Deer Me: Adwanee Sands

by The Psychopath

What lives to the north

"So, aside from you traumatizing me, what's the plan?"

The pony fumbled through several parchments in shelves against the wall and finally took out a scroll that he laid out on a short table in front of everyone. The map looked practically identical to the one Stelimus saw on the boat to the anyubinite sands. The only real difference was the speckles up north. They were larger and some almost touched each other.

"I saw this before," Stelimus pointed out. "I still don't understand what these dots are?"

The pony chuckled. "They are spots of territory lost by the anyubinites: My payers."

"I guess that's why he wants me to help him."

The pony nodded. He put a hoof to a speck on the map and started to speak seriously. "This is where you'll be going first. It's the closest area and you can easily access it as it is nowhere near the mountains of the north."

"How is that important?" Copper asked.

"Mountains regions mean dangerous lands to cross, steep cliffs, narrow passageways, and the chance of an ambush by whatever enemy will attack us," Yolumay explained. Her eyes widened when she realized what she just said and looked at Saddle Arabian. "You didn't tell us who this enemy is."

The pony gestured to 'keep it down' and shushed Yolumay. "Quiet! We might be alone here, but people could still hear us from outside." He looked around and, after determining no one was listening, continued. "The enemy consists of Berbiers or Gitz-Gitz-Guak."

Stelimus blinked unevenly. "Gitz...gut...what?"

"We call them 'Berbiers' because they're situated on the ruins of the Berbiers Country, thus they inherit the name."

"That's...not how that works," Stelimus sighed.

"Whatever. They live here," he hit the map several times. "That's all there is to it."

"And so what? What're we supposed to do that you can't?"

"They don't trust the Saddle Arabians because of our close relationship with the Anyubinites. And, well, concerning our mutual benefactors, well, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now, would we?"

Stelimus shrugged. "Fair enough, but you only answered half my question."

The pony nodded. "We need you to get to this point here and relay everything you learn to me. They don't know deer so they'll be confused as to what you are and what you want."

"That's it? How am I even supposed to gather intel of any kind?"

"By looking?" the guide said sarcastically.

The group looked at the pony with bemused expressions.

"I thought you were supposed to serve a purpose," Stelimus spoke with a low-tune.

"I've never been in these pockets. I don't know what to expect. I just know where they are and the best way to get to them."

"What about supplies?" Copper asked.

"You'll still have your wagon and sablysts. It's still sand with some rock after all." He took out a pipe from under the table and started stuffing it with some colorful leaves. "You'll have some rations provided, but that's it." He checked the pipe for obstructions then pointed at the group with it. "Don't forget that the zaoris expects much from you."

"I'm aware of that," Stelimus whined. "So just where exactly am I supposed to go?"

The pony took two, tiny red stones in his hooves and placed them gently into the pipe, letting them burn the leaves. "You see this path to the northeast of the city? Take it and keep going diagonally to the rock formations here. You'll recognize them as they look like some kind of unfinished sculpture."

"What if we get lost?"

"..." The pony angrily slammed down his pipe, rolled up the map, and thrust it against Stelimus. "Here! Take the map and go!"

Stelimus was baffled and pointed at himself like he had been accused of something. "Are you getting pissed off at me because I don't know your country?"

"I'm angry because you aren't even trying to do what you were asked."

Stelimus shook his head in disappointment. "How can I follow instructions which have yet to be provided?"

"I--"

"Shut up. We're going." Stelimus gestured to his group. "Getting tired of all of the people having unjustified attitudes over here."

Radivus and Tenyom both saw some Saddle Arabians stocking their carriage with both food and equipping it with a cover to protect them from the sun as much as possible. Naturally, the two decided to start digging into the barrels to verify if anything had been hidden with them, much to the anger of the ponies who were brushed off easily.

"Say what you will about my people, Copper, but I feel more warmth coming from them."

"And they live in a tundra while these people live in a scalding desert!" Copper added happily.

Stelimus just stared at her blankly while Yolumay casually climbed the wagon. "That's what he was getting at," she said.

"Oh..."

