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''What? Where?'' She asked, squinting a bit, wing over her scarred face.

For a moment they saw nothing, just layers of sand, and then seemingly rising from the sand, was the head of a camel and then its rider as they rode up a dune.

Murat couldn't tell the colors of the saddle from here, but he could tell enough by Jasafar's sudden enthusiasm that it was a friend; and more than likely a fellow knight.

"Easy, Jas, easy," he muttered, trying to keep the camel from launching forward. Just then a hawk swooped past them, flying directly to the rider who held up an arm. The hawk alighted on the rider's arm and Murat sighed. "Oh thank the gods, it's Hassan. He's a friend and fellow knight who has a way with birds. I wonder if he knows of the sand birds."

Sandra gulped, nervous. ''He won't hurt me, right?''

Murat was about to reply when the camel and rider in front of him charged. "Ah shi-" He'd forgotten the knights greeting--which usually entailed locking blades or having an improvised jousting session.

And he couldn't do either--not without losing his grip on the saddle. "Jas! Awqif! Awqif!"

Jasafar launched forward and then swerved at the last moment, saving his rider from an embarrassing landing in the sand and perhaps further breaking something. Murat was half over his saddle, trying to avoid Hassan's blade, which was pulled back at the last moment.

"Murat? Are you injured?" the rider was dressed similarly to Murat and his dark eyes swept over the immediate surroundings, before landing on the lioness. "Stay down-" he charged for the lion, the hawk taking flight in preparation to divebomb.

"Wait!" Murat called after him. "She's not a threat! She's a friend!"

Sandra hissed, flaring her wings and inching back, ears pinned back. Her light blue eyes glared at the hostility. A closer look would reveal she was a sand lion. ''Dare attack a sand lioness? Who does that?'' She hissed again, fur frizzed out, limping a bit and bruise visible.

It was the camel, not the rider, that balked suddenly, nearly throwing its rider. Hassan remained seated only through years of practice and looked up as the hawk dove for Cassandra, however, its claws scant inches from her bruised face. And it was then that he realized his mistake.

He ordered his camel down and then fell prone before Cassandra. "I am so sorry, winged one; I mistook you for a threat. Do with me as you will."

Murat hid a grin behind his good hand as he turned Jasafar back.

''For now I'll spare you my fury.'' She hissed, flinching before rubbing her face, cringing. Her sandy wings folded, the bandage bloodied. ''I'm...SS..s..sorry. I don't know what came over me just then. I'm not violent...Really.'' She replied afterwards, setting her injured paw on his hand softly, the claws not out.

"Thank you, oh winged one." Hassan looked up briefly into her bruised face and then at her paw. He blinked as he took in the injuries, before turning to Murat.

"You two are injured? From what? How?"

The hawk circled overhead as Murat signaled for Jasafar to kneel down and slid off the saddle. "A sand demon that flies; a sand bird that stirs up a sandstorm with its very wings. I broke my wrist and dislocated my elbow when I tilted against it. I don't recommend it," he added with a wince. "If it hadn't been for Cassandra," he nodded at the sand lioness, "I would have lost my life to it."

Hassan looked back at Cassandra, surprise and relief in his eyes. "So you protected Murat? I am thankful for that."

''This sand bird is made of hard sand and blocks. When you kill it it turns into water. Their hard to see.'' She replied, but nodded. ''Sand lions are loyal, and guard anyone they can find in the desert. Murat told me about the statue of one..?''

Hassan listened, his brows furrowing as he tried to make sense of the description. "Glory; that sounds like nothing I'd want to take on, let alone single-handedly. It's a miracle you're still alive."

And then at Cassandra's question, he seemed to freeze. His eyes inspected her inch by inch, lingering on her wings even as his eyes widened. "Glory...and we thought you were just a tall tale. Yes, Murat is correct. There is a statue of a lion with wings but..." He stopped talking for a moment. "There are old carvings and writings which detail your kind. I think, I think our founder wrote about them--it seemed she had connections to them."

