A troop of lizard people rode across the desert sands, all riding on top of giant sabercats. Their giant paws kicked up a spray of sand, the pads and non-retractable claws providing excellent purchase in the shifting sand.
“Okay, according to reports, this is where the last royal patrol went missing, we will fan out in groups of three and search for any possible threats,” a striking lizard cried out in a deep but unmistakable feminine tone, a large spear strapped to her back with the spear tip crafted from a unique looking red metal.

Her name was Sariah Drakine, and like the rest of the female troop she was of a lithe, thin build and wide hipped. The males usually measured about 6’6ft tall, the women tended to be taller but less broad and like most reptile races, devoid of breast tissue.
She was of a rare colour for her kind though, with her scales largely of a ruby red colouration with her belly scales cream coloured from her collarbone down to her thighs. Long, short clawed arms and powerful legs, a long, thin, whiplike tail, made up her body. Red irises, a slender, reptilian head and twin, four, ruby red fins completed her majestic look, the innermost fins slightly longer than the outer.

She was a knight captain at the desert city of Sha’ah, and had being tasked to find out where the last scouting party had vanished, following reports of a disturbance in the southern parts near an oasis. Underneath the desert cloak to shield from the sun she wore a leather lined battlesuit, tailored for flexibility and offsetting her red colouration with exotic armour treated black.

Kerys Sharpscale, a thickly muscled male lizard rode his own sabertooth cat, clutching at the reigns they used to keep from falling off of the felines. He wore a set of heavier armour than the captain, carrying a battle axe on his back. The plates of his gear gave gentle clinks with each heavy step of the saber’s. His scales were an off grey colour, the plates under his scales that lead down under his armour over his chest were a lighter shade. He had a gruff face with a square jaw, small bony spikes lining his mandible.

“What do you expect to find? It’s probably just a bunch of raiders looking for some quick gold.” Kerys gave a low rumble, his thicker tail waving behind him. His scales brushed the head of his axe, making a quiet scraping sound. “They probably took everybody for ransom.” It was apparent that he wasn’t too keen on having to travel into the desert to clean up anyone’s mess.

“I highly doubt it,” Sariah said as she dismounted her saber, opting to proceed on foot instead of risking her mount, or vice versa going down with. “The royalty may be pigs but the soldiers are anything but and usually pretty hardy and thorough. Whatever happened to them must have come as a surprise.”

The dark scaled lizard nodded. He understood it was his job to follow orders from Sariah and from the lords he served. Kerys looked over the horizon, seeing the waves of heat come from the sands, making images of water pooling in the low spots. But what caught his eye next, couldn’t just be some mirage. “I think I found something!” he called out, guiding the saber to walk across the sand to the greenery he saw. 

Leaving her mount where it was, Sariah padded across the sands, oddly at ease for a bipedal as the rest remained mounted. A squad of nine, including herself made up the troop.
“It’s only greenery from the oasis. See?” she pointed to a haze in the air, damp and warm as it fell to the sand. “Some of the water is evaporated from nearby seas or water sources and provides enough moisture for plant life to thrive,” she explained, bending down to pluck up a dessert flower.

“It is a place to start. Anyone trapped in the desert would come right for it...seeing as how there’s nothing else around…” He was cut off soon after dismounting his saber.

Only the sands started to shift before her feet started sinking in.
“Kerys!” she cried out, grabbing her spear and thrusted it towards him to pull her out of the trap.”

The male jumped back, giving a hiss of surprise as he watched her sink in, stunned as she quickly became waist deep in the sand. He grabbed her spear tightly and began to pull, his claws digging in as two others quickly came to help drag her out. “Damn it!” he hissed and kept pulling.

They were making progress when something moved, catching his attention, a wave of sand moving towards them, though it looked like it was caused by some creature rather than the winds or earth moving alone. It dipped under the sand again, rumbling sounding as something approached. “COME ON! LET’S GET HER OUT OF THERE!” Kerys shouted to the lizards, growling as he put everything into pulling her out.

“Urgh!” Sariah grunted as she was pulled out from the sand, her feet a little scraped from the sand but otherwise fine.
“Wait!” Sariah cried out, but the contingent had already started running on their mounts only for three to suddenly vanish beneath the sands in cries of alarm, followed by the mounts outraged roars.

“Its a sandwyrm! It tracks you through your movement on the sand!” she cried out, hoping upon hope they listened. Sariah was well known for her bestiary research but it was rare to find a wyrm so close to a populated area.

