by Lexy Wolfe
"No, sir." Terrence kept looking over his shoulder at Ash with worried uncertainty as he was drawn away. "I only know the games Master Emil taught me and a few of the Desanti games. The Desanti ones were much more complicated than I expected..." The young man's voice drifted away, leaving the Forentan Magus and Desanti Swordanzen to face each other in silence for many long minutes.
Ash finally broke the silence, his voice pitched low and only just loud enough for the woman to hear. The warning was plain in his words. "In the future, do not speak to my student with such impudence, Desanti."
The mere arching of a single eyebrow shifted Storm's demeanor from hostile to dangerous. She took a step forward, measured and slow, much like a predator circling prey. "Or what, Treewalker?" she asked with a deceptively mild purr. Her movements were casual, so unlike the snake strike swiftness he witnessed in the First Home market. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up at a growing sense of danger with her deliberate movements. "You would dare to bring harm to one of the Guardian Dusvet's students?"
Scowling in response to Storm's words and circling advance, Ash crossed his arms and stood his ground, following her movements only with his eyes. "Your importance to Master Almek is minimal at best, Desanti. If it exists at all."
"Really." Cold eyes raked over the Forentan as she approached. "Your arrogance will be your death, Treewalker, and I will mourn only that I could not kill you with my own hand!" she hissed as she stopped nose to nose in front of him. She was close enough he could feel her body heat radiating like the heat of a fire. She was visibly restraining the urge to strike him.
"Storm! Ash!" Almek called, his sky grey eyes fixed on the pair.
Though the Guardian's voice was merely beckoning without any scolding, the two recoiled from each other as if physically struck. Storm backed away from Ash several steps before turning her back on him. The mage waited a heartbeat before following her. "Yes, Lord Almek?" "Yes, Master Almek?" they said in unison.
Almek's hand rested on a small outcropping of rock on one of the many natural, human-sized stone pillars that littered the landscape. While the Guardian ignored the others, this one drew Almek's complete attention. "What is this?" The nondescript, reddish-orange stone was one of many around the encampment. "There is a familiar... resonance..."
"It is A'tyrna Ulan," Storm answered with matter-of-fact reverence. "There are no words for it in trade common." She lowered her eyes in uncharacteristic embarrassment at the apologetic confession. "It is said they are the anchors that keep Desantiva alive. There are very few A'tyrna Ulan. They are from the..." She frowned, searching for the words. "...From the Before Time."
"'Before Time?'" Ash blurted questioningly before he could censor himself. His curiosity overpowered his disdain for the Desanti and their lands. Eyes on the rock, he started reaching for it. "The resonance seems—?"
"No!" Storm snarled. One hand latched to Ash's wrist in a merciless grip. "You will not desecrate the A'tyrna Ulan with your filthy touch, defiler!" Ash grimaced, struggling not to show weakness in the face of an unmistakable promise of something much worse than death.
"Storm!" Almek barked, finally penetrating the woman's haze of rage with the third repetition of her name. "Release him!" Teeth bared, Storm was unmoved by the order. Taking a deep breath, Almek stated in toneless harshness, "By your Blood Oath, Storm Il'Thandar, you will release him!"
The woman flinched as if Almek had struck her. Releasing Ash abruptly, Storm turned away, making a strangled sound as if in pain, stalking away into the desert several measures. She did not stop until she was nearly out of sight of the camp.
Ash glared at the woman's back before turning his attention to his wrist. Muttering, he pulled the sleeve back to reveal bruises that were already darkening. "Stupid-"
"Do not antagonize her." Almek put his hand on Ash's shoulder, his voice quiet and paternal. "Her Blood Oath is akin to your Soul Oath." The old man made a face. "I did not ask either of you to give your lives in your service to me. But do not think I am not prepared to use your oaths to demand obedience. I will not allow either of you to die over your racial prides. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, Master Almek." Obediently subdued, Ash pulled his sleeve down to conceal the second injury he suffered at the deceptively slight woman's hand.
Satisfied, Almek turned back to the rock. "Tell me what you sense from the A'tyrna Ulan."
