The Awakening
Page 30
“I do not recognize this one, either. Is it a word? Merely a symbol?”
Lion looked from face to face. “The Temple of Archons? What are you all about, then?”
“Mind your own business,” Starlenia snapped, and she rolled her eyes. “Great Spirit, you all have wagged your tongues too much as it is.”
“I will not simply guide you through the desert,” Lion said, his shocked gaze lingering on Starlenia for a moment before he turned to the knights. “If one of you would allow it, I will serve as your squire. You needn’t worry about me being a problem, for I will pledge my service to you, and follow your orders in everything.”
Max and Galadon exchanged glances. “You have a horse that could do with tending,” the luranar said to his friend. “If you could use a squire, by all means.”
Galadon shook his head. “I’m still getting my bearings after everything that’s happened since the War. I think you would be better suited to training this young man properly.”
“So be it, then,” Max said. “I accept you as my squire and servant. And as such, I will protect you from all those who try to capture you on behalf of the usurpers.”
“All right, wonderful. Now that that’s settled…,” Starlenia said with a huff. “Galadon, go down and saddle up on Galrinthor, and leave through the south end of the city. Yiilu, conjure up some wind, just enough to threaten sandstorm without causing one. As soon as all the people here take cover, we’re going to slip out and get as far away as we can before anyone comes looking for our new squire.”
“We didn’t have time to get supplies,” Delkantar grunted.
Starlenia made a dismissive gesture. “Leave that to me. The rest of you go when Yiilu provides cover.”
Audrei took a couple of minutes to explain everything to Alissiri, and though the medusa was ignorant to their ultimate purpose, she seemed to understand their urgency. Leighandra wished for the briefest moment that the woman still had her eyes; oh, how much that might have aided a tense escape. They worked to get Galadon re-dressed and he left to go fetch Galrinthor. He was hardly gone for more than a minute before there was a knock on the door.
“Yes?” Leighandra called through the portal.
“I have a message,” came a voice from beyond. Lion ducked behind some curtains, as comical as that looked to everyone else.
Starlenia turned to Yiilu. “Time to go!” she hissed, and she began tying sheets and linens together to form a makeshift rope.
Just like all the old swashbuckling tales! Leighandra chortled inside, though in truth, the situation was a lot less exciting than nerve-wracking.
The druidess rushed over to the balcony doors and slipped outside to summon her power. Audrei waved for everyone to get out of sight before she stripped down to only her lower undergarments. Max watched her with a creased brow, but once the woman started to ruffle her fur and ears and then pinched her teats so they stood out, Leighandra thought she understood what Audrei was about to do.
Audrei pulled the door open with a grunt. “Do you mind? Our mating season is upon us and you’ve interrupted! What do you want?”
The chronicler had to put her hand over her mouth to keep from bursting out laughing, and she was far from the only one. Max looked to be chewing on his tongue.
“Oh, forgive me, madam, but I have a message –”
“How could you possibly have a message for us when we just arrived in town?”
“It’s for the young man who is with you,” the person at the door said quietly, trying to get a glimpse around the luranar woman. “Tell him the Desert Eagle is coming, and he must flee with all due haste.”
Lion scampered over to the door and looked over Audrei’s shoulder by standing on his toes. “Where is the queen?” he asked.
“She is in hiding,” came the answer.
“Thank you. Go now, before my troubles become yours, friend.”
The shakna-rir man bowed slightly and left. Audrei closed the door and stared at Lion for a few moments. Leighandra found it interesting that staring at a half-naked woman didn’t seem to register with the young man at all. The fact that she was luranar shouldn’t have made that big a difference.
“Who’s the Desert Eagle?” Audrei asked at last. She started to get dressed again while she awaited an answer.
“Lady Taeranna Sakiveldi, the empire’s most prominent enforcer and hunter. If she’s been dispatched to capture me, I have days to get beyond the borders or I’m finished… my entire family may be finished.”
“Terrific,” Starlenia said with a shake of her head. “And you know if she’s headed this way, she’s already got scouts in the area. That’s why I want Yiilu running this diversion. By the way, Audrei, that’s an interesting trick. Do you do that often?”
The luranar woman shrugged. “It usually works to get rid of Max’s brothers. They see teats and off they run to mind their own business,” she said, pantomiming with her fingers.
Surprisingly, her husband laughed with the rest of them, though he rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Yes, well, let us prepare to leave under cover of Yiilu’s storm,” he said, and the wind picked up as if in answer to his thoughts. Soon, the sound of sand whipping at the windows became a low but steady patter, and they judged the time was right.
Starlenia handed her improvised rope to Max. “Go off the balcony. We don’t want to risk going through the commons again.”
Just then, there was the sound of many voices downstairs. Some of them were merely folk getting off the street to avoid the sudden sandstorm, but there was the unmistakable sound of orders being shouted. Max glanced at Starlenia before he moved to the balcony. He anchored their makeshift rope and rappelled down the side of the inn first. He drew his sword when he reached the ground.
