No! You’ll be helpless for days! The image of Valek tangled in vines leaped into my mind.
I’ll be fine. The power twins are with me. They’ll protect me. Valek showed me an image of Ari and Janco, my friends in Ixia, guarding his tent. They camped in the Snake Forest, participating in a military exercise.
Before I could stop him, power washed over me, soaking into my body.
Good luck, love.
“Valek,” I yelled out loud. He disappeared.
“What was that?” Tula asked.
“A dream.” But I felt rejuvenated. I stood on my now steady legs, marveling.
Tula stared. “It wasn’t a dream. I saw a light and—”
I made a sudden decision and bolted for the door. “I have to go.”
“Where?” Tula demanded.
“To catch up with Irys.”
19
THE TWO MEN GUARDING our room jumped in surprise when I sprinted out the door. I raced toward the stable before my mind could slow me down with logic, but I arrived too late. The yard was empty.
Kiki poked her head out of her stall. Lavender Lady better?
Yes, much better. I stroked her nose. I missed the others. When did they leave?
Some chews of hay. We catch up.
I studied Kiki’s blue eyes. She presented an interesting idea. Even if I had caught up to Irys before they left, there was no guarantee that she would have let me go with them to the Avibian Plains.
Kiki pawed the ground with impatience. Go.
I thought fast. Perhaps it would be better if I followed Irys and Leif to the plains, revealing myself only when we traveled too far for her to send me back to the Keep.
I need supplies, I told Kiki. On the way to my room, I made a mental list of everything I would need. My backpack and bow, my switchblade, my cloak, some clothes and food. Money perhaps.
After gathering what I could from my room, I locked the door, turned to go and bumped into Dax.
“Look who’s vertical,” he said. A wide smile spread across his lips. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. After all, you are a living legend.”
Shaking my head, I said, “Dax, I don’t have time to exchange barbs with you.”
“Why?”
I paused, realizing that taking off on my own would be yet another black mark against me. An Ixian decision. But getting information from the Sandseeds was too important for me to worry about the consequences. I told Dax about my plans. “Can you tell Second Magician where I’ve gone? I don’t want Bain combing the Keep for me.”
“You’re on the fast path to expulsion,” Dax warned. “I’ve lost count of points against you.” He paused, considering. “Doesn’t matter now. How long of a head start do you want?”
I glanced at the sky. Midafternoon. “Till dark.” The timing still left Bain a slight chance to send someone to retrieve me, but I hoped he would wait until the morning.
“Done. I’d wish you good luck, but I don’t think it would help.”
“Why not?”
“My lady, you make your own luck.” Then he shooed me away. “Go.”
I hurried to the kitchen and grabbed enough bread, cheese and dried meat to last for ten days. Captain Marrok had said the Avibian Plains were vast and it took ten days to cross them. If the Sandseed Clan lived on the far side, I would have enough food to reach them, and I hoped I could buy more for the return trip.
With my thoughts focused on supplies, I raced toward the barn. As I approached, Kiki snorted in agitation, and I opened my mind to her.
Bad smell, she warned.
I spun in time to see Goel rush me. Before I could react, the point of his sword stopped mere inches from my stomach.
“Going somewhere?” he asked.
“What are you doing here?”
“Little birdie told me you flew the coop. It wasn’t hard to track you.”
The guards outside Tula’s room must have alerted Goel. I sighed. My distraction while collecting supplies had made me an easy target.
“Okay, Goel. Let’s make this quick.” I took a step back and reached for my bow, but Goel moved forward. The point of his sword cut through my shirt and pricked my skin just as my hands found the smooth wood of my staff.
“Freeze!” he shouted.
I huffed more in annoyance than fear. I didn’t have time for this. “Too scared for a fair fight? Ow!” The sword’s tip jabbed into my stomach.
“Drop your bow to the ground. Slowly,” he ordered.
He nudged his sword tip deeper when I hesitated. In slow motion, I pulled my bow from its strap, keeping Goel’s attention on me because out of the corner of my eye I saw Kiki open the latch on her stall’s door with her teeth.
