by Eliza Tilton
People tell tales of finding an oasis in the desert, a tiny piece of paradise in the middle of a dead zone with lush palms and a large clear lake of fresh water. This wasn’t an oasis. Small and large tan tents that pitched at the top dotted the shifting sands. Roamers in light colored rags walked around, cooked by small pits, and attended strange animals that reminded me of gigantic rams: large as a horse with curved horns, long knotted hair, and tongues that licked out at anything edible.
“Guess so.”
Yoshi waved us down to where he spoke with a roamer. Roamers wore rags from head to toe. Females kept their hair braided and tucked away within the cowls of their hoods, making it almost impossible to tell which roamers were female or male.
“I’ve secured us a place to stay the night. That tent near the droogas is where you can stay, boy.”
A herd of animals grazed near the bank of the lake. A tee-shaped tent sat off to the side.
“Where can we refill our canteens?” Raven took hers out and shook it.
“The lake. Off, you two.” Yoshi waved us away, and began talking to the roamer in hushed tones.
“I really don’t like him,” Raven mumbled.
“He’s not that bad. I wonder if you’ll feel the same way about me when I’m his age.”
“Who says I’m sticking around that long?” She winked. Her smile quickly faded, and she added, “I don’t trust him.”
Raven knelt by the lake. The water wasn’t clear blue like in Lakewood or Daath, but it was clean enough to drink.
The droogas mooed the closer we came. They chomped at the brown bushes surrounding the lake. With no sort of drinking establishment or inn, the people kept to themselves. Children stayed by their tents, playing with rocks or bones, but never running around chasing each other and laughing like normal kids did. For a merchant camp, it was very quiet.
I gulped down half my canteen before refilling it again.
“Here.” Raven sat next to me and handed a dried piece of mutton over. “This is the last of the food your mother gave us.”
I took the piece of jerky, knowing how expensive it was. We only ate meat during times of celebration and the four festivals during the year. Father slaughtering a pig for my return was unheard of. Mother giving away the only dried mutton we had … they both had done so much.
“Your family is really nice,” Raven said, staring ahead at the water. “You never talk about them.”
“Things were tense when I left …” Here was my chance to tell her about Jimri. She deserved to know all of me. If I talked about Jimri’s death, maybe she would talk about Cael. “Two years ago, my youngest brother died in the lake near our home.”
She turned to face me, her eyes wide and mouth open. “You never said anything.”
“I know. I blamed myself for Jimri’s death. I was supposed to be watching him.”
When she placed her hand on my leg, gently squeezing, I found the courage to keep talking.
“When Jeslyn was kidnapped, I had to go after her.” My throat went dry as I recalled the day my world changed. “If I could rescue her, then maybe my parents would forgive me for what happened to Jimri.”
“Your parents love you.” She shook her head as if I what I said was impossible.
“I know, but back then, things were different. Saving Jeslyn changed everything. It changed me.”
“I’m sorry. I had no idea … is that why you never went swimming?”
I nodded. “But I can now,” I waited until our gazes locked, then continued. “Because of you. You’ve helped me. In so many ways.” She smiled and I reached over to place my hand on her cheek, losing myself in her chocolate eyes. “I couldn’t do any of this without you.”
“You know,” she whispered, “You can be really sweet when you want to be.”
“Only when I’m around you.”
She giggled and rolled her eyes. I pulled her forward, ready to kiss those full, pretty lips of hers.
A horn blew from the camp. In the distance, a giant cloud of red dust billowed our way. Darkness swarmed behind us as the storm filled the once clear sky. Strong winds whipped the sand around us, and the wind howled, deep and menacing. The massive red cloud rolled across the dunes, covering anything in its path. The droogas mooed at the oncoming storm, but made no attempt to flee. A roaring thunder boomed, jumping me into action.
“Get up.” I grabbed Raven and yanked her to her feet.
“What do we do?” She held on to my arm.
