It was less than a week since building and preparations were taking place in the abandoned town they picked as the location for the new outpost. Aestas was what they'd call it, and for the time being they had only tents. The builders who came from Mo'mey and Yovaesh were doing the best they could with restoring the old stone houses and setting up wooden shacks, but it was hard when everything needed to be sent a long distance. The mages's gateway spells were helping somewhat, but anything that couldn't fit through easily still had to be transported by caravan. While construction was going on, the mages and scholars were working just as hard. They had no form of protection here, and the most powerful sorcerers were taking turns keeping the perimeter safe.

There were only a handful of them here right now, but a few healers from Sularia sent word that the Goddess of Life and the God of Knowledge were coming to assist. They just needed to hold out until then. Most of the people here were nomads who were familiar with the desert and those who had been affected by the ghost riders. Those who were being targeted had been given sanctuary by the Mother, so their family members who didn't bear that blood came to support the effort. The situation was tense, but they were all working together.

In one of the tents, there were books and scraps of paper lying around in piles. Half-read tomes stacked on each other with crumpled, scratched out scribbles littered the floor lit by at least a dozen candles. A black-haired girl was poring over them, flipping the pages back and forth while pulling at her cropped hair. "Professor, it's past midnight. Can't you pick up where you left off tomorrow morning?" The voice of a tired woman asked while pulling open the flap of the tent back to step in. The blonde looked and saw the plate of food sitting on the table, left untouched. It was already cold, and even the utensils were in the same place as she had left them. She frowned. "You haven't even eaten since this afternoon? Professor, I know you're concerned but you can't keep skipping meals. You won't lose much time by spending fifteen minutes to eat."

"I'm almost done…I just need to figure out this one word. I've checked the cross-references three times, but I can't find any context." The arcanist's voice trailed off as she pulled out another book to her again. There wasn't much they had to work with in decoding the hieroglyphs of Aysut. It was a civilization that had been long forgotten, buried beneath tons of sand. The only ones who had been around to even see it were the deities themselves. Trying to translate, let alone understand something that had little to no known texts was nerve-wracking. There were other people analyzing the artifacts the nomads had recovered from the outer city of Aysut, and she had volunteered for this part. Myouga had been so focused on figuring out what the glyphs meant that she almost ignored everything else.

Sighing, she found a place to sit in the mess. It was rare to see her former teacher at work, especially when her typical attitude was like a child at play. Her lectures were lighthearted and freewheeling, so she had never seen Professor Ryou become so focused–and quiet. The fact she wasn't whining or joking around meant this was important. The arcanist worked in collaboration with Iria's lead scholars of the mage academy when it came to finding ancient ruins and artifacts. She had even done some translations of elven texts and was familiar in a handful of languages other than common. Most of them were modern languages, but Liselotte had heard she had been working towards learning ancient ones in her spare time.

Today wasn't the first time the mage had forgotten to eat. She had been working tirelessly, trying to squeeze out whatever information the old tablets and wall fragments could give. Taking a glance over a charcoal rubbing of the face of a heiroglyph-laden tablet, it was amazing how Professor Ryou could remember all the symbols and tell them apart. It would have been easier if she could just draw them out, but her drawing skills were too poor. Images of birds, creatures, items, and other indistinct shapes were lined up on rows across the smudged paper. Most of them had scribbled assumptions of their definition below, save for a few. 

The sound of pages flipping went quiet, and she had thought that the woman was deep in thought. However after a few minutes she didn't move. "Professor?" There was no response. "…Professor Ryou?" Walking over she went to check if she was alright. There was a thick book in her hands, and her head was looking down. Cautiously waving a hand in front of her, there was no reaction to Liselotte's disturbance. Leaning down, she saw that the mage had fallen asleep sitting up. Those long nights toiling away over the books had taken their toll. Gently taking the book from her professor's hands, the half-elf set it aside and bookmarked the page it had been open at. Covering the uneaten plate of food, she picked the little oni up and laid her down on a pile of cushions. She then covered her former teacher with a cloak to keep her warm. 

