As soon as the caravan entered the desert, Msaka found that he was expected to ride up at the front, the better to help spot any dangers lurking about. He spent much of his time with staff in hand, scanning ahead for magical dangers, while the other scouts continued watching for more mundane threats.

He discovered to his displeasure that the desert heat was greater than he'd anticipated. It still wasn't too bad, all in all, but he was acutely aware that the robe he had bought from the merchant was keeping the heat from being much worse. Not that he appreciated wearing it any more than before; he still found it to be very bulky and constraining in feel.

Still, things could have been worse. There were usually few troubles to deal with during the day, other and only slightly more at night, when the odd looking but dangerous creatures these people called scorpions were more active, and the equally troublesome beasts called ghouls began their hunt. Those sorts of attackers, however, operated alone rather than in bands, and there was little difficulty in disposing of them when they did try to attack.

The journey was nearing its end, Msaka knew, and he found himself anticipating their arrival in the city of Shapier more and more. Still, it would be a few days yet. He continued in his duties, trying his best to ignore the monotony of it. It wasn't easy though. The other areas had at least had features, unlike this region of endless sand.

* * *

Msaka cast his detection spell once again, gazing at the area ahead. There was no response to his spell, and he announced that fact to the merchant next to him. The merchant nodded, and resumed his tale of the ancient war which had occurred between a ruler of the land and a genie known as Iblis. Msaka supressed a sigh, and transferred his staff to his other hand, considering the usefulness of surreptitiously casting the Earplugs spell so he didn't have to listen any longer. "No," he finally decided, annoyed, "It might be important later, and if he does change the subject, I won't be able to tell."

He rode on for a while longer, occasionally repeating his magic, as the merchant wound up his story with the binding of Iblis by the victorious Sultan. Msaka thought for a brief moment that he might get at least a short respite from the seemingly endless legends of the merchant's homeland, but the merchant had other ideas, and launched into a description of the events of last year, a much more detailed version of what Msaka had already learned from the conversations he had overheard previously.

Msaka suppressed a growl of annoyance, and cast his spell again, knowing that it would at least momentarily distract him from the merchant's monologue. This time, his spell showed him something - something that caused his stomach to tie itself in knots.

"Stop now!" he hissed, pulling the reins of his saurus with his free hand. The merchant responded immediately, stopping his tale and barking a command to halt the caravan. The response was quick, and all movement quickly ceased, though many of the guards gripped their weapons, wary that an attack was coming.

"Yes effendi?" the merchant asked, obviously wanting to know why Msaka had demanded they stop. There was no visible threat, at least to those without magic. Msaka didn't respond, but instead recast his spell, and examined the area ahead more closely.

He saw the same thing. A large stretch of sand in the caravan's path was radiating magic, and the area that was stretched out of range of his spell. It was a very large magical effect, whatever it was, and Msaka sensed that it was hostile magic as well.

He scowled. Anyone with the ability to create that large an enchantment was well beyond his level of skill, and the fact that it seemed centered directly over where they had been about to pass told him that it had not been placed there by coincidence. He looked at the merchant. "Someone has laid a magical trap in front of us." he said grimly. "A large one. Whoever did it has a lot more magical power than I do."

The merchant gazed ahead for several moments, then asked, "What do you suggest, effendi? Can you tell what it would do? If you are able to, it would doubtless be of great service to all who lead caravans in this region."

"I can find out." Msaka nodded, "But there's no way to know if it is safe to." He raised his staff, and cast a different spell at the magic ahead - Trigger.

With a dull roar, an enormous stretch of sand - the entire area that the magical field covered, Msaka realized - started to swirl. It shifted quickly enough that anything in the area would almost certainly be knocked down. As everyone in the caravan watched, it became apparent that the sand was also swirling downward as well as in a circle, much like a whirlpool would on the water.

Msaka watched silently, but the merchant cursed loudly. "So that is what has been happening to the caravans! They have been dragged down to their deaths by this magic! Effendi, we must report this as soon as we arrive in Shapier!"

One of the guards nearby spoke up. "But why do this to caravans? What benefit would be gained?"

"Simple. Bury the caravan so everyone is killed, then use magic to loot what is wanted." Msaka said, frowning deeply at the scene before him. What he was witnessing was far beyond what anyone in his village could accomplish without an exhaustive ritual, and they certainly couldn't create a trap like this magic had been set up as. "If they have the power to do this, then taking things from the buried bodies would be easy. Or perhaps they use opposite magic to unearth the bodies to search, then bury them in the same way again afterwards." he finished. Whichever it was, he certainly didn't like to think about it.

A couple of minutes after being triggered, the magic ended, leaving the desert ahead looking much like before, save that there were no features to be seen on the surface of the sand. Msaka repeated his spell of detection. This time, there was no response to it. "The magic is gone." he announced. "But we should probably go around that area anyway, to be safe."

The merchant nodded, and began shouting orders. Soon, the caravan was moving again, carefully circling around the disturbed area. New rumors began moving among the guards just as quickly, all speculating on the event they had just witnessed and the cause. Msaka resumed his regular castings, concerned that another trap might be laid out for them, now that they had avoided this one.