Zarya shook her head. “None of us would have known.” She pursed her lips, looking as if she wanted to say something more.
Jarial looked thoughtful. “Perhaps once the afriti was freed, it recognized Vargas as a suitable victim to become its ‘master’. It probably overlooked Kaijin because it knew he was a Firebrand.”
Nester stroked one of his sideburns in thought. “Oh! Now that’s rich! You think that bloke’s scared of Kaijin?”
Scared? Of me? Kaijin quickly shook his head. “I don’t think so. I’ve encountered enough afriti to know that is not the case.”
“Well, in any event, my father will be unable to help us now,” Omari said. “That spell has drained him—or perhaps it was something else that has caused him to become so unresponsive. That has never happened to him before in all my years I have ever witnessed him perform a spell. It is up to us to deal with this problem now. My father mentioned that Vargas and the afriti were headed to Zebi.”
Jarial nodded. “We should have a look at the circle of sand, first. It may provide further clues.”
Omari sighed and strode toward the exit. “Very well. Let us make haste. We can borrow some dromedaries from the stables.”
Kaijin was the last to follow Omari out of the chamber. His thoughts were jumbled, but one thought stood out above the rest.
Could an afriti really be afraid?
XXVIII
The mages at the Harran saw Kaijin and his friends stocked with enough food, water, and supplies to last them for about a week. The attendants outfitted all but Aidan, who was far too big, in clothes that would resist Ankhram’s harshest desert climate.
The clothes were light, but more comfortable than Kaijin’s robes, which he had folded and tucked away in his haversack. Zarya wore her Celestran-tabarded chain shirt over her gifted clothes, and Kaijin worried how she would fare in the heat with the extra armor. Jarial’s set of colorful, lightweight clothing made his youthful disguise look even younger. Nester complained about not having any pockets, and Kaijin wondered if the mages had purposefully given the brownie a special set of clothes.
Once Kaijin and the rest of his group had gathered their belongings from their rooms, they headed to the stables, where they discovered four dromedaries already tacked up and tied to hitching posts outside.
Omari’s brow wrinkled, and he turned to the attendants. “Only four? Could you at least not find one for Aidan?”
One of the attendants shook their heads. “Forgive us, Young Master. There is none that would be able to bear his weight.”
“Do not worry,” Aidan spoke up. “Aidan is content with walking. He could use the exercise.”
Omari gave the giant a sour look. “So be it. Are our guides on their way?”
Before one of the attendants could reply, two robed men wearing sashes that denoted a high rank exited the stables’ entrance with their own tacked-up steeds in tow. The two men stopped before Omari and bowed.
“Greetings, Young master. I am Jahi,” said one of the men.
“And I am Haas,” greeted the other.
Omari looked over the two briefly and nodded.
“Young master,” the attendant said, “Jahi and Haas are your father’s most trusted guides. They are not only highly skilled arcanists, they are also survivalists and know their way around the desert very well.”
Omari smirked. “Excellent. Then we should have nothing to worry about.”
Kaijin gazed up at one of the tall, shaggy hump-backed dromedaries in curiosity and awe. He’d only seen and read about them in books and never thought he’d actually see one in person. “You really know how to ride these things, Omari?”
Omari rolled his eyes. “Of course I do, Kaijin. I learned to ride them when I was a boy.”
Zarya smiled and rubbed her fingers through the thick, tannish fur of one animal’s elongated neck. It gave a strange “moof” sound. “They can’t be all that different from riding a horse, right?”
Omari untied his dromedary and held its reins. “There are some similarities. I will let Jahi and Haas explain.” He gestured to the two guides, who began explaining the basics of mounting and riding the animals.
After the instructions were given, Omari packed his spellbook in one of the saddlebags of his selected steed and dropped Percival into a small basket secured to it. He covered the basket with a white cloth. Kaijin and Jarial also followed suit with their belongings and familiars.
Zarya carefully climbed onto her mount and held the reins lightly in one hand, while she petted the back of the animal’s neck with the other.
