Thread Skein (Golden Threads Trilogy Book 3)

by Leeland Artra

  Less than a second later, she made the hardest decision of her career. It would be a bad mark, but it would be worse if she died for pride. Using her odassi, she created a communications channel to her commander, First Warlord Maru-Ashua.

  ‘Sir, Llino is attacking us with artifacts and weapons I’ve never heard of before. We’re taking heavy casualties. The palace is sealed behind a new kind of shielding. We will persist. However, primary targets Regent Ellua, Countess Electra, and their families are likely to escape.’

  Ticca

  Rolling as fast as she could, Ticca got out of the way of one of the large claws that snapped at her. The second and third claws were already moving, and opening to grab her. She managed to get her feet under her, and sprang up, grabbing the creature’s arm just at the base of a claw. Hanging onto this, she swung herself up to straddle its arm, temporarily safe from the claw as the creature stared at her back.

  The beast made a clicking sound that reminded her of what the old ladies used to do when she was a little girl and did something unladylike. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she had the distinct impression it was moving from mad to frustrated.

  Maybe we’re more difficult meals than it thought.

  Taking advantage of the second she had, she glanced around to assess the situation and look for inspiration. She was still wondering what set the two things off; they’d attacked without any provocation or warning. This was the first time she’d even seen these kinds of creatures in the desert. She wondered if they were common. Their team had been trekking across the desert for five days, and the worst they’d encountered before were some spiders that were so brightly colored, no one wanted to go anywhere near them.

  The first beast was still standing, still vibrating, and didn’t seem a real threat, even though all the damage that had been done to it had not yet killed it.

  Ditani was down again. Nigan was down, but he was nursing Illa, who appeared to be unconscious. Persa’s body halves lay apart, still oozing blood, creating a bright red river in the glistening sand. Risy had a grievous head wound, and Malla was trying to drag him away from the fight with a grim expression. He was bleeding heavily. A red trail followed Malla’s efforts to get him off the battlefield.

  Lebuin had been tossed twenty feet. He was upside down, his head either in the sand or almost so, arms under him, and his butt stuck up in the air. She’d seen a number of men land in that position after getting so drunk that they passed out. It would’ve been humorous, except that she was worried. He wasn’t moving, and couldn’t be breathing well in that position. Worse, she was sure he was knocked out. The moment he hit, the temperature-controlling spells he had been maintaining for all of them stopped working.

  Only Malla, Carda, and I are still in this fight. And with the heat protection gone, we’ll be in trouble. With Lebuin down, someone has to be able to put the sun shelter back up and get the team under it. Otherwise, everyone will die from the heat.

  She made up her mind. Lebuin was the one who needed to get the information and figure out how to use it. It was up to her to give him every chance she could.

  This one was after something, but came back when the other one was wounded. They’re probably mates, and I know they’re at least minimally intelligent.

  The second creature started moving again. As it swung its other giant pincer towards her, it came open and twisted to pluck her off its arm. She knew she’d been in one spot far too long.

  Ticca put her foot on the arm. With all her strength, she shoved herself off, trying to leap clear of its base attack range. Something slammed behind her, and the beast let out a burr of frustration.

  Is it bad that I’m starting to understand these things?

  Rolling to a stand, Ticca saw the first one pick up Persa’s lower body and turn it over, as if it was wondering what it was and why it was there. She braced herself for what came next. It brought the body close to its mouth, and the three remaining smaller pincers began to rip chunks out before shoving them into the open maw.

  I need to get these things away from here.

  Before she knew what she was doing, she was in motion. She ran and leapt on the back of the first animal. The second one paused before deciding to follow. Ticca drew one of the razor-sharp blades she’d gotten from the Knife, so long ago it was a different life. She slid down the front of the other creature, past the mouth and three smaller pincers, still busy tearing away pieces of her dead friend.

  Ticca put all she had into the slicing cut that removed all three of those pincers. Landing on the ground, she rolled, popping up to a run to get clear. The first one let out a surprised chirp of pain, and the second one gave one of those chittering roars. Any reluctance to chase Ticca vanished. It launched at her like it wanted to rip her apart just for the joy of it.

  Ticca turned, spotting her black sword on the ground nearby where Ditani had dropped. Sheathing the knife, she ran, scooping up the sword, and sheathing it as well. Then she moved as fast as she could, with the sound of the pursuit in her ears. Although they were fast, they weren’t as fast as she was. She knew she was the one in trouble, as she had to deal with the heat and dehydration. Without Lebuin’s temperature-controlling spells working, she wasn’t sure how long she could withstand the heat. She was already sweating liberally.

  All I need to do is get them to follow me for a mark, and then I can lose them and circle back. That should let the team find a more secure spot and get under some shade. I hope Kliasa’s healing boots can help keep me going in this heat. If the heat gets me, I’m dead for sure, either from exhaustion or those beasts.

  Ticca had two canteens on her, and she didn’t bother trying to save the water. She jogged and walked up sand dunes and then used gravity to run down the far sides in seconds. After several marks, she’d gained a good lead, but the heat was stripping her of energy, and the beasts were better at tracking her than she’d anticipated.