“S-so what do we do? Stand and wait for it to find us?!” a male blue lizard cried out as he pointed his crossbow at the shifting sands. 
Firing a shot off at a moving mound, Sariah shouted for him to stop but too late.

The arrow struck something, and suddenly a towering worm-like creature reared from the sands with an anguished roar. It was sightless, with bumps dotting all over its body that acted as sensors and a huge, circular, fang filled mouth that was more like a cave opening. “You only made it mad idiot!” Sariah growled before whistling for her mount, stabbing her spear into the wrym’s side before hopping on the saber as the monster dived back under the sands.

“So we’ll just stand our ground and kill it!” The black scaled lizard hissed as he brought his own heavy axe out before she dashed passed him on her sabercat, shouting her commands.

Sariah knew that having to hide her abilities would only result in them all dying and placing herself in danger.
Bringing her long tail about, she wrapped it round Kerys ankle and tossed him back towards the rest.

“Get back to the city and request ballistas! I’ll lead it away from here to safer grounds!” Sariah shouted as the sabercat ran as fast as it could, jumping and weaving a line further south away from the city as her hood blew back, leaving her head exposed to the sun.
Kerys grunted as he hit the sands after being tossed, his tail lashing angrily as his axe fell on the ground a good meter away. “Sariah! What the fuck are you…” He saw the sandwyrm heading towards the cluster under the sand. He held perfectly still as his captain called out the orders before racing off deeper into the desert. The wyrm turned and began to follow Sariah, moving through the sand at an alarming rate; miraculously, his captain was still staying ahead of it.

Standing up and collecting his axe, he turned to the few men left surrounding him, he gave the nod and ran back to his own sabercat, ordering them to follow suit. “Come on! Let’s hurry, she won’t be able to outrun it forever!” He strapped his weapon to his back before getting the cat to run full speed the other direction to the city. 

The sandwyrm breached the sand rarely, leaving a trench to form in its wake. When it got close enough to Sariah and the sabercat, it punched through the sand, standing high above her and gave a roaring like sound that shook the air, showing off all of its fangs as it dived down towards her, just missing her again as it hit the sand, tunneling back under. 

Swerving around the Sandwyrm, narrowly avoiding it, Sariah rode her sabercat as hard as she could push the poor feline. The sun glinted off her ruby like fins, her tail batting the rump to encourage it over the hot sands.

Glancing back at the moving mound, her reptilian eyes widened in alarm. “Shit!” she cursed when the mound had stopped moving; the accursed creature had gone deeper underground.
The Sandwyrm had either one, abandoned its chase of her, or two, knowing how tenacious they could be, had gone for an ambush.

The answer turned out to be the latter as the sand they were standing in suddenly came alive once more,rumbling before with a shriek, the hideous monster erupted from beneath with the lizard vaulting off into the air just in time to see the poor sabercat vanish into the creatures bottomless mouth with a yowl.
“That does it!” Sariah roared out before her form glowed, a burning aura surrounding her before her form changed, becoming slightly shorter, broader, looking more powerful as two huge breasts filled out her top, suddenly straining the leather as it creaked and wings erupted from her back, tearing through the armour as they beat a hasty retreat into the air.

“Time to taste a dragon’s wrath you worm,” she growled before swooping towards the beast...only to be swallowed whole.
A triumphant bellow sounded from the the sandwyrm before it dove back underground to its lair.

*

The sandwrym’s home turned out to be a cave, long abandoned to the sands with the faintest draft supplying enough oxygen for it to live.
Just settling to enjoy its meal, a glow suddenly shone through the dull, yellow skin of its belly before, with a bellow of pain, a flaming spear burst out of its side and a giant clawed paw followed, wrending the wound open before pulling herself and a gore soaked sabercat out of the gaping wound.

There was a sharp shriek as the slimy juices of the wyrm’s guts splattered the ground, the spear lighting up the room and showing what the beast called its home. It was a simple cave housed under the sands. The stone walls kept a lot of the sand out, cobwebs covered a few bodies worth of bones scattered the floor. The beast gave a soft gurgle, blood and slime oozing from the wound and its wide mouth.

“Oh be a good worm and die,” Sariah spat at the beast, her right hand a giant dragon arm and claw that grew as she sliced the beast wide open, spilling its foul guts out onto the rocky floor of the sand cave. Dragging her saber mount out, its fur sizzled with digestive juices until she muttered a word of power, healing her companions wounds.

Another high pitched cry came from the corner, but on initial investigation showed only skeletons. It was highly unlikely anything but the worm lived down below the desert sands. There was a low creaking as one of skeletons looked like it was huddling in the corner.

