Egypt. Sunny, sun-kissed Egypt. It was hotter than a tin roof in July, without it actually being July. It was so hot, Ivan was carrying a small keg, and it wasn't the fun kind. My uniform was sticking to me in some very uncomfortable places, and the umbrella Grey had handed me didn't really do anything but take up space in my hand.

We crested the next dune, and were rewarded by the amazing sight of even more sand dunes, wavering in the heat. Sand, as far as the eye could see... even my eyes, good as they were.

"Where are we supposed to be going, again?"

Ivan sighed. "The ancient city of something-or-other, some ruin out to the south of Cairo."

Okay, I had to ask. "And why are we going there, instead of staying in Cairo again?"

Cairo was a sweaty, nasty, smelly city full of thieves, murderers, and con-men. But at least it was civilization. Well, kind of. This was just a desert... and I'd seen ruins before; it was just another word for 'rubble'.

"Because that's where the sighting of the fire breathing teddy bear came from."

That made no sense. "What the hell was anyone doing out there?"

"Sightseeing and archeology, supposedly."

Ah, so the time honored pastime of all people in Egypt, native or not, eventually - Grave robbing.

"Is there even anything left to look for? I mean, it's Egypt, not Thailand or India."

Ivan shrugged. "Our contact seemed to think so, but how should I know? Do I look like a scientist to you?"

"Maybe? A Russian one?" Russian scientists tended to be tall and built, at least in my experience.

Ivan stopped and turned, giving me a stare that was probably supposed to be threatening or something, before adjusting the straps on the water keg and turning back. "It's too hot to fight."

Well on that we could agree.

"Aren't we supposed to be resting, and travel later in the day?" Alicia asked, her beard wilting.

"Sure, if you want to risk the scorpions being more active." Ivan answered.

Alicia jiggled all over; a full body shudder. She was such a wimp sometimes.

"Not to mention the snakes," Ivan added.

Alicia shuddered again. I don't know why she was worried, she was probably more poisonous than anything in this desert. I wasn't even sure what the big deal was, since they were both dressed for success, in robes and turbans in shades of brown. The garments were wool and smelled so strongly of camel that I had decided to go without. The smell was an improvement for some, however.

Not that I was regretting that decision or anything, even if my uniform made me stand out like a beacon out here.

I was getting tanned, despite my best efforts. Or maybe I was burning, despite my best efforts; I had no idea which one it would end up being, but it was going to be interesting, finding out.

Top another dune, and... find a bunch more dunes, just like five minutes ago. Because of course.

Still, it was an opportunity: "Are we there yet, Dad?"

Ivan took it in stride; his tone didn't match his words. "Don't make me pull this keg around, Sasha."

I could sense Alicia rolling her eyes behind me.
Back down another dune, and I was done. "Gray, go scout. Find this ruined city. From a distance, of course, don't get in range to get shot down or anything."

Gray gave me a look, the 'why are you telling me how to do what I know how to do?' look. Then he took off, straight up, and my visor beeped, getting a picture of the terrain ahead. At least he didn't sass me. I wonder why he didn't sass me? Maybe it was too hot for sass. I could respect that.

Another beep, and something popped up on my visor; an image of crumbling walls, half hidden by sand, helpfully outlined by a green frame around them. It was to the right of us, a mile or so right and ahead. My visor told me that would be South and West, if I cared to know.

"Ivan! We're too far East. We have to go that way," I pointed. "Well, if this picture is your ruins that is. I suppose it could be some other ruins."

"Not likely out here," Ivan said, giving his verdict. "This place was well off the beaten path, even before the path of the Nile changed. There isn't anything else out here, or at least nothing else known to be out here."

I shrugged and took the lead. Gray was still feeding me information, so it was easy to alter our course; we reached the wall with few problems. It was large, made of cut blocks bigger than I was, but despite the look of ancient permanence it was so low we could vault it . Or maybe that was 'the dunes were so high'?