  As the sun was starting to set, she ran out of water. They continued to follow her, but were still some distance behind. She took advantage of the low sun to hide in shady spots, resting. Once the sun was down, the temperature plummeted. The creatures slowed, yet every time she stopped at a peak and looked back at her tracks, eventually she would see them crest a couple of dunes behind, still following her trail.

  She jogged, walked, and ran all night. The next day, she was forced to walk. Fatigue dragged at her. She couldn’t see the things anymore, but her instincts told her they were still there and to keep moving. A lone, scraggly tree on the top of a hill gave some shade and a view behind. She dug down into the sand underneath it and lay down in the cool trough. She only meant to stay there for a mark to cool down, but she woke with a start. She wasn’t sure how long she’d slept, but the sun had made some progress. She needed water, but had none. Kliasa’s boots could only help heal her. They weren’t proof against starving or dehydration.

  Pulling her head up, she saw the creatures coming up the hill she was on. One was leading the other, and they marched in unison.

  Skeed! I lost all of my lead on them!

  Scrambling out from under the tree she ran down the steep side of the hill, starting the jog-walk-jog pattern again. Night came. The moons passed slowly overhead. She was so tired, she fell face-first into a flash flood gully.

  Might be water if I follow this.

  She moved up it, desperately, looking for any sign of water. Near morning, with the horizon beginning to blaze orange, she found an area lined with ragged plants that still had some green leaves. She dropped next to the rock wall by the plants and dug. Four feet down, between one scoop of sand and the next, water filled in the bottom. She tore off her head dress and soaked the cloth. Lifting it up, she squeezed the first precious drops of water in over twenty-four marks into her mouth.

  Sighing with the pleasure of moisture, she d
ug deeper and drank as much as she could. A precious mark passed as she filled her canteens with the priceless treasure, every minute checking for the sound of the beasts approaching up the gully.

  Her instincts sent chills through her body. She stood, listening to the desert silence.

  I can feel those things. They’re not far now, time to go.

  Moving was living. Day came and passed. No food, no rest, and by the end of the day, again no water. Then it was night’s turn. The pattern repeated she wasn’t sure how many times. The only break was when she found a sign of water. Sometimes she was lucky, most of the time she wasn’t.

  She stood on the crest of a high sand dune. Looking at the rising sun with her canteens empty again but her belly busy with protein from a handful of crickets she’d caught in the blade-trees, Ticca tried to count the days. She wasn’t sure if it had been three or seven mornings. She was trying to decide how many days she’d survived, where none should have, or had before.

  She looked back for the creatures, squatting to rest. There was no sign of pursuit. As she started to move, she spotted some berry-bearing brush in the gully ahead. She ran down and ate as much as she could find. The fruit-filled hedge meant there was a lot of water below, so she dug down, finding it rapidly. Maybe half a mark later she sat in the shade from the side of the gully, feeling better than she had for some time. Before moving on, she spent a couple of marks harvesting berries into her belt pouch, and filling the canteens again.

  Somewhat refreshed, she climbed back up the tall dune. The bright, burning sands were all she could see. Soon the temperature would be beyond anything she could take, and she prayed for some better shelter. She was exhausted beyond description.

  The land was barren, rolling up and down in a series of gullies and sand dunes. The only distinguishing feature was the mountain range to the north. That was almost 200 miles away, and still, she could just make it out. Otherwise, the desert had little else. Sparse, scrubby plants dotted the landscape, and there were lots of flash-flood wash basins. She couldn’t see anything that looked like a tree line or an indication of water.

  I need water and rest. I can’t keep this up. At least I don’t see those things. This is as good a place as any to fully rehydrate and restock my energy supply.

  She stood up, preparing to build a small shelter, when a roar came from the distance. She saw the two creatures walking over the top of a hill a few dunes away. They were still on her trail.

  Patting the magic healing boots, she sighed. “Okay, not done yet. I’m not certain if having these is good or bad. They’ve kept me alive, but they have also kept me alive.”

  Gotta find something. I have to sleep for real, and I need to find another good water source and more food. Sleep first. Maybe I won’t wake up.

  She’d only gone a short distance farther when the scenery changed. As she started down one dune, she noticed there was a gully, and the far side of it was perfectly straight. She could see a flat surface on the far side, and it looked like a road. But there was one section her eyes locked onto, where the flat surface split and warped up, creating a jagged outcropping with a small cave. It was the only one she had seen since entering the desert.

  She was already squeezing into the small cavern backwards before she realized she’d made the decision to hide in it. Her hips got stuck. She wiggled to try and get in, but it hurt. She started to get back out, when the creatures appeared at the top of the sand dune just across the gully. She shoved herself backwards into the hole, freeing her hips by leaving behind fabric and skin.

  Ticca’s senses screamed at her to run. Despite the knot in her stomach, she held her breath and pressed harder, squeezing farther under the warm rocks, scraping her exposed back and burnt hands.

  I might kill myself if I get wedged in here.

  The rocks above her simmered in the midday heat, and she prayed it was enough to hide her body heat from the beasts.

