Rushed footsteps followed after Sagiri just as he sat down, ready to eat.

"What time is it?" It was N’varu. He looked just as disoriented as everyone else.

"It should almost be eight now," Sagiri said

"Eight... in the morning?" Kiuga asked as if hoping the darkness outside was a bad dream. Sagiri shook his head as the guys swarmed the table.

"Eight! At night! Which day?!" Kaka said as if his honour depended on it.

"You slept the whole night and day." Sagiri sighed.

"Why didn’t you wake us up?" N’varu said in an accusing tone.

"Why did you let us sleep for so long?" Maita joined in. How ridiculous for them to blame him for letting them sleep.

"I just woke you now," Sagiri said. "You all look like you could not mind sleeping till morning anyway."

"I feel so rested." Kiuga yawned, joining the table last. Well, the stone table. "But Sagiri, you should have woken me up sooner. Why didn’t you? Don’t tell me I looked too beautiful while sleeping, you couldn’t bear to do it."

"You did. A little." Sagiri said, and everyone froze in uniform, even Kiuga. They looked at him as if he had grown another head before they all burst out laughing.

"Kiuga, what have you done? You have ruined him." Zazarie said, shaking his head.

"You should go to the baths now that I am sure the men are done, then come and eat, we leave for the capital tonight. We should cover as much distance as we can at night." Sagiri said after they were done laughing, getting straight to business.

An hour later, the squad had eaten and bathed, and they looked less confused. They jumped into business right away. Kiuga’s strategy was bargaining. Most likely, they could want to control him or use him, and he should try to bargain. There was a risk of them wanting to eliminate him, but all they needed was for him to buy time so they could spy if they could.

"So buying time is all we need first," Sagiri said.

"Not necessarily. We have to see the reception first. If they try to kill you on the spot, then I am afraid that making them scared of you will hasten the process, and then we will circle back to buying time. We are there to get someone out after all, so we have to play it safe. For now, they have something you want, and you don’t have anything they want. So all you have to do is take something of theirs?" Kiuga said.

Sagiri could understand what he meant, but it is easier said than done.

"What could they possibly want. Our Sagiri is poor." Ulekai said, and everyone groaned, even Kaka.

"We will make plans at every step, but remember we have two weeks to get in and out. They have time, while you don’t. We must get inside the gates of the capital as soon as possible. The sooner the better." Kiuga said.

"Looks like all odds are in my favor," Sagiri said, sighing. "Well, whatever it takes, I am getting him out."

"Well, if push comes to shove, I expect you to apply pressure in the way you do best. But we don’t pull that card until it’s necessary." Kiuga said.

Tinka and his men had brought in dried crab meat. And water skin flasks meant for the desert. The desert caps were also included.

"This should be our last mission, I suppose." Sagiri found himself saying.

"You said that last time. You should quit before I break you in half." Kaka threatened.

Sagiri sighed. It was better that he stopped saying anything. It could seem that destiny had another plan that did not match his.

They left New Tatani after nightfall, moving south beneath a sky drowned in stars while cold desert wind rolled endlessly across the dunes. The squad traveled at full speed from the moment they cleared the outer settlements, bodies cutting through the darkness in long controlled strides that barely disturbed the sand beneath them. Cloaks snapped violently behind them while moonlight flashed across stone ridges and shifting dunes as they crossed the open desert without slowing. Sagiri remained at the front, masked and silent, his pace relentless enough that the others were forced to maintain complete focus to keep formation behind him.

But even among them, N’varu moved differently.

The desert seemed to belong to him.

He crossed the dunes with frightening smoothness, his body leaning low as he accelerated over unstable ground that should have slowed anyone else. Sand barely held beneath his feet before he pushed off again, leaving no trails behind as he moved. Sometimes he disappeared completely into the dark stretches between dunes only to emerge far ahead seconds later like a shadow pulled across the desert itself. The farther they moved from Tatani, the faster N’varu became. He stopped running through the desert and began moving with it, gliding along descending dunes, launching across stone outcrops, then cutting sharply through valleys of black rock without ever losing momentum.

At one point, he surged so far ahead that the others almost lost sight of him entirely. All they could see was sand erupting along the desert surface in rapid bursts beneath the moonlight as he crossed impossible distances at terrifying speed. Even Sagiri glanced toward him briefly beneath the mask. N’varu has a Sand Shade for a reason. In the open desert, few people alive could match him once he fully released his movement.

He was strong in the south, just like Sagiri. Sagiri had never seen him move like that. His movements looked so free and effortless.

Sagiri shot forward to catch up with him and slow him down. He had never seen N’varu so free.

"You move quite like the desert winds..." Sagiri said, catching up. He stopped midway at the smile on N’varu’s face. After a moment, Sagiri looked away. He knew he was the reason N’varu moved north, yet he had denied him the right to come south with him for a whole year. Now seeing how free he was made him feel guilty.

If the mission went well, he would allow N’varu and the others to come south if they wished. He would leave the choice entirely up to them. They still had another year in war college, but they did not have to continue staying in the north and be his future spies if they did not wish it.

"You need to slow down, or we will lose the others," Sagiri said. Indeed, N’varu was untouchable in the sand of the desert.

The journey toward Thazir Capital continued deep into the night, the squad crossing enormous stretches of southern wasteland. They would hit the first civilization by evening the following day if all went well.