The desert had a rhythm.
By day, it was heat and hunger — an endless march across dunes that blurred together like waves of gold. By night, it was silence. Not peace, but silence sharpened like a blade. No insects, no wind, no birds — only the soft hiss of sand shifting in the dark.
Neel sat awake by the fire, his back against a dune. Sparks crawled across his arms, faint but restless, like lightning waiting to be born. He tried to smother them, but the storm refused to sleep.
Across from him, Shanaya muttered in her dreams, tossing beneath her blanket. Leela lay curled, staff beside her, her face soft in the firelight. Kabir perched higher on the dune, crouched like his panther, watching the horizon as if he had no need for rest. His wolves paced the edges of the camp, ears twitching.
Neel rubbed his eyes. For a moment, he thought he saw something — a faint flicker of red against the night sky, low on the horizon. He blinked, but it was gone.
"It is not gone," the whisper purred inside his skull. "It comes. It smells the storm. It comes for you."
He clenched his fists, jaw tight. "Shut up."
The whisper laughed, soft as breaking glass.
–––
By morning, the desert felt wrong.
The dunes were quieter than before, the air heavier. Even the wolves seemed unsettled, their ears pressed flat, their bodies low.
"Something's watching us," Leela said quietly as she walked beside Neel. Her eyes scanned the ridges, tense. "I can feel it. Like… pressure. In the air."
"You're imagining it," Shanaya said, though her flames flickered faintly at her fingertips. "Nothing lives out here long enough to stalk us."
Kabir snorted. "Plenty lives. You just don't see it until it's chewing on your bones." His panther growled low, golden eyes narrowed at the dunes.
Neel felt it too — not in sight, but in the storm. Every step, the sparks under his skin flared hotter, answering something unseen.
–––
That night, it revealed itself.
They had made camp in the shadow of a dune wall. The fire burned low, the wind carrying fine dust that stung their throats. Shanaya argued with Kabir about rations, while Leela tried to soothe them both.
Then the wolves froze.
One by one, their growls rumbled deep. The panther hissed, ears flat. Even the vulture shrieked from the sky, circling tighter.
"Something's here," Kabir said flatly, rising to his feet.
And then they saw it.
A faint red glow shimmered atop the nearest dune. At first, it looked like fireflies caught in the sand. But it grew, brighter, pulsing — like veins glowing under skin.
The figure crested the dune slowly. Its body was thin, too thin, skin gray and cracked. Sigils burned across it, pulsing red like molten iron. Its eyes were voids, empty and endless, its mouth sealed with silver thread.
Leela gasped, her hand flying to her staff. "What… what is that?"
Shanaya grimaced. "Ugly."
The whisper in Neel's mind coiled, delighted. "Chains. Oh, how long it has been since chains dared face me. Vessel… they send you gifts."
Neel's breath hitched. He could feel the thing's focus. It wasn't looking at them. It was looking only at him.
–––
The husk raised one hand. Shadows bled from its fingers, stretching like claws across the sand. The fire flickered and nearly died.
Shanaya snapped her fingers, flames bursting to life. "Finally. Something I can burn."
Kabir caught her wrist. His grip was iron. "Wait. That's not a beast. That's something worse."
His wolves whimpered, tails low, while the panther's fur bristled, backing away. Even Kabir's creatures didn't want to touch it.
Neel's storm surged. Sparks burst violently across his skin, unbidden. The husk tilted its head, the silver threads across its lips tightening as though it were smiling.
Leela stepped in front of Neel, her staff glowing with a blue ward. "Stay back."
The husk took one step. The sand beneath it blackened, hissing.
Another step. The air thickened, like a weight pressing on their chests.
Neel staggered. The whisper inside him whispered louder. "Chains, Vessel. They come to bind you. Show them they are dust."
–––
The fire guttered. The desert held its breath.
And the cursed envoy stretched out its arms, shadows spilling across the dunes like a tide.
––
The envoy moved.
Its arms stretched wide, and shadows bled outward like rivers of tar, slithering across the sand. The air chilled instantly, fire hissing into smoke. The wolves whined, retreating. Even Kabir's panther crouched low, ears flat.