The wind started picking up, so of course the sand started blowing around. As expected, the other side of the wall was much farther down than this side; now that I was here, Gray decided he could get closer, and my visor was still showing me what he saw. We'd have to repel down it, to reach the city. Because there was an actual city there, with crude buildings as far as the eye could see.

Another green box came up on the image, this one at the wall itself. There was motion down there... a snake, taking shelter from the heat. So Gray could see living things that weren't witches, including very small things, that was good to know.

Nothing else was moving down there.

"Snake down there. Other than that, no movement."

"Are we hungry?" Ivan asked.

I pulled. "We will be."

A single shot and the head of the snake was gone, fangs included. The shot was silent since it was low power - there was no worry about giving our position away. Sure the flash might have, but anyone close enough to see that was someone Gray would have seen from his bird's eye.

Alicia tied a rope around a block and tested it. "Who's ready to be out of the sun?"

There were no knots on the rope so I took the time to pull some gloves on. "Go ahead, it's safe."

I also wanted Alicia to go first since she was the one most likely to pull the block off the top of the wall, if that was possible. I didn't trust three thousand year old mortar.

Alicia plunged off the edge with another shrug; the rope snapped rather loudly as the slack was pulled taut, but held, and surprisingly the stone held too. Maybe it weighed more than it looked to, I don't know. Ivan was next while I scanned for anyone looking for us.

No giant bear and no giant rage dragon. they weren't exactly known for their subtlety. Neither was I, really - Gray had to tell what the word meant, not that I'd ever let anyone else know. Subtle was another word for hiding, and none of us would ever be known for that. Even my Dad had never been one to hide.

Ivan was already spreading the canvas that would give us shelter from the heat, and Alicia was working on the framework for it. It was a little silly, but the government in Cairo had asked us to 'preserve the artifacts' which included not hammering any holes in walls, apparently. As if that would stop a witch from razing this entire place, once the fighting started.

It might even have been why dear old Olivia chose to go to ground here; it would be the type of place she would know about, the normal hardships of living here wouldn't matter to her, and she would count of the government being worried to attack her here because of their precious cultural history or something.

Whatever, it wasn't my problem. I promised that I'd try, but nothing more. I probably shouldn't have even done that much.

"You going to do anything useful or just stand in the way?" Alicia asked me.

I moved. "Sorry, was just making sure we weren't about to die from something."

Alicia knew what I meant, but she wasn't about to give up. "Oh, is that what they call staring off into space now?"

She was angling for something. "What do you want, hunter Alicia?"

A collapsible tent pole got stabbed into the ground where I'd been standing. "How about you handle the fire and the food?"

One tent pole was pointing to the snake, still leaking blood all over the sand near our new camp. I picked it up and went looking for a surface.

The skinning wasn't an issue, since the venom wasn't an issue; no head, no venom sacs. A few quick cuts with a knife and that was done. The real issue was going to be the fire to cook it and stay warm when the desert got cold. Since we didn't have any animals, we didn't have any dung, so we couldn't burn that. There wasn't any wood out here, or if the was, it was all the type of 'artifact' I wasn't supposed to touch.

We had a backup supply of coal, but it wasn't all that much.

I was far enough away that any conversation I had wouldn't be overheard. I decided to kick it upstairs. "Gray, do you see any wood or a source of fuel for a fire around? Within easy walking distance?"

Gray headed back into the sky, almost directly up. "I'll scan for it."

I really should do it myself; it would be very easy to grow too dependent on Gray, and I was at risk enough already.

Nothing really left to do, so I decided to check on my own, after all, two searching increased the chances of finding something.

I could have Gray leave my range. My visor still told me where he was, or at least, and then all that was left was a direction; just how far away did he go? From the top of the largest pile of rocks around, something that looked like a kind of bridge of all things, I saw what looked to be trees and greenery - an oasis? Here? Nah it had to be the desert playing tricks on me, there wasn't supposed to be any water out here, let alone trees.

