Throughout the second day of their journey Shon continued in his attempts to convince his uncle to reveal more about his knowledge of magic, but Grodin’s resolve to say no more remained as immovable as a tree. At length Grodin was forced to threaten Shon that he would never reveal anything more unless he ceased his questioning for the remainder of the trip.

After that, Shon’s mood became worse as the sun rose higher in the sky. He began to complain about the blisters on his feet, and the ache in his back. He complained that his head and belly were too cold from the Kraken’s Embrace, and the rest of his body was too hot from the sun beating down on his dark traveling cloak. Most of all, however, he complained about the direction that they were traveling.

“I’m almost positive we have passed this exact same dune before,” Shon said at one point. “Unless you have some sort of magic to give us the right direction, how can you be sure we’re walking the right way?”

“I am using no more magic than a keen sense of direction, and considerable knowledge of navigating in the wild,” growled Grodin, growing impatient. “I didn’t always live in the sheltered and uneventful little world of Life’s Edge, unlike some whiny little upstarts!”

“It also feels to me like we are headed in the correct direction,” interrupted Tarun, trying to avoid further arguing. “Though I have to admit that the farther we travel in this direction, the more I feel apprehensive about continuing on.”

Grodin took a deep breath to regain his composure. “I apologize Shon,” said Grodin in a low, calm voice. “That outburst of mine was uncalled for. I imagine that my rudeness, your complaints, and Tarun’s unease are all results of the monotony of this trip. I have no idea how long it will be before we find anything, but I do believe we have traveled farther than anyone else in recorded history, and that must be worth something. Tarun, how could you have ever crossed this on your own?”

“Shh!” Shon suddenly interrupted with wide eyes. “Everybody be quiet!” Shon looked from Grodin to Tarun. “Do either of you hear that?” he asked in a whisper?

“I hear nothing,” replied Tarun.

“Nor I,” said Grodin. “What do you hear?”

“I can hear thoughts other than yours and Tarun’s. They are like hundreds of faint whispers, but none of them make any sense. They feel far away, but they are not in front of us. It’s as is if… I think they are below us!”

Suddenly a figure began to rise and form out of the sand to their left. At first it appeared to be little more than a large pile of silver dust, but as it continued to grow from the base it began to take the shape of a man. It took mere moments for the form to reach its full height, and when it did it looked to Shon like some silver statue made to look like the most generic man possible. It had no face and no clothes; nothing that would give it any sort of identity.

It stood in front of them, shifting from side to side, as if impatient. As it moved, its body rippled like a pond with a gentle breeze blowing across it. As soon as it had appeared, Tarun, Grodin, and Shon all stopped moving.

“It appears we’ve stumbled into the territory of a mirage,” whispered Grodin. “Nobody make a sudden move. Shon, is this the source of the thoughts you were just hearing?”

“I don’t think so,” said Shon. “I can’t hear any thoughts coming from this creature at all. I could try to probe a little deeper though-”

As Shon was speaking, the mirage suddenly turned its head toward him so quickly that it sent a great ripple all the way down its body. Ripples continued to flow over the creature’s body with increasing intensity until the form began to shift and change into a large, rugged looking man with an eye patch over his right eye, and a large scar following from it. He appeared to be wearing armor made from thick leather, and he carried a long curved knife. The large man then charged at Shon with a look of rage upon his face. It appeared as if he was trying to shout a war cry, but no sound escaped his lips.

It all happened so fast that Shon could barely manage to put up his arms in an attempt to shield himself from his attacker. When the mirage was only a step away from Shon, it was hit on the right side of the head with a great splash of water. Instantly the face with the eye patch began to congeal and lump together, as if it were made of clay. A moment later, all of the color washed out of its face, and its entire head fell off of the body as a large silver clump of mud. Once the head had fallen, the rest of the body fell to the ground as loose, silver sand. Shon looked in the direction the water came from and saw Tarun standing with one of his water sacks, empty and dripping.

Shon fell to his knees, shaking. “Everything happened so fast,” he said to himself. “Tarun, if you hadn’t been so quick, I would have been killed!” Shon sat there for a moment, holding himself, as Grodin walked over to him. “Good thing you were right about the water, Uncle,” he said.

“Grodin!” Tarun suddenly called over his shoulder, “I think we have attracted some attention!”

Grodin sprang next to Tarun, and looked in the same direction. Not too distant, he saw two more silvery figures moving towards them with rippling bodies. As he stared at them, he could see that they were not running, but more like sliding across the ground. He also noted in that moment that it was nearly impossible for him to take his eyes off of them. “We may have a problem,” he told Tarun. “It seems that they have a somewhat mesmerizing effect when they are in their natural forms.”