Soon some mumblings came from it. “Ho-how are you alive? You should be dead. No one ever escapes the sandwyrms out here.” a female’s voice echoed easily in the small room. The skeleton turned its head, the gleam of a sapphire   embedded into the bone of her skull shone in the dull light.

There was absolutely no light at all in the cave, other than the glow coming from the blue gem embedded in the skeleton lizards head. Despite that her eyes had little trouble piercing the gloom.
“Well, I don’t know how well those...sightless sockets of yours can see with no light but I am no ordinary lizard,” Sariah said as her wings gave a small flutter as her arm quickly shrunk to a normal size. “And what about you? Let me guess, your spirit is trapped in that jewel in your head but your soul is trapped elsewhere? It has been a few millennia since I have seen necromorphic animation,” she ended her sentence with a shake of her body, ridding it of most of the foul juices coating her.

“I don’t need eyes to… to see, at least now.” She mumbled and held still, only her jaw moved as she spoke. “I-I would assume so, I wasn’t expecting to even come back like this.” The lizard skeleton spoke in a ramble, tail tip twitching.   “We can...with this thing dead, we can probably get out of here, no sweat!” she didn’t seem to hear the last part of Sariah’s comments.

The female bounced up and dashed over to the hole that was created by the sandwyrm, peeking down in it. “There shouldn’t be any more! We can get out of here and…” She realized she was now standing right next to Sariah. She backed up quickly and laid down on the ground, curling her long bony tail around her. “What am I saying, There’s no way I’d be able to go back. They’ll tear me apart and…” She shuddered, her head laid flat on the messy floor. “But..I can feel it calling me, wanting me to come back to it. Even if I do, I’d still be all bone, and they’d…I don’t want them to.” She shuddered again.

Her bones were a dusty red-brown, stained by the lack of light and the sand she’d been laid in for so long. The sapphire on her head continued to glitter weakly, a silver decorative plate around it, affixing it to her skull. Short spines lined the center of her skull, from just above the plate, up to the top of her head before following the spine down. A small bit of her blue colour remained at the tip of the spines. 

She heaved a heavy sigh. “You can go on out...I’ll just lay here for eternity…”

Sariah tapped her foot on the floor whilst the hole the sand closed. Shrugging, she shot a blast of fire at the sand in front of her.
“Okay, have a nice afterlife,” she said as her fire burned to such an extreme that it turned to glass almost on contact, shattering and leaving the edges hardened with trickles of sand running around as she exited the underground cave.

Rinea sighed and continued to lay there, staring at the hole, her body creaking slightly as she settled into position. Other than the trickle of sand that fell from the sides of the hole, the lair was silent again. She sighed once more before edging back away when she felt a strong grip on her tail. 

“Like hell you will, get your bony butt over here!” her growl gave the impression of a being with immense size and power as she had no problem dragging the bony frame through the sand and glass tunnel. Breaking out into the desert heat, she tossed her onto the hot sands.

“N-No! What are you doing?! If they find me up here…” She cut herself off when Sariah started to strip.

With the remains of her tattered and ruined outfit, she stripped the leather and peeled the armour attached off, leaving her impressive bust hanging free with the smooth nipples standing out.
“Stand still,” she instructed as her hands glowed, placing the scraps over her skeletal form before it came alive and knitted itself into a suitable, covering piece with the metal scraps attaching to her exposed head and tail.

If the lizard skeleton had flesh, she’d have been blushing. “G-Gee, you’re...really not like any lizard I’ve ever met before.” She said, seeing the bouncing breasts being freed before she was dressed, the armour covering most of her boney form. She stepped back and forth in the hot sand, even though she couldn’t feel the heat, as Sariah fitted the scraps on her.

“Well that is because I am not a lizard, though I don’t know if you was alive when dragon’s used to rule these lands,” she sighed softly, her bone white horns making her stand our all the more as they curved slightly at the top.
Folding her arms under her soft, cream scaled breasts, Sariah nodded and flapped her wings in approval, “Not great, but it will do.”

She looked at her form, seeing how the armour made her look as though she had flesh, hiding her bones from sight. Her long slender tail waved back and forth, slight clinking sounding from the vertebrae tapping the plates. A few spots could be seen, though someone would have to look real close.

“I only heard of sightings, I never saw any myself…” She muttered and took the time to look over Sariah’s form before shyly looking away. “Why would you help something like me? A poor soul trapped between the world of the living and dead.” She whispered and rubbed her now covered arm.