"I'll let them know you'll be sleeping in tomorrow morning." Said the alchemist, putting out the last of the candles with a puff. The days were hot here in the Harena, but when night fell so did the temperatures. The aridity meant no heat could be retained with the changes in temperature, so they had to bundle up after dark. Her work had mostly been in setting up the storeroom for supplies and assistance with construction. Her affinity with the earth was a boon here, allowing her to aid the builders with building walls and scaffolding. At the moment they only had simple earthen walls to surround the perimeter, but hopefully that would change soon. These wouldn't be able to hold against an organized assault.

Perhaps the only silver lining of their outpost's location was that bandits would steer clear of them. The hordes of risen dead were a strong motivation to keep away. Returning to her tent, she slumped into the makeshift cot to drift off to sleep. Her Harenian lizard Basil was already dreaming, tired from the long day.

The next day, Myouga woke up feeling stiff. Had she fallen asleep? She swore she just closed her eyes for a second… There was sounds of noise and she groaned. Rolling over to burrow deeper into the comfy nest of cushions she didn't want to leave. "Meoooow. Meow. Purrrr~" "….Mgh. Kitty…." Wait, a kitty? Opening her eyes she sat up. Sure enough, there were not one–but three cats on the table. They were congregating around something and were quite busy by the sounds of their meows. Getting up she went over to see she had been moved to the bed, and the tent was as messy as it had been the night before. Arriving at the table she saw a gray cat, a black cat, and striped tabby eating something from a plate. They were helping themselves to the food she'd forgotten to eat last night, which probably might have gone bad if it had been hotter. But this was strange. She didn't remember seeing any cats lately.

One of the cats turned to look at her, then resumed eating. Huh, well they seemed like they were making themselves at home. Stretching her arms and legs, she yawned and rubbed her eyes. Still feeling tired from that all-nighter, the arcanist was tempted to crawl back into the cushion pile again. "Right…gotta report back to the guys on my progress. Ugh…I still have that one word that I don't understand. Maybe somebody else's found it already." Opening the tent flap she hissed and pulled it shut again. Her eyes! Her poor sensitive eyes! She had almost forgot what it was like to do an all-nighter back when she was a student in the mage academy. Just one night of three hours of sleep meant she would be squinting for the whole day while taking cover in dimmer rooms. She'd have to stay indoors until she got a 'normal' night's sleep again.

Feeling peckish, she flopped back into the cushions again. Taking out her magic mirror, she stuck her hand into it and fished around. Retrieving a blueberry pastry, she began stuffing it into her mouth. Now she wasn't focused on work, her stomach remembered it hadn't eaten in half a day. Tired, sleepy, and hungry–the little mage laid sprawled out as the cats moseyed around her piles of clutter. "So tiiiiired…Everything hurts…" Her arms and legs felt limp.

It had been a rough night, and soon she was up bright and early working with assisting the guards who had been keeping watch last night. Treatment for snake bites and heat stroke were simple enough, but prevention still was the best cure. Medical supplies were precious, and without a clear time frame for the arrival of the next caravan they had to stretch everything as far as they could. The stables were finally set up, and the mounts could rest with a roof over their heads. It would also keep them protected from the elements, namely the fierce dry winds and sandstorms. There was a debate between what to build next: more sturdy domiciles for the people, or a more permanent building for treating the wounded. This issue had been brought up due to the recent chain of sandstorms that were blowing through the area since three days ago. Each time they came, sand and dust were thrown about and everyone had to retreat inside to wait them out. The tents weren't very strong against such high winds, and if one were to collapse there could be injuries. 

