Darag placed one hand on the ground next to the sandy puddle of water. A moment after his touch, the ground compacted around the flow. The depression and the water cleared, forming a small and growing pool. Niri let out a breath. The desert riders next to the camels glanced at each other.
“It will be an oasis in time, preserving what you did.”
As the dying sun streaked the sky, the two smallest desert riders pulled dried meat and fruit, rice and pots from the packs of their horses. Darag, Lavinia, Ty, Ria and Niri joined them in the flat between the dunes near the tiny pool of water, Darag introducing the desert riders.
Rah’kana, the group leader, was slightly stooped and often quiet. A thin white band with a woven red trim secured the wrapped cloth covering his head. Kiefa’shoo was the most animated in his movements. Tef’han was the easiest to differentiate, being the shortest of the robed riders with wide shoulders. He carried himself with a swagger like he was ready for a fight. Jeif’taku was Tef’han’s opposite. Slender and tall, he moved like the desert wind. Behk’sah kept to himself, head lowered as he looked out at the small group with dark eyes hidden in shadows.
Leifa’den and Kefa’bey were the smallest and youngest of the group, Darag had learned. Leifa’den, he had been surprised to find was a young girl. The robes and coverings of the riders did not make the gender difference easy to see. But her voice when she spoke was soft and high. Kefa’bey was the youngest, just a boy, and was likely to rattle on if you could get him alone. Each nodded as Darag said their names, except Behk’sah who narrowed his eyes and growled deep in his chest. Darag said the names of Lavinia, Ria, Niri, and Ty, Rah’kana and Kiefa’shoo listening attentively.
In the coolness of the night, the desert riders had loosened their headscarfs to show smooth tanned skin, dark eyes and thin lips below high cheekbones. Darag had grown used to the riders the last few days. But next to Ty and the others, there was an odd smoothness to their faces. It was a similarity that made Darag wonder of what others must see the first time people saw the patterned skin of the Kith.
Ria watched the riders with a wrinkle on her forehead. “How do they intend . . . ?”
Her words were cut off as one extended a gloved hand. Fire sprouted from the desert sand. Niri, Ty, Ria and Lavinia jumped. Jeif’taku’s eyes crinkled at the corner and he laughed a few breaths.
“Fire Elementals?” Niri asked, moving her gaze from the flames to Darag. She looked pale and nervous.
“Not of the Church, if that is what you mean. They are, Ashanti, the Desert Tribe. I met them in Bakk and they offered to ride with me to find you.” Darag turned toward the tribesman, who were placing pots and water from Niri’s spring over the woodless fire.
“Shaarh sylfah?” Darag asked.
Jeif’taku and Behk’sah exchanged a glance. Kiefa’shoo laughed. “Kha,” he answered. “Khat ba selfah, sahl.” The words hissed, rising and falling in a staccato rhythm.
Darag raised his eyebrows. “He says not just one Elemental, but all.”
Niri’s hand fell to the sand as she stared at the tribesman. “I’ve never heard of such a thing,” she whispered.
“You can speak their language?” Lavinia asked.
“It is similar to Kith.”
“Beitah,” Kiefa’shoo said, the sound dying away to the same hiss of the sand moving in the wind.
“Of the same source,” Darag said, brow furrowed. His eyes stayed on the tribesman for a moment.
“How did you find us?” Ria asked, pulling Darag’s attention back to the group.
“Ti fesh selfah efti whaf shaar tek?”
“Jeif’taku wants to know how Niri summoned the ocean into the desert?”
Niri blushed softly. “Story for story then, you first.”
“Dih,” Kiefa’shoo agreed, accepting a bow of rice covered in gravy made out of the dried fruit and meat from Leifa’den. She and Khefa’bey passed out the food to everyone else and then sat behind the other Ashanti, but close enough to hear what was said. Khefa’bey’s eyes followed Jeif’taku with attentive envy. Leifa’den watched the strangers amid the Ashanti. When things were settled, Darag began.
“After you left Drufforth, I could not stay. I headed up the River of Turcot to the Temple of Ice.”
Niri and the tribesman sat up straighter. “You were there?”
