Pauma placed her own paws over Alamor’s and Hinton’s friendly clasp. “We wouldn’t have it any other way, lad,” she told him, a smile reaching from one end of her snout to the other. “Don’t you worry. That magic sense of yours is going to bring you and the Princess back together soon enough. I’m positive of it!”
Alamor returned a similarly broad smile to Pauma. “It really means a lot to me to hear you say that.”
Hinton eased back. He squared up where he sat, and something of a rakish grin came over his face. “You know, it may not be my place to ask this, but it’s been on my mind ever since I met you two kids, and I can tell you for sure that it’s been on Pauma’s mind, as well. You and the Princess…I realize you two are friends…but is that exactly what you think of her?”
Alamor knew what Hinton was trying to glean from him. It was hardly the first time someone had asked Alamor that question. In the past, it always made Alamor incredibly uncomfortable; he could think of countless instances where he had frozen up in embarrassment. His face would turn as red as his armor, and he would stumble on his words to speak a futile fib.
But this time, Alamor did not feel the slightest bit awkward about it. He actually felt a tinge of satisfaction coming over him. “I’m madly in love with her.”
The blunt, honest response sent Hinton falling back with a hearty guffaw. Alamor was quite amused at the Bachu’s reaction. “I knew it!” Hinton said, making sure to quiet his laughter as not to wake the others. “Nothing wrong with a guy and girl being good friends, but I had no doubt in my wild mind that you’re crazy for the young lass!”
Pauma rolled her eyes at her husband’s remarks. “I think anyone who sees the two of them together could have figured that out,” she said, and glanced at Alamor. “No offense, lad.”
Alamor shrugged nonchalantly. “None taken.”
“But this begs another question, if you don’t mind,” Pauma continued. “Have you ever told her about this?”
Alamor’s smile quickly grew rigid. “Nope.”
“And what about the Princess?” Pauma pressed. “I can see it in her that she’s not exactly platonic about you, either. Has she ever told you what’s brewing in her heart?”
All Alamor could do was shake his head in response.
“Well, why in blazes not!?” Pauma suddenly burst out. It was as if she was genuinely exasperated to hear that Alamor and Raissa had never pursued their feelings for one another.
Alamor veered his sheepish expression from Pauma’s frustrated gaze. “There’s a few different reasons for it, at least on my end,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
“I doubt any of them justify it,” Pauma shot back.
“I mean, you’re probably right,” Alamor conceded. “For the longest time, I didn’t say anything because I felt that there was no possible way for the Princess of the kingdom and a simple soldier to be together. It’s one thing for royalty to secretly love a common citizen, but it’s a whole other matter to have a public romance. I was also terrified of being rejected, especially as the years went on where we were friends. Once that truth gets out, there’s no taking it back, and if Raissa didn’t—or couldn’t—reciprocate it, well, our friendship would become the most awkward friendship in the world.”
“Yet, she never found anyone else, now did she?” Pauma pointed out.
It’s like Pauma’s an expert on this subject… Alamor thought to himself, almost stupefied by how the Bachu was able to read him. “No. In all of the years that I’ve known Raissa, she’s never found herself a suitor. Even during that time when we didn’t see each other.”
Pauma’s expression softened. She was not trying to tease or badger Alamor any longer. She was entirely sincere. “That sounds to me like she’s determined to wait for the perfect fella—and that’s you.”
“I’m not really sure if a mission to save the entire kingdom is the right time to be proclaiming my love to her,” Alamor said dryly.
Hinton nearly leapt back to his feet. “All the more incentive, then, for us to find the Princess and see this adventure through! Once this is all over with, and your jobs are done, you can let her know what’s really welling up in that heart of yours. I have to agree with the wife on this one—it sure sounds like fate has a plan in mind to make sure you two are together for life!”
Alamor could not help but smile. Everything that Hinton said sounded overdramatic. Yet Alamor found himself being persuaded by the Bachus’ combined encouragement. “Maybe when this is all done, I’ll finally tell her.”
Pauma nodded approvingly. “You better. And by the earth and sky, lad, I truly hope it all works out for you two.”
Alamor acknowledged Pauma’s earnest words graciously before he looked out into the horizon. Below lay the cold, murky desert, and above was the endless night sky, where thousands of distant galaxies and stars radiated within the darkness.
Between them was Raissa’s magical presence that still called out to him.
Alamor had believed for a few days that he would find his way to Raissa, but Pauma and Hinton had made him that much more confident that he would soon be reunited with her—and he was never more eager to see her than he was now.
20
“Hey, what do you think that is over there?” Rawner asked aloud.
Alamor looked in the direction where Rawner pointed. A group of dark, block-like objects stood in the otherwise empty stretch of desert not half a mile from where they stood. Alamor squinted his eyes to get a clearer view into the hazy horizon, but he could not make out any more detail on the shapes.
“I can’t really tell,” Alamor admitted, and let out a great yawn. For some reason, he did not sleep very well the night before following his long conversation with the Bachus. Even though it was nearly noon, he still had not quite regained his bearings. “A bunch of boulders, maybe?”
Rawner did not appear to agree. “I don’t know, they seem awfully large to just be boulders,” he said, still staring ahead at them.
