Desert Pursuit

After dusk, the setting sun stretched the shadows of the dunes. Ryan and Mo Lei followed a faint trail of footprints for five kilometers. Sand Nail's tracks came and went, but they always pointed deeper into the Russe Desert. Mo Lei lifted a pinch of fine sand with her dagger and checked the depth of a print. "The ball of his foot sank less than before. He's deliberately slowing down. He might be injured."

Ryan nodded. He sent Eye fifty meters into the air and switched it to thermal imaging. On the display, the dune shadows showed up cold, except for a faint patch of red to the southwest. Ryan removed his eyepiece. "There's still some heat over there. He probably stopped there for a moment."

They left the motorcycles off and continued on foot. After nightfall, currents beneath the sand kept shifting, and the tires could easily sink into loose sand. Even with the weighted armor on his back, Ryan's steps were firm, grains crunching beneath his feet. Mo Lei matched his pace, her breathing steady.

Half an hour later, they reached the shaded side of the dune where the heat lingered. A small pool of dark blood stained the ground, with bits of herb stems and leaves scattered around it. Mo Lei crouched to take a sample, then held it close to her nose. "A local herb commonly used to stop bleeding. He lost quite a bit of blood. But finding herbs to treat himself out here means he knows the terrain well."

Ryan surveyed the area. The dunes narrowed toward the west, forming a crescent-shaped hollow. A few shrubs grew at its bottom, where a shallow fissure was just visible. Mo Lei looked along it. "Looks like an abandoned water channel down there. He may be hiding