“Because, my dear, you have an interesting spirit,” she said matter of factly, her tail wrapping around her groin to hide some modesty. “Besides it seems a dismal way to spend eternity, in some godforsaken sand tomb with a rotting Sandwyrm corpse for company. Wouldn’t you rather be whole and least have a chance to actually live? Worst comes to it, you’re already dead,” Sariah said before her Sabercat came to with a growl. Proceeding to lick gently at its scabs, a mournful sound came from the giant feline at the pain of the acid burns and bald patches. “Sadly my kind are not best known for restorative spells, more on the destructive side of things really.”

With another sigh, she shook her head and placed her short, taloned hands over two of the worst injuries and muttered, “Repth,” a gentle glow emanating before the pain subsided to a mild ache, earning a grateful lick from her mount and a headrub in return.

“I-I suppose so.” She spoke quietly. “I’ve already sat down there for decades…but I can only guess it’s been that long...when you’ve no sun to tell time…” Rinea muttered as she watched on, watching her heal the sabercat.

Straightening up, she stretched out and sighed, “As much as I prefer this form I had better shift to something more acceptable,” she muttered, her breasts receding into her form along with the wings and horns, her form growing taller and skinnier before she looked indistinguishable from a regular lizard.

She watched in curiosity as Sariah changed, her boney tail lashing about and clicking. “I had no idea your bloodline decended from dragons. I suppose that makes sense though, with how well you handed being inside that wyrm.” She added with a chuckle. 

Holding her hand out to the undead, she smiled softly at her, “So, my name is Sariah Drakine, but just Sariah in earshot of others. Care to come back with me to what they call civilisation and find your soul?”

“I...would appreciate that, Sariah. More than anything, I wish to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh again.” Her tone changing to a more bouncy voice as she took the offered hand. “I am Rinea, I come from a wandering merchant group.” She gave an internal coy grin at the mention of it, having no muscles she couldn’t actually smile.

Sariah rolled her reptilian eyes at the statement, “Okay let's get one thing clear Rinea. You need to behave in the city if you want my help, got it? My situation is perilous enough as it is with my own secrets.”

“We were treasure hunters that would scour the desert looking for goods, not thieves.” She lied, though she hoped that Sariah wouldn’t catch on. “Of course I won’t cause any trouble. Anyway, we probably should be getting back, find out where my soul had vanished.” She said and slid a dagger she’d kept in her hand, into the belt of the leather armour.

Hopping on top of her mount, she pulled Rinea up onto the back of the mount, earning a backward look from the giant feline directly at the new passenger. Snuffling her, it opened its muzzle as if to chew on one of her boney arms before Sariah betted its nose.
“None of that, you can wait for a nice, juicy steak at the palace,” she said, kicking the grumbling feline into motion, setting towards the palace.

She only thanked the fact that lizards had very little to display, so she wouldn’t cause that much of a stir unless someone got too close to her tailvent.

*

The ride back to the city of Sha’ah was slow and sweltering under the sun, with a stop having to be paid at a nearby oasis to refresh both themselves and their mount who still needed to recover fully from its injuries.

Rinea held onto the female’s wide hips, the tail placed across her side, giving her room to hold onto. She said little and stayed close to Sariah. Everything felt new to her, being in the sun, yet feeling very little heat or taking in all the sights with no eyes to see with. The fear she felt from being undead was easily one of the more powerful experiences. 

After cupping her sixth handful of the cool, refreshing liquid to pour down her throat, making sure to keep well away from where her mount was drinking, she wiped her muzzle with the back of her hand before glancing over at Rinea.
“Rinea...mind if I ask what you was actually doing looking for treasure in the first place in such a ominous sounding place? It strikes me as odd that you should be killed but left animated,” Sariah asked her, hoping she didn’t sound too suspicious. 

“I’m...really not sure how it happened.” She rubbed her femur as she sat on the sands next to the water, not needing to drink for obvious reasons. “Myself and a great friend of mine had found a piece of a map that lead there. As I said, we were merchants, and it was our jobs to acquire new merchandise to sell.” She thought for a bit. “After that, it feels just a blur.”

“Well I can understand that but...your friend. He knew something you didn’t from what I gather of your fragmented memory. There is more at play here than what seems to be,” she said with a deceptive delicate finger tapping her chin. It was obvious there wasn’t much more they could learn without visiting the root of the problem. “Never mind, let's just focus on getting back to the capital for now.”