Nodding, Ash reached out again, but stopped short of touching the craggy surface. His dark azure eyes closed for quite a time before he spoke. "It is very old." There was surprise and reverence in his voice. "I have never felt anything like it before... but it seems... familiar at the same time." He opened his eyes, searching the desert for the woman. "How could she even sense anything? Desanti have no magic to—"
Almek smiled a little. "Do not underestimate the Swordanzen, my dear Illaini Magus. Or the Desanti people. Perhaps there is more to learn here than you thought, hm?" Ash blinked at Almek, staring at him. "Come, my boy. This sun is becoming unbearable. And it looks like you will need to prove your pretty student has not poisoned the rations."
Chapter 31
BY midday, the sun shone down in blinding intensity, feeling even hotter now than the days since they arrived in Desantiva. The fierce desert heat had subdued even Amelana's unceasing complaints and criticisms. Most of the travelers had fallen into the dead sleep of utter exhaustion, leaving the camp quiet. Even Storm's suitors eventually gave up their never-ending badgering and slept.
Ash sat apart from everyone, attempting to use meditation to ignore the heat. Opening his eyes halfway, he roused to a thirst he could no longer suppress. Unfamiliar lethargy dragged on him as he struggled to get to his feet. Eyes fixed on the water skins, he staggered several steps.
The next thing Ash knew, he was sitting once more, with something pressing against his lips. Even though the liquid was sharply bitter, he could not stop himself from grabbing the water skin and drinking greedily. He fought to keep the source of water as it was pulled away. Shame at his desperation and lack of self control finally penetrated raw instinct, hearing Storm speaking to him.
"You will make yourself sick if you drink too much too fast, treewalker." Storm's voice sounded strange to him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized her voice was missing the hatred and hostility he had grown accustomed to.
He squinted up at her, blinking to force his eyes to focus on her. "What-?" Ash rasped, pausing to swallow and try speaking again. "What... what is in... the water?"
"Desert herbs used to help cut thirst." Storm helped him drink from the waterskin again, but only allowing him a few swallows. She smirked. "This is my personal waterskin. I am not trying to poison you." She glanced over her shoulder towards the sleepers. "Nor will I mention your... moment of weakness to anyone."
Grunting, Ash said grudgingly, "Thank you." He was not expecting much for his expression of gratitude, but the growl of insult surprised him. He narrowed his gaze at the woman as she spoke scoldingly.
"Do not thank me, defiler. If not for my oath to Lord Almek, I would sooner see you and all your kind dead than help you survive in this land of your making." She looked away, fists balled as she forced herself to calmness again.
Once she had reclaimed her self control, Storm leaned closer, tugging at the outer belt of his heavy robes. "Thandar's talons, you outlanders and your clothing. You will cook yourself to death with all these layers trapping the heat against you." As soon as she loosened and tugged the heavy garment off, Ash sighed in relief, closing his eyes. "Drink. You are overheated."
Ash did not offer any words of gratitude this time. Storm remained silent, ignoring his intense eyes studying her as she sat with him until he was fully recovered. When she started to rise, he caught her by the wrist. Ignoring her stiffening at his touch, he waited until she looked at him. "Your suitors—"
"Are no concern of yours," Storm replied in clipped tones.
The mage pressed his lips together in
annoyance, his voice equally clipped. "If they interfere with Master Almek's journey, they are my concern."
Storm fixed Ash with a hard look. "You stay out of my personal matters, and I will not interfere with you and your slut." The mage flinched inwardly, opening his mouth to deny the implication, feeling his sunburned face flush. "I am not blind, treewalker. Nor do I care. You obviously do not keep her for her sweet personality, and my drizar has more mage talent than she has.
"It matters nothing to me who you prong. She is not one of Lord Almek's students. My responsibility to protect Forenten begins and ends with you, no matter if Lord Almek wishes otherwise. He is too kind to want to accept the fact trusting your kind only ends in pain and death."
Looking down, Ash let his hand drop away as Storm stood, his thoughts muddled from the heat and unexpectedly troubled by Storm's blunt—and partially accurate—observation. Her flat voice cut though his thoughts. "Finish the water. Then get some rest. We will be resuming the journey at sunset."
