Rik used his staff to pull a stalagmite from the ground, just like he'd seen when he and Markus had explored caves in their younger days. There was no way to get rid of the stalagmite, so it would serve as a permanent monument to Rik's quick learning.
He also sent jagged rocks across the room. They burst from the tip of his staff, then struck the stone walls, leaving small indentations.
"The next element we'll learn is Water," Alana said, "and since we're going to be traveling in a desert, you might want to pay attention."
"Hey, I've been paying attention the whole time."
She smiled. "I was just joking with you. You don't need to be so serious."
"Serious? I've never been serious in my life." But lately he had lost his relaxed, joking manner. He didn't like the changes this quest had brought about in him. It felt as if he was finally leaving behind his childhood, and he would never return.
Alana ignored his remark. "You can only use one type of water ability, but you can channel it at different strengths. At its core, the concept is pretty simple. You send a jet of water streaming from the end of your staff."
Rik focused on that idea, and soon he was blasting the walls with tremendous force. He couldn't help but smile. Magic was a lot of fun. Dangerous, but fun.
Maybe he could reclaim the person he'd been before this quest started.
When Alana instructed him to slow the magic to a trickle, he had much less success. No matter how much he focused on what he desired, the water burst from his staff.
"I guess I'll supply any water we need," Alana said. "You might kill somebody."
Rik wanted to protest, but he smiled instead. He liked learning from Alana.
There were two ice abilities. One of them made a shard of ice fly from the tip of his staff. That would be useful like throwing a knife at an opponent. The other made the air around him much colder and could even be used to freeze water.
"We'll need that to cross the river that separates the desert from the forest," Alana said. "By freezing the water, we can create an ice bridge."
"That sounds a bit dangerous."
"Oh, I'm sure it will be."
"There's one element we haven't talked about," Rik said.
Alana looked suddenly uncomfortable. "Yes, Darkness. It's not one I'd recommend testing right now. You can send a jet of darkness from the end of your staff. This spell is meant to inflict pain. I suppose it could be useful, but I hope I never have to use it."
Rik's thoughts drifted back to when Warrick had briefly tortured Markus. Rik didn't like to think that he had the same power now, and he prayed he'd never need it.
"Yeah, I don’t like the sound of that," he said.
She was silent a few moments before she finally said, "That's everything I need to teach you for now. You're talented, and you know the basics. Your control will come with time."
But would they have enough time?
* * * * *
The party of six set our early the next morning with Garet assuming the position of leader. Nadia felt relieved to shed the heavy mantle of leadership. At first, she'd been hesitant to include anyone else in her plans, but now it felt right.
When they reached the edge of town, she said, "What should we watch out for?"
Garet continued forward, sand crunching beneath his leather shoes. "Close to town, we'll have to look out for smaller snakes, scorpions, and quicksand. As we get farther, though, more dangerous creatures will show up. Giant sand snakes and scorpions. Lizards too. Oh, and some of the cacti are predatory. On the other side of a giant canyon, we'll have to start worrying a lot more about sandstorms. Believe me, this won't be fun."
"Don't forget about the heat," Rik muttered.
Garet smiled. "That too."
For now, the air was cool, but in a few hours, it would feel like an oven. Nadia already felt exhausted at the mere thought of that heat.
"So what are your stories?" Nadia asked, looking to Garet, Alana, and Jakob. "How did you all end up part of the Order?"
Alana spoke first. "I grew up here in the Oasis Outpost. My family, like most here, likes to pretend Warrick doesn't exist. As I grew older, I began to question my parents' beliefs. They aren't bad people. They'd just rather not deal with unpleasant facts of life."
"I know a lot of people like that," Nadia said. "Too many."
"Eventually, I went my own way. Like everyone, I knew that Cyrus and the Order were somewhere in town. I approached Cyrus and asked to join. I've never looked back. Shortly after I joined, Cyrus discovered my ability with the staff. I've spent my time since then training and waiting for my chance to go elsewhere."