“Right, nothing we can do out here, I guess.” She mumbled, mostly to herself. She wanted to ask Sariah questions about her dragon blood, but thought better of it as she mounted her sabercat once more. she climbed back onto the sabercat as they continued on their way to the city in silence, wind and the sounds of the feline the only things breaking the quiet.

Sariah had a dozen other questions to ask Rinea, but at the moment she knew nothing of her personally, and she needed to know if she could be trusted for one. Until she had the measure of her character she chose to keep silent for the most part.

But eventually, they entered the sprawling city itself, past the huge arch and towards the centre where the palace stood. Whereas the typical buildings ranged from small to moderately big or tall, usually sporting a flat top or dome and made from stone, bricks, clay and in some cases, marble with some buildings ten floors high.

The palace itself was made of of a mixture of white bricks, marble and a compound mixing glass and diamond to make it ultra reinforced. The three towers were topped with a huge domed room themselves, each topped off with a gleaming, golden point that shone in the sun and teardrop shaped windows along the sides.

The skeletal lizard looked all around, taking in every detail of her surroundings. It was something she was very good at; making note of each elf, dwarf and lizard that mingled in the streets. She felt proud that despite being trapped for years within a tomb, she could still easily keep track of everything around her. “This place truly is massive.”

Walking through the main centre, the shouts and calls of the market echoed, from selling expensive clothing and jewelry, weapons, armour and trinkets to everyday needs such as fish, fruit, rice and imports that always carried a higher price.
“Well, this your first time?” Sariah cried over the din to her as they wove through a compact street of tight buildings and the odd stall atop their increasingly tired sabercat.

“Hmm In this city, yes. I come from a small encampment on the other side of the desert. So…” She gave a weak, forced chuckle, pulling the hood more firmly over her skull. “And you just want me to wait out here while you go report in, or...?” She asked, her long tail waved back and forth. 

“Well you would be rather hard to explain after I went vanishing, they probably are opening a position for a new captain already thinking I am deceased. And I bet my tail that Kerys will jump at the chance, he has eyed my position for a while now,” Sariah said, grimly looking towards the palace that loomed ever closer with its giant presence, drawing more than the the odd look at her bare form. Little to show or not, it was still an odd sight to see a lizard in just her scales.

As they pulled up at the mount stables, her saber finally gave out with a growl, tipping the pair off onto the floor to a surprised stablehand.
Picking herself up, Sariah dusted her nude form off, returning the young lizards stare.
“Well?” Sariah snapped, putting on a commanding air, “never mind staring, would you have clothing after being in the stomach of a Sandwyrm? Now tend to my poor mount, he has had a hell of a journey.”

Turning to Rinea, she said in a hushed voice, “Wander around if you like, but stay close and for Bahumut’s sake, stay out of trouble!” She said before walking up to the entrance where two lizards in armour stood guard with pikes; recognising Sariah, they let her in right away with a bow.

Rinea was patting off her tattered armour, knocking the hay and dirt. “Don’t worry, Sariah. I’ll be on my best behaviour…” She paused and rubbed at her non-existant belly. “Wish i could eat. I know I don’t need it...but the idea sounds so good right now.” Rinea looked up, seeing that she’d been rambling to herself as Sariah was already on her way to the palace.

She groaned and adjusted the hood to cover her boney face better before setting out for the bazaar. Her head was filled with the sounds of buyers and sellers. Looking at the stands, she passed the food, faintly smelling the cooked and uncooked meats. Giving another grumble, she went further down to a stall that had armour set about the tables. She looked at the tatters she wore and grinned. “Time to see if I still got it...” Rinea hissed to herself and snuck around to the back of the merchant. Crouching low, she set eyes on a fine set of leather armours. Sliding forward, she peeked around the edge of the wagon before reaching out to pluck the armour from the table, nary a noise as she hoisted it from the wood.

She slipped back and made to find a quiet alley to change when she slammed against a shorter, but firm bodied lizard, clad in steel plate. “Watch where you’re going numbskull!” she hissed.

Kerys gave a rumble back and grabbed Rinea quickly by the rags she wore. “Thought you could sneak off that easily, thief! Wearing the scraps of a guards uniform, hm?” He lifted her up and gripped her arm. “You’ve got to be pretty stupid thinking you could get away with a shoddy disguise like that! I’ll see you hanged!” He yanked her towards the palace, making sure to bring the stolen armour.

Rinea struggled, but found his grip more than impressive. “Guards?” She looked at his plate, seeing a resemblance to Sariah’s she wore now. “S-Sariah! I know Sariah, she came and saved me!”