Roamers grabbed their belongings and headed inside the tents. Yoshi was nowhere in sight.
“The tent. It must be strong enough to withhold this storm.” I put my arm around her and we ran to the shelter.
I pushed open the flap, revealing nothing but blackness. A lantern sat by the entrance. I picked it up and turned the lever. A flame flickered and illuminated the tent. Raven followed me in and closed the flap shut.
“Hold this.” I handed her the lantern and examined the front of the tent.
The sides had hooks that secured them to the rest of the tent, which was made out of animal hide. With the hooks in place, and the opening secured shut, I stepped back to Raven’s side. She gripped the lantern with her hands. Her big brown eyes were wide with fear.
“We’ll be safe.” I rubbed her shoulder.
“I’ve never seen anything like that. The whole sky was dark.”
“You don’t have storms in Daath?”
“That wasn’t rain.”
“It’s a sandstorm. If it wasn’t safe, the roamers wouldn’t be out here.”
“And what about those animals? They have nowhere to go.”
“They must be able to withstand the storm.”
She trembled in my grasp.
“Hey.” I took the lantern from her shaking hands and put it on the ground, then encircled her in my arms. “What’s wrong? We’ve survived much worse.”
“I’m tired of surviving.” A tear fell from her eye.
I wiped the wetness away with my thumb.
“Ever since we met, it’s been a fight to stay alive. I just want to be with you.” Her voice cracked as more tears fell. “I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to be stuck here. I want to see my family.”
I pulled her into my chest and wrapped my arms around her, shocked that my girl, my strong girl was breaking in front of me. “You won’t lose me, ever. We’re going to make it, and when we do, I’m taking you away from all of this.”
She cried into my shirt, tugging on it. I rubbed her back, kissed her long hair, and whispered I love you over and over. The sound of rushing wind hitting the tent drowned out her sobs. She clung to me and I sat us on a pile of rugs, taking a blanket and wrapping it around her.
I wanted to say more, but holding her was all I could do. I had the same fears. Losing Raven would destroy me, and I would never, ever let that happen.
The storm slapped our tent, shaking the entire thing. Raven curled in my arms, and I hugged her tight, watching the sides of our tent lift slightly from the ground, but no matter how hard the storm blew, the stakes held. At least with the storm outside, we could get some rest. I doubted anyone would be wandering around outside in this weather.
Re-positioning my back, I leaned against the rags and closed my eyes, Raven’s soft breaths easing me into sleep.
Chapter Twenty
Avikar
The storm now miles away, the early hours of dawn brought silence with the sunrise. Raven snuggled close to me, her mouth partially open, sleeping more soundly than she had in weeks. I brushed my hand through her long hair. She stirred, nuzzling closer. The lantern had almost died out, but the soft light left by its rays washed over her.
Would she wake and pretend yesterday didn’t happen? I’d never seen her so upset. She had every right to want to go home and be away from all this danger
and death. I kept thinking about Daath. When Lucy attacked me in the village, I panicked. I should have forced Raven to stay, but when she ignored my request, I didn’t have the strength to fight her. I was selfish. I didn’t want to leave her.
I kissed her head. “Raven.”
“Hmmm …?”
“We should go find Yoshi and leave before another storm comes.”
She grumbled, frowned, then rolled away from me. “I wish we didn’t have to. One more day.”
I slipped away from her, grabbed my sword belt and strapped it onto my waist. “We’ll rest soon. We can’t be that far from the caverns.”
“I’m going to go wash outside.” Raven yawned and stretched.
I blew out the lantern before following her out.
Clear blue skies, no sign of the storm. The roamers were back outside, milling around, and the droogas sat in the same spot as before. Sand covered their nappy hair and they chomped away at the weeds as if the storm had never come.
Yoshi walked toward me with his pack and rats hanging off his back. “We leave now.”
“I’m going to go fill the canteens,” I said. “How long before we reach the caverns?”
“Before nightfall.”