But things that shouldn't be made me nervous, even if they didn't really exist, so remaining upright and marking myself for possible fire (rather from bear, dragon, or witch) was not in the cards. I couldn't get as far down as I wanted due to my front; how did Alicia handle it? She was worse off than I was, if only by being bigger all around.

Oh right, she didn't hide, that's how she handled it.

"Sasha, you've lowered your parasol."

What the hell was a parasol? "A what? And how can you talk to me from this far away?"

Gray sighed so loudly it had to be for my benefit. "The umbrella, Sasha, hold it up again. And A radio built into your visor. Or magic, if you prefer."

I slid off the bridge, which was a bit more painful than I liked due to the two reasons that I couldn't lower myself on the hard surface as much as I liked in the first place. Landing on my feet I dusted myself off a bit and re-opened my umbrella.

"There should not be any "I know what a radio is, jackass. But with no wires, and inside my visor? It's too small for that."

"Magic, then," Gray returned. "I am on my way, mission accomplished."

What, already? "Can you do me a favor and check, um, coordinates... oh whatever. Just check a mile or so in front of me, to confirm if there is an oasis on the other side of this shithole."

"Such an easily obtained source of water in this area."

Yes, thank you, Gray. "I know that, That's why I want you to check it out."

The response didn't take long. "Well, it seems there is an easily obtained source of water. A shaft drilled into an underground river, and a pond formed with non-porous stone."

That sounded almost mundane. "So, magic?"

Another sigh for my benefit. "Yes Sasha, magic."

"Right, get back here, and make sure you aren't seen."

"On my way."

Mere seconds later, he was behind me. I couldn't see him, but he was a dot on my visor. I could also feel him. Or sense him, with my anti-sneaking up sixth sense. Yeah, that's what it was.

"So, where's the wood? Or dung, or whatever?"

I knew I'd made a mistake as soon as I said it. I could feel the smug disbelief, or whatever it was, rolling off Gray in waves.

"I did not choose to defile my spacecraft with dung, Sasha. The wood is safe."

Whatever. "Too good for poop, huh? Everyone poops, Gray."

If anything the feeling got worse. "I do not poop, Sasha."

Wait, Gray didn't poop? Come to think of it, I'd never seen him go to the bathroom.

"I don't think I can work with you anymore, Gray."

"Ha. Ha." Gray deadpanned, right on cue.

Gray made his ship visible as I strode into camp - I could see the sparkles out of the corner of my eye.

I started arranging the nearest rocks, shattered remains of bricks and weathered squares that looked to have been carved to trap fire's heat centuries ago. "So where is this wood? I don't see anything in your ship."

Not that there was a lot of space in that thing anyway, but there was nothing behind his chair.

"Of course you don't." More sparkles, this time with some red mixed into the blue, and a large stack of wood, corded and cut and almost as tall as I was, came to be.

"If I had stuck my arm over there while that was happening...."

"You'd have a very interesting appendage right now." Gray answered.

Curiousity killed the cat, and all that. "Right, remind me not to do that, and for good measure, warn me when you're going to do that kind of thing again."

My two fellow hunters were gaping at me, though with Ivan it was more than simple shock.

"Do I even want to know where you got all that from?"

I regarded Ivan for a moment, then turned back to Gray before answering his question. "I'm guessing you don't. And I don't either, for the record."

Gray shrugged his little shoulders. "Not from anyone near this location, nor from anyone who will notice or care."

Ivan stared at Gray, who was apparently making himself visible to everyone else today, and Gray added: "They are also still alive, there is no need to worry."

Ivan decided to let it go. "Were you seen?"

I looked away from Gray to find that instead of Ivan giving him the third degree, Ivan was instead giving me the third degree. "Of course I was seen, what the hell, Ivan?!? This ain't my first hunt."