Murat was surprised as well. "Really? I didn't know that."

Hassan nodded. "It's a closely guarded secret that I stumbled across by accident--thanks to a sandstorm. But I think-" his eyes turned back to Cass, "our founder knew of a pride of sand lions."

Sandra hung her ears. ''I got seperated from my family by a sandstorm. I was lost until I found Murat here. Who also though I was a vicious amimal. I know my way around the desert, but so far all I've found is the ruins of a village where the sand bird is. Males of my kind have small wings. Females have larger ones. My little family consisted of my mom,my father, and two other lions we had adopted.''

Hassan shrugged. "I don't know much about sand lion prides," he admitted, "but it's worth a try. Besides that, you two are in no condition to travel. Murat, you're about to pass out where you are--have you eaten anything in the last day or two?--and you're" he turned to Cassandra, "black and blue and limping. I can walk, it won't be a problem, but at least ride Fawzi. She can carry a lioness with no problem."

Hassan smacked his camel's shoulder and the camel brayed unhappily but went down onto her knees. Jasafar reached down to touch noses with her, as Murat sighed. He'd only eaten fish the other day, and he wasn't hungry. Or thirsty. "I'm alright, Hassan. We're only a few days from the city right?"

Hassan grimaced. "In a matter of speaking, yes. But we got hit by a sandstorm while you were gone, so we're trying to dig ourselves out. I came looking for help, and instead wound up with you two. What part of the creed 'don't die' didn't you understand, Murat?" He flashed a smile in hopes of lightening the mood.

"Well, I upheld it didn't I?" Murat muttered under his breath.

Cass winced, her bruise starting to fester up from the heat. ''Ack...My faace...'' She whined, moving her wings over it.

Hassan pulled a waterskin free and knelt next to Cassandra. "Here, let me see your face..." He wet a cloth intending to clean her face.

Murat groaned. "A sandstorm? Really? I'm thinking of moving to a greener country after all this."

"Then you'll give up being a knight of the desert?" Hassan looked up at him. "That is not permitted; you know the only way out is to die. And that is a sin of itself."

Murat rolled his eyes. "It was a joke, Hassan." But Hassan had been telling the truth. To become a knight, one devoted his life to protecting the desert until it claimed him.

She winced harshly but moved her head to Hassan. The bruise was shaped just like the sand birds talons. ''And sand lions will do their best to aid who they choose to protect even of themselves get injured in the process. We turn into a sand statue if we die.''

Hassan nodded and gently brushed the cool moist cloth over her face. "Well, I'd prefer you not turned to sand; we have enough here without adding more." He grimaced as he made out the talon like markings. "That must have been some sand bird if it left marks like this.

"Trust me, Hassan, you have no idea what these things are. I daresay the entire desert would clear out if they knew." Murat replied.

As if to prove a point the sand stirred violently as a sand bird lurched out up into the sky, screeching as sand fell from it's wing. It easily shadowed the humans and lion.

''See!!!!!'' Cass yelped, wincing again.

Hassan looked up and a string of curses spilled forth. "That's a sandbird?"

Fawzi, Hassan's camel, rose up to her feet, panicked by the sand. Jasafar, on the other hand, stood his ground.

Murat cursed as well. "Is there a shelter nearby? Because we really don't want to fight that thing single-handedly." But Murat's good hand clenched and felt for the second javelin. He still had one good throw, maybe two left. "Cass, you might be better off staying with the camels. We don't want you to get hurt any worse than you already are."

The bird screeches and stirred up a violent sandstorm. Cass yowled and the sand immediantly settled as a spear of rock shot up and hit the sandbird stomach. The bird fell to the ground close to the group and died instantly, water seeping as Cass collapsed, out cold.

Hassan toed the water as it dribbled across the sand, his face a study. Murat slid down to his knees next to Cass, feeling for a pulse.

"Cass? Cassandra!" he called to her, worried. "Please don't turn to sand, not like this."

"You weren't kidding," Hassan murmured. "They really do turn to water."