Raven knelt by the water, splashing it on her face and hands, wiping away the dirt and grime from the past few days. I didn’t care how much mud covered her; she was always beautiful.
“Did you fill yours?” She glanced back over her shoulder at me.
“No.” I dipped the skin into the water.
When the canteens were full, we left the roamer camp and headed back into the Blighted Sands. Puffy clouds rolled in with the wind, giving us cover from the heat bearing down on us. Was the wind a sign of another storm? North of the camp the ground changed from sand to hard bedrock until we stood near a mountainous range. Yoshi stopped to read the map, then rolled it back up and tucked it away.
“There,” he said, pointing to a cave opening.
“Those are the caverns?” I expected more than a dank cave.
“No, but it’s our way in. We’ll need to pass through these higher tunnels to reach the Crystal Caverns below.”
A hint of a smile touched Raven’s face.
“You excited to go underground?” I asked slowly so we could walk side by side.
“I’ve always loved searching the tunnels around Daath. There’s something dangerously beautiful about being underground.”
The cave led through the red rock, winding through the mountain. A narrow valley led deeper and deeper into the ground, until water shined the red rock. Moisture replaced the dry air, filling everything with a musty smell that reminded me of the barn after a long rainstorm. Yoshi pulled a torch out of his pack and lit it. The flames created a bonier version of himself on the cavern walls.
“Watch your step,” I said to Raven as water dripped from a nearby stalagmite, making the ground slick.
Down and down we went. Jagged, pointy rocks hung from the ceiling dripping water. Larger ones rose from the ground, reaching toward the top like spiny fingers. Every so often, a speck of yellow crystal or a splatter of blue stone meshed in with the red rock. It wasn’t until we took a forked path to the right that the beauty of the Crystal Caverns revealed itself.
Below us, a black river rushed along the wide-open space. Moss curled around everything and glowworms cascaded halos of pink all over the place. Crystals of bright yellows and sky blue jutted out from the walls creating a sparkling underground sky. Everything twinkled with color and I couldn’t stop gawking at it.
If only Jeslyn could see this. My sister had a thing for gems. If she was here, she might never return to the surface.
“It’s beautiful.” Raven leaned forward, carefully peeking over the ledge.
I held her arm, helping her down the natural steps carved from the rock.
“This river runs through the caverns,” Yoshi said. “It breaks off in many directions. Do you have any landmarks on this mysterious destination?”
“We need to find a tree. It’s in the northeastern tunnels.”
Yoshi shook his head. “Too vague.” He skimmed a bony finger across the parchment. “This way.”
Glowworms covered the high ceilings above us. Their tiny, lighted bodies gave the caverns a soft pink glow. The river rushed violently through the cavern and water coated the rocky floor, slowing our progression. The cavern curved around this way and that, branching off into paths I’d surely get lost in on my own.
The next chamber we entered had pillars resembling mirrors. Tall, shiny things that reflected distorted images. I stood in front of one, moving my arms up and down, watching the reflection twist into a wavy, plump shape. Raven copied me, zooming her face in and out near the glass stone.
Yoshi was too busy fiddling with his rat cage to notice the pillars.
We passed the glass pillar room into another chamber. A shiver ran through me as the warm temperature changed to ice cold. Large black round stones scattered the floor. They were bigger than watermelons and smooth. So smooth you could see yourself perfectly.
“What are these?” I knelt by one, running a hand over the stone.
Mist swirled inside the stone, shifting and changing. The images inside were distorted like my reflection in the glass pillars. I leaned closer.
My face stared back.
What?
The image in the stone morphed into Raven, falling through the air, her mouth open in a silent scream. Sweat coated my skin; my mouth tingled and my hands froze onto the ball, unable to pull away. Raven fell further, disappearing into the clouds, vanishing. Air squeezed out of my chest. I gulped for more, but none came. Pain shot through my mind as the image in the stone morphed from Raven into a paler version of myself.