Chapter 32
AFTER three days, the group had settled into a routine of traveling at night and resting during the day. Mureln regaled Taylin with romantic songs from all the lands he had traveled. When she turned her nose up at them, sunburned cheeks flushed with embarrassment at the attention, he crooned the bawdiest of bawdy songs to the hoots and howls of his mercenary companions.
Terrence failed miserably at maintaining the typical aloofness Ash displayed and laughed with the mercenaries, especially when Almek would lean over to whisper something in his ear that made the young man turn as bright red as Taylin.
"Heathens," Amelana stated with lofty criticism. She glanced over at Ash when there was no reaction. "Master Ash, have you heard anything I said?"
"You have not stopped talking since we left the Academy and have yet to say anything worthwhile." Ash's eyes remained directed forward. "It is a waste of time and energy that you could better use to complete your preparations for your mastery trials."
"Master Ash!" Amelana gasped in shock. "How can you say such a thing?! If we were home, you wouldn't—"
"We are no longer in Forenta, Journeyman." He let his statement sink in before continuing. "The independence of mastery is what you have spent most of your life training for." Ash glanced at her, voice bland. "Is it not?" The Forentan woman hmphed and spurred her drizzen ahead of her master.
The shrill cry of the drizar cut through the air, and the rest of the animals came to an abrupt stop. The rest of the group grumbled, still not accustomed to the herd mind that overrode human direction. "There is a spring here," Storm called back. "We will refill the skins and water the animals before we find a place to make camp."
Emil dropped down from his beast's back. "Why not make camp here?" Sitting on a broad, lichen covered rock encircled by vines, he threw his arms out. "More shade, there's plenty of water. It be a little piece of heaven." Emaris, as silent as Emil was boisterous, simply crossed his thick arms, shaking his head at his friend. "What is it yer people call it? An oasis?" Storm said nothing, the critical expression in her eyes as cutting as a knife.
While everyone eagerly refilled waterskins and watered the drizzen, most of the travelers took the opportunity to relax in the small, rock littered desert oasis. As the sky lightened with the approaching dawn, many wondered why Storm wouldn't make the call to make camp. However, no one was willing to challenge the Swordanzen woman directly, either.
Taylin lowered the voluminous hood of her travel-dingy robes, her clear turquoise gaze scanning the milling group. Frowning slightly, she approached Almek, resting a hand on his arm. "Dusvet Almek," she murmured, the concern in her voice drawing Mureln and Ash’s attentions as well. "Do the Desanti seem to be behaving... strangely?" The three men followed the healer's gaze to the far edge of the oasis.
The Desanti men were not hounding Storm as they had every waking moment since before the group departed First Home, as had become typical. All three had weapons drawn, eyes scanning the area. "Well, this is the first real oasis we have encountered," Mureln speculated uncertainly. "Perhaps they are just... standing guard?"
"Those two have not taken a turn at watch yet," Almek observed about Radisen and Sumalen, frowning as he, too, looked around for what anomaly caused such uncharacteristic cooperation among the woman and her rival suitors. "I doubt their animosity would change without cause."
"What in th’ hells-?!" Emil's exclamation drew everyone's attentions. One of the vines surrounding the rock Emil sat on arrested his attempt to jerk away, encircling his wrist. More of the ‘vines’ came to life, lashing around the Sevmanan’s body.
"Sendarli!" Mureln pulled Taylin behind him instinctively, though they were far enough out of reach. He grabbed Almek by the arm to keep him from going to Emil. "No, Dusvet!"
The old man scowled at Mureln. "I am not going to stand by and watch the man die, Mureln."
Mureln shook his head. "There is nothing that can be done, Dusvet. Weapons cannot harm sendarli, they are too strong and have too many arms." Almek tried to take another step forward; the bard kept his hold firm. The two looked up in shock as Storm dashed past them, no weapons in hand.
Emil’s struggles were weakening as tentacles tightened around his chest and throat. He jerked in surprise when Storm suddenly appeared at his side, using her arm to block a dripping white tentacle that was about to lash onto him. As it wrapped around the metal guard on her wrist, everyone heard the hiss of acid. With her free hand, she clawed at the tentacle around Emil’s throat. "Emaris! His obsidian knife! Use it!"
