The mid-afternoon sun beat down around Emily as she stared out over the plains. Why in the world had she opened her big mouth? The heat was dry enough to chap her lips in seconds and the day had seen it fit not to offer up a hint of wind to cool her down.

Emily thought back to earlier this morning when all this had started.

"We need to be on high alert from now on. They're going to try and wear us down, and when our guard has lax they'll sneak into camp."

Emily had stared at Kael with some indignation.

"Surely you don't think we'll miss them getting that close to us."

Kael shrugged.

"It's not a matter of if, but when. These creatures are cunning, and will wait to see signs of exhaustion."

Emily rolled her eyes.

"Well if they're that smart why don't we just baste someone in barbeque sauce and leave them out for all to see? Then we can just kill them when they approach. I'd rather that than wait day to see a glimpse of them."

Kael snorted in amusement but then paused and cocked his head.

"That's not a bad idea though, now that you mention it."

Emily's eyes narrowed at the man.

"What do you mean? Do you have barbecue sauce? Have you been making us eat all that meat and kept the good stuff for yourself-"

Kael held up a hand while touching the other to his forehead.

"I have no idea what barbecue sauce is. But the idea to leave someone out in the open to draw their attention is not a bad one."

Emily had glanced at the rising sun and shrugged.

"Right… Well, you will need to pick someone with access to a skill that can keep them cool, or…"

Kael had given her a long stare and smiled.

"You know I've been watching you and seen that you don't seem that affected by the heat."

Emily hadn't said a word but she'd suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise.

"And you could heal wherever sun damage was done to you…"

Emily grimaced to herself.

"Not happening boss man. I'm not willing going to get baked out in the sun."

Kael grinned.

"Not even if I have something you might want?" Kael said with a devilish smile.

Emily crossed her arms and squared off.

"And what exactly would that be…"

Kael cleared his throat and continued.

"Well, I don't what sauce you were talking about, but I can arrange for you to have your meals come with a little something extra. Some Veg, some Fruit, maybe even a little liquor."

The corner of Emily's mouth had twitched at the thought. The once mighty villainess brought to her knee for a few extra scraps of food.

"I'm listening…" she said despite herself.

Kael's eyes glittered.

"I can make sure you eat like a queen of the desert. All I ask is that you sit up here for all to see and pretend to be weak. If anything comes for you, you raise the alarm and I'll take care of the rest."

Emily pressed he lips together.

"Hmm… throw a treat in for Cupcake and you have yourself a deal."

Kael's brow rose but he nodded.

"I'll see what I can do."

Those were the last words Kael had said before he left to go make other arrangements, and Emily was now regretting not extracting more promises from him.

From here she could see the way they had set up the camp, as it looked like a large 'C'.

The gap led straight to the center tower Ashe had built, and not a sole was on guard duty.

If these creatures were searching for signs of exhaustion, they were giving them exactly what they wanted to see.

Emily glanced towards the tents not seeing a single soul moving about. Sighing she collapsed onto her back, staring up at the clear open skies.

Heat baked her exposed face and arms in waves, and with her heritage abilities it was manageable, but by no means pleasant.

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The stone up here was practically smoking from the heat and Emily was fairly certain if she dropped an egg on the surface now all she would hear was sizzling.

Flipping over onto her stomach she crawled over to the edge and hung over the side to minimize contact.

Arms dangling and head lulling, Emily could see the way the crevasse of sand had widened as the day had moved on.

Of course no matter how much sand seemed to fill the hole it filled. Kael had insisted it was an illusion and Emily was inclined to believe him, but that didn't mean they could ignore it.

Because though the gap might not be real the creatures hiding in the area very much were.

Hours passed as Emily acted like a dying woman, so much so, that it was rapidly changing from an act to reality.

Just when she was about to give up and search her pack for her flask, she heard something.

It was incredibly quiet but worryingly it wasn't coming from below her.

Instead, there was a rustling sound coming from directly behind her.

As carefully as she could she turned her head to the smallest amount to look over her shoulder, and what she saw was unexpected.

Honestly, she couldn't see anything amiss. There was nothing up here with her save for an empty platform and her pack.

The interesting part was that she could hear the buckles on her pack clinking against the stone.

Narrowing her eyes Emily could just make out the faintest heat shimmer around her bag. And from the looks of things the bag hadn't moved so something was definitely wrong.

The longer Emily started the more certain she became.

A Miragestalker was up here with her.

Kael had told her to raise the alarm the moment she'd found one, but had she? Pursing her lips Emily lowered her head again. If she couldn't rely on sight then looking in that direction would just give her away.

So Emily grazed her fingers against the side of the obelisk and pulled blood out.

The crimson oozed out and began to wrap around the edge of the platform but remained out of sight.

Emily could still hear more rummaging through her pack but she waited for the right time to act.