The Bachus joined Alamor and Rawner and also stopped to peer into the distance. Their eyes narrowed until they were nearly closed before Hinton spoke up. “They’re not boulders from what I can see. Nope, if I’m not mistaken, those are houses!”
“Houses?” Alamor blurted in disbelief. “Are you sure?”
“Yep, I’m seeing the same thing as him!” Pauma answered. “Those are definitely houses sitting out there.”
One of Hinton’s paws reached out from underneath the ray hide sack draped over his body as he pointed ahead. “If you can manage to look real close, you can see the roofs on them, and there’s even a couple of windows on their sides,” Hinton explained.
“I’m not going to be able to see any of that from here,” Alamor said flatly. “I’ll just take your word for it.”
Rawner squinted for a few moments before ultimately giving up, also. “Yeah, I guess I’ll have to do the same.” He glanced at the Bachus and grinned. “If you two are right, then those are some good eyes you both got in your skulls—far better vision than I could ever hope to have.”
“Well, it’s certainly not as keen as someone like Dayneth’s,” Pauma said humbly, “but the Bachus have developed respectable vision over the ages. I’m pretty sure it’s been to help us keep on the lookout for nasty foes while we Bachus have explored the wilderness.”
Once Tiroku and Tridian caught up to the rest of their group, Alamor started forward in the direction of the looming shapes. Within just a few minutes he was able to see them more clearly, and he realized that Hinton was correct about them being houses. While he still could not make out their finer details, such as the rooftops and the windows that the Bachu mentioned, Alamor noticed that there were several more than he initially imagined. Smaller structures slowly appeared to his eyes within the shadows of larger ones, and clusters of other buildings ran off behind those in the very front. It soon became apparent that they were approaching some kind of town.
Alamor immediately developed mi
xed thoughts. On one hand, this was the first settlement that they had come upon during their five days in the Arid Reaches. Up until now, the only other living creatures they had seen were various small animals. Coming into contact with other people could provide them with much needed supplies, including food and water, as well as knowledge on how to get to the Sandstone Mausoleum faster.
He also had reservations. There was no guarantee that the people of the town would be welcoming of his party. In fact, they could be hostile. This was not the Azure Sands Outpost, and Alamor knew that anything north of the military fort was said to be populated mostly by bandits and outlaws.
But as Alamor and his companions began to approach the outskirts of the isolated town, he dismissed both thoughts. It quickly became apparent that the town had long been abandoned by whoever may have once lived there.
Much of it was covered by a thick blanket of sand that looked to have accumulated over a span of many years, rising into sheer dunes atop the roofs and burying the pathways between buildings. The sand stood so high in many spots that only the vague outlines of smaller structures could be seen beneath it. The buildings that still managed to stand in open air were largely in disrepair, or outright devastated. Their doorways lay open, most of them seemingly smashed in. Gutters, tiles, and wooden beams hung listlessly from their rooftops. The entire sides of some were charred and blackened, while other structures had gaping holes and large gashes in their stone walls. In a few cases, the damage was so great that Alamor realized that what he had originally perceived as windows were actually missing portions of a building’s exterior.
“This place has certainly seen better days,” Rawner said lowly, as his eyes scanned the devastation. Even he seemed to be unnerved by the sight.
“I sure hope this didn’t happen recently,” Pauma said, glancing about nervously. “I’d hate to run into whatever made this mess.”
Tiroku started forward and entered the rubble-ridden street before them. “I doubt we have to worry about that,” Tiroku assured her, his brow furrowing as he examined the ravaged buildings. “It appears that no one has stepped foot within this place in a very long time.”
“Well, whoever was here last apparently didn’t want no one else here ever again…” Hinton muttered as he and the others began to follow behind Tiroku. “Sheesh—and I thought the weather around here was the worst part about the desert…”
“It does not surprise me that we eventually found this,” Tridian said, a trace of disgust in his voice. “The most dangerous things about this part of the kingdom are what live here. This desert has been home to packs of criminals for hundreds of years. They know no order, no morals. They only live to ensure their own survival, even if it means slaughtering those who mean them no harm.”
Alamor was somewhat surprised by the venom in Tridian’s words. “You think it was bandits who ransacked this town?”
Tridian continued to look about the devastation around them while he answered Alamor. “Nothing else could cause this kind of destruction. Sandstorms do not ruin buildings this way, nor do wandering beasts, no matter how many of them there may be.”
“Are you positive of that, your Highness?” Hinton asked. “We’ve seen some fearsome monsters the last few weeks, and I’ve heard stories of many more throughout the kingdom in my time.”
“If that were the case, there wouldn’t be anything left of this town for us to look at,” Tridian said, his voice cold. He stopped and pointed at a nearby home that had a massive gap torn into its side. “This kind of damage wasn’t created by any kind of living hands—that’s a blast mark from cannon fire. I’d say that just about all of these buildings were bombarded at some point.”
