I missed riding.
I told Lion to make the steed go faster, much to his amusement though he obliged willingly.
....
After quite sometime of having the patience of a saint, Lion finally had enough and used a magic rope to tie Bubu up and made her ride with Deus, much to his dismay.
He kept complaining until Lion gave him a bright smile and asked him if he would prefer to be tied up instead and let Bubu control the steed.
That shut him up.
After getting rid of Bubu, he sat behind me and embraced me while telling me that he will control the steed this time.
I didn't mind though and enjoyed the sights around me.
Lion asked me where I learned to ride a steed so I told him the story behind it about my experience in Mongolia and the reason why.
His arm held me tightly against him, reassuring me that I won't be separated from him again and if such incident might happen again, he would make sure that he's going with me.
He looked like he is about to cry so I told him that as much as I like riding the steed, I prefer to ride him instead.
Much to my surprise, he immediately stopped the steed and told everyone that we should camp out here and make a plan on where to start looking for the magic stone as we had been riding for quite sometime with no particular direction in mind.
Nobody in the group had visited the place before as it is extremely far from the territory.
Good timing as Deus looked like he is about to snap because of Bubu who kept on trying to bite him.
....
Lion made tents using magic for everyone while Orm placed a protective spell around the area.
Sly gave Bubu a warning growl since she kept trying to approach me as he is currently holding me.
It's Alpha who's helping Ghost this time in cooking, making Deus curious in which he tried to help but ended up destroying the dish, much to Ghost's annoyance that he yelled at Deus and told him to watch instead.
Bubu looked very sad until Alpha felt sorry for her and gave her some candies. He soon regretted it as Bubu now focused her attention on him as she kept nagging him for more candies.
Alpha gave her a warning snarl in which she now focused her attention on Ghost and Deus instead.
Chaos erupted between the three of them which I tried to ignore as Sly kept giving me kisses on my neck.
He looked downcast as he admitted that he felt envious of what Orm did for me and was ashamed that he hadn't thought of doing a gesture like that despite being my secondary mate for a long time.
I tried to comfort him, telling him that I love everything that he did for me but then he looked at me with determination in his eyes, saying that he's going to surprise me one of these days.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I told him that I'll be looking forward to it and kissed him softly.
His wings covered us as we kissed deeply, forgetting that we are not alone though I have a feeling that the others are distracted as sounds of intense chaos sounded around us.
Soon we are intensely kissing each other but were distracted by the sounds of everyone yelling at each other.
He gave me a soft kiss on the neck before uncovering his wings then widened his eyes when he saw the chaos.
How bad is it?
When I turned around, there are no words to describe on what I just saw.
Silently, I stood up and started to clean the mess by myself as Sly joined the brawling between Deus and Ghost.
Orm seems to have fainted while Alpha began fighting with Bubu, who is becoming more feral.
Candies should be off-limits to Bubu.
I can't see Lion anywhere.
I heard some sounds from one of the tents in which when I took a peek, it turns out that it was Lion who is busy decorating the inside of the tent.
Hmmm.
The others are still preoccupied outside and I know for a fact that unless Lion or I intervened, it will last for quite sometime.
This gives me a brilliant idea.
Since Lion looked aroused about what I said earlier that he made an impulsive decision of camping, I silently closed the curtains of the tent, making him glance towards me.
I gave him a small smile and gently pushed him on the rug then straddled on him while removing my clothes.
It took quite an effort from me to keep him from moaning loudly though.
....
My back hurts.
It took several intensive rides before he agreed to let me go.
Though he told me while helping me get dressed, that if it weren't for the fact that we are surrounded by pests, he would definitely demand for more.
My mind is willing but my back is breaking.
After both of us got dressed, we went out and saw the chaos before us.
With a snap of fingers from Lion, everything went silent.
Lion whistled a cheerful tune while placing the others together on a pile. They stared at him with fear though Lion simply gave them a cheerful smile.
As for Bubu, Lion placed her under a spell in which she slept soundly.
To my dismay, a lot of the food was wasted that I was about to cry when Lion mentioned that Deus has some strange food in his bag.
Of course I won't touch someone else's bag without their permission so Lion removed the spell from Deus.
Deus immediately apologized and promised not to make anymore trouble. He gave his bag to me in which to my delight, I saw numerous amount of eggs inside.