Darag nodded, his mouth pulling into a straight line with the memory. “I’ve never seen anything like it. The ground, the water, everything is frozen as if it were the deepest winter. The destruction outside . . . ,” Darag shook his head, glancing up at Niri. His brow furrowed. “But inside there was hardly anything. A room,” Darag thought of the dark room that hovered with a presence. “Maybe two that showed signs of something amiss, otherwise it was as if the Priests and Priestesses had left . . . or knew they would not be needing their rooms any longer. They left them clean and empty as if waiting for new residents.”
Niri’s brow wrinkled as well. “It doesn’t make any sense. The Temple of Dust, what we saw of it, showed obvious signs of a battle. The library was partially destroyed.”
“We didn’t go into the rooms though. There wasn’t destruction on the steps down,” Ria pointed out.
“Why did you go?” Lavinia whispered, her fingers trailing on Darag’s arm.
“Because of what you told me and Laith Lus asked Niri. I wanted to know why he asked if you were going to go to the Temple of Ice,” Darag said looking over at Niri. “And I wanted to know what had caused the war, magic users or the Order of Fire.” He glanced apologetically over at Ria.
“It was the Order of Fire,” Niri said flatly.
“Dih, shaar selfah.”
“How do you know?” Ria asked, turning towards Kiefa’shoo.
“Ashanti oohket tohnwa.”
“Their history speaks of it.”
“It would have been useful to have met them about a week ago,” Ty said dryly. Kiefa’shoo chuckled.
“Did you find anything?” Lavinia asked.
“A journal, it said the Temple of Stone had already fallen. They knew the Order of Fire was coming to the Temple of Mist next because Water Elementals had been at the Temple of Stone during the fighting and helped the Order of Earth. They were asking for help from the Temple of Winds and another name I had not seen before. That is where it ended.”
“I realized the danger you were in going to the Temple of Dust at the urging of a Fire Elemental, so I went back to Drufforth and hired one of the ships take me to the archipelago. From there I went to Rah Hahsessah. I had just found news in the market that you had been there and gone to Tabook when word came that the sea had left its banks and flooded Karakastad. I knew that had to be Niri.” Niri blushed, glancing away.
“That doesn’t explain how you knew where to find us in the desert,” Lavinia said from where she sat against him.
“I was rather desperate once I heard that the Temple of Dust was flooded. I knew something had happened and you were ahead of me. I . . . I spoke to the earth, to the sand. Or maybe listened.” Darag shook his head, his gaze unfocused.
“I felt you or at least the footsteps of the camels leading away from Karakastad towards Bakk. I knew it had to be you, so I went to Bakk and waited a day, then two. I could barely sense where you were in the desert, and then you stopped walking. I met the Ashanti when I tried to find a horse or camel to go and search for you. I was so afraid I would be too late.”
Darag’s gaze was only for Lavinia, imagined grief filling his green eyes. She touched his face tenderly. “You were not.”
“No, I must not learn to underestimate naiads.”
Ty snorted. “If you haven’t learned that yet, I’m surprised.” Darag’s lips twitched. He glanced sidelong at Ty but said nothing in reply. “You were in Rah Hahsessah? You only heard we were there . . . nothing about what happened?”
Lavinia stiffened against him. Darag looked down at her and across to Ria’s pale face. She did not meet his eyes, nor did Niri. Dar
ag’s gaze narrowed. He looked at Ty.
“No, what happened?”
Lavinia compressed her lips and let a long breath out through her nose. She glanced quickly at her brother before saying, “I killed a Priest.”
Darag was only vaguely aware of the stir that caused in the Ashanti. He looked down into Lavinia’s sky blue eyes, forgetting to breathe. “Why?”
“I ran into him. He realized what I was . . . am,” Ria said with tears in her eyes. “I couldn’t get away. He was holding on so tight. He kept throwing fire at Lavinia, but then Ty pulled me so that he stopped . . . and Lavinia killed him.”
“You killed a Fire Elemental?” Darag asked, his hands cupped on either side of of Lavinia’s face. She nodded, swallowing hard. Darag wrapped his arms around her, pressing his cheek against her forehead. His heart was beating so hard he wondered if she did not feel it where she pressed into his chest.
“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner,” he whispered hoarsely.
Lavinia shook her head and pulled back. “It is why you taught me to use a sword. So I could fight when I needed to.”
Darag’s brows pulled together but he nodded, loving Lavinia all the more. As he let her go, Tef’han approached, a canteen in hand. He held it out to Lavinia, looking at Darag.
