by Logan Jacobs
“The camel pens are this way,” Cat said as he picked his way through crowds of people.
Maruk and I were able to keep up with him at least, as the crowds forced the elf to a slower pace. Cat led us to the only semi-permanent structures I’d seen on this side of the wall, a collection of mud brick shacks and tents that nestled against the great stone wall of the city. Corrals had been built nearby, and I could see the camels that sat inside. We walked past the first collection of pens and then past another collection of tents. Just beyond that was another smaller collection of camel pens and tents.
I spotted Dehn standing outside one of the tents. He was talking to a panthera man and gesturing towards the camels. The panthera shrugged and started to walk away. Dehn scowled at the camels, and for a moment, he looked as if he would attack the beasts.
“Dehn!” I called out.
The halfling spotted our approach and waved. He shot the camels another angry look and then sauntered over to us.
“About time,” he huffed.
“You look like you’re ready to kill our ride through the desert,” I said.
“No one told me these things spit,” Dehn complained.
Cat quickly smothered a laugh.
“They spit?” Maruk asked dubiously as he looked at the camels.
“And they’ve got good aim,” Dehn added. “Damn things have already hit me twice.”
“Perhaps they had a good reason,” Maruk suggested as he edged his way past the pen.
“What reason?” Dehn asked. “I was just standing there.”
We made it to the tent without any further camel spitting and ducked inside. A mage light bobbed near the middle of the tent, providing just enough light to keep the place from feeling dreary. The rest of the Shadow Foxes were there, sipping on something that looked cool and fruity.
“Ah, wonderful,” Maruk sighed as he dropped onto a cushion. Lena smiled and handed him a cup of juice, which Maruk downed in a single gulp.
“I’ll take some,” I said as Cat and I found cushions of our own.
“Mango and lime,” Lena replied as she passed a cup to me and Cat. I peered more closely at Lena and realized that the sharp planes were starting to soften and that curves had appeared around the hips. The tips of her ears and the lines of her cheeks had also taken on a color that could only be described as asparagus green. And maybe just a hint of scales as well.
“At last you didn’t develop feathers,” I remarked.
“We still have time,” Lavinia replied.
“There weren’t any feathers in the potion,” Lena said. “Though there was some chameleon tail.”
“That would probably explain the green skin,” Maruk noted. “Though it’s quite an attractive color on you.”
“Thank you,” Lena said graciously. “How do you like the juice?”
“Delicious,” I declared as I took a sip. Merlin slipped into my lap and licked his lips hopefully. I ignored him and took another long sip.
“Any problems?” Imogen asked when we’d polished off our own cups.
“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” Cat assured her.
“Uh-huh,” Imogen replied with a note of suspicion. “Did you find everything?”
“Yes,” Cat replied. “And if we’re going to leave now, during the heat of the day, then you’ll be glad I did.”
Cat opened up the sacks and pulled out our purchases. I was rather curious myself since the only thing I’d had a chance to study had been the fire stick.
“First, frogskins,” he said as he opened up one of the smaller pouches. He pulled out a piece of cloth and tossed it to Lavinia.
“It’s cool,” she remarked. “And wet, but not in a bad way.”
“You can wrap them around your head or neck,” Cat explained. “They’ll help you stay cool. They should last us until we reach Fornal. Then we can sell them back to another merchant to get recharged.”
“This is great,” Aerin said as she snatched the frogskin from Lavinia. “I could have used one of these this morning when we were walking over here.”
“Water stones,” Cat continued as he opened the other bag and passed what looked like a small marble to Emeline. “You can suck on one of these to help fight thirst. It doesn’t replace water completely, but it can extend our supplies. They’re also handy when we have to cut through the jungles.”
“Just don’t swallow it,” Imogen warned. “I knew someone who did, and he drowned in the middle of the desert.”
“Is that true?” Emeline asked uncertainly as she gazed at the small stone.
“There are all kinds of stories,” Cat replied with a shrug as he pulled out one of the small boxes. “Night lenses.”
“Sunglasses,” I said with a smile as I took the bulky wire frames from his hand and put them on my face. The glass was heavily tinted but I could sense a spell that let me pick out the outline of the other people and objects in the tent. It wasn’t quite like night vision goggles, since there weren’t any green glowing army men, but it was still pretty damn cool.
“You’ve seen something like this before as well?” Cat asked.
“I have,” I replied. “And these will definitely help in the desert.”
“Ceral has already released the camels to us,” Yvaine cut in. “So we can leave whenever we choose.”
“The gear’s already been loaded,” Imogen added.
“I vote we enjoy one more cup of this wonderful libation,” Maruk suggested. “I doubt the mages will be able to track us that quickly.”
“One more,” Aerin agreed. “I’m not sure I’m ready to get on top of one of those things just yet.”
“At least they can’t spit on you if you’re riding them,” Dehn groused.
We laughed, and Lena poured one more cup for everyone, even Merlin. We still had a long road to travel but at least it felt like we were getting closer to our final destination.
Chapter 4
The desert outside of Maraz was nothing like the desert that bordered the edge of the Canterrose Mountains. That one was dry, but it had vegetation and animal life, and plenty of oddball characters who called it home. There was even a river and underground streams.
