The first item of business on my side of things was to join the scout team in climbing up a slope to examine the surrounding area. As expected, though no less disconcerting, an orange ocean with no break in it dominated the landscape. I could walk fifty yards away from the brink and never know an entire city lied at the bottom of the depression. The winds were picking as I made my way back down to find shade. These whistling breezes helped form little twisters of dust that sometimes crossed into the dead city.
The first item of business for the scholars was to learn the general layout of the ruins and find a good piece of it to begin a proper excavation. Their main goal was to find anything with writing on it. Without a reliable supply of food for our animals, we had only two days to seek out this discovery before we had to move back to the oasis. If Fardin had not found something worthwhile to glean information from, then the plan was to return for another pair of days before taking the long road back to an unfallen civilization.
In the interest of finding something useful as quickly as possible, some in the group took a less academic approach in their search for artifacts. The enchanter didn’t reprimand them too much, as long as they kept away from the spots he deemed most interesting. They also promised to let him inspect everything they found before claiming it for themselves. These untidier excavations helped to reveal the bark of dead trees hiding under the sand. There were even a handful still standing, but most of these looked ready to crumble away as soon as a scorpion sneezed too close to them.
While I too didn’t want to add an extra two days to the expedition, my lack of wind and earth spells made me useless in the excavation process. I would have experimented using small explosive stones to clear away pockets of sand, but even if it weren’t for the chukurn risk, that didn’t strike me as the greatest of ideas. So when I wasn’t on guard duty, I simply traversed the ruins and gathered any piece of dead wood that could keep a fire alive.
It was late evening when somebody uncovered lettering etched on the stone ground. This particular white stone was lining the river and the small amount of writing looked to be a short edict. I didn’t need Fardin to tell me that the language was not in the Old Voreen Summertide was written in. The supposed language of Old Voreen was a dense mixture of condensed words that flowed into one another and which was used extensively in the current Voreen’s early regime.
On the other hand, the carved words at our feet were spaced far apart and had a few images that looked to be hieroglyphic in nature. Fardin was especially excited about these little figures. He, his assistants, and Ghevont chatted nonsensically for several minutes, using technical words few sword-wielders would ever bother learning.
When Ghevont became free, which was after he acquired a rubbing of the words, I asked him, “Having fun?”
“Some form of it, yes. You’re not experiencing any amount?”
“I wish I was. Might make it a bit more bearable out here.”
“You know, in my previously sheltered life, I always imagined everyone had a natural inclination to seek out knowledge, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.”
“Most people are just concerned with getting by.”
“Yes, but ‘getting by’ can be made easier with more knowledge, no?”
“Depends on the knowledge, but that’s why civilizations have scholars. I don’t know if ‘fun’ is the way I would describe it, but I do find it interesting that Fardin’s theory could be true, at least as far as the Advent are concerned.”
“Yes, it seems their Summertide map was written by somebody in Voreen and passed off as something that came from the lost nation. The original author must have only been concerned with making their secret map, not about preserving real history.”
“Perhaps someone with interests in both a dead god and getting power through a fake bloodline.”
“Possibly. The differing languages also don’t exclude a connection between the old and new, it merely weakens the assumed one. It does bring to question why someone hid the map in this roundabout manner. If they knew the location of a dead god’s grave and wanted power, then why not take the grave for themselves? The diverse locations in the poem infer a well-learned, well-traveled individual who certainly could have taken advantage of such information.”
“Some people don’t actually want to handle world changing forces, Ghevont, but I suspect the reasoning and circumstances of someone who died two thousand years ago might be forever lost to us.”
With assured conviction, he said, “We’ll see about that.”
I wasn’t sure if the location of the ruins had anything to do with it, but the desert night became bitter enough to force us to use a portion of the gathered wood to build a fair-sized campfire. As I sat on a half-buried tree trunk absorbing a little heat before taking my nap, Leo, Athan, and Menalcus sat down beside me. Of all the pirate subgroups that would form, this particular triad was the most commonly seen together.
“We’ve been wondering,” began Leo, “when are you going to ask us about your father?”
“It’s a long way back to Ecrin, but if you guys are feeling left out, I suppose we can get this out of the way now. Let’s start with you, big guy.”
“Well, truth be told, I’m more of a friend to Thoris than Lorcan,” said Menalcus. “I respect your father, of course. I’ve rarely questioned his orders, and even the ones I don’t agree with are explained well enough for me to understand why he does something. Still, I’m here because of Thoris.”
Athan laughed. “Should I tell him your lust for him or do you want the moment to be special?”
“Shut up! You’re the one here to protect Lucetta.”
With an angry whisper, Athan said, “Keep your damn mouth shut! I was just joking around and you have to spread shit like that?”
“Then don’t call me a queer!”
Facing me, a chuckling Leo said, “As you can see, our fat friend here actually has very thin skin. Poking him always provides a good hour of entertainment.”
“I do not have thin skin,” said Menalcus, slapping his swollen belly. “It’s simply a sensitive subject for me. You see, it turns out that my brother bends that way. I’ve even heard stories that my father might have been… Well, at any rate, the knowledge alarmed me. I know I shouldn’t worry. I have plenty of proof that tells me I’m not, but I can’t help but get touchy about it.”