“Uh ...” Nester tugged at Omari’s robe just as the man was about to climb atop his mount. “What about me, mate?”
Omari paused and looked down at the brownie with a sneer. “I will not waste my father’s precious mounts on one small brownie.”
“Well it ain’t like I take up much room!” Nester said, returning a scowl.
“You can ride with me, Nester,” Kaijin offered.
Nester’s eyes lit up and he ran to Kaijin. “Aw! Thanks, mate!”
“No, Nester, you should ride with Omari, instead,” Jarial said.
Nester’s expression quickly dropped. “What! Why? I don’t wanna ride with ’im!”
“And I do not want you riding with me.” Omari said.
Haas cleared his throat. “With all due respect, Young Master, it would be better for him to ride with someone more experienced, such as you.”
Omari grumbled as he shot the guide a glare, and then he climbed atop his mount. “Get up here, Nester.”
Kaijin gave Nester an apologetic look, and Nester shrugged back. I tried. Kaijin carefully mounted his dromedary and sat upon the soft, blanket-covered saddle. He held the reins stiffly, trying to remember all that the assistants had explained and demonstrated to his group. He tugged once with his left hand, and the dromedary turned that way. He looked over to Jarial, who was already seated and secured on his mount, and walking it behind Omari’s. Kaijin admired how effortlessly Jarial handled his mount. On Jarial’s mount, one of the saddlebags had a basket attached, which was covered by a small white blanket. The blanket lifted slightly, and Sable poked her head out, meowing.
Nester gingerly approached Omari’s dromedary. In an amazing display of dexterity, Nester had managed to scramble up the animal and secure himself behind Omari in seconds. Nester wrapped his arms as far as he could around Omari’s waist and held on tight. “I ’ope you’re as good at maneuverin’ this thing as you say you are. I don’t wanna fall off!”
Omari grunted. “Confound it! Stop squeezing so hard! You will not fall off!” Aidan approached Omari and Nester and looked up at the two perched high on the dromedary’s back. “If you fall, Aidan will catch you.” He gave them both a slight smile.
“You better!” Nester wailed. “I might break my leg or somethin’ from fallin’ off this thing!”
“Enough of your complaining, Nester,” Jarial snapped, glaring.
Zarya steered her dromedary and fell in behind Jarial. Kaijin lined up behind Zarya. Haas rode to the head of the line, while Jahi brought up the rear.
“Are you and your friends ready to go, Young Master?” Haas asked, looking over his shoulder at Omari.
Omari nodded. “We are.” He turned to the assistants, who stood by, watching the group. “Tell my father when he wakes up that my companions and I have gone off to Zebi. He need not worry, nor follow us. We will take care of everything.”
The assistants bowed. “Safe travels, all of you,” they said, and then left with haste.
Jarial looked over his shoulder at Zarya and called, “Zarya, are you well-rested?”
Zarya nodded. “I am. I don’t know if I will discover anything, but I will do my best.”
Jarial returned the nod and smiled. “I know you will.”
* * *
The group traveled for several hours through the sea of rippling sand. The dunes went on as far as Zarya could see. Other than occasional i
nsects and small animals, there were very few traces of life. And yet, these barren lands held a certain natural beauty that Zarya adored.
Her dromedary was obediently following the others ahead of it. She loosened her grip on the reins and took the opportunity to rub the back of its soft furry neck. The animal groaned in response to her touch, and she chuckled. He must like it.
She looked over to Aidan, who, with his hands behind his head, had been walking up ahead alongside Omari and Nester’s dromedary. His burly legs trudged through the sand with little difficulty. His muscles strained, but he didn’t appear to be tired. Zarya worried, however, about how much stamina and endurance the half-Dragon would need to be able to venture the rest of the way to their first destination, the mysterious circle of sand.
“Aidan, do you need to rest?” Zarya asked.
Aidan slowed his walk until she rode up alongside him. He looked at her and smiled. “No, Aidan is all right. He is enjoying this exercise very much.”