The door thumped open. Goel turned his head at the noise. Kiki spun, aimed her hind legs. I scurried back a few paces.
Not too hard, I told her.
Bad man. She kicked him.
Goel flew through the air and slammed against the pasture’s wooden fence. Then he crumpled in a heap. When he didn’t move, I approached and felt for a pulse. Still alive. I had mixed feelings about his survival. Would he ever give up or would he keep coming after me until he had caught me or until I had killed him?
Kiki interrupted my thoughts. Go.
I retrieved her tack and began to saddle her. As I tightened the girth straps around her chest, I asked, Could you always open your door?
Yes. Fence, too.
Why don’t you?
Hay sweet. Water fresh. Peppermints.
I laughed and made sure to take some mints from Cahil’s supply, packing them into my bag. I hooked five feed bags and water bags for her onto the saddle along with my own food and water skins.
Too heavy? I asked.
She looked at me with scorn. No. Leave now. Topaz scent going.
I mounted. We left the Magician’s Keep and headed through the Citadel. Kiki stepped with care as she walked along the crowded streets of the market. I spotted Fisk, my beggar boy, carrying a huge package for a lady. He smiled and tried to wave. His clean black hair shone in the sun and the hollow smudges under his eyes were gone. A beggar no longer. Fisk found a job.
When we passed under the massive marble arches that marked the gateway of the Citadel, Kiki picked up her pace, breaking into a gallop. The view sped past as we traveled along the main valley road that led from the Citadel to the forest.
Harvest activity buzzed in the fields to our right. On the left, the Avibian Plains flowed out to the horizon. The colors of the tall grasses had transformed from the greens and blues of the hot season into reds, yellows and oranges as though someone had taken a giant paintbrush and swabbed large bands of color across the landscape.
The plains appeared deserted, and I saw no signs of wildlife. Only the colors rippled in the wind. When Kiki turned to enter the plains, I spotted a faint trail cutting through the grass.
The long blades rubbed against my legs and Kiki’s stomach. Kiki relaxed her pace. I touched her mind. We were on the right path, and the strong scent of horses filled her nose. She picked out each one by their smell. Silk. Topaz. Rusalka.
Rusalka?
Sad Man’s.
Confused at first, it took me a moment to realize Sad Man was Kiki’s name for Leif. From what I had gathered from Kiki, when a horse meets someone for the first time their immediate impression becomes that person’s horse name and they relayed it to other horses. Apparently it doesn’t change. To the horses, it made sense. They gave us names just like we had given them names.
Other horses? I asked.
No.
Other men?
No.
Surprised that Cahil hadn’t taken some of his men with him, I wondered why. Cahil had skirted the plains on our trip to the Citadel, afraid of the Sandseeds even when traveling with twelve men. I guess he felt safer having a Master Magician accompany him. Either that, or Irys had insisted he leave his watchdogs at the Keep.
As we advanced farther into the plains,
I realized that the surrounding grassland hid many things. Despite appearing flat, the terrain rolled like a messy blanket. I looked back the way we had come and couldn’t see the farmland. Clusters of gray rocks peppered the plains, an occasional tree rose up from the grass, and I glimpsed field mice and small animals darting away from Kiki’s hooves.
We passed a strange crimson-colored rock formation. White veined the single stone, whose top tier loomed above my head. The thick squarish profile of the structure reminded me of something. I scanned my memory and realized the rock resembled a human heart. The fact that I had recalled my lessons surprised me. Biology at Brazell’s orphanage had been my least favorite subject. The teacher had delighted in making his students sick to their stomachs.
When the light over the plains began to fade and the air chilled, the thought of spending a night in such an exposed place made me uneasy.
Catch up? Kiki asked.
Are we close?
The pungent smell of horses mixed with a thin scent of smoke. Through Kiki’s eyes, I could see a distant fire.
They stop.