"Where would you have gone?" Markus asked.
"Probably to the east. But Cyrus told me to stay. He might not read the Webs of Fate as well as Warrick, but I think he could still see my importance to this quest."
"Do you ever speak to your family?" Nadia asked. She still felt angry whenever she thought of her father, but then she remembered how he'd endured torture to hide her whereabouts. An act that seemed so unlike the man she'd known.
"We see each other occasionally," Alana said, "but we've gone our separate ways."
"I can understand that," Nadia said. She understood all too well. "What about you, Garet?"
He continued marching forward. "Well, I grew up in Marion. My childhood wasn't much to write home about. My parents were like anyone else, struggling to make ends meet. We weren't dirt poor, but we weren't rich either. We resented Warrick as much as anyone."
Rik gave him a strange look. "Then what made you into an adventurer?"
"Don't know. I guess it was just the desire to see more. For a while, I trained to be a city guard. That's where I became so good with weapons. But that life sounded so confining. I needed to see the world."
"You sound kind of like me," Rik said.
"There's a lot to see here in the Empire," Garet said. "Also a lot of trouble you can find. Imperial Guards don't take so well to people with too much curiosity. But I've survived by my wits, and my skills, I suppose. It's a bit lonely, but I've never been all that social."
"How'd you end up in the Oasis Outpost?" Markus asked.
Garet led them away from a snake winding its way across the sand. "Cyrus told me to come here. I think he knew you'd show up. I've been here a few months. I made sure to come at night, though, and I knew how to get into the Order's headquarters. Cyrus warned me about the attitude here toward outsiders."
"We could've used that knowledge," Markus said.
"It turned out okay in the end," Alana said.
"Barely," Rik said. "You weren't the one seconds from losing his head."
Nadia hated the new bitterness in Rik's tone. She could understand why he might feel bitter, but they didn't need that kind of attitude on their quest. What had happened to the bright-spirited young man who'd believed anything was possible?
"What about you, Jakob?" Nadia asked.
"I'm afraid my life is boring. My family's been part of the Order for years, so I grew up around it. The most interesting thing about me is that I can tune my senses to be stronger. Things like seeing in the dark or hearing quiet noises." He held up a hand. "For example, there's a snake about a hundred feet that way."
Nadia strained her ears but couldn't hear anything. Soon the snake came into view, slithering past them, its scales red, black, and yellow.
"You see the colors?" Garet said. "Those tell you it's poisonous."
Once the snake passed, Jakob continued. "Cyrus always said my abilities would prove useful, and while I'm glad to help out, I'm worried how my family will fare if I die on this quest. Yes, we have a good chance to defeat Warrick, as good as we'll ever get, but I'd say there's at least a ninety percent chance we'll fail. That's just thinking realistically."
Nadia felt sick. "I know what you mean, but we have to try."
As the air warmed, it became more difficult to place one foot in front of the other. They took frequent breaks, and Alana wou
ld cool them with gentle streams of water from her staff. Rik could not produce anything short of a small flood.
"How does that work?" Nadia asked. "Where do you get the water?"
Alana settled down next to her in the sand. "Well, Cyrus says that the water for any water ability comes from elsewhere. That's why the Oasis Outpost has an oasis. Cyrus is constantly refilling the water. That's also why no one else lives out in the desert. The same is true for other kinds of magic, like when you send rocks or ice from the tip of your staff. The material is summoned from somewhere. No one quite knows where."
They ate a small meal of dried meat. If necessary, they'd catch animals, then use their staffs to cook them. It would burn a little, but burnt food was better than no food, even to Nadia, who'd spent her entire life eating perfectly prepared food.
Nothing dangerous bothered them that day. However, in the cool night, beneath the bright moon and stars, Garet warned them it wouldn't stay that way.
The next morning, he proved prophetic.
"Is that one of the predatory cacti," Markus asked, pointing off to their right.
Garet squinted in that direction. "Could be. Let's give it a wide berth."