Jarial, who was ahead of her, turned slightly and peered over his shoulder. “Exercise? Surely you jest. We’ve been traveling for over three hours. There is no shame in saying that you need to take a break.”
Aidan shook his head. “No, no. Aidan insists he is fine. Aidan has walked up steep mountains every morning carrying heavy things on his back when he was training at White Lotus monastery.”
Shaking his head, Jarial turned back around.
“Heavy things?” asked Kaijin from behind Zarya. “What kind of heavy things?”
“Oh ...” Aidan looked thoughtful. “Things like logs, boulders ... Sometimes, Aidan carried Master up mountain, too. But Master was not very heavy, so it wasn’t so bad.”
“Now that I would have loved to see,” Kaijin said, laughing.
Zarya sighed.
Aidan smiled at her reassuringly. “Aidan appreciates your concern, Zarya, but he will be fine.”
“He looks like he eats well. Probably has enough energy to last him for days,” Jahi said.
“Weeks, you mean!” Nester said, looking behind him. “You should see th’ way ’e packs away food. Can also ’old a good drink better than th’average drunken sailor. Belches louder than an ogre, too—no, a Dragon!”
“Yes, that pretty much sums it all up,” Kaijin said.
Aidan scratched the back of his head. “Aidan does not know why everyone thinks his eating habits are so strange.”
Zarya chuckled lightly. “They’re not strange, Aidan. Just ... different.”
Grimacing, Aidan walked ahead again and returned to Omari and Nester’s side.
As Zarya watched the half-Dragon leave, a song came to her mind, and she began to hum its chorus.
Jarial looked back over his shoulder. She caught his gaze, and he smiled.
She stopped humming and felt her face warm, though she knew it wasn’t solely from the desert’s temperature.
“Please don’t stop on my account, Zarya,” Jarial said. “That song sounded beautiful. What is it called?”
“Ah ...” Zarya fidgeted with the reins of her mount. He likes the song? “It’s called ‘Il Lacrim Deae’—‘Tears of the Goddess’.”
“Interesting. I have not heard of such a song before.”
“It was an old canticle that I learned as a child, growing up in the Celestran clergy.”
“You should sing some of it,” Jarial said, looking forward again. “I know you must have a beautiful voice.”
“Aye!” Nester piped from up ahead on Omari’s mount. Looking over his shoulder, he smiled brightly in Zarya’s direction. “What beautiful lady like that don’t ’ave a voice to match it?”
Zarya bit her lip. Well they all certainly know how to flatter a girl. She felt her face get hotter. The sun was nearly at its peak, so perhaps it was the temperature this time. “Ah ... all right,” she finally said. She cleared her throat and began to sing the slow, melodic chorus.
Tears of old, tears of regret
Washed away by Her happiness
Evil lurks, darkness we see
But tears, great goddess
She cries for me.
Zarya held the last note and let it fade. Then she bowed her head a moment to speak a brief prayer.
“Wow, what a voice!” Kaijin said.
Zarya smiled and looked behind her. “Thank you.”
“Indeed, m’lady,” said Jahi, who brought up the rear. “You have the voice of an angel.”
“I could not have said it better, Jahi,” Jarial said.
Zarya blushed.
The group reached the mysterious circle of sand by early afternoon. It lay beside a tiny oasis surrounded by a group of palms. Everyone dismounted, and while Jahi and Haas stayed with the animals, Kaijin and the rest of the group followed Zarya to the circle—or rather, circles, for there were seven, one inside the other and diminishing in size until the center ring.
Zarya stopped on the outer ring and knelt to study it. Surely, no mortal could draw something so intricate and perfect as this.
A shadow loomed over her, and she turned her head to see whose it was.
“What do you make of it?” Jarial asked.
Zarya looked back at the circle and placed her palm on the edge of the outer ring. Light flashed, and she felt intense heat beneath her hand. For a split second, she saw a walled city—burning.
She gasped and withdrew her hand. The vision ceased. A ... portal?
“What is it?” Jarial asked, concern in his voice.
