Chapter 781: Sand Road, Wolf Heart
This was a long dream.
A dream Lorgar knew she was inside.
The moment the Four-winged Eagle had fallen upon her, the pain moved through her like grinding stone — her legs unmade beneath her, crushed as wheat under a millstone, the same patient destruction she had watched her clansmen perform on grain bought from the north, though she had never learned to grow it herself. There would be no standing again. No fighting. Not in this body.
But now she stood.
A dream, then. Only in dreams could the made be unmade.
She breathed deeply and looked ahead. A sand road began at her feet and unreeled toward the horizon. She stepped forward, and one by one they came — opponents she had bested, walking toward her without laughter or mockery, passing in silence and dissolving into the endless sand behind her.
The sandworm was first.
Her first kill. Twelve years old, the pride of it still bright somewhere in her chest.
Sandworms were hardest to find when skulking still — the motionless sand gave nothing away. But the people of the Sand Nation were more cunning than any creature the desert bred, and Lorgar had crouched behind a dead bush and waited, patient as the dunes themselves, until the worm came close enough. Then the spike. Clean through sand and flesh both.
That kill had stood above the achievements of her siblings, of children from the great Iron Sand City clans — and more than the worm itself, what she had taken from it was the joy of confrontation, the fierce bright pleasure of a thing matched against her strength and found wanting.
The sandworm in her dream did not hide. It raised its head and moved through the sand like a lazy serpent. She braced for venom — a ruin of her face, acid unmaking — but nothing came. It passed in silence.
A Scorpion followed. Then a Desert Wolf — her second and third opponents.
The Scorpion passed without pause, but the wolf stopped. It stood for a moment, seeming to weigh something, then walked toward her and lowered its head to sniff her bare, calloused feet. Its tail moved once. Then it turned and fell in at her side.
She remembered the real fight. The Mojin women had to prove twice what the men proved once, which meant she had moved from sandworms and scorpions to wolves without rest, hunting upward. She had targeted a wolf pack.
But the wolves in numbers were more fearful than she had known. A sandstorm had scattered her hunting party, and when it cleared, wolves stretched across the horizon. The Sand Nation fighters had held — fought hard, fought valiantly — and still fallen one by one to claws from every quarter. Lorgar had known, in that last moment, that she was done.
Then the sharp pain took her, and she woke into something larger.
The King of Wolfheart.
She had stood on sand soaked black with blood, and the wolves that met her eyes had simply folded, as though greeting a god they already knew.
The road after that was wider.
Strong fighters of her generation. Clan warriors. Battle-hardened men who had survived a dozen storms. They came one by one and fell behind her. Lorgar felt her chest tighten.
Perhaps the dream ended when the last opponent passed.
There wasn’t much time.
She wanted to slow her steps, but the road did not answer her will.
Then the sky went dark.
She looked up. The Four-winged Eagle filled the air above her, enormous and absolute.
The last moment, arriving.
At the same instant, the Desert Wolf at her side roared — a sound that shook through her ribs — and launched itself at the beast. They collided with the force of falling stone. Blood and feathers. The battle that had never finished on the Burning Stage played out above her now, each blow precise and total.
Lorgar stopped breathing and watched. Her body recorded everything — each strike, each angle, each half-second of opening — the same way it had always recorded combat, logging what her mind could not consciously hold. If she faced the eagle again, she would last longer. She might take its head before Ashes needed to intervene.
A pity she would never have the chance.
She tried to step forward and join the wolf. Her body refused. The numbness had moved up from her feet to her throat, slow as tide, and she could not move even her jaw now.
Wake up, she thought. Wake up.
The wolf screamed. The eagle had torn open its belly. Intestines gleaming. The great animal faltered toward her on failing legs, still placing its body between her and the strikes coming from above. Three steps. Two. It fell in her direction — dying — still blocking.
The eagle’s blows landed on its back like hammer strikes against her heart.
No.
Lorgar opened her eyes.
Sand road, beasts, wolf — gone.
Her maid’s voice, breaking with relief: “Princess — you woke up!”
“Yes.” The word came slowly. “I woke up.”
Which means the time I can stand is —
Wait.
She saw the maid crossing toward her in a panic, towel in hand, and felt the damp cloth against her skin. The roof of the old tent. The knife on the wall. The brazier burning low. Everything sharp and distinct, more vivid than it had any right to be.
But how was she seeing it with both eyes?
Her hand moved to her left eye. Intact.
Not just the eye. Both arms whole. Her entire body without pain — even her feet, even her crushed, ground-under-stone feet, carried her weight without complaint.
She threw back the covers and stood.
The maid startled back.
“What happened?”
