Who: Altair, Wil, Ari, Merri, and Stone What: Another Adventure Where: The deserts of Jagd Yensa and a hidden tomb When: Monday, Gemini 7 Rating: PGish Status: Complete.
They'd been trekking through the desert since yesterday afternoon. The hot sun beat down on them, and reflected back up toward them off the miles and miles of bright sand. Cacti dotted the barren landscape, and the sky was so bright, it was more white than blue.
Altair was glad he'd taken Ari's advice and wore white. The long sleeves of his linen shirt and the wide-brimmed straw hat he'd bought especially for this trip kept the sun off his pale skin, but it didn't relieve the oppressive heat. Sweat made his shirt stick to his back, and he could feel it trickling between the braids on his scalp (he'd let the kitchen maid do his hair again, as he had for the Mousse Hunt the month before).
Even the canteens of water he carried on his pack were hot. He'd frozen them on the ship the day before, but they had melted quickly in the heat of the desert, and that water was long gone anyway. Merri had been filling up the canteens as needed, but that water warmed quickly as well. Altair drank regularly out of necessity, but the warm water failed to quench his thirst.
Altair squinted at the horizon. There appeared to be a dark object not far ahead of where they were. He was almost afraid to hope that could be their destination. Surely the dark tomb would be cooler than the desert; and arriving there meant they could begin the trek back to Wil's airship.
"Is that it?" Altair called to Stone, whom they'd given a map of the area, purchased at the Cartographer's Guild back in Emillion.