As the sun rose higher into the sky, Liselotte went to check in on Professor Ryou back in her tent. Seeing she was awake, she found the mage nearly buried beneath a pile of cats. The arcanist was likely lethargic from hunger and exhaustion, so the first time she did was to pour her a cup of water. "Here, you've been pushing yourself too hard lately." Taking the cup, the girl drank it all in one gulp and the alchemist refilled it. "Ugh I'm so hungry…Is breakfast ready yet, Lise? What time is it?" Came a tired whine. "You've missed breakfast already. Lunch should be ready soon. But you can't eat just yet, first you'll have to start by eating something watered down." The little mage looked at her with puppy eyes and wailed: "But whyyyy? I wanna eat meat!" Sighing, she handed another cup of water. "You've brought this upon yourself, professor. Since you missed eating so many meals, if you try eating solid food now you'll make your stomach burst. There's no way to recover from that you know."

Too tired to protest any further, Professor Ryou flopped back down against the cushions. The cats lounging around moved when she did so, then resumed their grooming and lazing around. "Were there so many cats in here before? I don't remember seeing this many." She mused. Reaching out she stroked a gray striped tomcat behind the ears, causing it to emit a low purr of satisfaction. "I dunno…didn't some of the people bring a few with them? They said it was for good luck or protection–something like that." Her former teacher replied. Seeing that she was getting restless, she advised her against doing anything strenuous. "After sleeping for half a day, I suggest you take things easy for today. I already told the others from Iria that you were resting and needed a break. Staying up for three nights late into the evening is ludicrous. No running around, understood?" 

"Ok…" It was a rather dejected agreement, but the small oni wasn't exactly in top form at the moment. For the time being she would oblige, and stay put. To cheer her up, Liselotte brought out a ripe mango. "Now now, no sulking. Here's a little treat for your hard work. You'll need to regain your energy if you plan on continuing your translating." Peeling and cutting it into chunks, she handed a bowl full of the delicious sweet fruit with a spoon. The arcanist's eyes lit up when she saw it, and any unhappiness that was on her face left in an instant. Contentedly shoveling spoonfuls of the golden tropical treat into her mouth, Professor Ryou's sweet tooth was placated. Leaving her to rest, Liselotte went to see how things were progressing along with the scholars. 

Tapping on the door with her staff, the wooden door to the current standing stone structure in the camp opened. Inside were the Irian mages and other international learned men who had been analyzing the relics brought back from around the pyramid. "Professor Ryou's currently resting. If I may ask, what is the progress on the hieroglyph translations? She'd probably be unable to sit still unless I told her something." One of the faculty from the mage's college, Nicodemus took off his circular spectacles as he straightened out his greying beard. "Ah yes, we've nearly finished our current compendium of the glyphs we've seen so far. A few of the tablets contained rites or worship and other sorcery used by the people of Aysut before their untimely demise, and I have proposed we test if these images serve as conduits for casting magic. It would be ideal if we could somehow reverse-engineer these scripts into something which would repel the undead. Even with our current armed forces the outpost can still be easily overwhelmed with large enough numbers."

"I see, that's wonderful news! I'm sure Professor Ryou would be pleased to hear this. I'll have her stay in bed until tomorrow and see if she's ready to return to work." She said, eliciting nods of approval from the elders. Taking her leave, she returned to her station at the makeshift hospital tent. There was so much to do but so little time. Hopefully the mages would be able to come up with something that would turn the undead tide before they approached their walls. Clerics and paladins were few in their current numbers, and even then their magic had limits. 

Progress was slow. Or rather, that was how the mage felt regarding the hieroglyph translations overall. The pieces they obtained from the outer area of Aysut were broken and incomplete, and thus insufficient for a comprehensive collection to write a compendium on an ancient language. They couldn't venture further in, as the dead kept rising too quickly. Right now they had to focus on staying alive instead of decoding long-lost manuscripts. It was frustrating, but something she couldn't change. But, there was a glimmer of hope. Word had arrived that the goddess of life and the god of knowledge were coming; Angela Rose and Adraejen Porthyrius. The little arcanist had the fortune of meeting them both in person, even talking with them for a short while. 

Lise had told her Nick and the others were working on testing out the hieroglyphs which were successfully translated and see if they could tap into the ancients' spellcraft. She hoped it would work, whatever they were planning. For the time being she was left to recuperate. Looking out from their newly-built barracks, Myouga watched as the workers completed more and more structures and fewer tents were left standing. Soon it would be easier on everybody here once the permanent structures were ready. 

