Shadows Book 1 in the World of Shadows

by Cheree Alsop

  “Take it,” I said. He looked at me in surprise. “Serion and I can’t guide everyone and they’ve obviously forgotten about the hidden walkways. We’ll be gone from here long before they start to question how we got our men out.”

  He nodded and ducked into the small doorway. Dathien followed with a steeling breath and Serion trailed close behind; the rest fell in without complaint.

  “You should go,” the older soldier said, motioning for me to follow Dathien.

  I shook my head. “I’ll bring up the rear. If anyone does follow, I can lead them away.”

  He hesitated, then nodded and ducked into the tunnel. I made sure the guards were still down and everything looked undisturbed, then went in after them.

  The journey back up the walkway was much faster with the torch. Axon led us silently and swiftly, and we were back in our old rooms sooner than I had thought possible. He crossed straight to his room and started pulling clothes from the closet.

  “You’ll have to leave in disguise. If King Raden needs to think he still has some leverage on us, so be it. But I’m not leaving any of you here.”

  The old soldier began to cough so hard he had to sit down and put his head back catch his breath. When he did, his lips had a bluish tint and it was easy to see the sickness he suffered was less simple than he implied.

  One of the other soldiers saluted Axon. “My Prince, I think it would be better for all if we hid in town for your return. I have some friends here and it won’t be hard to keep under cover.”

  The worry in Axon’s eyes over their safety was evident, but we all knew a trip through the desert was the last thing the older soldier needed. He nodded and handed the soldier who had spoken a small bag of gold similar to the one he had given me. “Take care of yourselves. We’ll send word when we get back.”

  The soldier nodded and touched a fist to his heart in respect and gratitude. Dathien handed out cloaks and spoke to the men quietly at the door to our chambers. The soldiers listened, then nodded and left.

  Dathien went to his room and returned quickly in the light robes of the desert. “Nice to scrub off some of that dungeon grim,” he said with a grimace.

  Axon looked him over critically, taking in his massive size. “You’re pretty hard to miss in a crowd. We’ll have to be careful until we’re out of the city.”

  “I planned to leave early and catch up, if you know what I mean,” Dathien said. He touched a new blade at his belt meaningfully.

  Axon nodded but his eyes were tight. “Take care of yourself.”

  “I will.” They gripped forearms in respect.

  Dathien turned to me. “I know you can take care of yourself, but try to at least limit the number of risks you take.”

  I thought of the foth and blushed, but nodded. He hesitated, then swept me up in a hug. I hugged him back as tightly. He grinned at both of us, then left through the door after making sure the way was clear. The ache at losing my friends had eased around the edges at finding Dathien, but it was hard to see him go. I couldn't fight back the fear that I wouldn't see him again, and wondered if I would feel the same way every time someone I cared about left.

  Axon put a hand on my shoulder. “We'd better get going,” he said softly.

  I hurried back to my room and gathered some clothes. I shoved them in a bag and smiled grimly at the fact that I felt a whole lot less guilty about taking things from Lysus than I had before.

  Chapter 32

  We started across the desert before the sun set. Luminos soldiers wore packs of supplies on their backs, and many of them carried stretchers bearing sleeping Nathos. When the Nathos awoke they would carry the Luminos in the same fashion. At dusk and dawn, the tents were to be put up again because there were too few Duskies to defend the entire company if Sathen did find our trail. I realized then what trust both races had to have in each other, and also what power the Duskies could have if allowed to run rampant during both parties’ weak times. I thought of the ship and was amazed how much faith they had in us, especially after the attempted mutiny.

  Dathien caught up with our party just after we left the city. It felt right to have at least one of our original party back, though the others' absence was more harshly felt because of it. Dathien kept step beside Axon and I and we walked in silence through the day. Commander Jashen had inquired about taking a few of the remaining lamaks with us as pack animals, but it was feared that the dust they caused would act like a beacon for the Sathen, so we walked in a small file stretching back across the desert with sentries posted on the dunes to alert us if they spotted anything usual.

