Dawn dyed the sea of sand orange-red. The rolling dunes resembled waves surging across a red sea, frozen beneath the deep blue sky.
The deep craters bombarded by one scarlet "meteor" after another last night had been smoothed over by yellow sand overnight. The charred corpses had been buried along with them, as though nothing had ever happened.
But that did not mean nothing truly had happened—
Watching the beastfolk harassing the walls retreat again and again until they vanished over the horizon, Uha Skullcrusher, commander of the islet guard, let out a long breath and patted a pureblood snakefolk beside him on the shoulder. "Today's finally fucking over. But don't let your guard down. Those damned green skins—the sandworms—will be back once they've filled their bellies."
Damn it, he always forgot he was a green skin himself. Half a green skin. Cursing those wild pigs who shared his bloodline meant cursing himself.
"Yes, sir!" Fortunately, the pureblood snakefolk beside him did not point out his slip. Otherwise, he would certainly have found a chance to kick over the fellow's breakfast.
Of course, "breakfast" was really just soup mixed with black rye flour. Roast the ground black rye over high heat, then pour hot water over it—not much nutrition, not enough to fill a belly, but still better than nothing.
These were the miserable days they had endured for over a month. Willpower alone kept them standing on the walls, resisting the beastfolk. He dared say they would not even need another half month. After no more than seven days on this diet, the enemies they faced would no longer be the beastfolk harassing them outside the walls, but their starving comrades beside them.
Fortunately, those days really did end today.
Uha pinched his shriveled biceps, listened to his stomach