by Adam D Jones
Raine focused on his steps. He had grown to appreciate being silent, but now there would be endless questions. At least, Raine realized with a shake of his head, it would prepare him for the inquisition his own people would put him through.
But these two deserve answers. They’ve earned that. Raine looked at Dawn and Marshal, marveling that here were two Republic citizens treating him with respect.
“I’m a storyteller by training. That’s what we do. They teach us things and we have to be able to remember the story—exactly—on the first try.”
“That’s how you remembered about the chemicals, right?” asked Dawn. “You saw me get them from my satchel and memorized it, just like that?”
“Just like that,” said Raine. “It’s easy once you’re used to it.”
He noticed Marshal had closed his book again and now watched Raine as they walked. He finally understood what his teachers had said: Your own story is the most difficult to tell.
Raine let out a sigh and began: “Since I was a boy, I knew I was gifted. Lots of Lodi, for one reason or another, start to believe they are Gifted. The old ones knew they were Gifted and went to be trained, without question. Now we are laughed at when we insist on having that Gift. And for good reason. No Lodi who has claimed the Gift has been able to prove it, not in countless generations. Even when our people have come into possession of Dae stones, none of the gifted could figure out how to use one.”
“Until now!” said Dawn. “What you just did...it’s the same thing we do in the facilities, we add fire or something else to a Dae mixture...but it’s like you’re the fire.”
“I suppose.” Raine had no idea how it worked. “I lived in Sirap, with my family. There I was trained to be a Keeper, to one day shepherd the Lodi, but I only wanted to know about Dae stones. Many came to know of my curiosity, and eventually soldiers arrived in Sirap.”
“Mole,” said Marshal. “I’m startin’ to think every Lodi town has a Republic spy.”
Raine gritted his teeth. Traitors among the Lodi was something he couldn’t bear to think about.
They have to believe me, now. Raine wanted to see the look on the Keepers’ faces when they saw his gift, when they remembered calling him a delusional, foolish child. This is going to change everything.
◆◆◆
Raine told his story as they walked, letting the desert’s silence fill in the emptiness at the end of his tale. He quietly watched sand tumble off dunes and listened to the distant howls of the wind, all to keep from dwelling on what had happened to his family.
“We use thermometers to measure the heat in the lab,” said Dawn, mostly to herself. “It’s a heat output similar to a bonfire that makes sand ships run. Tremendous energy. Nothing could make that much sand move, though, not from just a handful of ingredients. We’d need barrel fulls.”
“The ingredients burned up,” said Raine. “If that helps.”
Dawn counted on her fingers. “You holding on to the stone is like...if I made enough fires to...do you have any idea what—”
“Look!” Marshal pointed to their left.
A line of smoke rose on the horizon.
“Is that where we’re going?” asked Marshal.
“No,” said Raine flatly. “No. That’s is not where we’re going.”
He stopped and watched the dark plume rise. Another line of smoke went up near it.
“Nothing is out here,” said Rain. “Nothing. Those are travelers. But...no one travels out here either.”
“We are,” pointed out Dawn.
“Yes, but we’re going somewhere. No one just travels out here for recreation. There’s no wells and almost no game. Even the growlers are scarce.”
“Those are campfires, though,” said Marshal. “Looks like they’re cooking lunch. If they douse those flames soon, we’ll know they’re in a hurry.”
“But what are they doing out here?” Raine watched the smoke rise, feeling his chest tighten in anger. “No one knows about...”
It wasn’t possible. If Marshal was right, spies hid in every Lodi settlement. But not everywhere. Raine’s mind rebelled at the thought. They can’t know about—
“The Dunes?” asked Marshal.
What?
Raine spun on him. “What did you say?”
“The Dunes,” Marshal replied casually. “Isn’t that where we’re going?”
Raine felt blood rushing to his face. “How can you know that? How can anyone who isn’t Lodi know that?” It wasn’t possible.