I weighed my options. A night alone or the possibility of facing Irys’s anger if I joined her. Not used to sitting in the saddle for more than an hour, my legs and back ached. I needed a break. Kiki, though, could travel much longer. Pulling power, I projected my awareness, feeling for the overall mood of the campsite.
Cahil gripped the handle of his sword; the wide-open sky alarmed him. Leif lounged on the ground almost asleep. Irys—
Yelena! Her outrage seared my mind.
Decision made. Before she could demand an explanation, I showed her what had happened between Valek and me.
Impossible.
The word triggered a memory. You said the same thing when I reached out to Valek to help me against Roze’s mental probing. Perhaps there is something connecting us that you haven’t encountered?
Perhaps, she conceded. Come, join us. It’s too late to send you home. And you can’t go back to the Keep without me to help you against Roze’s wrath.
With that sobering thought, I told Kiki to find the campsite. She felt glad, though, when we reached Topaz. He grazed with the other horses near the camp.
I removed Kiki’s tack, rubbed her down and made sure she had enough food and water. Reluctance and sore muscles made my movements slow.
When I finally joined Irys in the small clearing where they had stopped for the night, she only asked me if I needed dinner. I glanced at the others. Leif stirred a pot of soup cooking over the flames. He wore a neutral expression. Cahil’s hand now hovered near his sword handle; he seemed more relaxed about the night sky. He grinned when he met my gaze. He was either glad about my arrival, or was anticipating the entertainment from the reprimand I was certain to receive from Irys.
Instead, Irys lectured Cahil and me on the proper way to interact with the Sandseed Clan members.
“Respect of the elders is a must,” she said. “All requests are to be made to the elders, but only after they invite us to speak. They don’t trust outsiders and will watch for any sign of disregard or any indication that you are spying on them. So don’t ask questions unless given permission and don’t stare.”
“Why would we stare?” I asked.
“They don’t like to wear clothes. Some members will dress when outsiders are visiting, but others won’t.” Irys smiled ruefully. “Also they have a few powerful magicians. They aren’t Keep trained, they teach their own. Although a few of their younger magicians have come to the Keep, seeking to enhance their knowledge. Kangom was one of these, but he didn’t stay at the Keep for long.” Irys frowned.
Unfortunately, I knew where he had gone from there. He changed his name to Mogkan and started kidnapping children, smuggling them into Ixia.
Before Cahil could voice his questions about Mogkan, I asked Irys, “What about the Sandseed magicians that stay with the clan?”
“They call them Story Weavers,” Irys explained. “They hold the clan’s history. The Sandseeds believe their history is a living entity, like an invisible presence that surrounds them. Since the clan’s story is always evolving, the Story Weavers guide the clan.”
“How do they guide them?” Cahil asked with concern.
“They mediate disputes, help in decision making, they show the clan members their past and aid them in avoiding the same mistakes. Very similar to what the Master Magicians do for the people of Sitia.”
“They soothe a troubled heart,” Leif said, staring into the flames. “Or so they claim.” Then he stood abruptly. “The soup’s done. Who’s hungry?”
We ate in silence. After we arranged sleeping areas for the evening, Irys informed us that we would be on the road for one more night before we reached the clan’s dwellings.
Cahil wanted to make a night watch schedule. “I’ll take the first shift,” he offered.
Irys just looked at him.
“It makes sense,” he said in his defense.
“Cahil, there is nothing to fear. And if trouble heads in our direction, I will wake you long before it arrives,” Irys said.
I hid my smile as I watched Cahil pout. I wrapped my cloak around me against the cold night air and lay on the soft sandy ground of the clearing. I checked with Kiki. Everything okay?
Grass sweet. Crunchy.
Bad smells?
No. Nice air. Home.
I remembered now that Kiki had been bred by the Sandseeds. Nice to be home? I thought of Valek in the Snake Forest, and hoped he had regained some of his strength.
Yes. Nicer with Lavender Lady. Peppermints? Hopeful.
In the morning, I promised.