“This is way more information than I wanted,” I said.
Leo shook his head. “Information I’m sure you’ll find invaluable in the future.”
“Returning to what I do want to know, why are you out here?”
“Nothing as complicated as loving my captain’s woman or my sexuality.” Athan stuck up his middle finger. Menalcus followed his example. Leo only smiled back at them. “I was once caught by slavers not long after I joined the crew. Didn’t think he’d come back for me, but he did. I owe my life to your father, simple as that. I’ve yet to find an opportunity to repay the favor directly, but I think finding you and your brother will finally make us even.”
“And what happens if his next kid gets kidnapped? He’s on his own?”
“Then it’s obvious the gods loathe Lorcan’s children. I won’t fight against that kind of sanctified persistence.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
There were two discoveries as I slept. The first was a crypt beneath what Fardin assumed to be a place of worship. He determined the structure’s purpose by evaluating the size of the wide structure and by the small spires that bookended the center of the otherwise flat roof. Most of the tombs below had writing etched onto them, giving the scholars more rubbings to work with. In addition, the temple’s undercroft held some artifacts the mercenaries avidly snatched up. They included a few dull jewels, silver pots and urns, and clay dishes.
My father wisely let the mercenaries keep most of the discovered relics. He recognized the untested mercenaries would be more willing to fight if they believed they had a store of riches to protect. It was po
ssible this decision disgruntled his inherently covetous crew, but they did not join him for the prospect of more coin. Still, I later caught Lucetta and Sophia admiring a little purple gem before they spotted me. Sophia put it in a pocket, pecked my cheek with her lips, and told me not to let Lorcan know what I had just seen.
The second discovery was actually a marriage of two finds in the same area. Of greater interest to the scholars, the side of a black watchtower revealed itself at the bottom of a small dune. Between this dune and another, a patch of wildflowers and grasses grew a mile from the city ruins. According to the spotters, a group of mercenaries led by Lorcan and Lucetta, there wasn’t a great deal of plant life, but it was thought worthwhile enough to begin sending the weaker beasts of burden to replenish some of their energy. Soon after waking, I and others were sent to watch over the first herd of hungry animals.
Dawn had crawled over the tall horizon by the time my group arrived at the feeding ground. Fardin didn’t want to leave the city, so he asked Ghevont to study the watchtower in his place. Both assistants wanted to leave their master and join their more open-minded colleague, but due to her longer rest, only Janna joined us. Knowing this would be an all-day objective, we set up the wall-lacking tents near the base of the watchtower. From there we regarded the animals, making sure they didn’t eat too much of the scant plant life or stray too far.
I volunteered to look after the second group of animals as well, which switched with the first herd a couple hours before noon. This started the chain reaction of the pirates deciding to stay where they were, meaning Thoris, Menalcus, Yang, Sophia, and Gerard stayed part of my group. One of the four mercs also didn’t change venues.
About an hour later, Sophia stood up from her meditation pose, a stance she often used when she cast her prana-detecting spell. She stepped over to me and said, “I felt something to the west. It’s faint, but I can definitely tell it’s not human. It’s way too big.”
I waved over Thoris and the three of us climbed to the top of the dune’s steep slope. It was hard to see anything in the horizon’s hazy heat, but we could soon make out a moving dust cloud a thousand yards away. It hovered just above ground level and charged toward the ruined city.
“Is that one of those worm things?” asked Sophia. “It’s moving pretty damn fast.”
“No way we can intercept it before it hits the city,” I said.
“We’ll have to try,” said Thoris.
Just before Thoris shouted at the others below, I said, “Wait, what if we attract the worm to us?”
Making sure he heard me correctly, he said, “You want to attract it to us?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think that’s wise? The city does have walls and more manpower.”
“Sure, but I think I have a good way to kill it quickly. Once it’s dead, we can start moving out of this godsforsaken place. That sound okay with you?”
“You’re certain you can kill it?”
“If it behaves like I’ve been told it will, then yes. Bring up a mule with a pack for me. I’ll get the worm to come to us.”
The pirate nodded and ran back down. Sophia remained beside me, bow in hand. I summoned ten of my bigger explosive stones and chucked them as far as my arm strength allowed. I ignited them as they struck the ever-shifting ground. The first four explosions didn’t bring any reaction from the sand cloud, but the fifth one had it finally turn in my direction. Under the billowing dust was an incoming groundswell of sand ten feet wide. Thoris came back up with a mule when the enemy was about three hundred yards away. Just about everyone else came up with him.
I told everyone to stay as still as possible and summoned a heavy pile of dragon stones, dropping them in the pack slung over its back. With the worm less than a hundred yards away, I slapped its rear to compel it to move away from us. The mule sensed the groaning ground and started galloping away from the sand wave.
“Clever,” said Gerard. “If a little cruel.”
“I could strap stones on you next time, if you prefer.”
“That will be unnecessary.”