The huge man did not hesitate to obey the Swordanzen or question how she knew of the object, saving his bewilderment for later. He yanked the pouch off Emil’s hip and ripped it open to pull out the ornamental stone blade. Holding the small object awkwardly in his massive hand, he jabbed at one of the tentacles. It jerked, oozing greenish blood, and loosened its hold, though it did not fully release Emil.
Ash’s expression was hard and unreadable; his eyes locked on Storm, ignoring Amelana as she clung to his arm until her words finally penetrated his consciousness. "Finally we will be rid of that annoying thief and stupid Desanti bitch." With a grimace, the mage shoved Amelana away from him and strode to the three struggling for Emil's and Storm's lives, remembering Almek's admonishment of his responsibility to protect his fellow students. "Master Ash! What are you doing?" He ignored the alarm in Amelana's voice.
"Get ready," Ash told the three as he rested his hands on the thickest of the tentacles around Emil. Before Storm could utter a sound of protest, the crackle of pure energy danced along the monster. The electrical attack jolted the three humans in contact with the sendarli. Emaris recovered quickly to pull Emil free completely and staggered back to Taylin who immediately began to heal the blue-faced, barely conscious man. Storm nearly collapsed, but was not yet free. Her face had a sickly bluish grey cast, her breathing labored.
Ash pressed his lips together, displeased the woman seemed overly sensitive to the energy in the spell. "I can do it again. But it might kill you."
"Do it," Storm rasped. "Rather die quick by a defiler's hand than suffer eternity in a sendarli gut."
The mage hesitated a moment before nodding. Closing his hands around the thickest tentacle remaining, he closed his eyes. He focused on directing the majority of the power away from Storm and towards the sendarli. The thing uttered a spine chilling shriek as it suddenly withdrew its arms. The slug-like sendarli curled into itself like a dying insect.
Ash’s grimly satisfied smile disappeared as Storm staggered back a half step with a choked gurgling noise, falling to one knee. He instinctively caught her before she collapsed. There was no time to dwell on the bewildering lurch of his heart the sight of Storm approaching death. "Taylin!" he called, the healer by Storm’s side before Ash finished saying her name.
Taylin squeaked in shock as a sword point suddenly appeared between her and Storm. Radisen scowled at the woman. "You will not touch her!"
"S
he is still alive!" Taylin argued, her surprise giving way to anger at the interruption. "I can save her life!"
Radisen growled darkly. "Swordanzen do not use healers, outlander! We live or die by the will of the Totani and our own strength!"
Emaris charged Radisen like a bull and shoved him away. Taylin wasted no time watching the distraction, putting her hands on Storm’s brow and heart. She looked up at Ash accusingly. "Release her from your magic, Forentan!" she ordered coldly.
Ash scowled, less at the lack of respect than the order itself. He put his hand on Storm’s bare shoulder. He could sense the energy of his spell coiling within the woman like an evil serpent. The pattern was inexplicably warped, barely recognizable as his own doing. The mage closed his eyes, focusing on detangling the unexpected results of his spell.
The moment Ash cleansed the lingering magical energy, Storm suddenly gasped, sitting bolt upright, her eyes wild with confusion. She shoved everyone away from her as she staggered to her feet. The drizar suddenly appeared as if he were summoned, letting her lean on him for support. He curled his head around her to touch his chin to her lower back protectively as he glared balefully at the humans, baring wickedly long, sharp teeth.
"What the hell just happened?" the bard asked no one in particular as he assisted Taylin to her feet and pulled her close supportively, giving Radisen a dark look. Having spent a great deal of herself to heal Emil, the healer rested her head on Mureln’s shoulder with a sigh, leaning into his strength.
Unrepentant, Radisen met glare for glare. "Healers are forbidden to the Swordanzen. They live and die by the will of the Totani and their strength alone. To use healers breeds complacency and weakness and goes against the edicts of the Heart of Desantiva."
"Finish." Storm wearily dragged herself onto her drizar’s back, too tired to do more than lean against his neck. "Must camp soon." Not a single person uttered a word about camping in this oasis again, gathering the scattered waterskins and securing the drizzen.