Finally!
I can make more dishes using these!
Deus looked at me strangely as he told me that he just ate it directly, shells and all.
Eww!
Good thing that salmonella doesn't exist in this world.
....
I cooked a lot of food, especially using the eggs that made everyone, even Ghost and Orm, ask for a fourth helping.
Of course I happily complied while making a dessert using the eggs.
Bubu seems more calm after her nap that made me careful not to make sweet desserts in case she might get feral again.
After everyone consumed the desserts, Lion made the rest clean up in which they did happily as they asked me to cook more delicious food for them.
Ghost asked me to teach him the recipes using the eggs as he unexpectedly quite enjoyed the taste of it.
I nodded then told him that I'm going to teach him how to make my favorite dessert in which the rest of the pack perked up, especially Lion.
Since everything is cleaned up and it's still too early to sleep despite being night time already, I showed them how to make a simple cake using the limited ingredients we have.
I wished that someday we can find a way how to make flour and proper butter. Milk isn't a problem as there are several varieties of fruit that tastes quite like it.
I made two different kinds of simple cake without using dairy and flour. Using the fruits that we have, I decorated it and gave a little chuckle at seeing how cute it looks.
Bubu took both of the cakes, much to the pack and Deus's annoyance in which I tried to pacify them by making each one of them a cake.
They were about to protest about the unfairness of it since Bubu got two but became cheerful when I made them several cocktails too.
I enjoyed what I did but I felt exhausted. It doesn't help that I already felt tired after all the riding I did on Lion earlier.
Lion seems to know what I need in which he went with me inside our tent.
I can hear Bubu about to follow in which Lion gave her a look that made her behave instantly.
....
Lion embraced me while I sat on his lap inside the tub filled with warm water.
We kissed each other slowly then passionately as I can feel his hands touching me all over my body.
Even though I'm exhausted, I still feel heated when suddenly, Lion whispered in my ear, telling me that he will do all the work this time.
Of course, our mouths became very busy trying to keep ourselves from making loud noises.
It was hard not to make noises but somehow we managed not to make any, which made our intercourse more intense.
Both of us have a big smile on our faces after we finished then we embraced each other as we drifted off to sleep.
....
All of us had a meeting in which we discussed our next move.
I sat on Lion's lap while he embraced me as we listened to Ghost telling all of us about the deserters.
What I know about the deserters is just their physical appearance which I saw them at the palace during an event.
It was now understandable why they are wearing nomad or wandering type of clothing as a lot of them doesn't stay in one place for too long as the land itself is harsh and hot so they have to keep moving in order to survive and find water.
The tattoos in their bodies show which type of tribe they belonged to in which Ghost told us that there are numerous amount of tribes that they don't keep count anymore.
As for the facial tattoos, it marked the specific deserter as belonging to the elites.
Yes, they also have elites here.
Same like Ghost, they all have red hair but their eyes are red unlike Ghost who has pale eyes.
They are wearing jewelry of some sort as the land is rich with all sorts of treasures, a lot of it are yet undiscovered, making the rest of the pack perk up especially Sly.
There are two types of deserters: the wild and the civilized.
The civilized usually lived among the cities and are higher educated like a lot of them are magic users and have ultimate forms.
The wild are unorganized and most of them are fighting against each other and attacking random travelers. They don't have any rules and will usually follow who is the strongest among them.
That isn't new at all.
Lion explained to me as he saw my confused look, that unlike in the territory, they have no sense of fear and are very impulsive with their actions. Like a leader of them can be killed anytime without so much as a blink.
Now I understand.
The creatures in the territory mostly needed a deep reason to kill a leader or a ruler.
Like Alpha's unexpected confession.
....
Ghost took out some stuff from his pocket in which he showed it to me.
What are these?
They looked like nuts of some sort.
Ghost grinned at me and told me that these are what the deserters usually consumed aside from juices made from fruits as fruits don't usually survive for too long in the harsh environment.
Our business will definitely thrive here.
I blurted out, saying that a lot of our businesses will thrive here in which the pack lit up, especially Sly as he exclaimed that he hadn't thought of that and will take note of it.
Now everyone looks cheerful except for Deus who seemed lost on what we are talking about.
As for Bubu, she just seems like she's enjoying watching us while she kept eating all the snacks I made for her.