We watched as the sand wave rushed past us, chasing after the scampering bait. The speed of the underground enemy was easily faster than the mule’s sprint over the malleable ground. While a part of me hoped the mule outran its otherworldly predator, a bigger part of me wanted my plan to work. Sixty yards later, my plan bore fruit. A few feet behind the mule, the stretched wave vanished a moment. The still running mule then disappeared in a splatter of sand. It stayed missing when the sandy splash settled.
Wanting to bring the worm back within my range, I heaved a few rocky explosives, set those off, and told everyone to move behind me. The ploy worked. The sand wave appeared again, twisting and shifting the sand near its latest feeding ground before heading our way. I focused and waited to sense my dragon stones enter my prana’s influence.
My training said I could ignite the stones from thirty or so yards, but the chukurn’s thick hide blocked an easy transfer of prana. I had to wait for it to get an uncomfortable forty feet away before I felt the glimmer of prana come within my extrasensory grasp. I poured enough spirit energy to trigger every last stone at the same time.
A geyser of sand blasted into the sky. Immediately succeeding that was a gurgling growl coming from a lofty shadow. The tubular shape writhed in the air a moment before its enormous girth crashed onto the dune’s surface. The murky dust and blurry shadow transformed into the squirming body of a chukurn, fifty feet of which was above ground. All its frills were flared and it was trying very hard to screech out the seething agony raging in its stomach, but a chukurn did not have a well-developed voice. The best it could do was mutter its misery in warbling grumbles.
With strained effort the worm lifted its head and opened its three mandibles wide enough to almost unhinge off its face. It next fell forward and swallowed half a mountain of sand, looking for anything that could smother the internal flames. It was either not enough or too much. The beast spun its bulk to dig deeper into the dune, but it stopped tunneling a few moments later. A segment of its twisting body was still exposed, sluggishly stirring the sand around it. Whether it was dying or not mattered little. It was obviously incapacitated and that was enough for us to gather our animals and get them back to the ruins.
Fardin tried to convince everyone we were safe from chukurn attacks as long as we stayed within the debilitated city walls, but no one bought it. We gave him two hours to collect everything he wanted to bring before the expedition would begin to move through the Kitiri tunnel, with or without him.
The start of our trip back to Prusal did have the disgruntled enchanter uniting with us. The mules who had their sariff sold were now lugging precious artifacts and rubbings. To try and stifle the telling vibrations of our movements, we elected to keep the caravan as sparsely bundled as possible, placing the more lucrative animals at the center. This arrangement appeared to work. Sophia’s spell and the vigilant guides didn’t pick up any chukurn activity as we moved briskly through the Howling Dunes over the next two days. The strong winds also helped deaden any noise we produced.
There was some relief when we exited the Hadarii’s heart, but the animal bones we found earlier told us we were still well within chukurn territory. In any event, without an oceanic amount sand to traverse, it was believed the chukurn couldn’t move as speedily in the shallower sand and hardier dirt.
Our first real rest came on reaching the first settlement we had rediscovered. Two of the weaker animals we didn’t get a chance to feed were getting too frail to carry anyone or much of anything. I chose these animals, a mule and a camel, to act as more sacrificial temptations for the worms. They would also be the first to go should our food supply get too low. The items they carried were conveyed to others and replaced by my dragon stones. A long rope tied to these unwilling martyrs kept their fates aligned. I put Ghevont in charge of them.
Waiting for the hottest part of the day to subside, a big group of
us began playing cards, which included my father. I assumed I would be good at reading body language and calling bluffs, but it turned out that my people-reading skills failed me when I didn’t much care about the outcome. However, the more I lost, the more I started caring. Just as I was going to show everyone the hand that would win the latest round, the group turned to notice a sprinting Gerard coming up to us.
The Alslana knight said, “The guides picked up a crawling dust cloud to the east. It’s not heading for us right now, but it’s out there.”
In the midst of the group getting up to see what Gerard spoke of, Lucetta was entering the west side of the camp in her own run. To her husband, she said, “Malu saw something. I got Sophia to double check, but she didn’t have to use her spell before we saw the dirt cloud ourselves. She cast her spell anyway and picked up another worm a little farther out.”
“Three of them?” said Thoris. “Shit, we’ll have to split up.”
Turning to Lucetta, my father said, “Gather anyone who can’t fight and round them up by the wall over there. Stay with them.”
She nodded, kissed him, and dashed off. Not waiting to hear whether my father assigned me anywhere, I left to get my baits. I cut the rope in the middle and handed the camel to Ghevont. I took my mule eastward. Hearing the success of my last plan, a few animals had their packs removed and their pirate or mercenary handler pulled them toward the margins of the expedition. I didn’t have enough dragon stones to fill anymore packs, meaning they would have to use different strategies on their lures.
The protectors of the expedition encircled the ruin, watching as the dust clouds circled us like sharks at sea. The region did not have many large dunes, so I was glad to see the dust clouds were slowed down by the bumpier soil. Yet even their slowed speed looked faster than a narrow-footed human running across this unstable land. A few minutes later and word came that Sophia sensed another worm enter her range. Still, they kept their distance.
The Dragon Knight's Curse (The Dragon Knight Series Book 2) Page 21