"Who's Y’serra?" Will asked.
When I looked at the equally perplexed Gwen and Sel, I realized I was probably the only one who would have encountered her name. It made sense. The Dark War had been hundreds of years ago and even I, a scholar who'd researched them extensively since the attacks had begun, still had a tough time finding accurate information and only knew bits and pieces.
"Y’serra was known more commonly during the Dark War as the Great Betrayer," I earned shocked looks from the others and another ashamed expression from Nyalla.
"It's true. I can't help it though. I don't know why it happens. Maybe I'm a descendant of hers, or maybe it's for another reason. It's why I’ve keep myself apart from others and why I wanted to leave my home with the Oubliee. I'm never sure what will happen. I don't know if I'm merely dreaming, or if she’s controlling me.
"My biggest fear is someday she'll take over my life completely and use it for evil. In fact, it's why I'm helping you. I'm hoping if you can remove the threat of the dark one returning, my curse will be lifted as well. Surely, if the greatest evil in Lynia is removed even if my nightmare comes true, there's nothing she can do to hurt anyone."
I frowned as I watched her. She looked heartbroken and sincere in every way that mattered.
Will clearly believed her story and as Nyalla sat with her face downcast and allowed a few beautiful tears to trail down her cheek, I couldn’t blame him. He patted her hand and offered her a cloth to wipe her face.
Sel looked like he didn't know what to believe, but his eyes softened at her desperation.
Gwen's eyebrows were narrowed in a way that made me think she wasn't immune either.
"Well, I for one believe you." Will gently grasped her chin and brought her face to his, searching her eyes as he waited for her reaction.
Nyalla gave him a watery smile and his face softened even further.
Oh man, he's so far gone he'd believe everything she said. I knew she’d won him over. Sel also appeared willing to accept what she’d told us at face value. Maybe it was because of her beauty, or maybe it was because the boys were more trusting.
But I didn’t. For reasons unknown even to myself, I couldn’t push away the feeling she wasn’t telling us the truth. As I watched the soft and consoling conversation between Nyalla and the others, I knew I needed to keep my suspicions to myself until I had more evidence.
It may not be safe to have her lead us to the temple, but without any other options I would go along with the plan for now and pretend to believe her along with the others.
Chapter 18
From then on, I kept a close watch on Nyalla. I couldn’t trust her intentions since she’d spoken in a voice so different from her own. I wasn't sure how the others felt, but I didn’t speak of it again, especially to the guys.
They appeared to have accepted her explanation wholeheartedly. Will was completely besotted and spent as much time with her as he could, with Sel never more than a pace behind.
He wasn't watching her with the same hero worship he’d displayed for Loglan, but I thought it came a close second.
Each night in the desert was a copy of the day before. With only the vaguest of directions, we followed Nyalla like lambs. I was hesitant to tell her everything I knew after her Y’serra interlude, even at the risk of our journey taking longer.
She might be completely innocent, but if she was Y’serra, it put an entirely different spin on things. It also could why the key around my neck thrummed with what I felt was a warning occasionally, and always while in her presence.
It had been several days since we’d left the settlement, and we’d had no further appearances from Y’serra since.
Nyalla had consistently been herself, even though I’d watched for even the smallest break in character.
I felt alone in my concerns, so I kept them to myself.
Even Gwen had seemingly forgotten or forgiven the odd encounter.
We had just stopped for a midnight snack, Will and Nyalla sitting a short distance away from Gwen and I while Sel played with Damio.
"Rhin, Will just told me you’re looking for the Heart Stone. Why didn't you say something sooner?"
I looked up, surprised to find Nyalla standing in front of me with her arms crossed and an irritated scowl.
I gritted my teeth, silently as I silently cursing Will and thought about what to say. I'd need to have a word with him later. I could have sworn we weren't going to tell her about the stone unless absolutely required.
"Yes, I read something about it in Abrecem Secer." I hoped if I left it vague, she’d lose interest about why I was looking for it.
Nyalla shook her head, making a tsking sound. "I wish you'd mentioned it sooner. I could've saved us at least a night of travel. The temple I was taking you to is the wrong one. There's two out here, but few people know of the second one."
"What do you mean, there's two?" Gwen asked, narrowing her eyes at Nyalla before turning to raise an eyebrow in my direction.
I knew she was going to want answers from me later, but luckily, she turned when Nyalla answered.
Nyalla nodded. "Yes, sister temples. The one I was taking you to is more well-known, which is usually where visitors want to go. But from what I understand it's also harder to find since the desert took over. The temple you want, at least the last place the Heart Stone was seen, is the temple of Mahimānbita Sūrya. It means we'll have to backtrack a little, but we could get there tomorrow if we change course now."
I sighed. I still wasn't convinced it was a promising idea for her to know what we were doing, but it was irritating she'd known all along where we needed to go, and my suspicions had likely prolonged our sandy, windy torture.
"I'm sorry." To my surprise, I meant it. I still didn't trust her, but I was looking forward to getting to the temple and finding the stone. If telling her meant we arrived sooner, I hoped it was for the best. "I didn't realize it would make a difference. I'd only ever read about one temple."