Days passed as she spent her hours bored out of her mind, until finally something from the Irian mages came. They had managed to discover a combination of Aysut's hieroglyphs that had the curious property of turning away the undead. This was big news, phenomenal news! Right now they didn't know how effective this discovery was yet, but they were sending out scouting parties to try them out on the wandering mummies in the sands surrounding Aestas. Later that week results came in, and they were promising. They indeed had the power to repel the mummies, but their effectiveness waned the closer one came to Aysut. It was possible that the necromantic energies from the pyramid were overpowering that of the warding combination, so they just needed to increase its strength to match. 

Allowed to return to her work after an enforced hiatus, Myouga was itching to get back and help out. The first thing she did was to help levitate the pieces which would create the archways of the outposts' gates. Upon the pieces were inscribed the warding combination from the Irian scholars, and once they were assembled power was channeled into it. The glyphs resonated and glowed, effectively creating a selective aura which forced away any mummies that came too close. They wouldn't be able to pass through, limiting where they could enter should a large number be inclined to mount an assault. With the two deities now present, a powerful barrier enveloped Aestas further protecting it from the sky and around the walls. Aestas was finally complete–the last haven before the revived city of the Harena.

People started to flood in, day after day. Caravans coming and going were in and out every week. The place was flourishing, a true oasis in the desert. Now that their base was secure, expeditions to push further into the city of ruin could be sent out. New items and artifacts were being brought back for the mages to analyze and inspect. Everyone was busier than ever, but the atmosphere was a little less tense. The hospital in particular was almost never empty. But even with all this success it would only be a matter of time for somebody to try to break through to the top of the pyramid. The Mother and her husband had their hands full keeping the place protected against the necromancer's attacks.

Unfortunately, she wasn't allowed to take up the challenge. Lise and a few others gave her a stern talk on putting herself in harm's way, and told her to stay as close to Aestas as possible. It was disappointing, but she wasn't upset. Her constitution wasn't exactly the best, and without her magic she would be a sitting duck. As much as she hated boredom, she didn't want to worry people who cared about her. She had promised herself not to be so reckless after nearly getting killed by a mother dragon.

"I thought I told you explicitly to stay in the outpost!" The half-elf was standing with her hands on her hips, her face upset. Her usual coquettish air and smile weren't present, as she looked down at the dark-haired girl sitting before her. Said girl was looking rather guilty, like a child who had been caught sneaking into the pantry for sweets without permission. "I know…" She said meekly, averting her gaze from meeting Liselotte's. She continued, raising her voice. "Do you know how worried sick everyone was when we couldn't find you in Aestas? We searched everywhere, turned the entire encampment upside-down just to find you! And when you weren't there, we thought the worst had happened! And to make matters worse, you went alone–by yourself!" Sighing in frustration, she paced the floor as she pressed her hand to her forehead. The alchemist very rarely, if ever–raised her voice. She was the kind of person who believed that a soft answer and the right words could solve nearly everything. But what the professor had done could've ended in an unrecoverable disaster.

"What do you think would happen if you were to get hurt out there with no one around? Even if you could open a portal back here, in a matter of seconds those mummies would have you overwhelmed. And even worse, if you were to die–we'd never be able to bring you back." Professor Ryou lowered her head, looking down. Liselotte felt bad scolding her former teacher, but when she and Nicodemus were running around asking if anyone had seen a person matching the professor's description, she had been so afraid. Afraid that Professor Ryou was out in Aysut and wasn't able to come back. When she later caught sight of the arcanist skipping cheerily through the streets to the tavern later that afternoon, her heart was both angry and relieved. The oni didn't realize how upset the alchemist was as she began to tell her of how she scored a lucky find earlier, mentioning fragments of hieroglyphs and murals that came directly from the infamous pyramid itself.