The others followed quickly after him. Thankfully, the stinging sands were obscuring any visibility beyond twenty paces. Yiilu had overdone things a bit, but that may have been her intention. Starlenia broke off from them and headed west instead of south, but Delkantar took point and led his friends away from the inn. There were shouts and screams not long after, and they picked up their pace as much as they could. Leighandra turned back to see if Yiilu was coming and found the druidess right behind her.
“How long will this last?” the chronicler asked, covering her mouth to keep the sand out.
“Not much longer. Fortunately, we should be well outside the city before they realize we have left and the storm abates.”
The going was slow and painful, but they made it beyond the tent city and, eventually, the edge of Yiilu’s conjured storm. The winds began to die down behind them, but between the hour and the storm, people stayed inside so far as any of them could see. Only Starlenia’s small form chasing after them with a bag over her shoulder broke the stillness of the post-storm night.
The friends paused to shake the sand out of their hair, clothes, fur, and everywhere else. Leighandra imagined it had to be far worse for her luranar friends. When Starlenia reached them, she handed the bag to Galadon, who strapped it behind his saddle.
“What did you get? And from where?” the knight asked.
“Some tent canvas, waterskins, and blankets for the horse,” she replied.
“Who was selling all these things at this ungodly hour?”
“No one.”
Max put his face in his palm but Starlenia continued on without apology.
“How far is it to Awlsaber?” Leighandra asked.
“Several days if we keep a good pace,” Lion answered. “If we have any advantage, it’s that the Desert Eagle will expect us to go east into the Badlands, and not south. That being said, though, I’ll have to take care when we go into Awlsaber.”
“Why did you ask the messenger where the queen is?”
The shakna-rir teen shook his head. “It’s a watch word. Those loyal to the rightful queen will answer that she is in hiding. But we must take care not to use it too often, or our enemies will catch wind of who’s disloyal.”
“Enough, but they have to keep quiet about it. My people are loyal to a fault, but that loyalty is to the throne, not necessarily the person who sits upon it. My family has ruled the Khalarin Empire for generations, but it’s not ours. As long as the usurper takes care of the people and the empire remains strong, the people will stay loyal to her.”
“Idiots,” Starlenia said, and Lion squinted at her.
“So, do we keep traveling by night?” Delkantar asked, trying to stop any argument from cropping up between the outspoken rogue and their new squire. He paused at the top of each dune to survey things behind them, watching for any sign of pursuit.
“That should be most comfortable for you,” Lion answered, still glowering at Starlenia.
Audrei spoke with Alissiri for a moment, and the medusa took off her ring and handed it to the priestess, who in turn handed it to Lion. “Here, this will serve to keep you warm at night when we travel.” The young man took and stared at it before he met Audrei’s gaze. “It doesn’t mean we’re married. Sorry, I’m already taken.”
Lion laughed, and Max touched him on the arm. “See to aiding Delkantar with scouting and finding the best path.”
“All… erm, yes, sir,” the young man answered.
“And Yiilu, if you would, please see to covering our tracks and, occasionally, giving any pursuers good reason to change direction.”
“Of course,” the elf agreed.
Leighandra stepped between Max and Galadon. “Will Galrinthor’s feed last us until we at least reach Awlsaber?”
The human knight nodded. “They fully resupplied us at the stable. We can last a few days, but not many if we don’t find something for him to graze on, at least. I’m more concerned by our water supply, but then don’t these lands become a bit more hospitable as one approaches the coastline? Perhaps we will at least find some water and grazing for my friend. But that still leaves us with the issue of how we plan to traverse the desert again as this Desert Eagle closes in on our young guest.”
“I think we’ll be getting on a boat when we reach Awlsaber,” Starlenia said, drawing her friends’ curious stares. “I have a bad feeling the third seal may be on Askies, and that’s why it’s pulling steadily southeast.”
“It is difficult to judge simply from holding it and following the pull, but I suspect it is closer than that,” Yiilu argued.
“Well, either way, I think we got lucky finding the second seal on an ally. But I don’t think we’re going to be so lucky going forward,” Leighandra offered.
Galadon shook his head. “No. I’m not a betting man, but I would wager against it. I have a feeling we are in for a world of trouble in the weeks ahead.”
“Nonsense,” Max countered. “Our enemies are.”
The friends all considered him and then each other, and Leighandra wasn’t the only one to smile at the luranar prince’s confidence.
Chapter XIV – Jewels of the Coast
“What is that?!” Lion asked in the shady confines of the tent.
They had managed to erect something of a passable domicile using a touch of druidic magic and the many tents and ropes Starlenia had “borrowed.” It saved Yiilu the trouble of using her magic to upheave the land again, which she explained could get strenuous after a time and leave a marking for those sensitive to follow. The closer they got to the coast, the less the Khalarin resembled a sea of dunes, broken up by rocky hills that, in some cases, began to show signs of life such as scrub.
Under the confines of the tent, Alissiri had pulled off her cowled cloak, and no one had thought to explain her appearance to Lion beforehand.
“Excuse me, young man,” Audrei corrected him. “I believe you meant who is that.”
