sounds hit their ears from all directions, and identical creatures wriggled out of the walls. While Jude nocked another arrow, Dustin took up a stance to watch his back and held his sword out to slash any that came near.

Like a swarm of bees, the creatures rushed in on the two youths. Dustin clenched his jaw and swung at the first demon to rush in, ripping its left wing clean off its body and getting a spray of thick, clear goo on his face during the process. With its flight impaired, the creature swerved into the wall and broke its neck.

Dustin barely wiped the grime off his right eye in time to see the next pair approaching. While he successfully impaled one demon, the other managed to get a grip on his arm with its talons. Dustin screamed and swung a wild punch at the creature's jaw. He managed to knock it off, but only at the cost of tearing his flesh in the process. However, he had no time to nurse the wound, for the swarm hadn't ended.

One after another, they swooped in, claws extended to rip Dustin's flesh from his bones, mouths agape and throats pulsating as terrible screeches emitted from their chests. He managed to keep up with their onslaught, but only barely.

Dustin glanced back at Jude momentarily in a brief break in the creatures' attack. "Give me an arrow, would you?"

Jude nodded swiftly, fired at a demon diving at him, and gracefully tossed one back to Dustin while also pulling one out for himself. Dustin couldn't help but watch for a second in admiration as Jude nailed two more creatures in rapid succession, before they could even fully emerge from the wall.

Returning to his own affairs, Dustin lunged with the arrow in his left hand, burying the head in another demon's belly. Then, as future monsters swooped in, he used his sword in one hand to slay them, while using the corpse on the arrow as a shield. Occasionally, he even whipped the dead demon's tail around to give its comrades a taste of their own venom.

"Where are all these things coming from?" Dustin cried out in frustration as he hacked through yet another.

Jude didn't reply until the twang of his bow rang out and a demon dropped with a thud and a whine. "Hell, most likely."

"I have no trouble believing the rumors, now." Dustin kicked a particularly large creature into the wall and crushed it with his foot.

"Neither do I. It's a marvel..." Jude fired another arrow. "Yes, a marvel my father survived in this horrible place."

Dustin grimaced when another spray of clear blood hit his cheek. "The Lord did more than just give them water."

"Agreed—that was my last arrow; cover me!"

Dustin smoothly tossed Jude his improvised shield and spun around to take out the demon that had been rushing in. Then, as Jude retrieved arrows from the fallen bodies, Dustin watched over him and impaled any winged killers that attempted to draw near.

By and by, the two fought off the onslaught, and after stomping down on the neck of the last fallen demon, Dustin glanced over the ravine around them. About four dozen hairless monsters sprawled out on the sandy floor, oozing watery blood and losing the brilliance of their unsettling scarlet eyes. Somehow, the horses had remained entirely untouched; not a single demon had gone after them.

Dustin put an arm around Jude. "That was...something."

"That it was. Do you have any thoughts of turning back, after seeing that?"

"We haven't come this far just to turn back at a few measly demons." Dustin remarked with a smirk that he knew didn't quite ring true on his face.

"Then in that case, I have no intention of turning back, either." Jude replied.

"Good. You're unhurt?"

"Thanks to you, yes. How's your arm?"

Dustin winced, glancing down at the bloody sleeve on his right arm. "It'll be alright. Not much we can do here, anyway. Let's make haste to Sir Korynn's dwelling; I have a feeling these demons don't dare bother him."

Jude laughed. "I sure hope you're right about that." 

**** 

A/N: Ah, gotta love the wildlands, am I right? Truly not a place you're gonna wanna go if you wanna keep your wellbeing intact, sheesh. 

(Speaking of which, make sure to vote and comment if you enjoyed the chapter! Otherwise, no promises on your wellbeing. 😂) 

Anyways, thoughts, comments, questions, whatever, dump them on me, and with that, I'll skedaddle! The next chapters of my first draft are unfolding nicely behind the scenes, I dare say, and I've also got exciting news for a completely unrelated work that may or may not be coming out soon. Stay tuned, and I'll see you back here in next week's update!