Stelimus hugged her to get her out of her brief depression and helped her up onto the wagon, ready to go.

"How do the rations look?" Stelimus asked his bodyguards.

Radivus did a 'thumbs up' as best as he could with two toes. "Then we're off."

Copper cleared her throat and hesitated multiple times to say anything. "Do you know how to read a map?"

"Yes. I learned it when I was...ahh...with...with Grimliss. Yeah." The deer king started sweating nervously.

The trip up north took some work. Between getting almost lost and the sablysts being unwilling to continue forward at certain areas, it took much longer to get to the closest spot than expected. Four days of travel served its purpose, but there was one hitch: Standing triumphantly in front of the wagon was sand that had been hardened into a black, cement-like state, preventing the sablysts from traveling with the 'explorers' and stalling their travels.

"Is there any ways around?" Yolumay asked.

"Nope. This is the only way forward," Stelimus explained while analyzing the map. "Whoever placed this here did so recently." He lowered it and scrunched up his face. "Time to climb."

Yolumay groaned in annoyance. "Fine. Let's go," she sighed.

"Radivus. Tenyom," Stelimus started. "I need you two to guard our rations and the sablyst. If anything goes wrong, we need these to get out of here and survive until we reach the next town. Got it?"

"Are you sure? You need our protection. We're here for that. It's our job," Radivus said.

"Don't worry," the king assured. "We're going up there briefly to get the first bit of info we need to formulate a proper plan. We got no information on these guys, so we have to do this."

"All the more reason for us to go and you three to stay!"

The deer king put his hoof onto his small friend's shoulder. "I've come to learn that personal experience tends to help more than that brought by other people."

"Well...well, if you say so, but if anything happens, we'll be galloping to your aid as quickly as possible."

Stelimus gave a smile before going with his sister and wife to scale the cliff of sand and climb upwards. Left to his own thoughts, Radivus got to take in the surroundings more than he normally would have. The mountains in this area were no more than slightly elevated, sharp stones with an appearance of slabs placed atop each other and a somewhat resplendent, black surface. They were no more higher than a building of fifty floors, and there was no way someone could climb such sharp, angled elevations with no truly flat surface. The way they hung over the landscape even blocked out the sun, giving a nice bit of shade. Everything was as quiet as usual, yet something familiar lingered here. Even Tenyom could feel it, which was displayed so emotionally upon her distraught visage.

"You don't feel...uncomfortable?" Radivus asked her.

She turned to face him and nodded.

"Oh. I still can't read your face that well yet. Um, you know, the king hasn't come back yet. It's been a few hours, too."

"He said we should wait," Tenyom said.

"He said he was going to be quick. Three hours is not quick."

The doe rolled her eyes and conceded. She picked up the deer and chucked him onto the top of the wall, where he was given the chance to see this new landscape himself. A massive swath of invariably risen shards of cooked sand and irregular pathways and lower temperatures despite the scorching sun. The sand crunched beneath Radivus' hooves like dried bread, and Tenyom's hooves didn't fare any better.

"Alright then," Radivus started. "The first thing we need to do is start looking for any clues as to where they could have gone."

The giant doe ignored her half-brother and started tapping the ground while he went on with all the steps to follow for finding someone. Several minutes of searching led to nothing, then a bright light caught her eyes. The source sped around the corner of one of the leaning spires and brief glimpse of it brought her towards a large hole in the ground leading to a void of darkness.

"I found it," Tenyom shouted.

"Found what?" Radivus asked as he approached his half-sister.

"This is where they went...fell."

Radivus lied onto his belly and dragged himself towards the hole to better see into it without risking falling in. He started sweating nervously and his voice became much quieter and high pitched than usual.

"Okay. They're down there, but h-how do we reach them."

Tenyom picked up the deer and kept him under her foreleg.

"No! TENYOM WAIT!"

But she already jumped inside the pit. She did not fear what awaited them.

Comments

[Chrome Masquerade]

"Say what you will about my people, Copper, but I feel more warmth coming from them."

"And they live in a tundra while these people live in a scolding desert!" Copper added happily.

Scalding.

[The Psychopath]

7870170 Thank you.