Hinton scurried over to the structure that the Prince of Tordale had indicated. The Bachu spent a few moments inspecting the damage, pressing his nose right against its stone surface as he tried to pick up a scent. “Well I’ll be; you’re right about this, your Highness,” Hinton eventually called back. His tone suggested that he was impressed by Tridian’s astute observation. “There’s even some powder burns still lingering over here. This is definitely the aftermath of an explosive blast if I’ve ever seen it, and you lot know how much experience I got with that!”
“So then,” Rawner said, turning as he looked all about their surroundings. “If this place really was raided and pillaged, what for?”
“Maybe the people here were hiding a valuable resource,” Alamor suggested. “Perhaps they built this town around a mine?”
“I doubt that,” Tridian quickly interjected. “By the looks of it, this town was very poor. The people here must have struggled simply to survive in this desert.”
Rawner raised an eyebrow at Tridian’s statement. “How in the world can you tell anything about what this place was like before with the condition it’s in now?”
“Take a look at the buildings that are still standing,” Tridian calmly answered. As Rawner and the others more closely inspected the structures around them, the Prince of Tordale continued. “Most of them were clearly ramshackle long before they were blasted with cannon fire. You can see that many of their rooftops were comprised from a mess of different materials; wooden planks, tiles, even some thin sheets of metal. These people covered their homes with whatever was available to them.” Tridian then approached the building he indicated earlier, the same that Hinton inspected for blast damage. The Prince of Tordale knocked on the stone exterior with his knuckles. “Whatever kind of stone they used for the frames of these buildings tells me the same—it’s soft and brittle. If I took my spear to this enough times, I would be able to eventually gouge it. There’s also very little in the way of mortar inside these walls. They didn’t construct any of these brick by brick like you see in settlements elsewhere throughout the kingdom.”
Tiroku eventually turned his gaze away from what was behind them and looked out to the remainder of the town. “Regardless of whether this town knew wealth or poverty, it may still have amenities that could be of great use to us,” the Champion of Light said. “Given how meager our supplies are, just about anything could help us for the rest of our journey. Look for blankets, shawls, canvas, even old tools or flints. I doubt anything edible remains here, but there may be also be preservatives stored in some of these houses—spices and salts.”
“You want us to split up and snoop around to see what we can find here?” Pauma asked.
Tiroku nodded. “Yes, but stay in pairs. Even though this town seems abandoned, there’s no telling if something may still be hiding somewhere. Be cautious, everyone.”
Hinton and Pauma immediately headed off together in one direction, while Rawner offered to accompany Tiroku as they explored the rest of the settlement, leaving Alamor and Tridian as the last team. The Prince of Tordale started down a cluttered street without so much as a word to the rest of the group.
Alamor followed behind and let Tridian lead the way. He was actually glad that they ended up being paired together, as he was both intrigued and somewhat worried by the bitterness that Tridian displayed earlier. Once they had walked a fair distance from the others, Alamor decided to address the reticent Prince of Tordale.
“Something’s got you rattled about this place, Tridian.” He could think of no better way to approach the subject rather than to be straightforward about it.
Tridian continued walking, but he glanced back at Alamor and nodded. There was a calm look over his face that suggested he was both unsurprised by the question, and that he understood Alamor’s concerns. “I’ll be fine,” he answered, and turned back to the sand-covered street that they tread. “It’s just that seeing this brings back a lot of memories of my father—not all of them good ones.”
Alamor was taken aback by the answer. It was a few moments before the surprise wore off and he found the words to speak again. “How does this town make you think of your father?”
“Because my father greatly despised the kind of lawlessness and savagery that eventually destroyed this
town,” Tridian began. As they continued walking, his morose eyes scanned the ruins about them. “Without even seeing it for himself, he knew the chaos that festered here, and he made it his goal to be the first man in Tordale’s history to finally confront it.”
Alamor knew what Tridian alluded to. “You mean the mission to reclaim this desert, don’t you?”
The Prince of Tordale nodded. “My father’s wish was to see order brought to every corner of the Arid Reaches. While outlaws may have claimed most of this territory following Scourge’s rampage, my father knew that they were peaceful, innocent people who lived here. They may not have been great in number, but he believed it to be his responsibility to one day bring them the same kind of protection that his rule brought to all other peoples throughout the kingdom. In doing so, not only would he create peace, he would also create a purpose for this desert. If he could eradicate the chaos that engulfed this region, then we could finally utilize the Arid Reaches’ resources to benefit all life across Tordale, like the many metal and gem deposits that were once mined here.”
“Of course,” Tridian continued, a hint of regret joining his words, “My father realized that such a task was an immense one, especially because he could only make use of a portion of our military during his time. To send the majority of our forces into this uncharted territory would have reduced our defenses elsewhere. That is why one of the very first things he had our troops accomplish was to establish the Azure Sands Outpost. By securing that part of the desert, it would allow us to contain the bands of criminals and other bandits. That, in turn, would buy us a great deal of time. We would be able to carry out the remainder of the operation at our own pace, saving us untold resources, manpower, and who knows how many lives.”
Alamor briefly thought back to the conversation he had with Tiroku many weeks ago while they rode from Geldiar to Caldeya. “It also set up a barrier between the desert and the rest of Tordale, right? It kept the lawlessness from ever slipping into other parts of the kingdom.”
A Gleaming Path Page 26