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''But the sand birds we've seen have tried killing us!''

"Yes, well, I'm hoping with four of us combined, we'll be able to take them on. Hassan and I should be okay, at least. You could stay with your father and make sure he doesn't escape or get snatched away or something."

Her father flinched as it started to rain, and a storm brewed.

Hassan sighed. "Well, at least we've got shelter." He pointed at the few tent structures he'd set up. "As long as you don't eat anyone, you're free to share a tent with me," Hassan added to the sand lion.

Murat looked up at the storm overhead even as he scrambled for one of the tents. "We're not underneath a sand bird are we?"

Cass dragged her father to the tent, the rain pouring. ''Does it rain this much usually?'' She asked.

"It's the desert, it hardly ever rains. And when it does, the squalls last for a few tense minutes and then vanish." Murat sighed and winced as he jostled his arm. "So long as we don't get flooded out, we'll be fine. But I imagine that the sand birds will take cover."

There was a plaintive noise from behind the tent and Murat jumped. Hassan just laughed. "Sorry, that would be my camel. She loves water."

A screech echoes as a bird made of storm clouds flies agbout outside, visible in lighting strikes. ''Look, outside! Theres a thunderbird!'' Cass shouted over the rain, her father hissing and flinching out of a raindrop.

"I'm really starting to hate birds," Murat muttered.

Hassan, by contrast, peered out to get a better look. "A thunderbird?" The awe in his voice was hard to miss, even as the hawk on his shoulder squawked. "They're uncommon to see around these parts. I wonder if the sand birds woke it up or drove it out."

The thunderbird screeched as it flew in loops, a bird of sand giving chase nehind it. The rain fell hard with each flap, and each screech sounded like booms of close thunder.

Hassan shook his head. "Birds will be birds; let's just wait it out."

Murat nodded. "Great. As if we needed dueling birds." He shook his head and heard the camels shifting uncomfortably. "Well, morning will dawn soon enough. Let's hope this all clears up by then."

By daybreak the storm was gone, but a sandbird rested limply near the tents. Not quite dead, twitching and bleeding water from a shredded wing.

Hassan was up and he noticed the downed sandbird. "Looks like we're in luck. That whole untainted mess shall be fixed right now."

Murat glanced at Cassandra. "You're sure this is going to work?" Well, heck, it was a legend to begin with, but then, so were the sand birds and the sand lions. "Let's do it."

Her father hisses and backs into the tent as far as he could, hissing.

Hassan grabbed the sand lion, and began to shove it out of the tent. "Come on, Mr. Winged Lion. You're going to feel a lot better once all this is over and done with. Let's go get untainted."

Murat watched with a smirk and then glanced at Cassandra. "Water isn't so bad, is it?"

He hisses and swipes out at Hassan, mouth still tied shut.

''Well, water cleanses us of any impurities. A few rare ones almost drowned in it after a flood...''

Hassan jumped away from the paw, before getting behind the lion and shoving him forward towards the downed Sand Bird. "C'mon now; just a little bit farther..." when he had several hundred feet to go.

"I guess a flood would create a problem," Murat agreed and was promptly greeted by Jasafar when he left the tent. The camel gave him an idea.

"Hassan, why not just let your camel drag the lion? It might be faster than you pushing it."

Her dad yowled and clawed again, hissing loudly.

Cass snorted. ''My dad was one opf the rare almost drowned ones.''

"You don't say," murmured Murat. He grabbed Jasafar's reins and led the camel over to the fighting lion. "Here, let's try this."

He grabbed a strand of rope and then realized he was too incapacitated to tie it to the camel. "Hassan? Think you can connect the camel to the lion? That might work to help you drag him over."

Hassan grunted and grabbed a rope trailing from the sand lion and tied it quickly to the camel's lead. "Alright, now what?"

Murat grinned. "Jasafar: lentat." The camel leaned against the rope and began to walk towards the sand bird, quickly drawing up any slack between it and the lion.

The lion hissed and flailed wildly.

The bird still twitched, still bleeding water out.

They made it to the bleeding sand bird, and Murat whistled for Jasafar to turn so that Hassan could shove the lion into the spraying water. Hassan did so, already their feet were soaked from the pooling water.