Marshal held up the journal. “That’s where those ships were headed.”
It was the most profane thing Raine had ever encountered. He had seen his family killed by Republic soldiers and watched the Lodi in Gamon being bullied by the Patricians, but nothing had made him so angry as hearing Marshal say those words—The Dunes—and knowing his people’s most delicate secret had somehow been laid out for everyone to see.
“Give me that.” Raine advanced on Marshal and reached for the journal. “It’s not possible, Marshal.”
Marshal opened the journal and pointed to a scribbled sentence near the top of the page.
“It’s hard to read it,” said Marshal. “But he mentions The Dunes a few times. It’s where they were going.”
“That explains why we weren’t alone out here.” Dawn stood by Raine and began reading alongside him. “I knew it was strange to see so many sandships this far out.”
The long string of tiny, sloppy letters ended in two carefully written words: The Dunes. Raine found it again on the same page, and each time written with slow deliberation, like it was a new word and the captain had wanted to spell it just right.
“They can’t get to The Dunes.” Raine snapped the book shut and handed it back to Marshal. “They can’t.”
Marshal looked toward the campfires. As they watched, the smoke from the first one faded and disappeared.
“Not taking long for lunch, are they?” said Marshal. “We can follow their trail and see where they’re headed, but I wouldn’t want them to catch us.”
“They’re ahead of us,” admitted Raine. “If they happen to be going the right way then they’ll destroy The Dunes before we can even get there.”
“I don’t think they know where they’re going,” said Dawn. “Those sandships and that caravan weren’t on the same heading. It’s like they’re all just exploring in different directions out here, hoping to find it.”
“That group’s gotten further than the others,” said Raine. “If they keep their heading…they might get there. We won’t even have time warn anyone”
Dawn pointed to a place ahead of them where the desert rose, up and up, and formed a tall ledge. “I have an idea.”
23
Second Light touched the horizon when they finished their climb.
Perched atop the stony ledge, where a few tall rocks lifted themselves to cast long shadows across the flat top of the rise, Raine, Dawn, and Marshal crouched low and watched the distant caravan. Five wagons, each pulled by four horses, made their way across the desert. Behind each hung a cloud of dirt like a pursuing specter.
“They goin’ the right way?” asked Marshal.
Raine nodded. It seemed wrong to tell Marshal anything about The Dunes, and even this slight assent made him uneasy.
Dawn reached into her pouch. “I’ve got something...Raine, hold out your hand.” She produced a few vials.
Raine looked at the ingredient bottles. “Aren’t you going to tell me what it is?”
“Why? Do you think you’d recognize the chemical names?”
Raine stared. Dawn, is this your first time to leave your lab? She closed the satchel and looked back at him, waiting for an answer. He shook his head in resignation and held out his palm.
She poured a thick liquid into his hand and then added a few flecks of a white powder. “I need to know if you can do...less. Less than last time.”
Raine pursed his lips. “Sure...”
“Good. This has
to be subtle.” She mixed the ingredients. “There. Make a fist to hold on to the mixture, then...do it.”
Raine noticed Marshal leaning in, eyebrows raised.
“You, uh, want to tell us what’s going to happen when he...does it?” asked Marshal.
“Didn’t I tell you?” Dawn looked back and forth at them. “It just glows. Same stuff they use in Gamon to make street lamps. But it should be weaker because I didn’t use a strong mixture.”
Raine looked at the stone. “You want me to build a lamp?”
“No! Why would I want you to build a lamp?”
“Dawn.” Marshal took a long breath. “Just tell us what we’re doing. We’re not scientists.”
Raine watched Dawn’s face grow long at the realization she would have to explain her entire idea.
“If Raine makes this Dae stone glow, and holds it up, they’ll see it and think it’s a light twinkling from The Dunes, or some other settlement they don’t know about. They’ll head this way and be thrown off course.”
“See!” said Marshal. “Simple. Why didn’t we think of that?”