  A shadow passed over the narrow entry fissure, momentarily blotting out the sun’s glare. The beast snuffled about, trying to find where Ticca, in the form of the tasty but annoying morsel it had been chasing, had gone. The rock above her vibrated as they tried to dig through the thick stone to get to her. Their claws made sounds like a work team chiseling stones to fit a building.

  Panic rose as she heard the rock cracking under the extreme pressure and strength applied by those monsters. She could hear pebbles flung by the digging, shooting away as if from a sling, ricocheting off other nearby protrusions or exploding on contact.

  A series of metallic rings came next. The beast stopped its digging, letting out a chirping sound, like it had been stung by something. It moved back to the entry fissure, snuffling and poking some of its long, sharp claws into the fissure, trying to hook her out. The translucent claws refracted the killing sun in beautiful rainbows on the cave’s surfaces as they swiped at her.

  Ticca held her breath and didn’t move, the claws passing only inches from her.

  The scraping and sniffing stopped, and time crawled on as the shadow at the entry gap grew longer. Ticca was about to start trying to wiggle out when the beast’s angry cry curdled her blood, making her shiver. Another call came in the distance. The beast roared directly over her. A minute later, a sad warble of failure came to her, followed by scraping and pounding as it moved away huffily, like a child purposefully stomping to display its anger.

  Long after the sounds of the beasts had vanished, she kept still, except to breathe slowly through her nose. The entry shadow grew longer, and heat radiated down through the rock to her back. Precious water was dripping into the dirt below her. As the fear-fueled adrenaline waned, her willpower lost the fight to exhaustion, and she fell asleep, wedged under the rock that had saved her life.

  - - -

  Ticca sat beside the cool lake, next to which Rea-Na-Rey was built. Elven dwellings, evident to her experienced eye, lined the irregular western shore of the lake. The silver elf, Kliasa, strolled up and sat next to her, holding out a silver goblet filled with fresh water from the lake. Ticca took it and drank.

  “It can’t sustain you much longer. To be honest I’m surprised it has worked this long.”

  “It doesn’t have to. I think I finally lost the diurdu things.”

  “Do you have any idea where you are? Or more importantly, where your comrades are?”

  Her throat tightened, and she looked away from Kliasa, to the lake.

  Kliasa frowned and shook her head. “I haven’t sensed Lebuin for two days. I can’t guide you. Without him or even any supplies, you will not survive in the desert much longer.”

  Feeling tears coming, Ticca fought to keep them back. “I pulled those beasts off of him and the group. Lebuin is the key. If I saved him, I have served well.”

  Kliasa wasn’t fooled by her bravado, and scooped Ticca up in a strong hug. That was the final straw. Tears burst from her as she sobbed into Kliasa’s shoulder. Words flowed between gasps. “I don’t want to die here! I knew being a Dagger was dangerous, but I never thought I’d die of thirst to the elements! Lords and Ladies, help me!”

  Kliasa held her, petting her hair and back until the emotions broke, and her sobbing stopped.

  “Ticca, you know all we have on desert survival. I admit, the Circumveni Desert is many times deadlier than any other desert. Still, creatures live there. You know how to find water and food. The real choice is, do you backtrack to Aelargo or try to find your team?”

  “I can’t return to Aelargo until I find Lebuin.”

  Kliasa squeezed her hard before letting go. “Now, there’s the Dagger I know. It helps to share our burdens, doesn’t it? Never forget to share your problems with your trusted friends. If you don’t, they can fester and consume you.”

  “I’m so thankful for you and your boots. If it wasn’t for you holding to life here betwe
en, I would’ve died already.” She looked deeply into Kliasa’s eyes. It was impossible to lie in the between realm that bridged life with whatever came next. But Ticca wanted to show Kliasa how sincere she was.

  Kliasa held herself there, refusing to move on without her love Shar-Lumen, the person Ticca, Lebuin, and half the world was trying to stop or kill. The same person who was trying to destroy the entire Duianna Empire and all of its allies in a rain of fire. Kliasa had somehow clung to the living realm at her death by holding to her magical creations. In the 700 years since that time, she’d mastered existing in that space. She even used it to teach Ticca, after she’d accidentally gotten the amazing magical boots Kliasa made, which not only healed, but blended to match what was needed.

  Kliasa’s connection to Ticca through the boots allowed her to pull Ticca into that realm when she slept. In that place, Ticca could rest and spend almost three full years, if needed, in one night. Over the last few days, Ticca had needed a lot of time there to overcome her fears.

  “Are you ready?”

  “As ready as I can be.”

  “Good girl. Now, go find more water and stay alive,” Kliasa said, waving her hand as if showing her the world. Ticca’s senses spun as her consciousness returned to the living realms.

  - - -

  Opening her eyes, she found herself in near-darkness. The entry was nothing but shadows. Carefully, Ticca worked her body free and inched towards it. She still had her sword and dagger, and Magus Vestul’s magically expanded pouch. Everything else she’d either left at camp, or lost in the cat-and-mouse chase.

  The sun had just set, and the temperature was already plummeting. It was going to be another freezing night. She contemplated staying in the small cave. It would be warm, and she desperately needed to rest.