While Alpha is busy giving Deus the summary of everything, Ghost continued to discuss everything about the deserters.
He warned us that the deserters love brawling like him and usually will fight to the death especially the wild ones.
They have weapons similar to the spear and dagger I designed for Alpha and some bow and arrows for distance attacks.
They have magic also though Ghost isn't sure what kind they have as the deserters he met before are not magic users.
I continued to look at the nut in which I asked Ghost if I could taste it. Ghost smiled at me in which he said that I could have it that I instantly ate it.
It tastes like pistachio!
I asked Ghost if I could have some more in which he grabbed his bag and gave me a pouch filled with it.
With a grin, I began to make a dessert out of it.
....
After the delicious break in which everyone enjoyed, Ghost continued his discussion.
The place of the deserters is quite hot that the deserters he met before warned him that if he plans to visit the area, he should cover his entire body as the heat will burn his skin.
I regret not bringing any sunscreen from my previous world.
It is not unusual that we will meet traders along the way as trading is one of their ways of surviving the harsh environment.
There's no path or road to follow so the inhabitants simply wander around until they meet their deaths.
And no, they prefer to live not belonging in a territory despite the harsh environment. Though they do visit other territories for mostly trading and attending interesting events.
But most of their long life, they lived in the desert.
And yes, besides the trading and events, they take female creatures that they fancy.
By taking, they literally meant TAKING.
Ghost laughed when he saw my reaction and assured me that they shouldn't dare taking me in which I can hear the soft growls from the rest of the pack.
But they can have Bubu instead.
Bubu doesn't seem to mind hearing it as she looked aroused while licking her lips slowly.
Oh for.
She's in her vulgar mood again.
Deus threatened her to tie her up using a magic rope in which she just grinned and was about to pounce on him when Lion used his sleeping spell on her again.
I'm sorry, Bubu but you should not do that.
Ghost continued on discussing as if nothing happened, telling me that if it weren't for the pack, I would have been taken during the event.
Good thing that I know how to defend myself a bit and Leon helpfully amplified the quality of my Buddhist staff before I left the territory.
....
Deus begrudgingly placed Bubu on his horse though she seemed to behave this time.
Lion gave her a warning first before threatening her of using a magic rope to tie her up if she doesn't behave.
Of course, Lion is the one controlling the steed though I don't mind as I feel like I'm about to melt because of the heat.
It's so hot!
We are finally in the desert in which it is so hot that despite all of us wearing a cloth that covered our entire body, we feel like our skin is burning.
The beauty of the desert is not so bad, in fact it looks heavenly despite of the heat.
Unlike the deserts back in my previous world, the sand's colors are pastel like. I haven't seen any trees yet but I saw several lovely rock formations that seemed to be made out of art.
I admired them loudly when Lion chuckled and told me that the rock formations I saw are the remains of an ancient city.
So....
We are literally stepping on a possible ancient graveyard?????
Lion laughed so hard that we nearly fell off the steed.
It isn't funny!
I may have been exposed to all sorts of frightening situations but a simple mention of the undead freaks me out despite already seeing demons and other horrible looking creatures and beings though I have to admit that it gave me nightmares for a time.
Deus asked me why I'm afraid of the undead in which I have no answer.
To make things worse, Ghost told me that the deserters shared to him a rumor about the presence of previous dead creatures and deserters walking like they are alive.
They all began to tell me all sorts of stories they heard about the undead, much to my dismay.
I began to cry in which they stopped teasing me and apologized for scaring me.
It's fine.
Seeing that I didn't get angry, they all sighed with relief before Ghost admitted that he wasn't teasing at all.
Nooooo!
I want to go back to the territory!
But it's too late to go back.
....
It took a couple of reassurances from Lion before I finally calmed down.
He gave Ghost a look in which Ghost went near me and assured me that they are here to make sure that nothing happens to me.
I retorted by telling him that he must've a plan in case I might hallucinate an undead creature to which everyone fell silent at once.
Um.
They must have a plan about that, right?
The wide-eyed looks on their faces especially Lion, confirmed my suspicion.
They didn't make a plan about that despite Maelsa's warning!
Now I have a headache as I tried to think of a plan in case one of us might hallucinate.
And a solution in case we might see a mirage.