Raine walked to the edge of the cliff and held out the stone. This will probably work. Unless I can only do it once a day or something. For crying out loud, I hope those two don’t realize I’m making this up as I go. The last time it had happened without effort. Without trying. He simply wanted—
The stone glowed.
His hand tingled as the ingredients burned, and Raine realized he was closing his eyes.
Less. Do less!
Raine focused his mind on the stone. Less. Less. Less.
The stone stopped glowing.
“Don’t stop!” shouted Dawn. “I don’t think they’ve seen it yet.”
Well, excuse me.
Raine concentrated and the stone glowed again, but not as strongly as before. A moment later, the light intensified. Too bright. Precision is going to be tough. Raine slowed his breathing and managed to dull the glow.
“There!” said Marshal. “You can stop now.”
Raine opened his hand, and what remained of the mixture fell out of his palm. Only a few specs had not burned up.
The caravan slowed, and the lead horses turned toward the rise.
“Hopefully it looked like a distant light,” said Dawn. “They should travel a long way before they realize there’s nothing over here.”
“Good plan,” said Marshal, “but they’ll be here in twenty minutes. It’ll be dark by then. Looks like they’re headed around the north side, so if we head down the other way they should miss us completely...” He trailed off, turning his head behind them.
A woman emerged from behind one of the stones.
She walked tall, with dark hair and arresting green eyes that stared Raine down from under the brim of her hat. She took two strong steps to get close and shoved him hard with both hands.
Raine staggered toward the edge. His arms windmilled helplessly. He sensed the vast emptiness of the desert behind him and the great empty space opening beneath him.
“Raine!” Dawn ducked under the woman’s grasp and grabbed him around the waist. Her boots skidded against the ground. She grimaced and pulled back on him, somehow keeping them both from falling over.
The woman raised fists.
“Not so fast.” Marshal grabbed her collar.
The woman spun and threw off his hand, then swung a fist into his jaw. Marshal’s knife flashed sunlight as he struck back, quick as a snake, but the woman stepped aside. Her boot found his belly and doubled him over.
Dawn had crept away from the ledge and pulled her curved sword from its scabbard. She held it right in front of her, gripped tightly in both hands, then raised it high and yelled. The cutlass fell in a quick arc, but the woman gripped the blade with her thick gloves and easily wrested it from Dawn’s hands.
Dawn stepped away, breathing heavily. The strange woman turned her attention back to Marshal, who had regained his stance.
The chemicals! Dawn’s pouch sat next to Raine. He knelt and threw it open. “Dawn, I need something!”
Dawn stumbled back, shaking her head.
Dawn, I need your brain right now!
Raine could see she was shaken. He’d seen Lodi look the same when they were bullied. “Listen to me, Dawn, just concentrate—”
A tall shadow fell over him. Raine looked up and saw the interloper rushing his way. Behind her, Marshal struggled on his knees, touching a wound on his forehead. The woman kicked her scarred boot toward Raine.
Raine rolled to his side. She missed, but her foot had connected with something else. He turned and saw a round shape flying away from them.
The Dae stone.
She had kicked it toward the ledge.
“No!” He watched it roll toward the desert and he thrust himself toward it, reaching his hand out. The Dae stone spun at the very edge of the rise and then rolled off, just beyond Raine’s outstretched fingers. He looked over and saw it fall, end-over-end, and then bury itself into a pale dune. In moments, the wind blew sand over it and the Dae stone disappeared.
It’s gone.
The woman, unconcerned about Raine, turned away from him.
No. Raine told himself it wasn’t gone. It took every ounce of his inner strength to keep from hurling himself over the ledge after it. Raine promised himself he would memorize where it fell and find it.
You’ve been in the desert your whole life; you know better. You could search for it until you have grandchildren.
Raine slammed his palms down in frustration. Looking for that Dae stone was about as clever as sitting still and waiting for another one to roll by.
“Help me!” shouted Marshal.