He looked at her with a dead stare before grinning. “So you’re with her, hmm? Can’t wait to hear this story.” He walked her to the palace, right to the sultan’s chamber, a devilish grin spread across his square maw.

*

“...And I managed to tear free of the sandwyrm just before its stomach acid had chance to eat through my scales and made my way out of the cave, leaving before the hole closed completely from the beast,” Sariah finished her report. 

After Sariah had called into her quarters at the palace, she dressed straight away into her leather and armoured raiment, finishing with the light tin helmet with the crest of the sun emblazoned on the top. She’d had just five minutes, not even allowed a respite from her ordeal before ordered to report to her sultan.

“Impressive, most impressive, if only we had another ten like you Sariah our kingdom would be a force to be feared,” the plump lizard said, stroking a whisker on the side of his scaly, bronze muzzle.
The Sultans were passed down by blood, the streaming whiskers were said to have been passed on from their dragon ancestors and a mark of their bloodline.
The irony, she thought to herself, if they found out I was not just A dragon of the ancient bloodline, they would waste no time trying to gut me and use body parts for spells and potions and for claims.

“I am happy to serve my sultan and the kingdom to the best of my abilities,” Sariah said, bowing low to him before a commotion sounded from the front of the palace, followed by the large, curved doors thrown open with Kerys dragging a struggling mass of wraps with him.
“...I should have left her bony hide to rot in that cave,” Sariah muttered to herself as she put a hand over her eyes in frustration.

“Let go of me, you great brute!” Rinea struggled, trying to paw Kerys’ hand off of her. “Oh, hi, Sariah.” She gave a short gasp as she was thrown to the floor, grunting as she got to all fours. Looking up and seeing Sariah standing there with the sultan behind her. The male gave a bow before planting his foot on her back, pinning Rinea to the ground.

“Your highness, I found a thief in the market, she was trying to get away with this,” he hefted the armour into sight. “As per the laws, I am more than happy to remove the culprit’s head? That is...unless Sariah has a good explanation. This little rat says that she came with you from the desert.” Kerys grinned, showing his sharp-tooth filled maw. 

“I was just hmm picking it up! I went to stop the real thief--” She was cut short as he jammed his large claw heavily on her back.

“She’s...someone I found in the dessert. She was wandering the sands, looking for a cure to a blackscale plague she has, hence she is covered up in bandages,” Sariah said, thinking fast on a story.

“Hmm, that doesn’t excuse thievery,” Sultan Anshul said as he stroked a leathery whisker, “and ill or not a crime is still a crime. Chopping her head off would be far more a mercy than letting her suffer, not to mention her being here poses a risk to my people.”

He was about to give the order to execute Rinea there and then when Sariah shouted to stop.
He gave Sariah a withering look but kept his muzzle shut which she took that she could explain.
“I beg you my Sultan, this is exactly why we are labeled as barbarians! We shouldn’t be too quick to kill, especially when it is a plague that is only caught on skin contact, hence again she is wrapped up. I think she was just desperate to steal to trade for supplies. If you leave her with me I promise she will be no bother and I will find a cure as soon as possible.”

“Sh-She’s right!” Rinea quickly gave a panicked cry. “I-I had a buyer for the armour.” She said quickly, tail lashing about as she stood up, Kerys having staggered back, giving a grimace of disgust at the mention of her ‘plague’. “I couldn’t steal food...cause I didn’t want to contaminate it. You can wash and clean armour.” At that point the thump of the leather indicated that the male had dropped that too.

She couldn’t help a small grin, though a mental one. “I will do whatever Sariah says. I won’t leave her side.” Rinea walked over towards the draconian captain. “I have heard that you’re a kind, benevolent leader. Please spare a poor beggars life.”

Kerys scoffed and grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest. “We could just toss her in the dungeons.” He hissed under his breath.

“How about you butt out, Kerys?” Sariah growled under her breath. Just because he was under her command didn’t mean they liked each other.
“You throw her in the dungeon she is more likely to die of her illness and rot rapidly, infecting the area. Leave her with me and I swear she will be no more trouble.”

The male gave a low grumble. “Then we’ll stake her out in the middle of the desert!” He said with a rather dark smirk.

“Silence!” Anshul hissed as he slammed his palms down on the arms of his golden throne.
“Sariah...you give me your word she can’t contaminate whilst under bindings?” he said, giving her a piercing gaze that would have intimidated most.

“Yes my Sultan, I swear,” she said as she bowed with her fist on her chest.