"Stay together!" Kabir barked, his grin strangely sharp even in the face of dread. "It wants him. Don't let it take him."
Neel stumbled as the shadows reached for him, chains of black coiling from the sand. He blasted lightning instinctively, sparks scattering across the dunes — but the shadows swallowed them whole, hissing as though lightning were nothing but candle flame.
Shanaya cursed. "I've got this." Flames erupted around her arms, a storm of fire lashing outward. The heat seared the night, fire crashing into the envoy's body. Its skin blackened, charred — but it didn't scream. It didn't even flinch.
Leela stepped forward, staff glowing blue. "Barrier!" A circle of water surged, hardening into shimmering ice walls around Neel. The shadows slammed into them, cracking the surface. She strained, teeth clenched, sweat beading her forehead.
The envoy tilted its head, silver threads across its mouth tightening. The red sigils flared brighter. The ice walls shattered.
Chains of shadow burst forward, wrapping around Neel's arms and chest. Cold burned into his skin, colder than anything he had felt before. The storm inside him shrieked, lightning tearing at the chains, but they held.
He dropped to his knees, gasping. The whisper laughed with delight. "Chains! Yes, let them try! Break them, Vessel. Break them, and show them you are storm!"
Neel roared, lightning erupting wildly, but the shadows only sank deeper, binding tighter.
–––
Shanaya hurled a spear of fire into the envoy's chest. It sank deep, flames burning through the runes. For a heartbeat, the envoy staggered. But then its skin split, releasing a hiss of black smoke that snuffed the fire like water on ash.
Kabir whistled sharply. His wolves leapt, fangs bared, slamming into the envoy's legs. The panther struck its back, claws raking across the glowing sigils. For the first time, the envoy faltered — its body twisting unnaturally, jerking with bone-snapping sounds.
But the wolves yelped as shadows lashed out, spearing through their bodies. They collapsed, writhing, eyes clouding black. The panther snarled, retreating, blood streaking its flank.
Kabir's grin widened, feral. "Interesting. Very interesting."
–––
Leela knelt beside Neel, her hands glowing. She pressed them against the shadow chains, blue light flooding the bindings. "Fight it, Neel! You're stronger than this!"
His vision blurred. He saw her face through a haze of stormlight and darkness, her eyes fierce, desperate.
The whisper hissed in his ear. "She lies. Break her. Break them all. Only then are you free."
"No…" Neel growled, lightning flaring. "Not her. Not them."
The chains cracked. Just barely.
The envoy hissed, tilting its head as though curious. Its sigils pulsed brighter, shadow chains multiplying, surging forward to drown him completely.
–––
"NOW!" Shanaya screamed, unleashing everything. A torrent of fire engulfed the envoy, flames white-hot. At the same moment, Neel's storm detonated outward, a dome of lightning cracking the dunes.
The envoy screeched — the first sound it had made — a hideous, shrill noise that made the sand writhe. The shadows snapped back, retreating into its body. Its sigils dimmed.
The envoy staggered, its form twitching, cracks running through its skin. For a moment, Neel thought it would fall.
But instead, it melted into smoke. The red glow flickered once… twice… and then it vanished into the dunes.
–––
Silence.
Only their ragged breaths filled the night. Shanaya dropped to her knees, sweat and soot streaking her face. Leela collapsed beside Neel, clutching his arm. Kabir stood above them, wolves limping back, panther snarling, his grin sharper than ever.
"Well," Kabir said at last. "That was fun."
Shanaya glared at him. "Fun? That thing nearly killed us!"
"Nearly," Kabir corrected smoothly. "But it didn't. Which means it will try again." His eyes glittered. "And I want to see what happens when it does."
Neel stared out into the dunes, chest heaving, sparks still crawling uncontrolled across his skin. He could still feel the weight of the chains, the cold of the shadows. The whisper purred in the back of his mind.
"They will keep coming. And you will keep breaking them. Until nothing binds you. Not chains. Not friends. Not even yourself."
Neel shut his eyes. He didn't know which scared him more — the envoy… or the voice inside.
–––