Then the noise stopped altogether and Emily strained her ears. She thought she could hear the very soft pattern of paws approaching her.

Emily did her best not to fidget and then the sounds got close enough that she felt something tugging at her pant leg. When she didn't move it got more forceful.

Emily frowned when she suddenly felt the back of her leg exposed to the sun, and before she could react a small set of fangs bit into the back of her calf.

She flinched at the pain but the wound wasn't flooding with venom so it wasn't too bad.

Sadly she spoke too soon as the beast began thrashing from side to side in an attempt to rip a piece of her flesh out.

Emily grunted and had had enough, she sprung her trap.

Using the blood she had been moving around the area, a cage warped upwards around the top of the platform, its bars made from hardened blood.

At the same time, Emily turned on whatever was snacking on her leg with a crescent raised.

That was when she saw it.

There, with its teeth still on her wounds was a desert fox. No bigger than the ones on Earth, with a golden tawny coat and two ears like satellite dishes.

The only difference was that it had two fluffy tails running down its fluffy little body.

The moment Emily saw the little thing her eyes widened at the sheer adorable face looking back at her.

Her shifting had alerted the little fox and it was looking straight at Emily with large shocked eyes.

For a moment their gazes locked and Emily's heart melted at the innocence she saw there.

As it turned out it was all an act.

The fox hissed at her, like a demon-possessed, and pounced on her leg savagely biting it and shaking from side to side, before tearing off a piece of flesh and bounding away.

Emily hissed in pain and scowled at the little creature.

"You little shit! You think just because you're cute I won't fuck you up!"

The fox was too busy swallowing down its ounce of flesh to care about Emily's harsh words, but when it went to leave it paused at the cage.

Turning back to Emily it almost looked bored, as it dashed towards her bag, which Emily could now see was in ruins clearly hidden by an illusion before.

The vicious creature had torn it open and strewn its contents around the place.

Emily growled and threw the crescent at the Miragestalker but the attack slammed against the ground as it deftly flickered out of view.

Emily stood and brought her hands to her lips and gave a loud whistle.

The camp came alive around her but the shitty fox came back into view standing over Emily's bag. It reached down and plucked the last remaining confluence orb from her bag and looked at Emily with disdain.

A shrill, staccato yip rang through the air, something between a laugh and a taunt as the beast's form vanished once more.

Emily's eyes narrowed to pinpricks as she pulled the blood from the missed crescent attack and slashed it out. There was some contact because of her quick thinking, but it was a glancing blow at best. Emily searched her surroundings but sounds were beginning to come from below, as were footsteps rushing up the tower.

Emily would have never believed it if her blood hadn't told her but the cage she built felt something squeeze through it.

Emily tried to clamp down but it was too slippery and it escaped.

"Oh no you fucking don't" she growled, as the cage around her shifted and wrapped around her.

Emily dove off the edge without hesitation, her gown streaking behind her to catch up and a vicious smile appearing.

She drifted through the air, and while she couldn't see where the Miragestalker was going she could feel it.

The blood the little beast had greedily ingested was still in its mouth, and although it had already swallowed most of it, Emily could still feel a deep connection to it.

Controlling her descent Emily crashed into the ground without losing any momentum and ran after the creature.

It weaved in and out of the tents but so did Emily as they ran for the edge of the camp. At one point someone stuck their head out of the tent and promptly pulled it back in as Emily came screaming past.

There were shouts behind her but she wasn't paying them any mind. Something of hers had been stolen and if it thought she'd let it have what was rightful hers, it was sadly mistaken.

Emily rushed out of the line of tents hot on the desert fox's heels and straight towards the crevasse. She distantly heard Alex shouting after her but there was no real danger in an illusion. Even if the fall was real she could just fly up and out. With this in mind, Emily picked up speed, even going so far as to create several bolts of blood around her.

As the ledge and drifting sand approached, Emily didn't slow down, even as she plunged into the illusion. The sun's rays immediately left her skin as she crossed the threshold. The faint air screen around them distorted the sun like they were in a large silver balloon.

Emily glanced back and saw people rush after her with Kael at the lead, but she quietly turned back to where she felt the desert fox sitting on a nearby rock.

"Not bothering hiding? Good, now give it back before I…"

The desert fox just sat there quietly eyeing her as though taunting the stupid human, still smugly holding the confluence orb. Emily wasn't sure but she thought she saw some understanding there. Before Emily could figure out what this meant, the space around the beast's form shimmered.

Emily narrowed as something else shifted in the sand next to the creature, and her grin fell.

As she squinted at the heat shimmer around her, they slowly began to step out into the open. One turned to two, and two to ten. Pretty soon Emily was looking at over sixty foxes, all staring at her with that same vicious look in their eyes.

Blood points: 533

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