He rubbed his broad muzzle with a scaled hand in thought before nodding to himself.
“Then I have decided, she will clean the dungeons from ceiling to floor daily and then when her duties there are done, she is to clean the armour after every use. If she performs well for a month then I will consider her sentence served. If anyone gets infected however...or becomes ill, it will not just be her head that will roll. Am I clear, Sariah?” he growled and narrowed his eyes to her.

It took all of Sariah’s will to not just unleash her power there and then and burn the pompous prick to ash as she grit her teeth.
“Yes, my Sultan,” she said with another bow.

Rinea looked at the red scaled lizard before bowing her head in the same manner. “Thank you, Your Highness.” She quickly added before the armour was slid back to them on the ground, kicked by Kerys.

“Here you can start with cleaning this piece.” The thickly built lizard said before turning and stomping from the throne room.

Rinea’s picked it up, her tail bones clinking against the metal plates that covered it. She waited until the two of them were alone before looking up at Sariah, her empty socket locking onto Sariah’s eyes. “Thank you...And I’m sorry, I just thought if I had something better to cover myself, then I wouldn’t need to worry as much.” She tapped her wrapped fingers on the armour she was carrying. “I thought that…I guess that I’m a little bit rusty.” Rinea mumbled the last part, barely coming out in a wheeze.

“But I promise, My service is yours...for saving my life, I don’t know what would have happened if you weren’t there Sariah. You hardly know me and you’ve already given me so much.”

“You can thank me by never stealing again,” Sariah growled under her breath, her cream scales briefly glowing red as she tried to contain her anger, at the both of them.
“The main reason I’m interested in you is because I sense the remnants of a dragon’s soul within you. And finding your soul may very well help in my search for answers as well,” she said, sighing as she finally unclenched her fist. 

“R-Right,” She said shyly, seeing the scales glowing red. She rubbed her claws together, a small grinding sounding from the parts that were unbound. Listening to Sariah, she gave a nod and hummed. “I do sort of remember feeling a kind of...anger and power while I was fighting with my friend.”

Sariah crossed her arms, her tail wafting in thought “Hmm, all the more reason to be interested in you Rinea, and your power was triggered by an anger? What happened exactly when your power awoke? I’m unsure how it manifests in halflings but I only assume it would be related to some element or awakening of power.”

“I felt a heat in my throat, I almost felt like I could breathe fire.” She paused “Then before I died, I sort of saw my spirit being pulled from my body, It looked like it has wings.” Rinea said as they made their way to the dungeons.

The female waved her tail as they came to the musty dungeons, giving an audible groan of disgust. “It looks like it’s not been cleaned in years. I don’t even know where to begin.” She said and looked around, spotting a broom in the corner, covered in cobwebs. “Do you just kill prisoners right away on a normal basis?” Rinea grabbed the broom, brushing the cobwebs off with her hand.

Looking into a corner, Sariah snorted in agreement before sneezing, “Yeah, they have not had a caretaker for quite a while...not since Anshul fed the last one to the Sabercats for ruining his best suit. And it seems to depend on the sultans mood. They usually keep prisoners for an execution. But please, continue on with your tale Rinea,” Sariah urged.

“Wow, He really sounds a bit of a dictator. At least we were able to persuade him.” She paused in thought over Sariah’s request for her to finish her story. “I don’t know to be honest. My friend and I had found a map leading to a treasure trove in that cave that you found me in. When we got there, there was so much gold and gems.” 

“I assume he wanted the treasure to himself because he attacked me while I filled my satchels. I felt so much anger boiling in me. While we fought, I just felt a lot quicker and agile. Then there was the taste of charcoal in my mouth, and in the back of my mind something was telling me to breath or spit. I ignored it at the time. In the end, he managed to deal my final blow, killing me and leaving me there to rot. Again, I did see my soul leaving me just before I died, Traveling back up the passage behind Tyral. I did get the last laugh, however, my dagger is coated in a poison, so I’m sure he’s buried under the sands with his precious gold now too.” She gave a dark chuckle.

“Hmm, which leaves the question who stole your soul, and why? Usually when ones soul is kept from passing on they have a plan for it. My biggest worry is that they wanted your soul for an item of power if they were versed in the arcane arts but why not just take you whole?,” Sairah tapped a short clawed finger to her chin in thought before sighing and shook her head. “No point if you can’t remember the details though, although an increase in speed indicates of a bloodline of dragon of the speed class, more typically the Swiftbacks. Weakest armour but deadly in number and stealth attacks.”