I gazed up at the night sky, watching the stars dance while waiting for sleep. Kiki’s view of life sounded right. Good food, fresh water, an occasional sweet and someone to care for. That’s what everyone should have. A simplistic and unrealistic view I knew, but it soothed me.
My thoughts, though, drifted into strange dreams. I ran through the plains, searching for Kiki. The knee-high grass grew until it reached above my head and impeded my forward motion. I pushed through the sharp blades, trying and failing to find a way out. My foot snagged on something and I fell. When I rolled over, the grass transformed into a field of snakes and they began to wrap around my body. I struggled until they immobilized me.
“You belong with us,” a snake hissed in my ear.
I jerked awake in the weak light of dawn. My ear tingled from the dream snake, and I shivered in the cold morning air, trying to shake off the horror of my nightmare.
Irys and the others milled around the small fire. We ate a breakfast of bread and cheese and saddled our horses. My muscles had stiffened during the night, and they protested each movement. By midmorning, the sun warmed the land and I shed my cloak, stuffing it into my backpack.
As we traveled, the soft ground turned into hard stone and the grasses thinned. Small sandstone outcroppings sprinkled the area. By lunch the outcroppings rose higher than our heads, and I felt as if we rode inside a canyon.
During a brief stop, I noticed streaks of red on a pair of sandstone pillars some distance away. “Tula’s attacker had something red under his fingernails,” I told the others. “Could it be from here?”
“It’s possible,” Irys agreed.
“We should get a sample,” Leif said. He rummaged in his pack until he found a short glass vial.
“We need to keep going.” Irys squinted at the sun. “I want to find a campsite before dark.”
“Go. I’ll catch up,” Leif said.
“Yelena, help him, make sure it’s the color you remember,” Irys ordered, then turned to Cahil before he could voice the objections behind his frown. “Cahil, you stay with me. If Yelena can find us hours after we left the Citadel, she’ll have no problem catching up today.”
Irys and a still scowling Cahil mounted their horses and headed toward the sun, while Leif and I found a path to the pillars. They were farther away than I had thought. Then, it too
k us longer than we had anticipated to collect a sample. The streaks turned out to be a layer of red clay. The exposed clay had hardened, and we chipped through it to reach the softer material underneath. We placed both the hard chips and soft clay into the vial.
By the time we returned to our starting point, the sun hovered halfway to the horizon. Kiki found Topaz’s trail, and we nudged the horses into a run.
I felt unconcerned when the sky began to darken. Topaz’s pungent scent filled Kiki’s sensitive nose, which meant we were getting close. But when full dark descended and I could not see a fire, I began to worry. When the moon rose, I halted Kiki.
“Are we lost?” Leif asked. He had been following me without comment since we had discovered the trail. I could just make out his annoyed frown in the faint moonlight.
“No. Kiki says Topaz’s scent is strong. Perhaps they decided to travel longer?”
“Can you reach Irys?” Leif asked.
“Oh, snake spit! I forgot!” I took a deep breath and gathered a string of power, chastising myself for failing to remember my magic again. I wondered when using magic would become instinctive.
I felt a surprising rush of power. The source seemed concentrated in this area. Projecting my awareness, I searched the surrounding land. Nothing.
Alarmed, I extended my reach, seeking further. Then I realized that my mind hadn’t even touched field mice or any other creatures. I stopped in frustration. If I could connect to Valek in the Snake Forest, I should be able to find Irys; after all, her horse had just passed this way.
Topaz smell always strong, Kiki agreed.
Always?
Yes.
“Well?” Leif asked with impatience.
“Something’s wrong. I can’t find Irys.” I told him what Kiki had just said.
“But that’s good, right?”
“There should have been a gradual buildup of scent from faint to sharp. Instead, it’s been the same since we found their trail.” I turned in a circle; magic pulsed in the air all around us. “Someone is trying to trick us.”
“Finally!” A deep voice barked from the darkness.
Kiki and Rusalka reared in surprise, but a soothing strand of magic calmed them. I pulled my bow and scanned the few faint shapes I could see in the weak light.
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