“Move, boy!”
Yoshi kicked the stone out of my hands. A black shadow shot from the stone and frantically swerved in the air. I scrambled back on my hands, away from the rolling stone. Yoshi held the torch forward, waving it in front of the creature. The shadow cowered back into the blackness of the chamber.
“What was that?” I wiped my forehead and took out my canteen, desperate for a drink.
“That thing was on you.” Raven’s voice shook. “It latched onto your back once you grabbed the stone.”
“Foul and dangerous creatures live in these depths. Don’t be so careless, boy.”
Raven grabbed my hand and helped me stand. “Are you okay? What did you see?”
“I’m fine … it was me and you in there.”
“In the stone?”
“I’ve never heard of a stone that could show images,” I said, gripping Raven’s hand for support.
“We should keep going,” Yoshi snapped. “And don’t touch anything else.”
“Agreed.”
We passed through the chamber and back out near the underground river. With no suns to guide the time of day, I wondered how long we traveled through the dark depths, searching for a cache that might not even exist. What had I gotten us into?
“Avikar, look.” Raven jabbed my shoulder. “Over there!”
Hidden within the crook of the cavern, small, but so brilliant it shined, sat a crystal tree. Clear crystal roots dug into the stone floor, far below branches that swerved up and sideways, yellow like an ocean of wheat.
Raven stepped around it, running her hands along the crystallized bark. “There’s nothing here. The ground is stone.”
A dead end. Of course. Any hope I had dissipated into the rushing water beside me.
Yoshi scratched his backside, offering no advice.
We came all this way, found the one clue my father gave me, and nothing, not a hint of where to go from here. The only objects in this area were the river and a tree. You’d have to cut open the tree to hide … no … could it be?
I stepped forward an
d placed my palm on the trunk. What did Cael say?
I closed my eyes to think harder. Three times, I had seen Cael stick his hand through a tree. And each time, he’d said …
“Invado.”
The crystal bark melted around my palm and I dug my hand inside the tree until my fingers grazed the drawstring of a bag.
Raven gasped beside me. “Did you find it?”
I pulled my hand back out, holding the bag. Before answering, I untied the drawstring. Hundreds of blood crystals glittered and sparkled. “We did it.”
Raven squeezed my shoulders.
“What does a boy need with all those crystals?”
I shoved the bag into my pocket. “That’s our business.”
“We have business together.” He wiggled his bony fingers. “Payment.”
“When you bring us back out, safely.”
Yoshi’s cheek twitched. “You try my patience, boy, but very well. The map says this way is the quickest route …” The old man stopped, cocked his head to the right, and squinted at the cavern wall.
I approached him. “Yosh—”
He raised his hand, eyes wide.
Fear. In the weeks we’d traveled together, he never showed any signs of worry or fear. This couldn’t be good.
A stalactite crashed to the floor.
“Run!” Yoshi commanded, in a high pitched voice.
A black orb, at least twenty feet wide, dropped into the cavern through a hole in the ceiling. At the same time, another orb burrowed out of the western wall, smaller than the first, but bigger than at least two men. The first sphere encountered a stone pillar, connected from floor to ceiling, and within moments cut through it, creating a perfect cylindrical hole.
If this black orb could go through stone so easily, what would it do to us?
“Avikar!” Raven yelled.
Yoshi’s torch lay on the ground, the old man nowhere in sight.
I ran for the torch, diving into a roll, which landed me right near the light, then grabbed it as I rose.
Dozens of shadows emerged from the caverns and morphed into humanoid creatures. Three swarmed Raven, pinning her against the edge of the riverbed. She whipped out her daggers, quickly re-adjusting her footing so she didn’t fall into the water. A cold claw grabbed my arm as I ran to her. The shadow had no defining features on its deformed face, only a gaping mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. It leaned over in an attempt to bite me, then arched its back in agony as one of the black spheres connected with the creature’s spine and it disintegrated into wisps of vapor.
