“I don’t have it,” Gondrial said. He looked at Rikard, who shrugged and shook his head.
“I don’t have it,” Marella said when they looked to her.
“Great, it didn’t come here with us. We can’t use it to get back,” Shey said.
“You are just now thinking about that?” Gondrial asked. “I think maybe you dropped it back in Morgoran’s tower.”
“I thought you had it and when we got to a safe place we could discern how it worked,” she retorted.
“Let’s find a way out of this ruin,” Rikard said. “We can work out how to get home once we find out where it is we are.”
Gondrial creaked open what appeared to be the front door to the tower and peered out. “It’s clear this way all the way down the street.”
“Wait,” Shey said. “There is something in that room.” She pointed to a doorway near the weapon rack.
“Since it’s beside the weapon rack, that’s probably the armory,” Rikard said.
“What do you mean there is something in there? Is it moving? Did you hear something?” Gondrial asked.
“Nothing like that. It feels like something I should see.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Gondrial asked. “It’s probably a trap.”
“I don’t think so.” She boldly pushed the door open. On a table in the middle of a room of weapons sporadically strewed about, there was a metal box. It appeared to be placed there recently as there was no dust accumulated on it. She walked over to it and reached out, but the box shimmered like an illusion. “It’s not really here.”
“It’s a test. Remember the moment we fell to the floor in Morgoran’s tower? I saw Sylvalora shutting us in the room,” Marella said.
Shey nodded but still had a faraway gaze. “I do remember that. Why did she do that?” Shey looked at her bracelet, at the blue sapphire at its center. “The gem! She gave me the gem. It’s set in this bracelet.”
“Which gem? The one that got us here?” Gondrial asked.
“No, the suppression gem that Toborne wants to use and Kambor wants to possess. We must be in Darovan. Our masters have sent us here to take care of the gem, to get rid of it. They couldn’t tell us about it because they couldn’t take the chance that we might divulge we had it. Don’t you see? They got it as far away from danger as they could. It is a test for us.”
“That’s insane. Why would they do that to us?” Gondrial said.
Marella lit up. “It’s our rite of passage to adept! Dicarion told me the transition would be like nothing I had experienced before, a trial by fire. I thought he meant real fire.”
“If I’m right, that box contains my father’s daggers,” Shey said.
“Why would they give you weapons and not us?” Gondrial asked skeptically.
Shey drew in essence and used it on the box, but nothing happened. “Because you are not the daughter of Sylvalora. I’m sure she sent this independently of the others.” Shey used her enchanting ability on the box instead and reached out for it. The box was solid. She opened it to reveal two shiny, curved daggers and a feminine belt with two sheaths.
“That’s cheating!” Gondrial said as Shey strapped on the belt.
“You found a good sword,” Shey stated bluntly. “That was probably no accident.”
“At least we have an idea of what to do now,” Rikard said.
“I’m impressed. Morgoran and Ianthill anticipated on how nosey and defiant you are, Gondrial,” Shey said. “They baited you into going into Morgoran’s study. You are more transparent to them than you realized.”
Marella chuckled. “I wonder if your antics have ever fooled them.”
“I wouldn’t say I was trying to fool anyone,” Gondrial said.
“Where do we go from here? Have any of you been to Darovan before? If that is indeed where we are,” Rikard asked.
Shey cracked open the door and peered outside. The road ahead through the village was still clear. “We are in a ruined village with a tower, in the middle of a desert. We arrived without being able to draw essence. They are not making it easy on us. I would say we need to take care of the basics first—find water and find an occupied village where we can get a sense of where we are and which way we need to go.”
“Sounds simple enough,” Gondrial stated. “But we are in a desert. Water and villages will be tough to come by.”
“I am listening to suggestions,” Shey said.
“I want to stress that other than getting us here, our masters are not involved in this. We are on our own. There will be no rescues or help this time. Every decision we make will have consequences,” Marella pointed out. “It’s sink or swim.”
“Naturally,” Gondrial said. “So what’s our first move? Water?”
Shey opened the door and walked out onto the street. “I think I see a well.”
“In the desert?” Gondrial was shocked.
“I’m sure this village was built over an oasis or near an underground water supply or even a river,” Shey said. “You can’t make a settlement without water nearby.”
“They did all die at some point,” Gondrial pointed out.
“Well, I’m sure it wasn’t because of the water,” Shey said.
They cautiously followed Shey onto the street, weapons drawn.
The weathered buildings were mostly crumbling or falling down. The entirety of the village consisted of stone and sandstone dwellings. The tower and immediate surrounding buildings were the lone exceptions, being constructed mainly of wood. Although the village seemed to be old, there were indications that it wasn’t, such as the tatters of cloth curtains, which should have rotted away long ago, still hanging in some of the windows. The layout of the buildings, with the tower complex, vaguely reminded Shey of Morgoran’s village. When they got to the water well at the center of town, Gondrial pulled up a rope to discover the well still contained water. He was about to drink when Shey knocked it out of his hand. She pointed down to a skeleton still clutching a ladle.
“I think the water might actually be responsible for what happened here,” she said.
