“You said that you saw them out in the ocean; are they on a boat?” Dayneth pressed.
“No, they are actually swimming this way.” The surprised reactions that Raissa saw from Dayneth and Joth prompted her to clarify. “Well, I mean, they weren’t actually swimming, themselves. There were these other creatures who swam, but they were pulling Alamor and the others the whole way. They were lizards, but they were the size of humans. They must have been the Onda. They also had a huge monster with them, like the size of the one who destroyed the Balcryst. This monster seemed to be guarding them, though, if that makes any sense.”
“I’ve heard stories in the past that the Onda revere a colossal beast who protects their kind, so I think your guess is correct,” Dayneth said. The Aesur woman straightened, her eyes becoming contemplative. “The Onda must be the reason why they survived that night our ship was attacked. There’s no other way that they could have made it through that storm without any kind of help.”
Raissa briefly thought back to that harrowing night. “Yes, we were lucky enough, as it is,” she murmured, thinking to herself more so than answering Dayneth. As her eyes drifted, Raissa noticed that Joth had crouched down in the sand, using a finger to inscribe something. “Joth, what are you doing?” Raissa asked.
The man did not answer her until he finished his sketch. “Come here and see.” He beckoned them with a wave of his hand.
Raissa and Dayneth shared a glance before they shifted over to where Joth was. Before him, a makeshift map of what looked like the Arid Reaches and the ocean was drawn into the sand.
“This is to give us an idea of everyone’s positions, and where everyone will be heading to get to the Sandstone Mausoleum,” Joth explained. He indicated a marking on the far right side of his crudely-drawn map. “This is a rough estimate of where Onda Reef would be in the ocean, since that is the primary domain for the Onda. I suspect that Alamor and the others are coming to the desert from there. This would mean that when they land here, they’ll just about have a straight trek west to the Sandstone Mausoleum.” He let his finger fall to a small marking near the bottom of his map. “If my guess is right, this is our present location. We’re actually not that far from the northern edge of Sleekleaf Forest, maybe a four day’s march. We’ve come deep enough into the desert that we just have to move north, now.”
“But if we know that the others are coming this way, why would we go to the Sandstone Mausoleum instead of trying to meet up with them?” Dayneth inquired.
“Because we’re closer to the Sandstone Mausoleum than we will be to them when they make landfall, and that’s even if we stop to rest at the Azure Sands Outpost, which would be along our way north,” Joth said. “Stopping there may lose us some time, but I think it would be invaluable for us to get a true night’s sleep, and most importantly, load up on supplies. The fact that we’ve made it almost five days in the desert is incredibly fortunate, maybe even a miracle.”
Dayneth’s breath was laced with fatigue. “You’re absolutely right about that,” she agreed.
Joth pursed his lips thoughtfully. “The only problem with that plan, however, is that we’d have to hope that the others can navigate the desert on their own. I don’t mean to boast, but I worry for their chances without me to guide them.”
“Leave that to me,” Raissa promptly declared, without looking at her companions.
Dayneth’s eyebrows perked with curiosity, and perhaps a hint of suspicion. “Would you like to explain how?”
“By doing the same thing I did before,” Raissa answered. “I’ll reach out to Alamor with my magic once we get to the Sandstone Mausoleum, and then he can follow that presence there. Only, this time, I’ll try to perform a more consistent spell so that I can link to him. It will also be easier for Alamor to follow if we stay in one place instead of constantly moving.”
Dayneth did not appear to be totally convinced by Raissa’s reasoning, but the Aesur woman also did not appear willing to argue. She sat back in a gesture of concession. “Very well. I just hope that it will not take us too long to get there.”
Joth remained much more optimistic. “The Sandstone Mausoleum is only a three day’s march from the Azure Sands Outpost, which I suspect we’ll come to tomorrow night, or the morning after.”
Raissa stood, still a little groggy, her legs not fully underneath her. “I won’t delay us any longer, in that case.”