They remained a good distance from the cactus. It stood at least fifteen feet tall, and Nadia shuddered to think what it could do to them with its long spines. As if sensing her thoughts, it began to move toward them, churning the sand at its base.
"How the hell does it do that?" Rik asked.
Alana turned to him. "Get your staff ready."
Rik pointed his staff toward the cactus as it barreled toward them at a speed no human could outrun. Its two arm-like appendages flailed around.
Alana and Rik both sent jets of fire at the cactus. As soon as they struck, the predatory plant writhed and made a strange hissing sound. The fire didn't destroy it, but it recoiled, then shot away from them at even greater speed.
"And that's why normal people can't cross the desert," Garet said. "I doubt even I could stand against something like that." He chuckled without humor. "And that's not the worst."
Nadia didn't want to think about worse creatures, but she had to remain alert. As she'd watched that cactus approach, she'd felt helpless. Maybe she could have shot it with an arrow, but would that have worked? Without Rik and Alana, would they be dead?
They walked through the scorching day, orange sand crunching beneath their shoes. Not a single breeze stirred the air, which was good according to Jakob. When a breeze began blowing, it was a sure sign of a building sandstorm, an event more dangerous than any of the desert's creatures.
"What's the most dangerous creature out here?" Nadia asked.
Jakob bit his lower lip. "Probably the sand snake. They're huge."
"Just what I want to see," Rik muttered. "A giant bloody snake."
Markus turned to him with narrowed eyes. "Rik, what's gotten into you? Where's the Rik I've known my whole life? I've never seen you so angry and bitter."
"Sorry," Rik said, "but I like living. I mean, how many times can I come so close to death before I really do end up dead? You and Nadia both have your personal reasons for this quest right now, but I don't."
"I thought you wanted adventure," Markus said.
"I wanted excitement. I didn't want to constantly fear for my life."
Garet laughed. "Rik, that's what adventure is."
"Then maybe I didn't really want it in the first place. I guess death's a whole lot easier to think about when it's this distant thing you don't think will ever happen. But when you're sitting there on the executioner's block, waiting for the axe to fall, it's different. It's real. It's right there, staring you in the face."
Markus put a hand on Rik's shoulder. "Once we get to Bradenton, you don't have to come with us the rest of the way."
"That's assuming we live until then," Rik said.
"We will," Markus said. "I won't let you die."
Rik shook his head. "You'll stick by me, even when I desert you?"
"Friends stick together," Markus said. "At least as long as they can." There was a note of sadness in his voice, and Nadia understood that feeling all too well. Every day, she expected to see Kara. She prayed that Markus and Rik wouldn't part ways. Neither of them would fare well in the absence of the other.
Jakob stopped abruptly, holding up a hand to halt the others. "I hear something. A giant lizard, I think. Can't be sure, though."
Nadia couldn't hear anything, but she had to trust Jakob's judgment. She waited in the baking heat, straining her ears. Soon she heard low sounds and felt slight vibrations in the ground. Then the lizard appeared, like a mirage at first in the shimmering air.
"How do we fight that?" she asked, trembling. The lizard had to be at least twenty feet long. It stomped toward them, its tongue scenting the air like a snake's.
Alana raised her staff. "We'll try magic again."
Rik did the same, but his face had become deathly pale. Nadia had the unsettling feeling that the lizard would not give up as easily as the cactus. Its scaly skin looked thicker than any armor. Would their spells bounce right off?
Rik and Alana launched fireballs, which were deflected by the lizard's skin. The creature hissed loudly and raced toward them. Rik and Alana shared an anxious glance.
"What now?" Rik asked.
"Let's try lightning," Alana said.
They sent their next round of spells at the lizard. Again, the skin deflected the spells. The lizard hissed even more loudly, now only about fifty feet away. Nadia's heart pounded as she and Garet both launched arrows. The arrows stuck in the lizard's scaly hide, but it continued toward them.