  Pyth sat by me at dusk the first day and stared past the tent to the cooling desert beyond. The sand sat quiet and red with the touch of the setting sun. The Duskies that came with us held positions around the perimeter of the tent and stared out at the desert with worried expressions. A sand crab scurried up to the top of a dune, leaving small rifts in its wake that would soon be erased with the sand’s endless moving. A small beetle crawled toward my foot and I lifted it up so the heat from the bug’s silver back wouldn’t burn me.

  “I can’t believe you did this by yourself the first time you crossed,” Pyth said with a shake of his head.

  I glanced at him. “It was an interesting journey.”

  He smiled. “So I heard.” He pointed his sword casually at the sleeping Luminos and Nathos around us. “What made you trust them?”

  I frowned thoughtfully and remembered the first few days. “I’m not sure. They kidnapped me and I couldn’t have gotten far without them anyway. And I was glad to be free of the Caves.” I looked at Axon's sleeping form, knowing there was more to it than that, but unsure how to phrase it. “There was just something about them.”

  He nodded. “I can accept that.” He gave me a sideways glance. “How many times have you risked your life for them?”

  I smiled. “A few; but they’ve risked everything for me, too.” I thought of Axon risking drowning to free me from the cage on the ship, and his kiss afterward. I thought of all our kisses and it made my heart race.

  “Would you do again?” Pyth asked, following my gaze to Axon.

  I nodded. “In a heartbeat.”

  He sighed and settled more comfortably on his cushion. I watched the colors of the desert change slowly from a blush of pink to deep red, then to velvet purple, and finally shifting to a midnight blue so deep it was almost black. The Nathos awoke and packed up the tent, then carried the stretchers now bearing the Luminos. Pyth and I followed them and the rest of the Duskies until we were too tired and had to give in to being carried as well.

  Sentries topped a dune in front of us near noon the next day, then stopped walking. Axon shaded his eyes with a hand and waited for them to signal that all was clear, but the signal never came. He held up a hand and the Commanders behind us halted the company. Stretchers were lowered and weary legs rested. The Luminos never wavered with their endless sunstrength, but the Duskies pushed on stalwartly and never complained, a point I took pride in and commended them for.

  Axon, Commander Jashen, and I climbed quietly up the side of the dune and knelt next to the four Luminos sentries. I blinked at the sight before us, then rubbed my eyes in the hopes that it was a mirage, but the image didn’t disappear.

  Thousands of footprints covered the valley between two dunes. The number showed a far larger horde of Sathen traveling together than we could have imagined. Every inch of sand was disturbed, and the depth of the prints and the shadow of the upturned sand told that they had passed mere heartbeats before us.

  “They’ve formed an army,” Commander Jashen breathed.

  “They’re heading for the Caves,” Axon said quietly, his tone betraying nothing.

  “And they’re moving fast,” one of the sentries said, “Far faster than we can hope to keep up carrying each other.”

  Steel glinted in Axon’s eyes. “Then we’ll do the best we can and hope to reach the Caves in time to fight back.”

  H
e motioned for the Commanders to continue. When the Luminos and Duskies bearing stretchers circled the dune to see the footprints, nobody said a word, but fear was evident in their eyes and clenched jaws. Weapons were checked and placed where they would be easily accessed and no one complained at a quick lunch of corn rolls, dried sweet meat, hard cheese, and rice milk eaten as we walked. The Duskies took turns sleeping in stretchers along with the Nathos so we would be fresh if the Sathen came upon us.

  We pushed hard and were so close to the Caves by evening we wanted to keep going, but we didn’t dare risk being caught in the open by the Sathen with both the Luminos and Nathos at their weakest. I set up a perimeter around the inside of the tent again, and warned everyone to be on the lookout. I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were in danger. Even though we had brought half of the Duskie soldiers from the ships, leaving the other half to help guard Lysus against further attack, we would be hard pressed to defend triple that number of Luminos and Nathos if the Sathen attacked.