“Nonsense, your Highness,” Joth replied. “You don’t need to hurry yourself if you’re still weary.”
“Trust me, if I sit much longer, I’ll get too comfortable,” Raissa said. “It’s better for me to get moving again.” She thought about what she said for a moment. “It’s better for all of us.”
Raissa received no protest from either Dayneth or Joth. Her two companions stood alongside her, gathered what few possessions they still had, and resumed their journey throughout the desert.
This was the fifth day now that they traveled the Arid Reaches after being separated from their comrades out in the ocean. They had miraculously escaped the wrath of the ocean beasts who laid waste to the Balcryst, Waveskimmer, and Bluetreader, somehow staying aboard their tiny lifeboat as the furious storm carried them far away from the chaos.
It was one of the longest nights of Raissa’s life. There was no hope of steering their helpless craft amid the torrid rain and towering waves that threatened to swallow them up every time the water rose from the ocean in a gigantic arm. All that they could do was hold on with every measure of strength in their limbs and pray that the enraged ocean would not consume them.
The morning finally brought them calm waters, as well as land in the distance. They paddled by hand for what felt like hours, eventually reaching the shoreline.
After expecting to land in the Arid Reaches, the coast was nothing like what Raissa expected it to be. Instead of a desert, they found themselves in the Gracereed Wetlands. Just beyond the soggy beach were verdant marshes stretching into the horizon. Three different rivers emptied their flows into the marshes, filling it with life-giving water. Tall shoots of bright green reeds rose from the watery floor, as numerous as the trees in Sleekleaf Forest. Exotic flowers blossomed throughout the marshes, their petals sporting beautiful colors that would make any painter envious.
There were several patches where thick bushes grew, and within their tangled forms often rested fruits that Raissa had never seen before. Joth collected several that he determined were safe to eat, but there were others that he did not dare to touch, explaining that they were highly toxic. He also gathered a few of the thickest reeds that he could find, the ones that the wetlands were named after. After plugging one end of the gracereeds and filling the tube-like stalks with water, he plugged the opposite ends to create makeshift canteens for their journey.
Although Raissa found the stalks somewhat laborious to carry as they marched deeper into the continent, she eventually understood why Joth prioritized them. As they moved further inland, she saw that the rivers which spilled into the Gracereed Wetlands did not extend to the heart of the desert. Their flows originated to the north, closer to the shores, as if making a taunting retreat from Raissa, Dayneth, and Joth.
They came across several other water sources during their first day or so after leaving the Gracereed Wetlands, but none were as bountiful as what they left behind them. Instead of gushing rivers and vast reservoirs, there were only trickling brooks and tiny springs. Thin streams crawled along the length of wide gullies in the earth, suggesting that their flows were once powerful in the time before that region was ravaged by Scourge. Empty pits dotted the forlorn land where ponds and lakes originally sat.
The land swiftly grew dry as they marched deeper into the continent, but it did not decay altogether. The meager, yet adamant water flows managed to bring some semblance of life to the rocky, dusty countryside. Fields of grass sprouted where the soil was soft and nourished, the shoots thick despite being browned by the oppressive sun. Other plants grew in def
iance to the hot clime; vines, flowers, bushes, and even copses of trees. Most were gnarled by the sweltering temperatures, and many bore arrays of thorns and bramble, but their existence proved that life could indeed go on in the Arid Reaches. When Joth rang out certain shrubs or cracked open the stems of larger plants, it revealed pockets of moisture that the vegetation had stored away.
Raissa and her two companions survived on the edible, less-prickly plants that Joth foraged during the early stretch of their journey. Creatures native to the sweltering land appeared to do likewise. Raissa saw plenty of birds soaring through the sunlight and nesting in the rare trees that they passed by. Lizards, snakes, and other reptiles were often slinking about over the hot stones and through the grass. She even spotted large rodents on occasion, including hares and stoats. Survival may not have come easy in the scrubland, but its inhabitants offered many testaments that it was possible—far more than Raissa would have believed without witnessing them for herself.