“I do not know what you mean,” said Tarun. “I don’t feel a thing, but I surely wouldn’t want to take my eyes off of creatures that dangerous. They are fast.”

They were so fast that Tarun barely had time to unstop his other water sack before the mirages arrived no more than ten steps in front of them, and began to change. The first mirage singled out Grodin and took the form of a dark-haired young mage with a long, brass staff and flowing robes. Fortunately the robes slowed the mirage down enough that Grodin had time to unstop one of his own water sacks.

The second mirage began to move toward Tarun, changing its form as it moved. Instead of growing in stature during its transformation, like the other two had, it became considerably shorter and squatter as it neared Tarun. It finished taking its new form when it was only three steps in front of him, and to Tarun’s horror, the mirage had taken the form of a small rat-like creature. It stood upright and had the stature of a small man. The top of its head barely reached Tarun’s waist, and its hands were long and bony with short, curved claws on the ends of it fingers. It wore ripped and tattered clothes, appeared to have sustained a bloody head injury, and frothed from the mouth.

As soon as the creature had taken shape in front of Tarun he screamed and recoiled in horror, dropping his water sack. It fell to the ground, instantly emptying all of its contents. The creature arched its back and opened its long, ugly mouth as if to let out a snarl or a hiss, but once again, no sound was made.

Grodin, meanwhile, had been able to quickly dispatch of the mirage in front of him. Despite the mirage’s appearance of an imposing magic user, it possessed no magical arsenal whatsoever, and its billowing robes had made it an easy target for Grodin’s first water sack. As soon as the creature had clumped and fallen, he directed his attention to Tarun and the last mirage. When he looked, he was shocked to not only see the rodent creature, but also to see Tarun frantically trying to kick and pummel the creature with brute force.

Grodin could see that Tarun’s assault was having no lasting effect on the creature. Every time Tarun would appear to break a bone of the creature’s limbs, collapse its ribcage, or crush its skull, the mirage would simply reform, and continue to inflict damage to Tarun with its teeth and claws. Fortunately, Tarun’s reach was so long, and his assault so unrelenting, that all of his cuts and scrapes were on his arms and legs only.

Grodin rushed to Tarun’s side to hit the mirage with his other water sack, but as he was about to thrust his water at the creature, he was hit unawares by Tarun’s flailing and thrashing limbs, and sent his water spilling to the ground. In that instant he caught a glimpse of Tarun’s eyes, and saw a panic and terror that he had never witnessed before.

The creature stepped back from Tarun’s attack and crouched as if to jump at his head. Tarun was about to rush at the creature again, but there was suddenly a shout of, “Stop!” and he was unable to move. Shon quickly rushed up from behind him, and hit the creature in the chest and face, emptying both water sacks at once. The creature stopped in its crouch and then fell in wet silvery clumps to the ground.

“We have to get out of here,” Grodin said to Tarun and Shon, who were both panting. “We’re out of water, and our only hope now is to make sure we are not in mirage territory anymore.” Without another word, the three of them began to run in the direction they had come from.

They stopped when they were out of breath, and Shon informed them that he could no longer hear the whispered thoughts under them. Shon gasped for air, and wished that they still had one water sack left so he could take at least a small drink after running so hard. “What was that creature?” he asked Grodin.

“I don’t know,” Grodin replied. “I’ve never seen anything like that before, but it must actually exist for the mirage to assume its form.”

“It was a vermite,” Tarun said darkly. “The most foul creature that ever lived.”

Grodin and Shon stared at Tarun for a long moment. “How do you know that?” Shon asked.

“I don’t know,” replied Tarun curtly, “I just do.”

“Are there vermites where you live?” asked Grodin. “Were you attacked by one? Is that why you fled across the desert? These could be the clues we are looking for!”

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to know!” said Tarun, raising his voice. “You both fail to understand. I will not continue again in that direction.”

“Of course,” said Grodin, trying to calm him. “Today was frightening for all of us, and even if you wanted to go on, I think we should turn back simply because we have no water to defend ourselves with. It will take some time to gather preparations together for another journey like this, and you can think this over during that time.”

“No,” said Tarun, his voice firm. “I appreciate your concern for me, Grodin. I understand you push me only because you do not wish to see me missing a piece of myself, but my mind is made up.” Shon recognized the firm and commanding tone in Tarun’s voice as he continued, and it made him worry. “I was traveling in the right direction when I entered Life’s Edge,” Tarun said, “and when we return I intend to continue my journey in that direction.”