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''You know, I heard rumors that the city held a monster so bad that it was abandoned..''

Murat looked at Cassandra sharply. "A sand demon?" He stopped scuffing at the sand beneath his foot and looked over to Jasafar.

The camel was chewing his cud--looking rather calm for there supposedly being a monster in the area.

"Let's just hope sleeping demons remain asleep. Or buried. And that that sandstorm didn't happen to uncover anything."

''It was pretty sudden. It blew away several piles of sand and ash. Theres footprints of humans en=mbedded into the uncovered rock. Heading away from here..''

"Aww, you've gotta be kidding me." Murat sprinted back to Jasafar. "Jasafar, ta-aal!"

The camel rose up and headed towards Murat at a sedate pace. With a leap and an acrobatic twist of his hand and body, he managed to land in the saddle.

"That might explain the message I got regarding the city to the south. We need to hurry!"

Sandra nods and darted in the direction of the footprints, crossing the sands with ease.

Murat jabbed his heels into Jasafar, along with the command to follow. Jasafar quickly adjusted his gait to keep up with the winged lioness.

"I hope we're not too late," he said. Although really what counted as "late" could be iffy. He would prefer to fight alongside the tribesmen, rather than one-on-one against the sand demon.

In the distance, shimmering in the heat waves, Murat made out the tell-tale signs of a town. He hoped it wasn't a mirage. "I think we're almost there."

Sandra continues to run, nodding. ''I see it too! It's shimmering, though.''

"Crap; that's not heat, is it?" Murat pointed out. "It's sand!" He only just barely managed to cover his mouth as a blast of sand whipped over them.

Jasafar even made a noise as he was stung by the pellets of sand pelting his hide in spite of the coverings. Murat grabbed hold of his javelin; searching for the sand demon.

"I don't even know what they look like!" he yelled to Cassandra. "Do you see it?" He coughed as he inhaled sand.

''I see something flying around. It's a giant bird!''

Murat looked up and got blasted with sand as the "bird" flew overhead. He ducked over Jasafar's back, staying low in spite of the sand.

Jasafar let out a "braaaaaaaah" sound and then turned to look up at the bird. Murat cursed. "I need a long range weapon!" He grabbed a dagger, intending to throw it. If he could get it on the ground, he'd stand a chance.

The 'bird' screeched, and a flurry of sand brews up, then crashes down onto the group. The birds build seemed to be built out of sand blocks, that were held loosely together. Sand flew from the large 'wings', as it flew over again, easily dwarfing humand.

Cassandra gacked, covered in sand and yowling.

Murat flung a dagger up at the bird, ducking as the blast of sand reversed the dagger's path. It narrowly missed him and instead sank into Jasafar's flank. Jasafar stumbled, but kept his feet.

"Sorry, Jas." Murat looked for Cassandra. "Cass, where are you? Find a shelter--" he cut himself off. "Let's lure it to the shelter! We can attack it there."

Sandra gets out of a pile and charges to the shelter, the bird chasing behind with ease.

Murat follows behind, keeping an eye on the bird and one to his steed as he pulls out a javelin and waits for the bird to descend. One good throw, that's all he needs. But he needed to find a weakness.

Jasafar's stride, strong at fist, began to struggle; limping a little. The dagger in his flank not doing any favors to the camel's ground-eating stride.

"Come on, Jasafar. We're almost there and then I'll take good care of you. I promise." He saw the giant bird beginning to descend. "Cass! Double back!"

Cass yelped, skidding to a halt. She whipped around and ran towards Murat as fast as she could. The bird screeches, seeing her turn away from it.

Murat kicked his heels into Jasafar again, doubling the injured camel's speed. His grip on the javelin tightened as Cassandra headed for him--and the giant sand bird tried to adjust its course.

He saw the opening, just as the bird stretched its neck out, wings flaring to lift itself up. At the base of the neck, where it attached to its sandy body, should be a chink of no sand. Murat threw the javelin with all the strength he could muster, and then turned Jasafar aside so they would not collide with Cass.

At the last minute he looked over his shoulder to see if his javelin had stayed true.

The javelin hits the bird and it screeches in pain, wings sliggisly flailing as it came crashing into a sand bank with enough force to form a crater.

Murat swiftly changed courses again. "Come on, Jasafar, let's make this one count." He loosened the lance from its holdings as they bore down on the bird. But Jasafar was beginning to limp, and his stride was shortening.

"Come on, Jas, a little more." The tip of the lance struck and Murat lost his grip. It was like striking a sand wall. His arm went numb and he yelped as Jasafar stumbled and went down, throwing Murat from the saddle and into the sand.

The bird screeches and tries to get up, blowing sand everywhere and stirring up a sandstorm.

''Murat!'' Sandra yelled, before her voice was lost in the storm that flarred up as the bird thrasheed about violently.

Murat scrambled to his feet and then crouched as he was buffeted by sand. He managed to avoid the bird's flailing feet, as he retrieved his sword from Jasafar and then went towards the thickest of the sand. He couldn't see the sand demon with all the sand being tossed about, but he caught something moving and he swung his sword heavily.

He impacted hard, knocking the wind from him and he flew back a few feet, landing on his back. His whole body ached and his eyes stung from sand and grit, as he forced himself back onto his feet.

"Cass! You still alive?" he shouted, looking for his sword.