Six lads plus a camel, the lives of the lads are cheaper. Some of them were orphans, some were runaway slaves, but most of them were outcasts—teenagers who had been abandoned because their families were too poor. When Shayib came to recruit workers, Jaya hadn't eaten for days.

Only the desperate will try to cross Carrickse, but as long as there is a small amount of property, the Shaib will be hired. Jaye looked through the campfire at the older lad sitting across from him. A few strands of whiskers had emerged from Shaib's face, and his voice had become thicker. Very few lads have survived the desert for a few seasons. If you make money, you won't do it again. In addition to Shaib, he has been walking on Carricksee for almost a decade.

Shaib whistled, and the other lads immediately ran to him. He showed you how to peel the soles of your feet.

"Feel every step," he directed. "Start with your big toe on the ground and then roll outwards until the entire ball of your foot hits the ground. At this time, move the weight of the body from the back of the foot. "He stood and showed everyone how to walk in stride." Practice well," he continued. "If the camel goes too slowly, it will reveal our position. You have to be still, and you have to be fast. ”

On the first day, Jayer's feet were bleeding profusely; He almost fainted from the pain. After the caravan stopped, he continued to practice for a long time on the cold sand. By the fourth day, the pain was so intense that he had to find a piece of skin and bite it into his mouth, swallowing the pain. Shayib praised his technique.

Shayib laughed and told the other lads. "Come and see," he said. "Jaye walked quieter than I did. Learn his movements. Every step should be as light as a mouse and as far as an antelope. Yes, only then will it be possible to get out of Carricksee alive. ”

Jaya longs for the praise of his eldest brother and learns the basics of survival, so Shayib follows him wherever he goes. He saw Shayib resting with one foot raised and hovering over the pole of the spear. He saw Shaib re-knot the spear every morning, promising to make the fluttering flag stand out like palm leaves. He saw that Shaib's eyes had been regularly roaming the desert around him, over and over again, only stopping when he was sleeping.

In the second month, they arrived. Standing at the top of the dunes, Jaya could look down on the bones of the gods. No one knows what the monster looked like when it was alive, but to this day, its massive ribs still slanted into the sky, each casting a shadow large enough to cover the entire caravan. This skeleton meant that they were about to enter Calikse.

Northerners call Carrickse "the Sea of Bones", but that's a mistranslation. The Rai tribe had never seen the sea. "Sai" in the Rai language refers to plains of sand and gravel, making people walk slowly and painfully. It means that the land is already covered with tunnels. It means that Axy is here to hunt. It means that death is lurking beneath the gravel.

Before dawn, the lads set out with their camels, keeping a half-day's distance in front of the caravan.

The next day, Jaye discovered his first hole in the ground and waved the signal flag. Shayib walked up to him gently. They cautiously approached the hole and stopped a yard away. The diameter of the opening is not as large as that of a melon, but there is poisonous gas bubbling inside, which means that it has just been dug up. Shayib sent a young man back to redirect the caravan.

Jaya looked behind him and asked Shaib, "Can we kill that big Axey?" ”

Shaib scratched his chin and replied, "Their skin is getting harder and harder the older they get." A proud smile gradually appeared on his face. Last quarter I once killed an Exai the size of a jackal. We lost the camel, but I did kill it. ”

Jaye smiled too, sharing the pride of his mentor. But he couldn't help but ask, "Does Lexus really exist?" ”

Shayib shuddered, and his emotions immediately became solemn. "I've seen her." Before Jaya could inquire more about the legendary beast, Shaib stood up and told Jaya to keep going. They slowly left the burrow, listeners, waiting, patrolling the horizon for any moving shadows.

When Jaye heard the first bell, it took a while for him to understand the meaning of the bell. Something appeared from behind them, from the east. He's been so focused on finding hidden holes that he's forgotten to keep an eye on the horizon.

The camels cried, and Jaye began to look for the signal flags of the other boys. As far as he could see, he could see three flags.

The bell rang again. The guy who initially spotted Axey should now be disturbing the beast with a bell. Jaya had to drive the camels out of the caravan's original route and towards the sentinel's position. If the Sentry is still alive, Axy will chase the camel out of the caravan and the Sentry will be able to withdraw safely.

Jaya saw Shaib running towards him. The scrawny young man had now given up his skill of walking quietly, and was running at full speed towards the camel and Jaye. A cloud of sand suddenly appeared behind him, and Shayib immediately dropped the spear in his hand.

Jaye ran to the big bell hanging from the camel. He dragged the bell to the ground and struck it with all his might. Although the sand drowned out the sound, the thick bell still rang deafeningly. He kept ringing the bell, but the cloud of sand behind Shaib didn't change direction. Every second is getting closer.

It looks like Shaib is destined to be caught up. But instead of running or dodging to the side, he suddenly froze in place and shouted at the same time. "Don't move!"

The other lads all stood as still as they could. Just then, the old camel began to gallop.

When it was too late, a wave of energy burst out and crashed into them like a wall. The hairs on the back of Jaye's neck stood high

"It's close," Jaye whispered.

"No," Shaib said in a warning voice. "It's not close, it's big." It was the first time Jaye had seen the big brother's face show real fear.

Shaib scanned the desert for dorsal fins, sand, or anything else. Then he estimated the distance. "The caravan is too far away from us. If it is led away by camels, we can reach the rocky terrain over there. ”

Jaya turned around in despair, searching for the creature that had been lurking. "Where did you go?"

In the distance, they heard the painful howls of camels. Then its howl came to an abrupt end.

"What is it to kill a camel so quickly?" Jaye asked.

Shaib urged them to move forward at once. "We must reach the rocky terrain," his tone was categorical.

So they started running.

They all obeyed Shaib's orders, sometimes stopping abruptly, sometimes striding quietly. Jaye can only hope that Shaib's old experience will work.

But the black rock seemed to be deliberately avoiding them. No matter how far they went, the distance in front of them didn't seem to shorten. So they ran, and then the clouds cast a shadow over the sun. They ran, their tracks blown away by the wind and sand. They ran, knowing that Axey was not far behind, knowing that it could hear every stumble, every stumble. They ran, knowing that it was catching up, knowing that every miss would bring it closer to themselves.