“This is a portal,” Zarya replied, standing. “It has been enchanted with a divine power. I saw its destination—a burning city.”
“Is the portal activated?” Jarial asked.
Zarya shook her head. “It doesn’t appear to be. But the amount of divine energy it requires to open it is beyond my ability.”
Jarial swore under his breath. “All right.”
Zarya frowned at him. He’s disappointed in me.
“Who or what do you think can open such a thing?” Kaijin asked.
“A highly experienced cleric, or even a creature that is not of this realm but can harness divine energy,” Zarya replied.
Kaijin pursed his lips. “No doubt it was probably Vargas or Za’thaak who is behind this, then.”
Zarya nodded. “Yes, it is possible.”
“And the city you saw,” Kaijin continued. “Do you think it was Zebi?”
“We have no way of knowing if it is Zebi or not.” Omari looked at Zarya. “Are you certain it was a city you saw?”
“I am,” Zarya said, nodding again. “I saw ... and felt.”
“So what do we do now?” Nester asked, looking around at the group.
“Since we can’t use this portal to get there,” Jarial said, “we will have to continue on to Zebi in the manner we have been traveling. And let us hope we will find Vargas and Za’thaak there, too.” He beckoned everyone back to the animals.
With a sigh, Zarya watched them leave, then turned back to the circle. Why couldn’t I have been strong enough to help my friends? They were all counting on me. If only I—
“Zarya?” Jarial called, breaking her from her thoughts.
When she didn’t turn around to acknowledge him, she heard him approach from behind her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and a slight shiver ran through her.
“Are you all right?” he asked, concern in his voice.
She sighed again. “I’m all right. I ... I’m sorry I could not do more to help the group. If only I were stronger, we could take this portal right to them.” She felt his fingers touch her chin, and he lifted it up and turned it until she looked into his slate-grey eyes.
“Hey, it’s all right. Really.” Jarial smiled reassuringly. “And your ability to detect that this was a portal, and even see its destination is more than any of us could have done. We know, at least, that we are on the right track. We will make haste to Zebi.”
Zarya managed a small smile. So he’s not disappointed after all.
Jaria
l let his hand fall away from her face, and he brushed his fingers over one of her hands. “You’ve done your best, Zarya. That’s all I could ever ask for. Now, let’s return to the others.”
XXIX
Kaijin and his group remained at the oasis until late afternoon to rest and replenish themselves before setting out again. In two hours of slogging along the dunes, Kaijin began to see small streams of smoke rising in the distance.
“Zebi is just beyond,” Jahi said from behind him.
As they continued on, Kaijin noticed the terrain slowly changing. The ground underfoot was harder than the soft sand the dromedaries’ hooves sank into before. There was more trees and dry underbrush that grew freely. Small rodents, insects, and other desert life forms were more abundant. And Kaijin even saw what looked like a river in the distance—or perhaps it was a mirage. Still, he couldn’t deny the physical life forms he saw all around him, and knew they were approaching civilization.
As they neared the walled city of Zebi, they discovered the place in an uproar. Greyish-white smoke lingered in the air. People scrambled back and forth, carrying buckets, which they used to fling water on to small fires that burned the shutters and doors and trees. The group detoured to a group of trees not far from the city and dismounted. Kaijin, Omari, and Jarial gathered their familiars. Jahi and Haas stayed with the mounts while Kaijin and the rest of his friends continued on to the gates. The smoke became thicker as they neared.
“What a mess,” Jarial muttered, covering his nose and mouth.
Kaijin did the same. “Do you think this is the work of Vargas or the afriti?”
“Perhaps both.”
Omari waved the smoke away from his face with his hand. “We cannot say for certain that—”
“Oy! Look there, mates!” Nester suddenly said, pointing.
Upon reaching the gates, the group stopped walking and discovered the bodies of guards as well as citizens strewn about near the entrance. They all had serious burns. Some had missing limbs, which appeared to have been burned off.
Flameseeker (Book 3) Page 27