“The new Divine Lady — the one brought by the northerners — she healed you.” The maid’s voice was barely holding together. “She didn’t use any medicine. She touched you, and the wounds just — closed.”
There’s a witch called Nana in Neverwinter of Graycastle who can heal anybody, even someone breathing their last, even someone with every limb broken.
Ashes had not been offering comfort. It was real.
“Where are they now?” Lorgar reached for her coat. “I need to thank her.”
“They’ve gone.”
“Gone.” A beat. “And Ashes?”
“She left too. Two days ago, the Osha clan took the first group of Sand Nation people to the Southern Territory.”
“How long was I out?”
The maid held up three fingers. Then three more.
Six days. Six days for that long road through the sand.
“Is there anything else that happened while I was sleeping?”
The maid’s expression shifted to something smaller, more careful. “The Wildwave clan absorbed what was left of the Black River clan. They challenged us.” A pause. “Lord Chief didn’t accept. He conceded outright. Our rank has dropped to third. We can’t hold the Stone Castle anymore.”
Lorgar raised an eyebrow. “I need to see my father.”
“Princess — wait — your hood, your cloak —” The maid hurried after her with the garments. “There have been many visitors to the castle lately, some to negotiate, some to —” Her voice fell to something barely audible.
“Drive us out?” Lorgar reached up and touched the tip of her pointed ear, then smiled at the maid. “Keep them. I won’t be needing those anymore.”
“But —”
Her father had told her to conceal what she was — the ears, the other things — until she was chief. Even a Divine Lady, he had said, could be mistrusted for the wrong shape of her face. But she had walked the full length of the sand road and come out the other side understanding what she wanted, and it was not concealment.
Half woman, half beast. A monster, some would say.
Did it stop her from fighting?
Lorgar waved once — no more words — and walked toward the top floor of the Stone Castle.
Chapter 781: Sand Road, Wolf Heart
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
This was a long dream.
A dream that Lorgar knew she was in.
The moment the Four-winged Eagle landed on her, the pain of the broken bones in her legs coursed through her veins. Her legs were, in her view, as crushed as the wheat under the millstone, in which she had seen her clansmen process food purchased from the north in spite of her lack of knowledge of how to grow wheat.
There was no way for her to stand up again for the rest of her life, not to mention fight.
But now she was standing.
Thus, it had to be a dream.
For only in a dream, what was made could be unmade.
Taking a deep breath, Lorgar looked into the space before her, where a sand road started from her feet and stretched as far as she could see. She stepped forward and, from time to time, she would encounter an opponent, one of those that she had defeated before, walking towards her with neither a hint of laughter nor mockery. One by one, they passed by her and disappeared into the endless sand behind her.
A sandworm was the first to come.
It was her achievement in her first hunt when she was 12 years old.
The sandworm would be most vulnerable when it was moving in the sand and leaving a clear tail, but once it was skulking in silence, it would be hard for the hunter to spot it. However, that could not baffle the civilians of Sand Nation, who might be more deceitful than any other creature in the desert. Lorgar attempted to disguise herself as a common bush and wait for the sandworm to come. By the time it was close enough, she shoved her spike into the sand as well as the sandworm beneath it.
Her excellent hunting performance had exceeded her siblings and even in the big clans of the Iron Sand City, was unmistakable. As a consequence of that hunt, she fell in love with the happy feeling of confronting and fighting.
The sandworm coming now did not take the cover of sand but raised its head as it traveled slowly in the sand like a snake. For a moment, Lorgar thought it would spit venom at her that would deform her face, but nothing happened. It went by quietly.
A Scorpion and a Desert Wolf came next… her second and third opponent.
The Scorpion passed by, but the Desert Wolf stopped, who, after a moment of hesitation, walked up to her, wagging its tail. It snuffed her calloused bare feet before turning around and walking by her side.
Lorgar recalled the brutal challenge between her and the wolf. Constrained by the fact that much more effort was required for a Mojin woman to be a qualified duelist, she had to seek for the next prey right after the hunt of many sandworms and scorpions. She aimed at the wolf pack.
But the wolves moving in packs were more fearful than she had thought. A sandstorm had struck them and untied the hunting team. By the time it subsided, numerous wolves emerged on the horizon.
The Sand Nation people hemmed in by wolves had fought valiantly, but they were outnumbered. One by one, they fell under the sharp claws and fangs coming from all around. Lorgar had thought she was doomed. At the last moment, a sharp pain took her and then she awakened to be a Divine Lady.
She became the giant King of Wolfheart.
Standing on the sand that was soaked in blood, she looked down at the wolves, whoever met her eyes huddled down, as if they were greeting their dominating God.
The road after her awakening turned much broader.