Sariah looked around at the dank, dirty cells before giving an inward groan,“let’s just get this over with though; I need to do a lot of research on soul finding if we have a hope of finding your soul,” Sariah sighed before she heard a voice mutter from a cell round the corner.

“I might be able to help with that.” A deep voice called out from one of the cells in the back, hidden by shadows. “A soul is often tied to this world because of arcane arts or of such a terrible death as yours, slain at the hands of a friend. Don’t worry, I’m sure he’s got his own special place of his own because of his betrayal. Still, I can help you locate one if you truly need some help.”

“Nareak,” Sariah said with a grim smile, rounding the corner to see him shackled to the wall. He was an intimidating specimen of lizard, his head forming a sort of carapace that almost looked mask like in itself, and the dull, purple colouration of his scales only enhanced his ominous appearance. “You would try to bribe us out, when you charmed our mounts with your voodoo to turn on us? I will never forget or forgive how many we had to put down before I was able to trace your magic to the source,” Sariah groweld out, letting her larger-than-life presence felt.

“I’ve warned you many times not to come into my territory. I wouldn’t have to do any of that if they’d stayed out.” He hissed, but did have a wide smile on his face like he was just reminded of a fond memory.

“Well when you start stealing corpses that is when we must take action, don’t think you are above the law even if you don’t live as part of the kingdom,” Sariah’s tone grew cold at the thought. She had never trusted shamans, speaking with the dead and dredging up ghosts.

“That was not entirely me. I only needed one or two for research. Maybe you should get some better guards down there, sounds a bit of a necromantic problem.” He cackled, shifting in his chains, his claws flexing, his nude form was pale from being away from the light. “I can help you, and the boney lass if you help me out of here. I think they’ve forgotten about me and their notorious executions.” Nareak tapped his tail on the ground as Rinea came around the corner to look at him too.

“You can help find my soul? Do you think...It’ll help me become normal again?” She touched the bars.

“Potentially, still a lot of research to be done with the undead and their souls. But…” Nareak looked over to Sariah with a false kind smile, his deep red eyes staring deep into hers. “If you let me out, I can help you. Quid pro quo and all.”

Sariah turned around, facing away from the intimidating shaman as her long tail wagged back and forth before snorting a small gout of flame.
“Personally I wouldn’t ever trust you, your kind are always talking in riddles and acting like the laws don’t matter to you. But...we’re out of choices and few on allies,” Sariah said as she went to check no one was coming down. Not that she expected to at this time before returning to Rinea and the shaman, the torch light reflecting her red jewel-like fins before pausing a brief minute,

Another, deeper sigh, she jammed the keys into the lock and unlocked the cell before rushing in silently on her clawed feet. With the same keys she unlocked the heavy lock on his chains, catching the heavy metal so as not to alert anyone near, just in case.

“I do not blame you, It is a good rule to live by, Sariah.” He smiled as she unlocked his bindings. “I’m sworn to my word.” Nareak hissed and rubbed his sore wrists and gave a soft groan as he stretched out his muscles. He was a little wobbly as he stepped out of the cell behind Sariah.

“Quickly, follow me. I know a hidden passage to get us out of here,” Sariah said, looking to Rinea and then gave a cautious glance at Nareak.

Pulling on a sconce, it gave way as the hidden lever triggered a hidden door to slide open on the floor with a thud that echoed.
“Quickly! It closes after five seconds and anyone near would hear!” she hissed, quickly descending the steps.

Rinea rubbed her hands together as the door opened, she followed behind Nareak, nearly catching her tail in the door as it shut behind her. Following the sound of claws on the stone steps, it felt like forever before they saw light again. “I’m going to be hunted now…” She thought out loud. “Let’s just get going before they send their guards after us.”

“They only know you as a pile of leather and wrappings Rinea. It would be impossible to identify you should we restore your body,” Sariah reasoned. Opening the door, sunlight flooded the dark tunnel before a wall of sand fell directly in front of the ancient doorway, forcing them to pause before emerging from the back of the city.

“Ye-Yeah, I suppose that’s true…” Rinea said with a seemingly shy tone in her voice, rubbing the back of her hooded neck.

“Anyway...my place is quite far into the desert. We’ll have to go there if we want to find your soul.” the shorter lizard said and quickly lead them away from the backside of the palace. “You won’t have to worry about any guards following, I’ve magical wards and can create any sort of smaller storm to deter them from coming close by.” Nareak spoke and took lead this time. “You won’t have to worry about wyrms out here, either.” He added with a grin.