“Teyl rhy’lef kahba shaar selfah kil beykeh?”
“Dyh,” Darag replied with a tinge of pride, drawing out the sound almost the same as the Ashanti. One arm stayed around Lavinia’s waist.
Tef’han grinned. “Sah’zoh, whitey!”
Lavinia took the open canteen uncertainly. “What is in it?”
“Yelfesh ak’shaar tek.”
Darag raised both his eyebrows, his eyes sliding to Lavinia’s. “It is potent.”
Lavinia hesitated, taking a deep breath. She managed a swallow, but coughed after. Tef’han grinned, swallowing a gulp as well as he walked back across the still flickering fire.
“I hope they don’t feel that way about all Priests or Elementals,” Ria said cautiously.
“Kha, bata shaar Priests,” Jeif’taku answered, his voice strange on the word foreign to his language.
Niri leaned forward. “Why only the Order of Fire?”
A frowned pulled at Keifa’shoo’s mouth. “Shaar Priests fetyi nohl bwahka Ak’Ashanti.”
“They think they rule this desert.” Jeif’taku snorted at Darag’s translation. Darag looked from Lavinia, to Ria, Ty and then Niri. “What else happened since you left Drufforth?”
Niri filled in the story, Ty, Ria and Lavinia hearing about the fight in the Temple for the first time. Jeif’taku leaned forward, watching Niri intently as did Kiefa’shoo. Rah’kana watched her with hooded eyes while Behk’sah sat back, looking down at Niri with glittering eyes. Darag watched Behk’sah. They crossed eyes once, Behk’sah’s lips rippling in an unheard growl.
Darag sensed Behk’sah’s power as a swirling cloak around him, darker than the night. Only half listening to Niri, Darag tucked his chin, centering himself as he reached out feeling the desert’s vastness. It was a new sensation, this enormous potential within his reach. The Kith were taught to shape wood and stone, but not call forth the ground itself. Unfamiliar as it was, Darag held his power in an easy grip despite the enormity of it. Behk’sah tossed a hostile sneer toward Darag, Behk’sah’s power lancing at him. The sand between them moved. Darag did not budge. For a moment, the air hummed.
Niri looked up, cocking an eyebrow. Jeif’taku elbowed Behk’sah. The thrumming of power dropped, but did not dissipate entirely.
“The water had been sealed off from the Temple. I called it with enough force that it broke through the stone . . . . I didn’t even realize I had called the sea water until it came, enough to fill the sinkhole. That was what tipped the scale. Ci’erra fought her way out rather than helping Sinika and Sinika I managed to trap underwater.”
Niri glanced away with a low lidded look towards the Ashanti as she mentioned what had happened to Sinika. Unease crept up Darag’s spine. He guessed there was more, but Darag was dry mouthed himself after the flexing of skills. Whatever else there was could wait until the were no longer with the Ashanti.
Ria had listened, fascinated by Niri’s story. Now she looked down to the sand, flicking at grains with her finger. “It is just a shame we never learned anything about the Curse.”
Niri sat up startled, looking over at Ria. “But I did, before Sinika found me. There was a letter.” Niri reached over and took Ria’s hand. “I was so dazed. I forgot to tell you or maybe I thought I had. It is so mixed together.”
Ria was holding her breath, her eyes shinning. “You learned how to defeat it?”
“No,” Niri held up a hand as Ria’s eyes shadowed again. The conversation among the Ashanti, too quiet for Darag to hear, ceased. “Listen, whatever it is, it is a creature of magic. It was captured by mages that helped the Order of Fire during the war and forced to do their bidding. But that isn’t the most important thing.”
“Ria, you are an Elemental.” Ria looked doubtful. “Truly, you are a Spirit Elemental. You can control the essence of life.”
“Is that true?” Ria asked in a hushed voice.
“Dih,” Kiefa’shoo said with a smile. “Kay selfah.”
“Five elements,” Darag breathed.
With a lift to only one side of his mouth and slitted eyes, Jeif’taku swept to his feet. He held out a hand, an orb of light forming above it. With a flick of his wrist, the small fire ball flew forward, breaking apart into pinpoints in the wind Jeif’taku summoned. The breeze twisted in on itself to form a vortex. Water and earth swirled up the spinning column of air. Jeif’taku shaped the mass into a ball of soil and water, spinning in the whirlwind outlined by sparks. That alone was enough to awe Darag. He had never seen such a combination of power or such casual control of it.