Those signs of life dwindled after just a few days, as the land became nothing but desert all around them. Water sources of any variety vanished. Grass and other vegetation seemed to disintegrate within the scorching heat. The ground beneath Raissa’s feet—once dry, yet solid—withered away into coarse sand and broken gravel that was fried by the blistering sun.
To withstand the sun’s rays, Joth cut portions from his cloak for himself, Raissa, and Dayneth to use as shawls over their heads, which gave them cool shade and a shield against the searing light.
Raissa also chose to remove her long gloves when Joth advised against wearing any garments that were tight fitting. He explained that such clothing would not allow the skin to breath in the sultry air, which combined with any perspiration that gathered beneath them, could badly irritate or even infect the skin. Removing her gloves may have made Raissa’s arms and a portion of her shoulders bare, but she decided that it was better for them to deal with the sun’s rays than the alternative.
The grueling trek and inhospitable conditions were never Raissa’s primary concern, though, not the way that her missing companions were. Desperate to learn anything about their whereabouts, or if they were still alive, she began to make attempts at casting her magic far across the land to link to them.
Several of her first attempts brought no answers, merely images of barren land like the scorched desert and the dark ocean. This only made her desperation swell as the days passed and she continued to be unaware of what fate had befallen Alamor, Tridian, and the others. It forced her to increase her magical output, eventually making her exert so much of her Serenity that the act itself temporarily drained her of energy—physical and spiritual.
But even though her body succumbed to the pressure and sent her into a deep sleep after her most recent attempt, on their fourth day in the desert, her spell finally succeeded. She managed to make contact with her lost companions, although not in the way that she had expected. Whereas Raissa believed that Tiroku would be the one to sense her magical signal and accept it, he had proven incapable. It was Alamor who detected her Serenity, and briefly allowed her a connection between them. It was a testament to his rapid growth as a Spiritcaster.
Raissa’s fatigue made the march even more difficult during their fifth day. The water supply Joth created was nearly depleted, the same for the fruits that he gathered. The sweltering air seemed to grow hotter the further they walked, only retreating when the bitter-cold nights enveloped the land.
But the waning hours of the day brought another of the desert’s seemingly-endless hardships. A fierce wind picked up with the coming dusk, lifting loose sand from the desert floor as it raced across the region. The air became filled by a cloud of swirling sand, dust, and gravel—the desert’s own imitation of a blizzard. It quickly became impossible for Raissa and her companions to see more than a few yards in front of them. Joth urged her and Dayneth to wrap their makeshift shawls around their heads so that they covered as much of their faces as possible. Joth noted that it would not only protect their eyes and allow them some degree of vision, but it would also protect their mouth and other orifices, which could easily be choked by the blowing miasma of sediment.
Their march slowed dramatically as they found themselves caught in the middle of the sandstorm. The three companions strode less than an arm’s length from one another, fearful to stray too far apart and risk becoming lost within the desert squall. Even still, Joth routinely looked back, making sure that Raissa and Dayneth were near as he led them on.
If it had not been for the oncoming night, Raissa would have had almost no sense of time’s progression during their slog through the storm. The desert slowly darkened around them as the once blazing sun fell into the horizon, further obscuring what little vision they had. Their surroundings soon became an impenetrable screen of sand and shadow, with only the howling wind to remind them that they still walked somewhere upon Tordale.
They at last found shelter late that evening when they came upon a large, rocky hill that sat in the middle of the desert. A cave crawled into the heart of the mound, offering them a bare, roomy grotto to hide from the relentless sandstorm. Joth entered first to inspect it, so to make sure that no other wild creatures had already taken refugee inside. He found no dangerous predators, but there was one desert dweller that he removed—a large, insect-like creature he called a Gritback. It was as nearly as big as a housecat, with a brown exoskeleton that made it resemble a crab. It moved on six pointed legs, while a pair of curled appendages arced from its rear and ended in pincers.
