by Rosie Scott
Despite the deep wound, the scorpion didn't show any signs of slowing. Nyx and Cerin both engaged their own scorpions, though Jakan ran up beside the necromancer before he got a hit in on the arachnid, releasing his own spell toward the creature. I figured that given the coral-pink energy of the spell, he'd charmed it.
The scorpion clicked curiously for a moment, before it spun to the side, shooting its stinger forward between two armored plates of its former friend. The other creature jerked to the side in surprise, before hissing, lurching a pincer forward to snap off a leg of our new companion. The distraction allowed Nyx to move over and help Theron with his foe, while Cerin still focused on the second scorpion which wasn't charmed, arcing his scythe forward like an ax chopping lumber, the sharp point smashing between two of its armored body plates, sinking through its flesh to temporarily stun it to the ground below. The friendly scorpion took the split second to snap its pincer over the stunned arachnid's thick tail, chopping it in two. The top few segments of its tail fell to the wet sands with a heavy thump, thick green blood oozing and sizzling from both the stinger and its stump end.
Above my right palm came the crackling of ice, bluish-white crystals expanding and hardening within its magical barrier. I hurried to the scorpion that Nyx and Theron surrounded, and thrust my arm out to its torso.
Crack! A high-pitched squeal I hadn't known was possible for an arachnid to make alerted me to the fact my spell had hit. An icicle about three feet long and a good six inches wide was completely skewered through the creature between two segments of its body, the end which had sliced through melting with the heat of its green blood, and the other end smoking with its chill. Knowing the icicle was just what I needed to pierce its shell, I prepared another, and pinned the scorpion to the ground, the icicle acting as a stake. Now that the scorpion was immobile, Nyx and Theron quickly finished it off.
When I turned my attention back to Cerin and his companion scorpion, the two had already finished off the remaining foe by themselves. Deep green stained the sands below its corpse.
The charmed scorpion waited for a foe, chattering softly to itself. Cerin looked over to Jakan, motioning toward the remaining creature. “Now what?” He asked, his voice rough as he raised it over the still falling rain.
“Kill it,” Jakan replied.
Cerin glanced at the creature. If I wasn't mistaken, he had wanted to avoid that. “It's friendly. You charmed it.”
“Yeah. It won't be charmed forever. The magic's not that strong,” Jakan replied, nodding toward it. “It won't attack, for as long as the spell works, and it only lasts a few minutes. I would kill it while it's charmed, so it doesn't fight back.”
Cerin watched the creature for a moment. It watched back, before scrambling forward a few feet on its remaining legs, and continuing to wait.
“Kill the damn thing, Cerin, before I do it,” Theron said, amusement tinging his voice. “It's not some innocent pet.”
Pet. I knew why Cerin was bothered by the idea of killing the creature. He had learned necromancy at such a young age that the first creature he'd risen from the dead was like a pet to him. I'd remembered him telling me that. Given how lonely and without friends he was at the time, I was sure it had an effect on him. Many times in past battles, I had witnessed Cerin defending his minions and even aiding them by handing them weapons and blocking hits meant to dispel them. To the necromancer, the dead were his pets.
Cerin raised his scythe. Given the downward arc of it earlier had damaged the other scorpion immensely, that was the move he chose now. The charmed scorpion watched him curiously, even as the scythe fell, crushing the creature's armored body to the ground. It squealed and chirped, squirming to try to save itself. Cerin pulled the scythe out of the creature with a heavy effort, before stabbing the creature again, this time just between its two beady black eyes.
The scorpion didn't move again, and the sands beneath it soon absorbed enough of its blood to turn a deep green. Cerin pulled the scythe from its head, the blade slicing back out through flesh and brain with a slurp. The necromancer said nothing, lifting his scythe to let the rains slowly dilute the green blood on its blade, cleaning the weapon.
“See? That wasn't so bad,” Theron mused, after a moment.
“I'd like to avoid doing it in the future, if at all possible,” Cerin retorted, his voice low and reserved. “That was no fight. It was an execution. The animal was loyal.”