  It was nearing moonrise and the rise of the Nathos when commotion from the other side of camp caught my attention. I motioned to Pyth and he followed me swiftly through the sleeping bodies.

  “What’s going on?” I whispered to Kennik, one of the captains Pyth had appointed.

  He pointed without a word. I followed his finger and my heart slowed at a plume of dust past one of the sand hills. The plume grew closer while we watched, and it became obvious the dust wasn’t stirred by wind.

  The Duskies closest to us began to whisper among each other and I raised a hand to draw their attention.

  “Keep absolutely silent,” I whispered as loud as I dared. Pyth spread the word to the Duskies on the other side of camp and I saw fear in the gazes they turned on me. “We'll be alright as long as they don’t hear us. The tent will mask our scent.” The same promise on my last journey through the desert rose to my mind, but I shook it away and forced down the fear so it wouldn’t compromise my ability to lead.

  The plume continued to grow; eyes widened and hands touched sword hilts, but the Duskies stayed silent and watchful.

  Then the plume neared the edge of the sand hill and the first Sathen became visible. Several Duskies gasped, but I held up a hand and they fell quiet again. The Sathen walked toward us with a sound like the rise and fall of the ocean as their clawed feet dug through the sand. I motioned for half of the Duskies to line the edge of the tent they walked toward. Swords were drawn silently and held at the ready, but the Sathen turned at the last instant and followed the edge of the dune toward the Caves. Hundreds of Sathen, smaller than the mass of footprints we had seen, but far larger than I had ever faced, hurried past, their razor sharp teeth, claws, and barbed tails glinting in the starlight. The scaled red bodies flowed like a living river of death and their overpowering scent of decay washed over our camp.

  The Duskies around me looked as though they wanted to run, but it would be futile. I held up a hand and felt all their eyes darting between me and the mass of Sathen just past the edge of the tent. I mouthed that it was alright and kept a calm front despite the fact that my heart pounded so loud I feared the Sathen would hear it. I patted my sword with a reassuring smile and saw several hesitant smiles cross the faces of those around me. The sword wouldn't be much help if we were attacked, but the steel was reassuring and the fact that both Dathien and Axon slept nearby gave me courage.

  The scented tent was all that stood between us and the nightmare creatures that flooded past on the other side of the cloth. The tent had failed me once, and the claw marks and scars along my back, sides, and stomach attested to that. I hoped for the sake of all those behind me that it would hide us this time, that no Sathen would slip and fall past the fabric, and that everyone on our side had the frame of mind to keep silent until they passed.

  A Nathos soldier stirred behind me as he awoke, and his sword bumped against the links of his armor. Pyth knelt at his side and whispered to him; shock washed over the Nathos' face, but he kept silent. I turned back in time to see a Sathen look our way, his pupil-less black eyes narrowed and searching. Sathen relied mostly on their sense of smell and hearing to hunt; their eyesight, especially at night, was poor; our best hope was keep perfectly still and silent.

  The Duskies around me froze and many held their breath. When the Sathen finally turned away, I realized I had been holding my breath along with them. I let it out silently and motioned for Duskies to go to the other Nathos. They knelt beside the soldiers and quieted them, warning them of what was happening. The Nathos rose like silent wraiths and joined us to watch the throng of dark creatures make their way to the Caves.

  “We should stop them,” a Duskie said when the last of the Sathen disappeared from view.

  I shook my head. “It would be a death sentence. We don't have enough soldiers to fight them and we would have to leave the Luminos unprotected. The citizens of Firen Caves have lasted this long. Let’s hope they’ll survive one more attack before we arrive.” I chose not to mention the far larger horde that had passed before us already in the hopes that perhaps it had missed the Caves altogether, though deep down I doubted it.

  Scattered groups of Sathen drifted after the others throughout the night. With so many around, it was decided that we would be safer waiting where we were instead of risking discovery outside the safety of the Caves. The chill of the desert night slowly sucked the warmth from the sand and shivers ran down my spine that weren't just from the cold. We passed food around, things like dried fruit and hard rolls that didn't have much scent to attract the creatures.

