They traveled along the road for a short time. Soon, Camilla shyly tugged at the mercenary's sleeve, indicating the direction to the monster lands.
They veered off the beaten path and entered a desolate sea of dunes and sandbars. Behind them, the setting sun blazed brightly. The red-golden dome of the sky reflected in the orange sands stretching to the horizon.
"How pretty!" Camilla marveled, pressing closely to Alexandra from behind. "Last time I was in such a rush, I didn't notice anything... Let's talk about love in the open air!"
The mercenary frowned slightly. The priestess was constantly shifting, adding unnecessary weight to the horse's back. Riding two together tired the animal much more than usual, requiring special skill. Fortunately, the horses from the Caliphate were worth the money, and the combined weight of Alexandra and Camilla wasn't too much.
The girl looked to the left. Amon sat confidently in the saddle, as if he had been riding before he could walk. Just a few hours ago, he had been listening attentively about the purpose of horse harnesses!
Alexandra didn't realize that managing a trained animal was a hundred times easier than stuffing squealing demons into copper chariots or the battle machines of the Dark Mechanicists. She sighed gloomily.
What Alexandra had been learning for years, Amon had mastered in two hours. The mercenary had hoped to redeem herself for the failure with Camilla, to show her worth, but it had turned out... well, it had turned out as it did.
"Orange is really romantic," Camilla said, winking at Alexandra. "Though lately, I've been liking gray more."
"Why gray?" Amon suddenly asked, turning his attention to the two women. His horse was loaded with baggage taken from the donkey they left by some poor person's garden at the border of the desert.
"I don't know," the priestess hesitated, flustered. "It's like with magic. I didn't know before, but then suddenly, it was all there! Like I had forgotten, but now I remember a bit. Ah, I get it! It complements the female body, and engaging in passion on gray..."
"Interesting," Amon smirked. "Self-learning, as a result of becoming a monster. We have something like that in our lands," he explained to Alexandra. "With green-skinned monsters, not like yours. Some of these monsters are born special. They possess some rare skill from a very young age, without even knowing where they got it from."
"Priestess-..." Amon glanced at Camilla and laughed.
"Who knows what you have there," Alexandra muttered and gently nudged the horse with her heels.
***
When the local sun set, and the land turned from orange to gray-blue, they stopped for the night. The space marine jumped off his horse and unloaded the baggage. Alexandra fed the animals, ate a little herself, and handed a portion to the priestess.
Amon leisurely walked through the sandy thicket formed by small dunes and was satisfied: the place was perfectly shielded from prying eyes and wind. He looked at the mercenary, who was quietly whispering with the priestess, who had taken on her true form, but he didn't listen in.
The whole trip, the women had been acting strangely. Alexandra's face remained impassive, while Camilla kept starting silly conversations, constantly throwing compliments toward the mercenary.
"In your lands, you probably don't have such horses. Right, Alexandra picked the very best?"
"The very best and the most expensive," Amon replied harmlessly.
The mercenary frowned, subtly—at least, she thought—elbowing Camilla, who fell silent. For a while.
"You have such a long sword! Isn't it heavy for you?"
"No."
"And Alexandra's is probably lighter," the priestess tried to pull the girl's sword out. "But how she handles it, oh Goddess of Debauchery, how she handles it! She's so good with it and knows so many tricks. You handle a sword well, don't you?" she asked Alexandra.
"Decently!" the girl replied irritably, brushing Camilla's hand away from the sword.
"Very well. There."
The priestess chattered, praised the mercenary, and Amon was puzzled. It meant something, but what?
Amon climbed the dune and looked around carefully. There were no monsters nearby, not even a monster! Hardly any creatures at all. Only a few hundred meters away, a snake slithered by like an oily streak. And that was it.
'We don't have to worry for the next couple of hours,' Amon thought. 'Or have I lost my vigilance?'
He looked ahead once more, focusing on potentially suspicious points.
"No. I'm sure we're fine. Everything is in order. I haven't relaxed. And frankly, there's reason to: for the first time in a long while, I have a reliable ally, one I don't need to fear. Alexandra. Of all the possible threads of fate, I got the best one: I survived, I found a companion. If I can, I'll take her with me, and if Tzeentch wills it, she'll endure the transition and the dark truths that will be revealed to her. As for me... With a trusted person at my back, I'll gain more power and authority! I'll seize a new ship, then more, and build my fleet. And the more power I gain, the more Alexandra will receive. A fitting reward for loyalty!"
Amon nodded to his thoughts and descended to his companions. He had made his final decision.