The woman still held Dawn’s sword. She swung it at Marshal and knocked his knife from his hands. Seeing she had over-extended herself, Marshal advanced and threw a fist into her shoulder. The woman took his punch in stride and swung again, bringing the wide flat of the blade against his face.
Dawn rushed in, her head low. The woman stepped aside and pushed Dawn down as she ran past. Raine stood to take his turn, but she kicked at the ground and an eruption of sand slammed into his eyes, blinding him.
Who is that?
In his blurred vision, he saw her pick up Marshal’s knife and advance on him. There were more sounds of fighting and when Raine blinked he saw clearly for a moment, just long enough to see Marshal on his back as the woman fell on him. She moved the knife toward Marshal’s eye and then Raine’s vision dimmed again.
“Birdshot!” Marshal screamed.
What did he say?
“Green rose. Gilded prow!”
He’s gone mad.
Raine wandered toward the sounds. He could see the woman’s form kneeling over Marshal while they grappled.
“Together and separate?” Marshal continued. “Fold zan—oh, Almighty, the last thorn!”
Raine suddenly heard nothing. The desert waited, still and quiet. He wiped at his eyes, hating himself for being so useless.
“Marshal,” said Dawn. “Are you...”
“I’m fine,” came Marshal’s dumbfounded voice. “I’m...just fine.”
Raine looked up and blinked. He could see. About time.
The woman stood before Marshal, who was getting to his feet. She kept her hands folded behind her back and stood with her chin up, shoulders back.
“How can I help you, sir?” she said.
“Well, I’ll be...” Marshal whispered. He circled the waiting woman while dusting himself off. “Thought I’d seen it all.”
Dawn gasped. “She’s a husk! And you...you figured out her command phrase!”
“Failsafe. I just guessed,” said Marshal. “I wondered if any of my old command phrases would work and started trying them all. You know, I might have even met this woman, back in my day.”
“It’s been eight years since you were a soldier,” said Dawn, skeptically. “I haven’t heard of many husks lasting that long in the field.”
“Ei
ght years, at the least.” Marshal stood behind the woman and tapped her on the back of the head. He smiled when she didn’t respond. “Crazy idea, I know, but I figured it was worth a shot since she was starting to get the upper hand.”
“Marshal,” said Dawn, “she was about to pry out your eyeball.”
Marshal tapped his forehead. “That’s what I wanted her to think.” Marshal gave the strange woman a shove. She wavered and then straightened up. “Husk, fetch my weapon and bring it to me.”
“Yes, sir.”
She retrieved his knife and brought it back, holding it her outstretched palm.
“Much obliged.” Marshal took the blade and slipped it back into the scabbard behind his vest.
“I hope you’re happy,” said the woman.
Raine advanced on her. “What did you say?”
“Nothing,” snapped Marshal. “They babble sometimes. They’re not perfect. Especially the older ones. Too much time with a messed-up head. More time they spend alive the crazier they get.” He looked the woman in the eye. “Folks call me Marshal. Understand? That’s Raine, and that one’s Dawn.”
The woman gave a curt nod. “My name is Amelia. I serve with the First Desert Division.”
“The Growlers?” asked Marshal. “That’s a top-notch group.”
She pumped her fist skyward. “Go Growlers!”
Marshal shook his head. “Haven’t seen any cocky soldiers do that in a long time.” He looked at Dawn and Raine. “Kids, looks like we have our very own husk.”
“If she’s yours, then order her to get my Dae stone,” said Raine.
“What?” Marshal hurried over to the edge of the rise and looked down.
“I saw it fall.” Raine pointed to where it landed. “Your new friend knocked it down there.”
The husk stood next to them. “I needed to remove your strongest weapon.”
“Strongest weapon?” Raine searched her eyes, seeing nothing. “A Dae stone isn’t a weapon. You are!”
She didn’t respond, but stood like a soldier waiting for orders. Raine wished she could at least have the sense to feel insulted.