  The wait was long, silent, and harder than any from my trek with Axon's men. I tried to figure out why, then realized it was because this time more than just seven strangers looked to me for protection. The Duskies, Luminos, and Nathos around me waited on the desert sands because Axon and I had brought them here to save others. They looked to me while Axon slept to see them to Firen Caves safely, and not let them get killed and eaten along the way.

  Fewer Sathen returned from behind the dune just before dawn after the Nathos had gone to sleep and we awaited the awakening of the Luminos. The Sathen were bloody and grinning, showing their multiple rows of serrated teeth. Several carried what looked like body parts and ate them while they walked. We stayed silently behind the tent like before, but one of the Sathen, distracted with what it was eating, strayed off the path of its fellows and walked toward us. We watched helplessly as the Sathen drew closer and closer. I walked soundlessly barefoot in the sand along our side of the tent so that I stood across from it, its shadow larger than life from the cast of the fading stars. The Sathen paused and looked up, realized he had left the path and turned to go back, when a click sounded behind me.

  I couldn’t turn to see what had caused the sound. The Sathen’s black eyes widened and it reached out a sharp claw toward the tent. When it met resistance, it jumped back with a hiss. Several other Sathen by the dunes turned toward the sound. The first Sathen slashed at the tent and ripped through the side. He stared in surprise at our party, and his lips drew up in a malicious grin. I leaped through the hole and cut off his head with one slash of my sword. I glanced back and saw the shock on the faces of the Duskies behind me.

  “Defend our people,” I yelled. The shout jarred them to life and they drew their swords and took positions around the camp.

  I fell back to stand above Axon, his still form below me and his life in my hands. Pyth appeared at my side, his sword in one hand and a knife in the other. “Feel like your last time out here?” he asked.

  The horde of Sathen swarmed toward us and time slowed. “Getting more like it every heartbeat,” I replied.

  He grinned and cut down the closest Sathen. My heart pounded, but I pushed my fear of serrated teeth and merciless claws deep down and felt the clarity of adrenaline strengthen my grip on the sword. I took off two heads, spun and cut two others through the stomach, disemboweling them, then brought my sword back around and cut off the arm of a Sathen w
ho tried to reach Dathien while I defended Axon.

  Pyth moved to cover Dathien and I nodded gratefully, cutting down two more Sathen who charged at Axon. Claws sunk into my leg and I turned and cut off the Sathen's arm when another set scratched deep along my back. I grimaced and cut off the head of the first one and spun back in time to see Serion from the Lysus castle kill my second attacker and then finish another one who was about to leap at Pyth.

  “You're handy in a battle,” I said, sinking my sword into the stomach of a Sathen and then using the sword to throw the body into two others.

  “Life as a Duskie isn't always the safest,” Serion replied through gritted teeth. He chopped off a Sathen's legs, then ended its life with a deep slash through the spine. “It helps to know how to defend yourself.”

  I nodded gratefully but didn’t have time to answer. Though fewer Sathen had returned from Firen Caves, the deep red swarm of them across the desert sands looked endless. If I had time to fear, I might have second-guessed our ability to defend ourselves against the ocean of death; but there wasn't time for worry or second-guessing, only to act, so I lost myself in cutting down bodies, defending my loved ones, and ignoring the pain of the claws and teeth that swept free of my guard.

  By the time the sun warmed the sand, Sathen, Duskie, and Luminos bodies had colored it dark with blood. Bodies littered the ground everywhere I looked. It had been a close thing, but the Duskies fought bravely and the Sathen fled at dawn when the Luminos rose full of fury and strengthened by the sun. Axon stood beside me and gazed down at our fallen companions with heavy sorrow on his face.

  “They’ve got to be stopped,” he said quietly.

  I nodded. “Who knows how many they killed at the Caves, though it looked like the citizens there took a heavy toll on them.” I took a shallow breath. “We would've been overpowered if they found us on their way to the Caves instead of on the way back.”

  “Where do you suppose they went?” Dathien asked behind us.