Eventually, that repetition faded. I couldn't stay awake past the city border, and so Jack was forced to lug my unconscious, bleeding body through the desert all by his lonesome. His primary goal was to get me out of there unnoticed, and, for a time, that seemed achievable. The paused mummies came with an equally disrupted leader, after all, so the main villain was temporarily incapacitated at the start of our journey. Even when his undead soldiers woke anew, his voice was not there to guide them anymore. That made mop-ups easy, especially if done by divine hunters with a lifetime of experience fighting the undead.
Naota's arrival amidst the dunes was a spell of good luck for Katerina, Robin and Eden in that regard. Their trio had been making its way through the sleeping horde before its members started to wake; and they would have been severely outnumbered in their position had the god not intervened. Robin did still activate Seikou just in case she had to cut her way through, but she never got the chance to use it. Naota was too fast with his holy dome, taking out everything in sight before Robin could even deign to close ranks with the enemy.
After that particular display, my beloved could only fall silent in respect. She was unfamiliar with the deities of the world - being both Parvporan and a classical Cinderella story in nature - but she understood enough to know that the man in front of her knew Katerina and had come to save her. Robin didn't wish to butt in to a conversation like that between friends, so she just silently listened to them while commanding Seikou back into its hilt.
Eventually, Robin did get the chance to speak to Mr. Flashlight, though only after Katerina called in Goliath to whisk her daughter away. The armor-clad swordswoman approached and spoke to Naota during that family affair, bowing to him in traditional Ataiyan manner before giving thanks.
"Thank you, Naota, whoever you are." She didn't ask about his ancestry in those moments, even though she suspected he was from her homeland based solely on his appearance and light accent. She didn't feel it was her place to pry for such information anyway, especially from a stranger she just had met, so she respectfully let issue lie in preference of waving goodbye to her old, gargoyle friend. Naota and she would have had plenty of time to talk later anyway, should he have desired to share. Katerina wanted to egress on foot, after all, which meant a decently sized journey even for the fastest of nonmagical individuals: more than enough time for small talk.
Of course, as fate would have it, that trip did not happen as intended. Soon after Katerina hinted at her distaste for teleportation, the pyramid of Aysut sprung to life once more. The ethereal energies that had hung over the desert for many weeks now suddenly intensified beyond what they had already been, and soon the ruby's red glow erupted from the chasm in the pyramid's apex with renewed vigor. The undead still left in the city quickly and violently reassembled under that sinister light, signifying the return of their high priest.
"Not again," Robin said half-heartedly at this development. Soon, she would freeze in terror as she heard Rudjek's ghastly voice finally reach her among the sands.
"Accursed mortals," he proclaimed! For the first time since the battle began, he was allowing his thoughts to transfer through the mouths of his minions and outside of his chambers. Also for once, he had lost that insufferable smugness of his, replacing it with triumphant anger instead. "Minions of Sardon, hear your high priest! A trio of snakes has infiltrated our defenses and wounded our lord's heart! Now they have the audacity to flee instead of joining our glorious legion! Hunt them down! Kill every last one of them: especially the fox known as Natsumi, the rogue Shiloh and the phoenix Mirannda! Finish what I have started, and keep that wounded white one from ever reaching the stronghold of the living!"
In that instant, the desert gave birth to even more undead. The force that everyone had been fighting against up till that point was already large enough to cast fear into the hearts of many; but it was only the tip of the iceberg when compared to the true extent of Rudjek's army. Now more of the ghostly riders crawled up from the depths with every passing second, causing the sands quake in tandem with the pulses of sickly green energy coming out of Rudjek's stronghold. They seemed to be stronger as well, feeding off of a reinvigorated gem as they started to push the Revalitte advance back.
With this, the undead seemed to have gained the upper hand. Their numbers streamed out of the city like a disturbed swarm of hornets defending their nest, and their movements were far from aimless. Many thousands headed straight for Jack and I, even as the two of us passed right by Katerina, Naota and Robin. They truly were on a death march for me, something that had Jack running faster than ever before.
"So much for stealth," he cried just before sprinting into the sight of those three fighters! They were too far away to really converse by then, especially considering the wailing horde that was right on the dragon butler's tail; but the trio was close enough to see my limp body in his arms as well as smell my blood on the wind. Jack's hands were drenched in the stuff, most of it coming from the hole in my shoulder that Rudjek had given me as a trophy. Even a human could smell it thanks to the sheer volume, let alone three people with very keen noses.
Robin was probably the first to notice, too. The two of us had been fighting before going into the desert, and, even though she was still mad at me for that, she was secretly fearful for my safety during the whole affair. The sight of me in that condition validated her fears, sending her into an adrenaline-filled shock. She didn't even realize what was happening till she had instinctually positioned herself between the horde and I, drawing Seikou and her Vilpamolan rapier in a berserker stance.
"You won't touch her. I won't let you," she muttered under her breath when the first wave crested over the dune in front of her. Robin was fully intent on sacrificing her life for me in that moment of heated rage, but her hatred for Rudjek was soon detracted from when she heard light padding coming from behind her.
"Pardon me, Devushka." A voice I had not heard in years had popped up next to Robin in the most unlikely of places. She turned around to face it, thinking it was a stranger getting in her way. Instead, she was confused to look down and find a bipedal platypus standing right next to her. "Mother Fee sends her best." It was Nikolai, that magnificent bastard of a platypus with a Kurayan accent. He moved past Robin after saying his initial introduction, and then faced the front line of oncoming mummies with paws of orange light. It was a glow that exploded as soon as he touched it to the sand in front of him, calling out his characteristic catchphrase to the moons overhead while doing so. "And his name is Nikolai!"
So it was that a friend from the past had reappeared, detonating the front line of the oncoming horde and joining Robin in her battle against Rudjek.
[OOC: Nikolai is back, biznitches. See CodeAni's profile under companions for more info!]