It was then that she held her tongue, and waited until they were both back in their room to let the mage know how she really felt. Breaking the silence between them, Liselotte took a seat across from her former teacher. "…Professor, please don't go out on your own like that ever again. I know you hate being cooped up without anywhere to go, but if you really must venture out–then at least tell me or someone with the mage's college and we'll go with you." Her tone of voice was softer now, her frustrations now vented. Putting her head in her hands, she felt so tired after today's events. It was the first time in a while that she had been genuinely afraid, and she didn't want to have it happen again.

"I'm sorry Lise… I thought I'd just poke around on the bottom floor of the pyramid and come right back. I won't go outside again until everything goes back to normal–promise." The arcanist said quietly. In response she said: "Please keep it this time, Professor. If really feel you can't stay anymore, then we can go home." She knew that wasn't what the mage wanted. Even as restless as she was, the reason why they were here was to help. Professor Ryou was the one who came to her and told her about the situation, and suggested that they should come here. Liselotte knew that her teacher hadn't forgotten, and didn't want to sour things any more. Trying to break the heavy mood, she added: "By the way, those mural fragments you brought back… Nicodemus said they were excellent. The carvings were clear and legible, and the colors of the paintings were vivid like the day they were made. You must've went through a great deal of trouble just to get these."

"…Yeah. They were from the first floor. I um, had a little help getting them off the walls. I left right after getting them, though." The oni girl said with a bit of hesitation. She was still worried that mentioning more of her wild escapade would anger the alchemist more. Instead, Liselotte got up and went over to her, and picked her up from her seat in a hug. Professor Ryou was caught off guard and was surprised, but didn't protest. Patting the elbow of her student, she realized that beneath everything the half-elf had said–it was out of concern for her.

A few days later, and the camp was getting busier. More and more people were coming and the place was growing crowded. The talk of the town was the news of a private militia marching into Aestas, with the commander making demands on the spot. The regulars paid them no heed, only giving wary glances as they went about their business. Lise had come back early, and wasn't in a good mood. Discreetly stuffing a ball of cat fur underneath a floor cushion, Myouga got up to greet her. "Hey Lise! Back already? Hm, is something wrong?" It wasn't usual for her to unhappy, and if she was she'd rarely show it. Setting her coat on a chair, the half-elf sank into the couch. "No…not really. Though I believe it just soured my day."

Taking a seat next to her, the arcanist swung her legs as they dangled over the couch's edge. "You wanna talk about it? If you don't, I won't bug you." Leaning against her arm, the alchemist put on a smile for her former teacher. "I suppose I should. It was simply mildly unpleasant, thankfully no actual tragedies. You've heard of that military regiment which came in earlier? Well I had the pleasure of being stopped by one of the brutes and ordered to bring them to whoever was in charge of Aestas. I directed them to the Mother and the Keeper of course, but then I was accosted by the head of their unit." Looking at the wall, Liselotte continued as her previous smile vanished from her face. "The gall that man had–acting like he was the commander of the Adelunian army when his men were no better than well-armed cutthroats. As if he didn't understand the concept of humility, he tried to persuade me to assist his men."

Listening intently, Myouga asked her. "So…what'd you say?" "I refused, gave them an excuse. I walked off as soon as I could. I could feel his eyes looking at me the way men ogle barmaids. …Arrogant swine. In fact, calling him such would be an insult to swine." The woman fumed, heaving a sigh. The little mage grimaced as her former student described her unsavory encounter. "Oh…that's awful. Seriously, those people are the worst. They just clog up the atmosphere with their vibes. Are they going to stay in Aestas long?" "I have no idea. Personally I'd hope they pack up and leave. The commander acted as if he was doing us a service by gracing us with his presence. I wouldn't care even if he was the king of Adeluna–with his sorry attitude I say we'll manage just fine without him. But enough about complaints, at least the injured coming in are reducing in number. Though this sudden quiet out on the sands worries me."


