Chapter 4204  Off the Trail (Part 1)

"Those are not fake documents, Featherling." Salaark furrowed her brows. "Those documents and seals are authentic and have been issued by my administration office. The people in the portraits may not be real, but everything else is."

"Sorry, I forgot you are the supreme authority here." Solus handed the papers, and everyone shapeshifted into their respective Desert aliases.

Kalla had a bit of trouble stabilizing her human form and avoiding her flesh from turning into shadows, but it was nothing compared to Loma's distress.

The Horde had turned into a young man in his mid-twenties with the bronze skin typical of the Desert. Yet it had quickly become paler, as if Loma was about to puke their guts out.

"Don't worry about me." The Horde raised their hand to keep Solus away. "I just need a few minutes to get accustomed to this flesh sack. I'm used to roaming free and scattering my spores across any place I visit.

"Being forced to keep them all together in a compact form is akin to being thrown into a prison. I can't feel anything beyond my skin, and I have to rely on these things you call eyes to perceive the space around me.

"What is normal to you is a claustrophobic experience for me." Loma took a series of deep breaths to calm down, releasing puffs of colored spores that betrayed their real nature.

After a while, the Horde became steady on their feet, and once they wore a cloaking ring that they took out of their dimensional amulet, not even Life Vision could detect that the young man was actually a Horde.

"I'll speak only if talked to." Loma said. "I know human customs, but I'm afraid of acting improperly or weirdly. It's better if you guys deal with the humans of Verendi for me. Until I can revert to my true form, I'm a liability."

"And when Loma says 'you guys', he means Solus and me, Mom." Nyka glared at the Wight. "You follow his example, shut up, and move as little as you can."

"What makes you think I'm unable to pass myself for a human woman?" Kalla asked while using one of the tent's pillars to scratch her back.

"Because of that!" Nyka snorted. "Always keep your clothes on and ask Solus or me before you do or say anything to anyone. Are we clear?"

"I'll humor you, sweetie pie, but know that you are being more paranoid than Lith." Kalla said as she sniffed everything and everyone in the room and licked the food she had never seen before.

"Yeah, right." Nyka sighed. "Lith would have already popped a vein. To be honest, I would be no different if only I had one vein that could still pop."

Solus took the appearance of a young woman of the Desert. She didn't mind roughening her features and reducing her curves, but the extra height irked her quite a bit.

"Do I need to be this tall?" She asked after turning her golden hair to ink black. "It feels like I'm walking on stilts."

"That's not tall, Featherling. That's the average height of the women of the Desert." Salaark chucked. "Someone so… petite would draw too much attention. You are a wanted fugitive in Verendi as much as Lith is."

"This is average?" Solus was now ten centimeters (4") higher than usual. "I mean, no problem. As for you, Sage, remember to keep quiet."

The Sage Staff that was disguised as a necklace whimpered in reply.

"No whimpering either! You can't make any sound." Solus said.

"Forever?" The Sage Staff asked, making the humans and the Horde jump back in fright.

"No, silly. Only until we are around bad people." Solus replied. "As soon as it's safe, I'll let you make all the noise you want."

"Yay!" The Staff jumped out of her desert robe with joy. "But I no like making noise. No one likes. Babies afraid."

The toddlers, and especially Raldarak, loved low, squeaky noises and got easily scared. The Sage Staff, however, had a bubbly personality that its semi-living cousins didn't appreciate much.

Ragnarök protected Lith's children just as fiercely as Skywarp and Grimlock protected Dripha.

"I'm not saying you have to be loud, just that you can." Solus sighed. "Now be quiet."

Getting past the borders didn't take long. Salaark's diplomats had already informed the authorities of the country of Aphasi of the arrival of the merchant caravan and vouched for its members.

Even the humblest or most corrupt guard knew that going back on a deal with the Overlord was a surefire way to trigger a war with the Desert that their country was bound to lose.

Salaark hadn't invaded Verendi only because it was outside her turf and she already had her hands full. Once the Overlord took someone as her own, she would invest as much as needed to ensure their living standards were up to the Desert's.

She had no time or resources to develop new territories, and her neighbors had no desire to add an external enemy to those they already had. The border guards verified the ID matched the caravan's members, checked the merchandise, and let them in.

'Entering Verendi was much easier when we came here with Zor.' Solus thought. 'Sadly, none of us can fly high enough to avoid the arrays, and I can't use the tower in front of Loma. It would save us a lot of time and trouble.'

The Horde waited until there was no one in sight to take his communication amulet out of his dimensional amulet.

"We've just crossed the border, Ygri. Where are you?"

"Close, and I'm getting closer." The hologram depicted what looked like a silvery fog so fine that Solus could easily see through it. "Keep your cover and wait for me. Once I'm sure no one is following you, I'll give you a signal."

The caravan didn't stray from the main road and kept moving towards its intended destination. As they advanced into the mainland, the dry air of the desert turned more humid, but the temperature didn't drop much.

The land was still barren, with only sparse trees and a few patches of stubborn green visible as far as the eye could see. The local wildlife was just as meager.

Carrion birds scoured the land from above for their next meal, and insects preyed on each other for survival.

"This is the farthest I've ever been from home." Nyka said. "I almost can't believe I'm not in Garlen anymore."

"I'm sorry you won't get to enjoy your stay, miss." The caravan leader was a rough but handsome man in his thirties. "Verendi is a troubled land, but it's full of beauty if one knows where to look."

"Verendi? What about the country we are in?" The Vampire asked.

"You mean, Aphasi? It's a nice place. One of the most developed and peaceful countries you can find on this side of the border, but only because Aphasi gives its back to the Blood Desert." The caravan leader replied. "No one messes with our Overlord."

"Then why did you mention Verendi instead of Aphasi?"

"Because visiting Aphasi is not much different from staying in the Desert." He said.