Jakan grimaced. “Only for a time, Cerin.”
The necromancer did not reply. He stalked off toward the pile of our supplies, just below the crest of the dune, and started to heft supply bags up over his shoulders.
Jakan slowly came over to me. “Was I wrong to charm it?” He asked me, seemingly worried about having angered Cerin. Despite his time with us thus far, I knew he still regarded necromancy with fear. I could only imagine how he viewed the man who wielded it.
“No,” I said, softly, watching as Cerin flipped the hood of his cloak over his head, casting his face in shadow beneath the storm clouds of the heavy rains. “That was immensely helpful, actually. Thank you for doing it.”
“I feel like I've caused...problems,” the Vhiri replied, not fully content with my response.
“Cerin is used to being just as loyal to his creatures as they are to him,” I explained. “I think it bothers him to break that bond. Next time, someone else can kill it.”
“Okay,” Jakan agreed, hesitantly. “I'm not much of a fighter, Kai. Charming it was all I felt I could do to help.”
Theron walked up to us, cleaning his own blades in the falling rains, before sheathing them at his belt where they belonged. “We can change that, if you want,” he said, speaking to Jakan.
Jakan turned to the ranger. “Are you offering to train me?”
“Aye. Blade and bow,” Theron replied, pulling his own hood up to keep most of the rain out of his eyes.
“How much would you charge?” The elf asked.
“Why would I charge anything at all?” The ranger retorted. “You are one of us, now. Gaining skills not only benefits you, but it will benefit us as well.”
Jakan glanced toward me. “We are separating in T'ahal,” he said, confused.
I shrugged. “Only if you want. I tend to keep my friends around. And besides,” I went on, when I saw Jakan begin to protest, “I fully intend on freeing Anto, whether or not we have the money to do so. It is obvious how much he means to you.” I hesitated. “I know how that feels.”
Jakan was quiet for a moment, watching me, his eyes glazing over. “That means so much to me,” he admitted, before biting his lip nervously. “I would say I don't want you getting into trouble over me, or that I don't expect you to help me any more than what was your end of our bargain...” The Vhiri trailed off, lost in thought.
“But you won't say those things, because you need the help, and you want Anto free,” I finished for him.
The elf nodded. For a moment, I nearly forgot he was older than me, because his young face looked so vulnerable.
“Does this mean you'll teach me illusion magic for free?” Nyx asked, coming back over to us from gathering the supplies she carried, though she no longer had her tent, since it'd been destroyed in the storm. She gave Jakan a big grin.
“I guess it means I'll have to,” Jakan replied, before a small laugh.
“Good. It's the least you could do after getting us into a sandstorm and picking a fight with scorpions which are far larger than they need to be,” Nyx teased him.
Jakan chuckled, looking over the sands at the corpses of our foes lying over the odd sight of soaked desert sands. “Get used to it. That's the warmest welcome from Nahara you're ever going to get.”
Eight
The rolling sand dunes which had accompanied us for our trek through Nahara thus far flattened into a sea of gold within a fortnight of travel, the land now so flat and expansive that we could see breaks at the horizon of objects we could not yet ascertain. Merging the limitle
ss blue skies and the just as intimidating sands was a visible blur of heat. Though the power of my water spells back in the dunes had ensured the rainstorms lasted for a few days and lowered the desert's temperature in the area, we were soon far enough away that the air grew thick and heavy once again.
Our water reserves soon ran out, though I was able to use my water magic to refill everyone's containers. I knew magic was much rarer here in Nahara than Chairel, so it made me curious as to how the natives here survived such treks through their homelands. Jakan explained they were used to packing their supplies in armor built to carry many gallons of water, though travel through the desert was usually made on mounts to cover ground more quickly.