The past few days had been fairly smooth, and the undead horde's numbers seemed to be dwindling. Was that a good sign? The pyramid was still standing, so she couldn't say everything was peaches and cream. Hopefully it was good news. "I get how you feel, Lise. Remember the first time a whole bunch of the walkers were marching out against the camp? I was pretty nervous, even though they went down pretty quick. Something just feels kinda off, y'know? Like whatever's in Aysut is waiting, twiddling its thumbs for the right moment. I know we've got two gods on our side in here, but it's still a pretty scary thought."

She couldn't agree more with Professor Ryou. The lack of activity from the risen ruins was disquieting, compared to the massive assault they fended off earlier when Aestas was just established. More experienced groups had been venturing out to thin out the mummies, but even so that didn't mean the threat was over. A few courageous souls were planning to make an assault on the pyramid itself. What bothered them the most was that all they could do was wait. "So have you been behaving yourself while I'm gone? No explosions or haranguing the stray cats?" Right away the mage looked to the side while answering back. "Nope…not at all!" "…Professor." She gave the woman a serious look. "Ahh, I was just kidding! I haven't, really! I've been trying to make some stuff to keep myself busy. But I'm not giving any hints!" She joked, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "I'll have to take your word for it then, as much as it pains me." Liselotte responded, feigning offense.

Sliding off the couch, the small oni went back to what she had been doing prior to her return. There was a pile of things in the corner: a stuffed toy, some scales, bottles of powder, chalk, and lumps of fur. If she didn't know any better, she would've asked her former teacher if she was conducting some kind of black ritual. With her personality that was unlikely, as she would be more inclined to raise a skeleton from its grave to act as her personal pack mule for the day. "Where did you find all that fur?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Where the cats are." Came the mage's reply. "That's an awfully large amount of fur." Liselotte continued. "Yup! It sure is!" There was a long pause, as she stared in Professor Ryou's direction. "…I'm not telling! It's a secret! I didn't pull any cats' hairs though, if you're wondering." The arcanist finally said, divulging a small hint to how she procured it. The mage was determined to keep her secrets, so Liselotte didn't press it any further. As long as she wasn't running amok, then it was alright.

The next days had gone on quietly when there was an uproar coming from outside. There was a tremor that shook the encampment, and a powerful release of magical energy. Rushing outside, she saw a red light erupt from the direction of the pyramid. The oppressive atmosphere from Aysut had intensified, and the undead were crawling out of the sands at an alarming rate. Everyone was on high alert, and the fighters were moving to their battle stations. The burst of light then faded, and a low rumble came from the undead citadel. Something big had happened, and they were about to find out. Mages were strengthening the barriers, reinforcing the warding runes. Spearmen were lined up at the gates ready to push back any invaders that came too close. There was a deeply ominous feeling hanging in the air as the sickly green skies stirred. The winds were picking up again.

"What's going on?" She yelled at a guardsman. "How should I know?" He shouted back, trying to speak over the howling winds. Sand was getting everywhere again and that meant things were getting worse. Climbing up to a high point, she shaded her eyes as she scanned the desert surrounding Aestas. Nothing so far–wait! In the distance, not too far off was the sound of explosions. Something or someone was lighting the sands up with a flash and a boom, and she could barely make out the speck of something moving erratically with blasts following. Was it an enemy, or one of the expeditions pulling back to camp? Continuing to watch she saw the explosions flash red as they came closer into view. That definitely didn't seem like it was from the people fleeing. She shouted down at the guards manning the gate: "Make way! The cavalry's comin' back, and they've got company!"

Hopping down she used levitation to slow her descent. Getting into her designated position, she was preparing to unleash arcane might on those shambling mummies as soon as she saw the shuffling of their bandage-wrapped bodies."Fire at will!" Came the order, and as the undead swarm was congregating on their location arrows rained down like manna from the heavens. Magic and might crushed the corpses as the largest force of mummies the camp had seen was closing in. One by one, the mages cast their strongest spells when they were reaching the limits of their power. The sands outside were a mess, as elemental energies tore into the dunes. It was an all-out attack of the last bastion of the Harena, and neither side was giving in. They weren't going to cave to some dead deity, not now–not ever.