The Legend of Star Forge
After finishing my conversation with Shahkan, I walked the streets with him, buying food and water.
The combination of a madman who had spent years chasing a legend that might not even exist and a friend of Prince Kashin must have looked strange. Wherever we went, Shahkan and I drew every eye.
"Shahkan, you must be incredibly famous."
"I-I think it's more because of you..."
Perhaps the stares were too much for him. Shahkan hunched his shoulders and trailed after me like a shadow—nothing like the man who had poured out stories of Star Forge. When he had spoken of the dream he had pursued his whole life, he might have rambled, but he had stood tall and shone with light.
"So what else do we need?"
"Hmm... a few more sword hands would be nice..."
"The desert's that dangerous, huh?"
"It is. Especially once the sun drops and night comes—that's when the real monsters start moving."
Shahkan rattled on about the desert creatures he had faced: ants the size of bears, wolves with rock-hard fur. He warned me most of all about the ground suddenly giving way—quicksand.
We bought everything we needed. That was the end of today's company. I spoke to Shahkan, who was still muttering without pause.
"See you tomorrow?"
"Ah, leaving already?"
"If we're setting out tomorrow, better to get back and sleep early, right?"
"T-tomorrow...?"
"Were you planning to leave later?"
I waved at Shahkan, who could only blink, and left him standing there.
The next morning.
With every preparation finished, I left the inn and went looking for Nightmare. A full day in the stable had clearly not agreed with him; the moment he saw me he erupted in pure complaint. Every time his forelegs stamped the earth, the ground shook as if an earthquake had struck.
"S-stop that...!"
Hiiing—!
Nightmare's tantrum brought the nearby guards running. One glance at the brooch on my chest, though, and they backed off again. Without it, they would have dragged me away by force.
I sighed and soothed the great beast. For all his mountain-sized bulk, his behavior was pure five-year-old.
"Shall we go?"
I piled the heavy loads onto Nightmare's back. Strong as he was, he moved easily even under the weight. The cloudless sky poured down the same scorching heat as yesterday. I worried for Nightmare, who hated the heat—we would be wandering the vast desert soon enough...
Prrrrt—
Whether he knew what lay ahead or not, he flicked his tail wildly, simply happy to have me on his back.
I led Nightmare to the inn called Hot Tail by the eastern gate. While I was loitering out front with him, Shahkan came bursting out of the inn, a huge pack on his shoulders.
"Oh, you actually came."
"Did you think I wouldn't?"
Shahkan gave a bitter little smile at my question—a smile that carried a long story.
"Come on, then. They'll be waiting outside the gate."
"They?"
"The sword hands I hired yesterday."
Just as he said, two men and one woman stood beyond the eastern gate, each leading a camel. Shahkan walked up to them and climbed onto the largest camel behind the swordsman already mounted—apparently planning to share the ride.
"Let's get moving. Introductions can wait until we're on the road."
The party leader had spoken. I nodded and fell in behind the line of camels.
Crunch—crunch— The sound of platinum sand breaking underfoot filled the silence that settled over the group.
Then the man sharing Shahkan's camel spoke.
"I'm Sarja."
With that short introduction he gave his sword a light tap.
Next came the second male swordsman. Like me, he was an adventurer from outside the desert.
"Brian. Bronze Rank swordsman."
After Brian, the woman introduced herself.
"Shan."
She wore two short swords, one at each hip—not spares, but a matched pair for dual wielding.
My turn, then? Everyone was looking at me, waiting. I brushed the sword at my back and spoke.
"Ceris. Bronze Rank swordsman."
That was the end of conversation. In the quiet that followed, Shahkan took out a small stone and began clicking it against another. He clearly wanted to show the starlight again, but no matter how hard he tried, the light would not come. At last he handed the stones to me.
Sarja, watching, asked, "What's that?"
"A guiding star. It will lead us to the lost city of Star Forge."
Shahkan spoke with absolute confidence, yet no one seemed to take him seriously. I sighed, gathered mana into both hands, and the moment the power racing from my heart reached the stones, I swung my arms and struck them together.
Tak—!
A clear note rang out. A faint starlight rose and shot toward the far side of the desert.