Gondrial cocked his head. “Uh huh, the water, eh?” Shey ignored him.
Rikard picked up the pail and put it back into the well. He stood over it and prayed. The well glowed, bathed in golden light. He pulled the pail back up and poured some of the water into his hand. It was crystal clear. He sipped some of it. “It’s good now.”
“I wonder what tainted it?” Marella asked.
“Whatever it was, this water isn’t tainted anymore,” Rikard answered.
“Drink all you can,” Gondrial said. “We don’t have anything to carry any of it with us.”
“There should be a merchant’s shop here somewhere. How long does a waterskin last in the desert?” Rikard asked.
“It depends, but I bet they last a lot longer than the tattered curtains we saw back there,” Gondrial said. “In fact, why don’t we split up and go into the buildings with the curtains and look for waterskins to fill? They would be the most likely to contain usable items, I would think.”
“Is it wise to split up?” Rikard asked.
Gondrial shrugged. “We haven’t seen any sign of danger since up in the tower. The sooner we find something to contain water and get out of here, the better off I think we are.”
“Let’s find some waterskins, then,” Shey said. “I get the feeling this village is not nearly as old as we think it is. I think the desert and lack of living people have aged it.”
The four of them started off together toward the buildings with the tattered curtains. When they got close to the area, they split up and each took a building to explore.
“Remember, be cautious and look everywhere before you enter. If you see something unnatural or you see any more unlife, get away and alert the others,” Gondrial said.
“I know we need something to contain the water,” Marella said, “but I think splitting up is a terrible idea.” Gondrial and Rikard had already entered
their buildings before Marella finished her sentence.
“Come on, Marella. You can stay near me,” Shey said.
Marella bit her lower lip. “Thank you, Shey, but I can manage.”
“Don’t let them fool you. They will come running if you need them,” Shey said.
Marella nodded. “We had better get to work.”
Chapter 6: Sand Elves
Shey entered her chosen building with her daggers drawn. The first room Shey entered appeared to be a common living area. Tattered furniture still remained, but very little of it was intact except for a few chairs. The furniture’s lack of extreme decay was another indication that the village wasn’t all that old, just weathered. She went to the hearth first and inspected around an iron pot, which was still fastened to the swinging arm that allowed the pot to be moved over the hearth’s fire. Hanging on the wall were several cooking utensils and two empty waterskins. She took the skins off the peg. She had gotten lucky on her first try. Shey inspected the waterskins and pulled on them to see if they were still pliable. They were. She headed out the door to tell the others what she had found when she spotted one of the creatures following Rikard into another dwelling. She refrained from yelling out; instead, she dropped her waterskins where she could easily find them and readied her daggers as she bolted off toward Rikard in a sprint.
She entered the dwelling behind the creature as it prepared to attack Rikard. Rikard heard Shey’s footfalls and turned to see who was running into the room behind him and instantly came face to face with the emaciated corpse instead. He instinctively pushed it back as Shey came from behind and crisscrossed her daggers to sever its head from its shoulders. It collapsed harmlessly.
“My heart is still pounding. Thank you, Shey.”
“Watch your back, my friend.” She sheathed her daggers. “I found some waterskins. You may as well stick with me.”
As soon as Shey turned her back on him, he opened his hand to look at the amulet he had just found. He shrugged his shoulders and dropped it into his pack where it fell beside a small jade figurine of a strange dog-like animal he had found in the building before.
Rikard followed Shey back to where she had dropped the waterskins. She picked them up and handed one to Rikard.
“Come on. Let’s get back to the water well.” Shey said. Rikard nodded, following behind her.
When they were in sight of the water well again, Gondrial and Marella were arriving at about the same pace.
“Good, you found some skins too,” Shey said to Gondrial.
“Maybe you should bless these before we fill them,” Gondrial said. “This place makes me nervous.” He handed his waterskins over to Rikard. “When you take our surroundings into consideration, these skins should have been dust long ago.”
“I was thinking about that when I was in one of the dwellings,” Shey said. “I think this place is weathered beyond its many seasons but not nearly as old as we first thought.”
Rikard performed his blessing over the waterskins and then filled them with the water he had blessed earlier. After Shey recounted the sighting of the creature that had almost attacked Rikard, Gondrial pressed them to get out of the village. They followed a worn road along the edge of sand dunes, which had mysteriously not blown over the road or covered it up.
Marella bent down and patted the dirt-packed road. “That village and this road are odd. This road appears maintained and kept cleared of sand.”
Shey put her hand up above her eyes to shield them from the sun and peered into the distance. “Do you think there is another village nearby?”
“I do,” Marella said. “Only, I believe it’s a fairly large city.”
“Why would you think that?” Gondrial asked.
“Experience. I have seen roads like this before in Ardenia. This road is a well-traveled one, and recently well-traveled, or it wouldn’t be so maintained and clear.”
“The desert sun is brutal,” Rikard said. “I wish I had a hat.”
“We should have looked for some hats back in the village,” Gondrial said. “I didn’t think about it.”