The Barren Sea, as this desert was called, was nothing but sand and ever shifting dunes. It sucked at your feet if you tried to walk across it, and the wind blew stinging particles of it into your face. The few clouds in the sky provided no relief. The sun beat down mercilessly, and I was never so happy to be sucking on a glass marble in my life.
The camels plodded across the landscape in a single line with Cat in the lead. I had no idea how he was navigating across the desert but he seemed to know where he was going. Emeline rode just behind him, though sometimes she would urge her camel forward so she could check with Cat. I saw her making notes in her journal and I wondered what advice it would offer future adventurers on trekking across the Barren Sea.
Ceral had strongly advised against such a late start, and I doubt he would have let us leave at all if we didn’t have Cat for a guide. As it was, I was starting to wish we had decided to wait for the relative cool of evening when Emeline started making her way towards the back of the line. I dropped my water stone into my pocket and waited for her to approach.
“What’s up?” I said as she brought her camel alongside mine.
I was impressed with how easily Emeline handled her mount. I’d tried to get mine to move out of line so I could talk to someone, but the camel had steadfastly refused to obey my commands.
“Cat says there’s an oasis up ahead,” she replied. “We can rest there for a while and then start across the desert later tonight. We can probably make the next oasis by mid-morning.”
“Sounds good,” I agreed. “Say, how come your camel will go where you want it to?”
“Oh, I’ve always been good with animals,” Emeline replied as she turned the camel’s head and plodded back to Dehn.
I knew from personal experience that wasn’t true. Emeline had nearly
fallen off her horse more times than I could count and then there were the neighborhood dogs that seemed to take pleasure in chasing her. I decided it was just another quirk of the camel mind and not to probe any deeper.
I heard a familiar hawk’s cry and glanced up at the sky. The night lenses made it easy to pick out the puca as he rode the thermals of air in order to conserve energy. Even Merlin was feeling the heat of the day, and when he finally landed on my shoulder, I could feel him panting.
“Here,” I said as I pulled one of the frogskins from my pack. “Cat bought one for you too.”
I draped the cool, damp cloth over Merlin’s back, and he clucked in appreciation.
“Anyone behind us?”
The puca gave a shake of his head and wings that I’d learned meant ‘no’.
“Good,” I sighed. “Hopefully, the customs agents will continue to harass the mages.”
“Damn it!” Dehn cried out.
I turned around as Emeline’s laugh floated over the sound of sand crunching beneath the feet of the camels. Dehn wiped angrily at his face, and I saw a green glob fall to the desert floor. Emeline continued on down the line while Dehn tugged impotently at his camel’s reins.
“What happened?” I called back.
“Her camel spit at me,” Dehn snarled.
I laughed, turned to the front again, and noticed that Cat was leading us towards a narrow ridge between two large dunes. It was definitely single-file only and as we slipped between the two great piles, I felt a moment of apprehension. Visions of the avalanche in the Canterrose Mountains came to mind, and the soft slithering sound of the sand as it shifted along the sides of the dunes wasn’t very reassuring. Even the camel seemed leery, and I noticed that its ears swiveled constantly now, as if it were checking for a warning.
But we made it between the dunes, and then we were dropping down the edge of the ridge line. As we came around the sloping curve of a drift, I could see a line of palm trees and lush green grass.
Merlin shifted back into his puca form and chirped happily.
It felt like forever before we arrived at the oasis. If this had been a video game, I would have said I was caught in an endless loop, with the oasis just always out of reach. A small part of my brain wondered if Cat had gone crazy, and we were all just trudging ever onwards towards a mirage we could never reach. I thought about sending Merlin back up, but the poor guy had pulled his frogskin tight around his body, and he refused to budge from his spot.
I was contemplating how many frogskins it would take to cover my own body when I felt the heat of the day drop a few degrees, and then we were riding beneath the fragile shade offered by the palms. The sound of the water as it brushed against the edge of the desert was probably the sweetest sound I’d ever heard.
There was a weatherbeaten shack at the other end of the lake that looked like it could have been there since the first crazy people attempted this crossing. Nearby were several tents and, I admitted, I was a little disappointed. I’d figured we’d have the oasis to ourselves, but it looked like someone else had already set up camp.
Our line ground to a halt, and at a whistled command from Cat, the camels all dropped to their knees. I slid gracelessly from my camel’s back and walked over to our guide. He had just pulled back the flap to one of the tents and was walking towards another one.
“Where is everyone?” I asked.
“Don’t know,” Cat replied as he stuck his head inside the second tent. “They should have come out when they heard us arrive.”
“Camels are missing, too,” I mused. “Maybe something spooked them and they left?”
“Maybe,” Cat said but I could hear the doubt in his voice. “But they would have at least taken their water with them, even if they were trying to leave in a hurry.”
“Over here!” Lavinia called.
The two ladonae had ventured towards a stack of crates piled near one of the tents. We followed their call and found a puddle of blood next to the scattered remnants of a box. Dried flowers spilled across the sand among a trail of dark red droplets.