Ivan opened his mouth, then noticed where my hands were. Which meant I noticed where my hands were; when had they drifted there?

"My bad - I wasn't actually mad or anything."

Ivan opened up again, and this time completed his thought. "Who are you, and what have you done to Sasha Norre?"

"Ha. Not an imposter, just didn't really care." Was I wrong in saying I didn't want to fight over it? Was that odd for me? It might be, but I didn't think it was; I liked Ivan.

Ivan gave me a look I didn't know, but let it go and let me finish the fire circle and heating stones we'd need to survive the night. Not to mention, banking the fire so that it wouldn't show and the smoke wouldn't be visible for twenty miles in all directions.

I set a fire but left it unlit. I wanted to cook the snake meat, but drying it was probably best. Some salt and a few poles for the purpose, and I was all set to start.

I was bloody now though, and there was no way to wash off without wasting water; rubbing sand on my arms and hands could only do so much.

"Oh quit it Sasha, you're such a girl, I swear."

My hand was around Alicia's neck before I could blink, my off hand gun held barrel first at her eye so close the lash was brushing it. My finger was twitching, I stilled it with effort.

"Sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly. What did you say?"

Alicia's eyes were a little wide, but she didn't betray her surprise otherwise. "I was... stating facts?"

Shit. She kinda was, even if she had made it sound insulting. I couldn't even be mad at her. Well, all that mad; I kind of wanted to shoot her anyway, on principle alone, but my new guns might actually kill her, even on the lowest setting. I switched grips and helped her up. Helping Alicia almost caused me to pop an arm out of joint. "For the record, I was worried about the scent attracting predators tonight. Shooting random animals in the dark and giving our position away would be a hassle."

"Yeah, sure. That makes sense, but then, what's this?" Alicia asked me as innocently as she could manage while she grabbed my umbrella.

"Gray insisted I carry the darn thing, so ask him." There, that should shut her up.

It did; her eyes narrowed as she looked at our fourth.

"Do you do everything Gray asks you to?" Alright, I guess it wasn't enough to shut her up. The low grade threat was more unusual. I wasn't sure I liked it.

"You know I don't."

Gray stuck up for me. "Sasha has a delicate complexion, and is easily burned. Any such damage will degrade her appearance, and such an outcome is to be avoided."

I wasn't sure I wanted Gray sticking up for me.

"See? Even Gray think's you're...." Ivan slapped a hand around Alicia's mouth before she could say the rest, looking tired.

"It's too hot for this shit. If you can't stop sniping at each other, just don't say anything at all."

I was about to point out that I hadn't actually said anything 'snipey' yet, but decided to let it go. It really was too hot for this. It didn't stop me from finding the shadiest spot of our shelter and plunking down.

Silently, of course, just to mess with my fellow companions - after all, if I didn't say anything, how would they know if I was mad or not? I spread a blanket, more to slow the sand down than anything else, A quick pat of my pack, and it became a nice enough pillow.

That was a lie, it was a terrible pillow, but it was better than a rock, so I was fine. We'd be moving at night; normally we'd talk out who had what watch, but I wasn't supposed to talk so I was taking the first nap.

Ivan set his own blanket up beside me, and stretched out. He was asleep as soon as he closed his eyes, which was a trick I used to be able to pull off. Not that I missed that useful skill or anything.

I rolled over and Gray was there, big buggy eyes already closed, sharing my blanket, and also already asleep; I hadn't heard or felt him get closer. He shouldn't be able to do that, right? I thought witches knew where their other half was at all times. That was something I should probably write down... later.

Gray woke me. "Sasha, we have trouble."

I rolled, upsetting several snakes who had decided at some point that I was a good source of warmth; they all slithered off rather than biting me as soon as I moved. Gray wasn't looking at those, however.

Instead he was looking past the form of Alicia, hunched over in the gloom, past the set fire, past the now setting sun - to the massive red dragon winging it's way lazily past the ruin.