After a while walking down the road, Shey could feel the sun burning her skin. It was a dry burn, not painful yet, but she knew if her skin remained exposed, it would turn bright red and become agonizing. She tried to cover up the best she could. She worried about fair-skinned Marella more. If Shey got a sunburn, Marella would burn twice as bad. Shey tried to find some loose clothing to help cover up her friend, but found none. She finally popped the stitching of her undershirt and pulled the sleeves off. She stopped Marella and slipped the sleeves over her arms. “You are going to burn if we don’t get you covered up.”
“Don’t fuss. You need to be covered as well.”
“You know I will tan and you will burn, so hush up.” Shey grinned at her friend.
“There is something up ahead,” Gondrial said. “It looks like sandstone walls in the distance. We must be getting close to the city Marella speculated.”
Rikard squinted. “I believe you are right. Let’s pick up the pace.”
Before they could take another step, the sand around the road began to swirl and boil up, followed by spear points ascending from sinkholes. The spears leveled as several dark-skinned men emerged from the sandy holes, holding the spear points out toward each of Shey’s friends. A closer look at the men and Shey realized they were dark-skinned elves, both male and female.
One of them brought his spear point entirely too close to Gondrial and began speaking in a foreign language.
“No, I am half-elven,” Gondrial said in response.
“You speak the common speech,” the dark-skinned elf said. “I am Sanmir Tariq of the Siladil.”
“I am called Gondrial.”
“Of course, sand elves!” Rikard said. “We are in Darovan.”
“Where have you come from?” Sanmir asked.
“The abandoned village back down this road,” Gondrial told him.
“You say you come from Fariq? How can that be?” He held his spear closer to Gondrial, and the others moved in on Shey, Marella, and Rikard.
“We escaped from it. We come from across the sea, from Symboria. We left the village as soon as we could get away.”
“I see. That village you escaped from is cursed.” He used the tip of his spear to examine the waterskin hanging from Gondrial’s waist. “That skin is of Siladil design. Did you drink the water?” The other sand elves murmured in shock.
“We have a cleric with us. He blessed the water before we took any of it.”
“You have cured the water when none of our own clerics could do so?”
Gondrial took the waterskin from his waist and poured water in his hand and offered the skin to Sanmir. “Here, see for yourself.” The sand elf backed away, reinforcing his spear leveled at Gondrial.
“Forgive me, but I do not believe it’s safe to drink,” Sanmir said.
“What happened there, I wonder?” Rikard asked.
“Do not speak of it, Sanmir,” one of the female elves said. “It’s bad luck.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Thamra,” Sanmir said. “A man came to the village from across the sea, like you, and he betrayed the village to a curse. It came back upon him, though, and it is said he dwells there now with his minions, waiting.”
“Waiting for what?” Gondrial asked.
Sanmir glanced around at his companions, and they all sniggered. “You, I suppose. I don’t know.”
“He is playing you for a fool, Gondrial,” Marella said.
“Aye, I got that,” Gondrial retorted. He grinned sarcastically at Sanmir. “You have no idea what happened there, do you?”
“Not in the slightest, my friend,” Sanmir said. “Although, the place is indeed cursed by a Na’ Ne’ Edeen.”
“A what?” Gondrial asked. Sanmir looked to his companions for help with the common word.
“A latch,” one of them said.
“No, no, it’s called a leech,” said anoth
er.
“You mean a Lich?” Rikard asked.
Sanmir snapped his fingers and pointed at Rikard. “Aye, that’s it, a Lich. No one sets foot near that place.”
“What about the road?” Marella asked.
Sanmir shrugged. “The Lich keeps it cleared, and we patrol it to make sure nothing unnatural comes down it.”
Shey realized the sand elves still had their spears leveled at them. “We are not unnatural. You may lower your spears.”
“I don’t think so. We will keep them on you until we get to Saleed. The pryus will want to speak with you.”
“Pryus? Is that your leader?” Shey asked.
“Aye, our . . . king,” Sanmir said. “You say you are not unnatural, but you come from the village Fariq to the city of Saleed and say you are from across the sea, much like the story of the curse. I pray you understand why we must keep our guard up until the pryus speaks with you.”
“Aye, we will speak with your pryus,” Shey said.
Each of the sand elves took a position beside Shey and her friends to escort them up the road toward the gates of Saleed.
“What about introductions?” Shey said to Sanmir. “Are these your kin?”
“We are all kin, we are Siladil.”
“No, I mean immediate family.”
Sanmir cocked his head, clearly puzzled.
“Never mind,” Shey said.
“We are born to Siladil and raised as brothers and sisters all. In Saleed, we have different tribes and those tribes all raise their young together. Does this answer your inquiry?”
Shey nodded. Marella gave her a shrug.
The walls of the city of Saleed were among the highest Shey had ever seen. They were a light sandy colored off white with parapets at each corner, and in the middle, occupied with archers. Pike-wielding guards patrolled back and forth between the parapets. As they approached the massive wooden and stone gates, Shey was amazed to see that they were left open with minimal guard. Of course, the guards above and the archers would fall anything coming through, and they were high enough up to see any danger approaching from afar, she speculated.
Wielder: Adept: Book 2 of Lady Shey's Story (The Wielder Cycle) Page 5