She waved a hand. "It's okay. I should've been more specific. I was so eager to get out of town I didn't ask many questions. When you wanted to go to a temple in the desert, I thought you meant the one everyone knows about. And, well, I understand if you don't trust me." She shrugged, letting a rueful smile spread over her face. "I'm not sure I would trust me either after what I told you the other day."
Great, now I was the jerk. I could tell from the expression on the guys faces they agreed with my silent estimation, even though neither came right out and said it.
Will came to stand next to Nyalla, smiling at her. "I didn't realize you didn't know, or I would've told you sooner. You know I trust you, right? It's not your fault you have a connection with Y’serra."
She batted her eyelashes, glancing down. The gesture hid her eyes and caused her to look like nothing other than a bashful, innocent young woman.
Gag. I was about to chalk my hesitation and distrust up to jealousy until the key around my neck warmed ever so slightly, as if reminding me of its presence. It was like it knew I was on the verge of believing Nyalla and was telling me not to be lulled into a false sense of security. Well, at least I wasn't the only one on guard around her.
I glanced at Gwen. What did she think? We hadn't had an opportunity to speak privately about the Nyalla-Y’serra dichotomy, and after this recent revelation about the temple, it wouldn't surprise me if Gwen believed her as well.
For now, I’d keep my uneasiness to myself. It did no good to alienate the others and practically speaking, we were already at her mercy if she was planning something. I’d never felt more insecure surrounded by my friends, though outwardly everything appeared fine.
We packed quickly once we’d finished eating. To our great relief we only had a few hours to go until our next stop. It was nighttime as always, so we had little way of knowing where we were going other than Nyalla seemed as confident as always in her directions following the light of the moons through the never-ending sea of sand.
So, when I saw trees and scrub appear just over the next sand dune. At first, I thought it was a mirage. When Sel waved for us to look, I knew it wasn’t my imagination. Trees and even grass shimmered in front of us as a silver mirror sparkled under the watchful moons.
Water!
My heart leapt at the beauty laid out in the dim light before us.
Nyalla turned to us and smiled. “The sun is just beginning to rise in the east and we probably could walk a distance more, but we’ll stay here today.” She gestured toward the enticing bounty in front of us. “It's one of the few places in the Northwestern Lands with actual trees. It sits on a firm bedrock with a large underground water source and one of the few above ground lakes in the area, although it is too small to be considered a lake anywhere else. We can replenish our supplies here and best of all, we can get transportation to make the rest of the trip go faster."
She gave us a smug look at our gasps of astonishment. "I’d planned to come here anyway, so we aren't too far off track of where I would have taken us had I known which temple you had intended to go. We need to resupply here but now our next stop will be the temple if we can buy some of the camels they have for sale."
Sel beamed. "Real camels? They honestly exist?"
I bit back a laugh at his excitement, feeling older and far more jaded. I'd read about camels in a book before, so I'd known they were real, but never really planned or cared to see them.
Gwen looked uncertain and I guessed it was because of the wolves.
I grimaced as I looked at Nyalla. "Will we be okay taking camels with our furry friends? I know horses aren’t fond of wolves."
Nyalla brushed my concern aside. "Camels are the most stubborn, difficult animals I've ever encountered, but they don't frighten easily. So long as you don't expect the camels to allow wolves to ride them, I think we’ll be fine."
At the image that created, I was unable to hold back my laughter, and soon the others joined in.
Once we’d quieted, Gwen spoke. "I highly doubt the wolves will be interested. I can either send them on ahead or have them trail behind, whichever you think more suitable."
Nyalla glanced at the wolves, a rare expression of fondness crossing her face. "Either would be fine. But it's likely best if I'm in the lead, since I know where to go. Camels will double our speed as well, so instead of what would have been a two-day trip, if we leave when the sun sets tonight, we should get there shortly after dawn. It will mean a longer distance than usual and I'm warning you in advance, if you're not used to camel travel, you’re going to be in more pain than you can possibly imagine."
I grimaced, remembering how sore I'd been the first time I’d ridden a horse. If camel travel was worse, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to walk.
"If there aren’t any stops, we’ll do our best to keep up. Unless you guys want to try to break the trip up into two days?" I tilted my head, raising my eyebrows as I waited for the others to weigh in. As expected, they all shook their heads.
"I'm ready for this trip to be done," Will breathed out.
He hadn’t complained as much as usual, which may have had something to do with his fascination with Nyalla, but I knew the trip had been difficult for all of us. Although he was the most fit of all of us and accustomed to training hard, the many, many days of walking were something none of us were used to.
"Me too." Sel proclaimed.
Gwen added a tired bob of her head.
I smiled. "I guess it's unanimous. We want to get to the temple to retrieve the Heart Stone as soon as possible.
Nyalla shrugged. "All right, as long as you’re prepared to have the sorest backside, you'll ever experience without falling off a three-story building backwards."
I winced, briefly reconsidering my eagerness before remembering either way we traveled I was going to end up sore. The only difference was when we’d be able to get home and lick our wounds. "The sooner the better.”