Jeif’taku turned his hand, sweeping it palm down towards the ground. The ball fell, sinking into the sand, leaving behind moist soil. Drawing his fingers together, he pulled his hand upwards. A tiny sprout grew out of the dirt, unfurling its first leaf.
Darag met Jeif’taku’s amused gaze, wondering if the Ashanti were as friendly as they seemed and afraid of what he and Niri stood against if they were not.
“Kay,” Jeif’taku said again, showing canines with his smile.
CHAPTER 34
ORDER OF LIFE
Ria’s jaw was hanging open at Jeif’taku’s display. She snapped it shut and scuffled back in the sand. “He used magic . . . spirit,” Ria said, starting to shake. She looked at Niri wide eyed. “The Curse!”
Niri’s lavender eyes flickered wider before the laughter of the Ashanti cut in.
“Kha, Khat bek Ak’Ashanti.”
“Not here in Ak’Ashanti,” Darag translated with a line across his forehead. He met Jeif’taku’s gaze steadily, neither looking away.
Jeif’taku gave Darag a casual smile, moving his right hand out with an open palm. “Ef’katah.”
Darag hesitated a second longer, nodding slowly. He blinked and looked away. Ria felt like she could breath again. Jeif’taku gaze moved toward her, amusement dancing on his lips.
“Rahknuhn,” he said to Ria.
“He wants you to try,” Darag said to her.
Jeif’taku motioned her forward. Ria flinched, shaking her head as she bit her lip. Jeif’taku laughed, looking away as he smiled. Kiefa'shoo chuckled deep in his chest while Behk’sah’s hissing laugh sounded cruel to Ria’s ears. She blushed and tucked her legs against her chest, looking down at the sand. Nothing could make her risk summoning the Curse again. There was breathy laughter all around her.
“Life, living plants . . . that is also Kith,” Darag’s voice was heavy with the realization.
Jeif’taku flicked up an eyebrow. “Tek ti yel selfah? Fetyiat.” Jeif’taku rocked back on his heels looking at Darag the while.
Lavinia’s eyes were round with the impact of the news as well. “You mean the Kith are Earth and Life elementals
and no one knew? I bet the Forest of Falin is safe then as well for Ria.”
The attention mostly off of her, Ria scooted forward to sit next to Niri again. “If that is true, I would never have bothered leaving,” she sighed. “I bet Laireag is an Air Elemental as well and doesn’t even know it.”
“That makes sense.” There was a stir of movement as attention was focused on Niri. “That was the second part of the letter. It said that talent in one Element comes with birth, but it can mean latent and learnable skills in other elements.”
Ria perked up. “I could learn one of the other elements? And the Curse wouldn’t come.”
Behk’sah’s laughter rolled across the night. Jeif’taku and Kiefa’shoo snickered as well, though tried to hide it. Rah’kana was silent and still. Tef’han, sitting near Leifa’den and Khefa'bey smirked, while the youngest two Ashanti shifted uncomfortably, glancing at each other and towards Rah’kana furtively.
“Dih,” Behk’sah said with a hissing chuckle. “Khat roke.”
“Why isn’t it simple?” Darag said, leaning forward. His face was serious, eyes hooded with held back anger as he glared at Behk’sah. Ria had never seen Darag other than peaceful. She swallowed and shifted closer to Niri. On her other side, Ty’s quiet presence took on a more hostile note. He clenched a fist, his muscles tightening visibly.
Jeif’shoo held out his long fingers, palms down. “Bal Darag fetyi feitah.”
Behk’sah snorted. Niri looked across to Darag, lifting her brow.
“He says he thinks I could learn.”
Niri gave a cool smile. “I don’t see what is so difficult about it. I’ve already summoned air. It is how I managed to swim out of the Temple.”
Niri’s statement brought sudden silence. Ty chuckled while a smile fluttered over Darag’s lips as he glanced away. Rah’kana looked up, meeting Niri’s gaze.
“Whaf selfah ketkah teyl fetyi,” Jeif’shoo said to Behk’sah with a laugh.
“Kha,” Behk’sah stood up and spat into the sand. He turned in a swirl of robes and walked off between the dunes.
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