Joth skewered the Gritback with his sabre, and tossed its carcass back outside, leaving the cave to just himself, Raissa, and Dayneth. After each of them shook off a considerable amount of sand that had amassed on their garments, Dayneth and Raissa sat down, while Joth turned and went back out into the desert. He claimed to have seen a copse of trees and bushes not far off that he could gather kindling from. The man had not spent a minute in their shelter before he stepped back outside and became lost to Raissa’s eyes within the violent screen of sand.
With nothing else that she could do, Raissa sat back and waited. Not a word passed between her and Dayneth as they rested. The only sounds that broke the cave’s silence came from the screeching wind that soared throughout the Arid Reaches. Even though it was the first time that they had the chance to rest following their arduous march that day, Raissa did not feel very much at ease with Joth still out somewhere within the storm. While Dayneth reclined against the wall and closed her eyes, Raissa kept her gaze solely on the cave entrance as she waited anxiously for Joth to return.
She was not sure how much time had passed before he finally did. It had felt like she waited hours before she finally saw him emerge from the sandstorm beyond the mouth of the cave, dragging a pair of bushes behind him. Joth eventually turned around and set the huge shrubs down, placing them so that they made a barrier between the cave and the outside.
“Those bushes will offer us some protection,” Joth said as he approached Raissa and Dayneth. “They’re covered in thorns, so they’ll hold back any beast that might happen to find this spot. At the very least, they’ll slow anything down long enough so that we can’t be caught off guard.” He took a seat and unwrapped a large piece of cloth that was tied to his waist, dropping a collection of branches and thick, dry grass onto the cave floor. He neatly packed them together into a circle and scrapped his sabre over a flat rock to get a small fire going. The cave had several shafts that ran up through the ceiling, opening at the top of the hill and allowing the fire’s smoke an escape to the open air, rather than to crowd the space inside.
Raissa was once again amazed by Joth’s extensive knowledge of the desert. Her face reddened a bit. “I have to admit, I got a little angry when you went back out there before. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to us while we’re out there, but I should have trusted you of all people.”
Joth grinned as he casually leaned against a large rock behind him. “Nonsense, it was c
razy of me to head back into that storm,” he replied, clearly not wanting Raissa to feel guilty. He flashed her a wink. “But I appreciate you being so concerned for my safety.”
Raissa’s smile was more of an amused one as she regarded Joth’s gratitude with a nod. Once he had the blaze roaring, Joth unwrapped a second bundle of cloth, containing two plump, pink fruits he had taken from the Gracereed Wetlands—possibly the last two their company had in their possession. Raissa felt her stomach growl at the sight of them. Fruits that would have just been a suitable snack at Tordale Castle had grown to be as appetizing as a full-course dinner while she traveled this harsh region.
After Joth thoroughly cleaned his sabre, he cut apart the fruits. He skewered each piece on a thin branch and placed them above the fire. He had done this other times during their trek through the desert, explaining that fruits from the Gracereed Wetlands sometimes would attract tiny bugs to burrow inside of them for their sweet juices. It was always safest to roast them beforehand.
Raissa and Joth waited for a short while as tongues of flame lapped at the fruits’ round forms. Once they were browned, and even charred along the edges, Joth deemed that they were safe to consume and pulled from them from the fire. After they cooled, he offered pieces to Raissa and Dayneth.
Raissa bit into one, finding that the fruit was still warm, but that it also contained a fair amount of its delectable juice on the inside. She also found that thankfully no bugs or other minute creatures were inside.
A hush fell between her and her two companions as she ate. Joth and Dayneth seemed content to sit and eat their share of the fruits in relative quiet.
Raissa looked around her dwelling. All at once, it dawned on her how dramatically her journey for the Radia had changed. Before, she had been sailing the vast ocean aboard one of the mightiest warships in the Tordalian navy, surrounded by her most trusted allies and scores of brave soldiers. Now, she huddled inside of a dusty cave in the heart of the merciless desert, with only two members of her original party.
A Gleaming Path Page 17