There were many times on our way to T'ahal when we were made aware we were not alone in these deserts, though the people here were not as willing to greet us on our journey as travelers had been in Chairel. Once or twice, we saw a single man dressed in flowing robes scurrying across the sands at a distance, and felt eyes upon us. Jakan told us these men were runners, or scouts, and were often used by King Adar to gather intel from across his lands to relay back to T'ahal. I was curious as to whether or not our arrival would be a surprise in T'ahal, then; it was possible the runners were keeping tabs on us.
For two nights in a row, later on in our journey, the quiet nights we had been used to in Nahara were spotted audibly by animalistic howls which whooped energetically in the air, echoing from such a distance that the sounds were muted. In this vast land, it was possible the creatures making the noises were much farther away than it seemed, since sound traveled so easily here.
The first night these sounds were audible to us, Theron murmured over his beef jerky, “Now, that is a sound I haven't heard in quite some time.”
“What is it?” I asked, glad he recognized it. It was unlike any animal noise I'd ever heard before. It was not quite a howl, not quite a chatter, and not like a woof or cry. It was something else entirely.
“The laughter of the hyenas,” Jakan answered for Theron, since the ranger had his mouth full. Understanding I had little knowledge of these creatures, the Vhiri went on, “King Adar equips his armies with hyenas instead of horses. They can go many days without water, and eat anything, including the bones and furs of other creatures.” Jakan glanced up to the horizon, as if he might be able to catch a glance of one of the animals. “They also attack foes themselves, and don't fear easily. Both are advantages over horses.”
“So they are mounts?” I questioned.
“Yes. About the same size, height-wise, as horses, though bulkier and heavily muscled.”
Theron glanced up from his snack. “Hyenas have the strongest jaw pressure of any land mammal. They are scavengers by nature and can eat the carcasses that carnivores have left behind, so they're used to eating bones and surviving off of the marrow.”
“Sounds like it is helpful in battle,” I mused, glad to know that at least the hyenas were friendly, and not foes I ever expected to fight against.
“Very. It's why King Adar likes to send them out as mounts to take care of the beasts which threaten his cities and villages,” Jakan explained. “Like the scorpions...hyenas can chomp right through their outer shells. They are still mammals, however, so they are still weak to the scorpion venom if they are hit.”
“Venom?” I watched the Vhiri carefully. Our fight with the scorpions a few weeks ago had come and gone without me ever knowing this fact about our foes.
“Yes...scorpions are highly, highly venomous. It's why I said to avoid their tails,” Jakan said.
“It's not just any venom,” Theron added. “It paralyzes you in place. Gives the bastards enough time to finish you off with their pincers.”
“That would have been helpful to know a long time ago,” Cerin mused, with a huff of jest.
“There was little time to explain,” Theron replied. “And besides, you don't need to know they're venomous to want to avoid being hit by their stingers. You should be avoiding hits anyway.”
“Very true,” the necromancer agreed.
“Are we so close to T'ahal that we can already hear the hyenas of its army?” Nyx questioned, bringing the conversation back to the laughter of the creatures which still echoed in the distance.
“No. We have a fortnight to go,” Jakan replied, looking off to the east, where the noises sounded from. “It is most likely a war party, sent by the king to take care of some problem. They are in the east.” The Vhiri pointed one finger toward the horizon. “That is where the beastlands are.”
“The beastlands...” I trailed off, glancing over to Theron. “You have been there,” I said to him, since I remembered him talking about the land back in Comercio.
“Me? No,” Theron replied, before a laugh. “I am not that crazy.”
“The beastlands are not somewhere you just go,” Jakan informed me. “It is a place to avoid and defend against. Whole armies are sent to deal with its inhabitants.”
“Technically, it is a part of Nahara, since it is not its own country, and Chairel and Hammerton aren't stupid enough to claim it,” Theron said, speaking of both my home country and the dwarven-led country to its east. I knew the two bordered Nahara to the north, so in a way, the lands were connected enough to leave the beastlands up for grabs. Apparently, no country wanted it.