As strong performers of her age, clan fighters, and battle-tested warriors… approached her one after another and disappeared. Lorgar’s heart tensed.
Perhaps the dream would come to an end when the last opponent passed by her.
There was not much time left for her.
She wanted to slow down… but it did not help.
Soon the earth darkened as if something large was passing over her head. Lorgar looked up and saw the Four-winged Eagle.
The last moment was coming.
At the same time, with a shaking roar, the Desert Wolf broadened its muscles and jumped at that sky-dominating beast.
The two beasts collided hard, sending blood and feathers all around. They fought their best as if wanting to finish the duel on the Burning Stage that had not played out yet.
Lorgar held her breath and gazed at her last battle. Her body would precisely record every feeling during the fight, which was exactly the reason why she could improve much more rapidly than ordinary people. If she got the chance to fight the beast again, it was certain that she could persevere longer and even snap its head before Ashes lent a hand.
What a pity that the opportunity was beyond her grasp.
As the battle was reaching fever pitch, Lorgar wanted to join and fight alongside the giant wolf, but her body was stiff and she even lost the feeling in her feet.
She realized it was time to wake up.
The fear grasped her heart and she began trembling all over.
She did not want to be confined to a bed, disabled.
She wanted to stand up!
To continue to fight!
However, she felt increasingly confined. The feeling had crept from her legs to her neck and she could not even manage to move her throat now.
Suddenly, the Desert Wolf howled agonizingly from the pain of its torn abdomen ripped open by the eagle. Its intestines poured out as it faltered to Lorgar. The wolf only managed to move a few steps before its last strength evaporated and it fell in Lorgar’s direction. Even at the last moment of its life, it attempted to block the rest of the strikes from the enemy for her.
The strikes on its back were like the beats on her heart.
No!
Lorgar abruptly opened her eyes and sat up.
The sand road and the beasts were suddenly all gone. Beside her came the cry of her maid, “Princess… you, you woke up!”
“Yes…” She was in a trance for a while. “I woke up.”
“Which means the time I can stand is… Wait!” Lorgar was bewildered. She could clearly see the maid approaching her bedside in panic and feel the touch of the towel on her skin when the maid wiped her sweat. In her sight, the roof of the old tent, the knife hanging on the wall, and the burning brazier were all incredibly vivid.
But how could she capture such a clear vision with only one eye?
Subconsciously, she touched her left eye… To her surprise, it was intact.
No, not just the eyes, both of her arms were good and her entire body was painless, even her feet!
Throwing back the covers, she scrambled out of bed and stood with both her feet on the ground firmly.
“What?” She looked at the maid who had been shocked by her behavior.
“The new Divine Lady brought by the northerners healed you,” the maid stuttered, trying to explain. “She didn’t even use any medicine. With a slight touch of her hands, your wound healed over.”
“There’s a witch called Nana in Neverwinter of Graycastle, who can heal anybody, even someone who’s breathing his last or whose limbs are entirely broken.”
So what Ashes had said was not to comfort her, but was real. There indeed was a witch who possessed such a miraculous power.
“Where are they now?” Lorgar quickly slipped on a coat and asked, “I have to thank her.”
“They’ve gone.”
“What?” She frowned. “What about Ashes?”
“She’s not in the Iron Sand City either. Two days ago, the Osha clan took the first batch of Sand Nation people to the Southern Territory.”
“Is she…” the Wolf Girl slowed down. “How long have I been out?”
Timidly, the maid held up three fingers and then added three.
“Six days. What a long dream.” She sighed. “Is there anything else that happened in the Iron Sand City during that period?”
“Yes, the Wildwave clan annexed the severely buffeted Black River clan and challenged us…” The girl looked a little depressed. “Lord Chief didn’t,
didn’t take the challenge, but gave up directly. The rank of Wildflame has dropped to third… We couldn’t keep the Stone Castle any longer.”
“Really?” Lorgar raised her eyebrows. “I need to see my father.”
“Ah… Wait My Princess, you forgot your hood and cloak!” The maid followed Lorgar to the doorway with some clothes. “Many people have come to the castle recently, some coming for negotiation, some for…” Her voice lowered as she spoke.
“Driving us out, right?” Lorgar reached out her hand to touch her pointed ear and then smiled at the maid. “Keep them, for I no longer need them.”
“What? But…”
Her father had told her to conceal her unique unhuman-like features before she succeeded the chief, for even a Divine Lady would be excluded and mistrusted for an abnormal look. But she had understood what she really wanted after finishing the long sand road in her dream.
Half woman and half beast? A Monster?
That did not prevent her from continuing her fight, did it?
Lorgar waved her hand, giving no more words, she then walked directly towards the top floor of the Stone Castle.