"Th-that just now...!"
Sarja stammered in shock. Brian and Shan said nothing, but their faces showed the same astonishment. Of course they were surprised—two small stones had clashed and a star had leapt out, flying ahead of us.
"Come on, everyone, hurry! We need to cover as much ground as we can before nightfall!"
Shahkan urged the others, who still stood frozen. Unlike the silence of the start, Sarja, Brian, and Shan now peppered him with questions: whether the starlight truly led to a city called Star Forge, and whether that city even existed. Shahkan, looking happier than ever, told them every old tale he knew.
On the second day after leaving the city, the distance finally told. Monster attacks came more and more often—desert wolves that blended into the sand, insects the size of a forearm that burst up from below. None of them were strong; we handled them easily enough.
But the farther we traveled from the city, the more closely we followed the starlight's path, the more frequent the assaults became. Constant changes of watch and the dread of night attacks left the whole party sleepless. Fatigue piled up until a full week had passed.
We were walking in silence along the path the starlight showed when Nightmare suddenly stopped. I tilted my head, thinking he wanted cold water, but this was no tantrum. He set his legs for a sudden charge and spread his mane wide.
Grrrrrk—!
A snarl thick with hostility, utterly unsuited to a horse. Nightmare was staring across the distant sand plain.
"What's wrong?"
Grrrk...!
I frowned and looked out over the plain. Heat haze shimmered above the glittering platinum sand, making it seem to boil. No—I rubbed my eyes and looked again. The sand was not merely shimmering. It was truly boiling, like water.
While I stood open-mouthed at the strange sight, Shahkan, riding ahead, called back.
"Ceris? Something wrong?"
"Shahkan."
"Hm?"
"The sand is boiling."
"The sand is boiling...?"
"Yes."
And the boiling sand seemed to be drawing closer. Shahkan fell silent for a moment, then followed my pointing finger. His face went deathly pale.
"H-huh...!"
"Shahkan?"
"R-run! Everyone, run! Faster! Faster!"
He urged Sarja, who sat in front of him. Not understanding, Sarja still drove the camel into a gallop. Once the lead camel bolted, the rest of the party followed.
"Don't stop for anything! Find solid rock—quickly!"
The instant Shahkan finished, Nightmare, who had been trotting lazily, exploded into speed. His powerful legs seemed to kick the very air; he shot forward like the wind.
And then—
Sssssssss—!
The boiling sand suddenly spread wider, and something began to rise from beneath it. A body larger than most inns, a rounded head, sleek ink-black hide, and an eye bigger than Nightmare's whole body fixed on me. It looked like a whale bursting up from the deep sea.
No—it was not like a whale. What had emerged from the sand was a gigantic whale.
"It's a Quicksand Whale!"
Shahkan's scream had barely ended when the Quicksand Whale opened its enormous maw and swallowed Brian, camel and all, from the rear of the line. The whale sank back into the sand with a heavy splash and kept moving, unslowed by its massive meal.
"Don't stop! Never stop!"
I understood the moment I saw it. We could never win against that thing. How were we supposed to fight a monster bigger than an ogre—one that swam through this endless desert as if it were the sea?
I gripped Nightmare's reins hard.
"Th-this is insane!"
Sarja and Shan, faces bloodless, cracked their reins like whips. The camels under them ran for their lives, white foam flecking their mouths. Instinct alone told them how deadly the whale behind them was.
"Dump the packs! Everything!"
Sarja, with the Quicksand Whale almost on his heels, hurled the loads lashed to his camel. Food and blankets bought in the city vanished into the quicksand.
We had been running for what felt like forever when I spotted a small rocky outcrop rising in the distance. I yanked Nightmare's reins. The moment his eyes flicked sideways he understood and veered toward it at full speed.
I twisted around and shouted,
"Everyone, this way!"
We reached the rock in a final burst. Nightmare leapt high and climbed the slope with easy skill—after all, the mountains of the Thunder Bird had been his home; rock was no obstacle. The others, though, had no choice but to abandon their camels and scramble up on foot.
The instant the whole party clung to the rock,
Crash—!
the enormous Quicksand Whale surfaced and swallowed the two remaining camels in a single gulp.