Nyalla nodded, then waved for us to follow her to a small house perched a few paces from the small pond. It had a thatch roof which seemed unlikely to keep rain out, but that didn’t seem to be a concern in the desert from what could determine. It was painted a bright white and a cheery contrast to the never-ending sea of beige sand around it.
When Nyalla knocked on the door, an old couple greeted us.
They seemed happy to see us, although I couldn’t understand a word they were saying as Nyalla answered them.
Once they were finished, Nyalla nodded and turned to translate. "They are the custodians of the oasis. They bid us a good evening, and they want us to know they are happy to have visitors and can assist us with replenishing our supplies. If you have enough money, they can also sell us three camels."
I frowned. "They don't have any more?”
“Unfortunately, not. Normally a caravan comes by once every handful of days, but we’ve apparently arrived just after the last one and they didn’t have money to purchase more." She leaned closer, dropping her voice. "If I didn’t already have a relationship with them, they would only sell us two. They will be stuck here until the next caravan arrives if we take all three."
I looked at the elderly couple, their open faces watching us curiously, similar gap-toothed smiles. They looked endearingly innocent, and the thought of taking the last of their animals felt horribly wrong.
"Nyalla, we can't take all the camels. Could we make do with two? How much weight can a camel carry?"
Nyalla looked at me dubiously and I bristled as she seemed to measure me. "I'm not sure, but the heavier the load, the sooner they'll tire out. If we only have two either someone must walk, or one of the camels will have to carry three people. Even three camels is stretching their strength."
I knew she was right. It wouldn't do to buy camels and exhaust them before we reached our goal.
Nyalla put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Really, the custodians will be fine. Keep in mind they live here and know the desert far better than we do. As you can see, they clearly are not underfed and have ample water. They seem pretty confident someone's going to be here within the next day or two and I am certain they wouldn’t do anything to put their lives in danger."
When I still looked uncertain, Gwen chimed in.
"Look at them. Nyalla is right. They look quite content, comfortable, and completely unworried. People like they appear to be are too practical to give you their property at personal risk, even for a profit. They know the desert too well to be foolish, the same way I know the Low Forests."
Bowing to their logic, but not sure if it was simply because they were saying what I wanted to hear, I finally agreed.
We replenished our supplies, purchasing an extra flask of water each to carry water in case there was none available where we were going. We even had the luxurious opportunity to wash our bodies and clothing.
Because we were in a safer environment, we took the chance of sleeping all at the same time. After all, it was daytime. Wild animals weren't a huge threat and the old couple promised to wake us if a caravan came or we were attacked.
We’d told them we were interested in any visitors, but not that we were possibly being followed. They hadn’t asked questions, and we’d been so grateful for sleep we hadn’t lingered to chat.
We set out the next evening with our spirits high. Even though the landscape was harsh and barren, with the sun setting in glorious shades of oranges and reds, it made the desert look as if it was on fire. If it wasn't so difficult to get here, I wouldn’t mind visiting the oasis again for a vacation.
If we made it out alive.
After a few hours however, all thoughts of the stark beauty surrounding me was gone, replaced by self-flagellation as I reconsidered not only the utility but the wisdom of riding camels. It was true, it was faster than traveling on foot had been, but they were smelly, and spit at the slightest provocation.
The wolves gave them a wide berth even without a warning. Swift and the others had taken one look at the
camels and waited several steps behind. If it was possible for a wolf to look disgusted, each of them did. It was absolutely no problem keeping the animals apart as neither wanted anything to do with the other. I couldn’t say I blamed them.
Initially I’d been excited about the chance to ride with Gwen.
Will had gallantly offered to ride with Sel, allowing Nyalla to go on ahead. I knew he would have much rather ridden with her, but she hadn’t objected, which was why our irritable and stinky small convoy was arranged so Gwen and I were in the back, in relative privacy.
"This is far less romantic than I’d hoped," she complained at the exact moment I was regretting agreeing to the camels.
I turned, wrinkling my nose, and smiling as she shifted uncomfortably in the rough, uncushioned saddles the elderly caretakers had strapped on for us—for a price, of course. It was basically a rolled-up leather blanket with a few straps to hold onto. Hardly comfortable, or stable. I had already been forced to grab on to keep myself from falling when the camel shifted too quickly.
"Well, it may not be glamorous or romantic, but I am glad I get to share this with you." I gave her a smile.
The usual tingle of warmth between us had long since departed in the aftermath of the uncomfortable rocking of the camel. It probably didn't help much of my energy was being spent controlling the vague sense of nausea I felt from the way the camels swayed back and forth with each step.
She leaned forward, catching my lips in a light movement. A spark of joy tempered the nausea and discomfort as she leaned back.
"I think we're going to regret this far more than we know," she wiggled her bottom slightly and bared her teeth.
I nodded glumly, turning my head to look at the others. They were a fair distance ahead of us but easily visible across the flat land, so I turned back and touched my tongue to my lips.
Giving her a mischievous look, I awkwardly maneuvered myself to lean into her. My legs and most of my trunk still faced forward as I wrapped my arms around her and punished her light and teasing kiss with one that was intense, and hot enough so when we pulled away, we were both short of breath. Smiling with satisfaction at her flushed face I leaned back to a more comfortable position.
Heart Stone Page 14