"Water!" Rik shouted.
"My water spells aren't strong enough," Alana said.
Rik adopted a look of grim determination. "Well, mine are."
He launched a thunderous jet of water at the lizard, blasting it off its feet. When he stopped the spell, the lizard scrambled back to its feet and shambled away from them, probably looking for easier prey.
Nadia put a hand to her chest, trying to calm her unsteady breathing. "And there are worse things than that? It's no wonder people don't try to cross this place."
They started walking again, hoping to put as much distance as possible between them and the lizard. Every now and then, Jakob would hold up a hand to halt their progress.
At night, the desert fell silent, and nothing else threatened them. When they resumed traveling the next morning, they felt surprisingly rested. They had ample water thanks to Alana.
Shortly after midday, Jakob stopped them again.
"What is it this time?" Rik asked wearily.
"I hear a lot of scuttling. Giant scorpions, I'd guess."
Garet squinted into the distance. "Which direction?"
Jakob pointed to the northwest. "That way. We should be able to avoid them if we turn to the south here."
No one argued. At one time, Nadia might have been curious to see such creatures, but she'd seen enough now. Like Rik, she had grown weary of adventure. Without her dedication to avenge her mother, she might have turned back by now.
They passed the scorpions, but an uneasy feeling lingered in Nadia's gut, reminding her of the night her mother had died, of the time before the attack on Crayden. She closed her eyes, wondering if a vision would come to her, but nothing did.
The visions never happened on command.
"We need to be careful," she said. "I have a bad feeling."
"What kind of bad feeling?" Markus asked. "What's threatening us?"
"I don't know. Just keep alert, okay?"
Rik rolled his eyes. "I think we're already doing that."
"We don't need that attitude," she said.
Alana stepped between them. "I know this journey is getting the better of us, but we need to relax. Of course, we'll stay alert for danger, but we can't be on edge constantly."
That was easier said than done. The longer they walked, the more Nadia felt that impending sense of danger. Her legs strugg
led to support her. Her stomach churned more and more fiercely. Her breathing felt tight as panic coursed through her.
The ground rumbled.
"What was that?" Markus asked.
The ground rumbled again, stronger.
Nadia fought against her rising panic. "I think this is what I feared."
"I think it's a sand snake," Jakob said.
The earthquake became stronger and stronger. Ahead, the sand churned as though something were tunneling beneath it. Nadia readied her bow, trying to ignore her quivering legs so she could keep her aim steady.
"I don't mean to be negative," Rik said, "but how the hell do we fight a sand snake?"
Garet turned to him. "Magic, swords, arrows . . . prayer."
Rik groaned. "Well, that's encouraging."
The disturbance to the ground became more pronounced. A giant head emerged from the sand, green and scaly with yellow eyes as large as a person. The head and mouth were so large the snake could swallow them whole with little effort.
"This," Garet said, "is the biggest reason no one crosses the desert."
Seeing her death reflected in the sand snake's eyes, Nadia had to agree.
Chapter 48
The snake launched itself toward them, and Nadia rolled out of the way as it snapped its jaws nearby, so close she could smell its putrid breath. Heart racing, she shot to her feet and raced away from the snake's mouth. The snake had trouble making sharp movements, so it might struggle to keep track of them.
Nadia stood on one side of the snake, hiding from its view as it tried to turn its massive body toward them and crush them. She looked to Markus and Garet in panic. They were the only two she could see. Everyone else stood on the snake's other side.
Or they were dead.
No. She couldn't think about that. Fighting to steady her legs, she loosed an arrow at the snake, but the arrow bounced off its tough scales. Markus and Garet tried slashing at it with their swords, but they couldn't create even the smallest of gouges in its skin.
"Dammit!" Garet said. "I have no idea how to fight this thing."
Screams came from the other side as the snake turned its enormous head toward them, preparing to swallow them whole. Nadia felt the crushing weight of hopelessness.
Empire of Chains (World in Chains Book 1) Page 40