“Sweet jasmine,” Maruk noted as he sniffed the air. “Those are worth a small fortune.”
“And not something anyone would leave behind,” Cat noted.
Cat pulled one of the fire sticks from his pack and handed it to Imogen along with one of the boxes of ammunition. Imogen quickly packed her fire stick while Cat pulled the second weapon from his pack and started to load it.
“What are those?” Aerin asked curiously.
“Banned magic,” Imogen replied as she gave Cat a small frown.
“Only recently banned,” Cat pointed out. “Farouk could always change his mind.”
“They’re weapons,” I explained as I drew my own mana blade.
“Speaking of banned magic,” Cat murmured as he took in my own weapon with a look of surprise.
“You’ll see a lot more banned magic if those mages ever catch up to us,” I replied.
Cat hesitated for a few seconds but Imogen nodded. The elf drew in a deep breath and then nodded as well. The rest of the Shadow Foxes were already armed and quickly spread out to check for danger.
“We need to protect the camels,” Cat said as he looked around.
“On it,” Imogen said as she started back towards the line. Lena and Aerin followed behind her. Aerin had her mace at the ready, and Lena carried one of her jars.
“Should we leave?” Yvaine asked as she prodded at one of the crates.
“We could,” Lavinia replied. “But the next caravan to come through here would have to face whatever did this. And they’ll probably just end up like these people.”
“There are some drag marks just over there,” Maruk said as he moved towards the edge of the water.
“Great,” Dehn grumbled. “Another water monster.”
“Hey, after the sea gremlins, we can handle whatever annoying thing lives in this pond,” Lavinia declared.
One of the camels suddenly made an odd rumbling sound, and the rest of our fleet stood up. Imogen grabbed the reins for the lead camel and held it in place. The others took up the strange sound, but they stood with the lead camel rather than running away.
Emeline suddenly squeaked, and I whipped around to check on the panthera. She was trying to form a fireball but a large sinewy shape was wrapped around her hips and waist, pinning both arms against the mage’s sides. Emeline’s mouth was open as if she were trying to say something but all that came out was a gasping sound.
Even as I started to move towards Emeline, I saw more shapes start to slither from the reeds. Giant snakes, I realized, and lots of them. I could hear the camels take up their warning call again and then the sound of one of the fire sticks. That was followed by Dehn’s familiar yell, and the wet thwack of metal biting into flesh.
I reached Emeline and jabbed my mana blade into the beast. I heard a hissing sound from somewhere behind the panthera, and the coils lost some of their grip, but they didn’t release her. Emeline managed to pull one arm free and she quickly summoned a fireball that she launched blindly over her shoulder. There was another hiss, and then Emeline was free and the snake started to slither away.
“Don’t let it get away!” I called to the fire mage as I stabbed at the creature again.
This time the snake turned around, and I finally had a chance to see the massive, flat head. Or, as it turned out, two heads. Four copper colored eyes regarded me while the forked brown tongues tasted the air. I couldn’t understand why the thing had survived two strikes from my mana blade until I saw the spot where Emeline’s fireball had struck. It was nearly healed already, and even as I watched, the last signs of burned skin disappeared.
“Oh, that’s not good,” Emeline said.
“Cut off the heads,” I heard Imogen yell out.
“Figures,” Emeline grumbled as we tried to stay out of striking distance.
“This may take some work with just my knife,” I pointed out.
“I�
��ll distract it,” she said. “You attack with your blade.”
Before I could protest her plan, Emeline took four steps away from me. One of the snake heads followed her while the other stayed focused on me. Emeline stumbled backwards as she tried to avoid the probing tongue, and the thing shot forward with incredible speed. It had the fire mage wrapped in its coils again before I could even blink.
Well, just another day in Evreas, battling giant man-eating, two-headed boa constrictors that can magically heal their wounds.
I leapt atop the pile of snake and fire mage. I found one of the constrictor’s heads and held on as tightly as I could. I drove my mana knife into the point where the head joined the body and started to saw with the blade. The snake started to sway in my grasp and the second head reared up. It struck at me, but I kept sawing at the first head.
Merlin leapt into the fray at that moment. He was in griffin form and he dove into the pile and grabbed the second head in his talons. Both heads hissed in protest, but then the mana blade was through the last bit of flesh and skin, and I held the severed head in my hand. The other head screeched and tried to lunge towards me but Merlin kept his grip. The snake let go of Emeline and tried to slither away, but now all three of us were focused on the remaining head.
While Merlin held the head, I sliced through the thick neck of the snake. When it was finally done, the second head fell to the ground and stared blindly at the sky. Emeline heaved a sigh of relief and then gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.
The crack of another shot from a fire stick echoed across the oasis, and I looked back at the rest of the Shadow Foxes. Imogen and Aerin were tackling the head of one snake. The second head hung limply to the side and a trail of blood flowed from a large hole just between the eyes. Lena was just behind them, one hand wrapped around the reins of the lead camel while she struggled to pull one of her jars from her pack. Even as I watched, Aerin swung her mace and delivered a huge blow to the remaining head. The snake swerved unsteadily and Imogen promptly shot it square between the eyes.