“The beastlands were not a problem for Nahara for many centuries,” Jakan explained. “Back in the Golden Era, a sandstone wall was erected to contain the beasts. It was claimed to have been built so high, it would block the morning and early afternoon sun that shone from the east. Some decades ago, Nahara began to have problems with beasts, and scouts found the wall had been breached. By that time, the beasts had grown immensely large, and it was theorized they had grown too large to be contained, which is why they breached the wall. Over the past few decades, King Adar, and his father before him, have struggled to hold their ground.”
“Cities and villages to the east have been wiped from the map,” Theron added. “Jaalam was once a large and beautiful city which sat at the end of the southern rivers of Nahara. It was in a good location, since workers there could mine sandstone from the Dhahab Canyons to export to the other cities while having the water source of the rivers for its inhabitants. It also kept tabs on the wall, since it could be seen from the city. Well, one day, T'ahal received messengers from Jaalam, informing them the beasts were becoming restless behind the wall. The king sent out a war party, but all was lost.”
“The entire city?” Nyx asked, for clarification.
“Yes. Swallowed by the sands, it seems,” the ranger replied.
“I thought you said it was the beasts which caused this,” Cerin pointed out, confused.
“It was. Some of these beasts are so large they change landscapes.”
“It is said that the creature responsible for the loss of Jaalam was Mantus,” Jakan said. When we didn't reply because we were unfamiliar with the name, the Vhiri went on. “Mantus roughly translates to bringer of death in ancient Naharan. It is one of the most highly feared beasts of Nahara, hence why they felt the need to name it. Naharans believe it is the reason the wall was breached, for it travels underground and disturbs the landscape. If Mantus decided to travel farther west into Nahara, it would have been powerful enough to crumble the wall, despite its height.”
“What kind of creature travels beneath land?” I asked, though Nyx smirked at me, given her own underground origins. Of course, her race mostly lived in the caverns and tunnels of the underground. It appeared many of the creatures here made their own paths through the sands.
“Oh, many. Here in Nahara, at least,” Jakan replied. “Scorpions, creatures from the beastlands, even the anubites.”
“What the hell is an anubite?” Nyx asked.
“Creatures that are neither living or dead,” Jakan said, sounding fearful. “They walk on two legs, like men, but they are black as the night and look like wild jackals. Their legs are so strong it is said they can leap distances gr
eater than buildings, and each anubite dual wields these long, razor-sharp sickles.”
“So these things are dogs which fight like people?” Nyx asked, perplexed.
“They are not...” Jakan trailed off, before sighing. “They are hard to describe. All you need to know is to avoid them at all costs.”
“How can we do that, when they travel beneath the sands?” Cerin asked. It was a good question, and one I was about to ask myself.
“It is believed they were created by the Ancients to serve as protectors,” Theron replied. “They are found near the ancient ruins of these lands. Avoid the ruins, and you will have little problem with anubites.”
“The Ancients also created the gods, if myth is to be believed, and they are of flesh and blood,” I retorted to Theron, a knowing look on my face. Very little was known for sure of either the Ancients or the gods, but given our trip to Whispermere and my own lineage, I knew that much was true.
“You don't know that,” Jakan cut in, frowning toward me. “The gods have not been heard from for hundreds of years, if not millennia. Besides, they are immortal.”
“Are they?” I asked rhetorically, though I left it at that.
“The anubites are immortal, as well,” Jakan continued, as if I'd never challenged his beliefs at all. “If you defeat one, all that is left is black ash. No blood, no body. Ash. And if you continue to threaten their ruins, they will keep coming. Their numbers are unlimited.”
These creatures sounded terrifying. “What is of so much importance in these ruins that they don't want anyone to breach them?” I asked, confused.
“It is said that within the ruins of Nahara are the last known pieces of evidence that the Ancients existed at all,” Theron said, his eyes watching me carefully as he spoke. Given that half of my blood was god, and the fact my birth mother had said most of the gods had been created by the Ancients, he must have known it would be of interest to me. “Research parties have attempted to seek answers within their depths, though the parties always end in massive casualties, so this has teetered off. Regardless, they managed to retrieve a few items from the ruins between fighting off the anubites.”