“Galrinthor settled in?” Max asked when Galadon and Delkantar joined them.
“Yep, comfortably under the other tent, having himself some feed.”
“Who is this?” Lion asked when he realized no one was answering.
“She’s Alissiri, a medusa,” Leighandra answered. “We were tasked with getting her away from Fireblade’s lair, so we are taking her somewhere safe.”
The shakna-rir youth’s brow went up and his ears went back. “Fireblade’s lair? Truly? My word, what are you folk about?”
“Saving the world from a demon god. Nothing big,” Starlenia muttered.
“Is that why you need the seals to open the Temple?”
“In honesty, we do not know,” Max answered. “We originally set out to find the culprit behind the undead scourge, but several other things have come to light and taken priority. I do not think any of us know how this Temple fits into the grand scheme, but Karinda Bakhor, if you know of her, set us on this particular path, so we are following it.”
“Who hasn’t heard of Karinda Bakhor?”
Audrei looked up from where she was preparing things to cook. “More folks than you might think, despite her apparent importance. Many of us who live on the fringes of what you would call society don’t know a lot of what you think is common knowledge. Take many of the stories Leighandra tells us, for instance… I’ve never heard of most of the people or events she speaks of, but she tells her tales with such familiarity, one would think they were about her.”
“Thank you,” the chronicler inserted with a little smile. It was always nice to hear that at least one person both paid attention and was appreciative.
“Does she have something to do with the Temple?” Lion asked with a gesture toward the medusa. Her snakes turned to eye him when he pointed at her, but her eyeless face remained fixed upon Audrei, or at least her direction.
“We’ve no idea,” Delkantar huffed. “We’re running pretty blind at this point. We were sent to speak with Fireblade, and then–”
“You spoke to the fire wyrm?”
“Stop interrupting. Yes, we were sent to speak to Fireblade, and after we took Alissiri from her territory, the dragon gave us the first seal. That led to you. Now yours is leading us to the next. What’s going to happen when we find them all? Gods only know. But it’s what Karinda wanted us to do, and if she has any idea of what’s going on, that’s enough for me.”
Starlenia glanced at him but then shrugged.
Lion started to ask another question, but Max spoke over him. “Lion, go and see to Galrinthor. Make sure he has had a sufficient fill of feed and water, and then tend to Galadon’s leathers and give the horse a rub down.”
“What?”
The luranar prince fixed the youth with that stony gaze, then glanced at his wife. “Did I say that in our language by mistake?” Audrei snickered but didn’t reply, and Max turned back. “You are now my squire, and I have just given you an order. See to it.”
“Um, yes, sir,” the shakna-rir said, making his way out of the tent with a dramatic sigh.
“Have fun breaking him in,” Galadon said, patting Max on the shoulder.
“Were we so different when we were younger, my friend?”
Starlenia chuckled. “Younger? Great Spirit, you’re only nineteen, Max. Can you even remember being any younger, pup?”
Audrei rubbed her rump while her husband smirked at the rogue. “I can’t imagine you ever talked to your father like that,” she mused. “After all, you can still walk.”
“My father, no. Terist, though. In any case, we needed a moment to speak of our plans from here without an outside force affecting our decisions. Where do we go from here, once we find the next of these seals? Should we deviate from our path to take Alissiri to Karinda? And what of Lion?”
“Let’s drop them both off with Karinda,” Starlenia said. “Maybe she can find a way to get Alissiri home to Mehr’Durillia, and then she can hide Lion among Yiilu’s people until it’s safe for him to show his face again.”
Galadon shook his head lightly. “Max took him on as a squire. I cannot help but think it would be rude to cast him aside once we have a convenient opportunity to do so. He�
��s young and a bit brash, true, but if we can teach him – or, gods willing, if he can already hold his own in combat – it could serve to alleviate some of our troubles.”
“That kid’s hiding a lot,” Starlenia said. “Probably the kind of things that could cause us a lot more headaches than he solves.”
“He’s an excellent tracker, I’ll say that much in his defense,” Delkantar said, drawing the group’s attention. “At the very least, he knows his homeland, knows the signs to watch for and how to navigate the desert. I think I did a pretty good job getting us to Phoenix, but he’s been the one guiding me since we left it. And I’m sure you’ve all noticed how much lighter the travel has become.”
“I thought it was just because the desert is becoming rockier,” Leighandra said.
Delkantar shook his head. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was training to be a desert strider or something. Definitely knows his survival skills out here, same way I do when I’m back home in the northern forests.”
“Take him with us,” Yiilu said. “As Galadon said, Max took him on as a squire, so they have formed a bond, no matter how untested at this time. He also needs to be protected, and that is not a task we should foist upon another city, kingdom, or even Lady Karinda. This Desert Eagle that seeks him will have a more difficult time finding us than finding him if we leave him in a city somewhere. Finally, we may need him to find his sister if and when the time comes to turn our sights on Aurun Ch’Gurra.”
“I agree,” Leighandra put in. There was more she could say, but Yiilu had summarized her thoughts and feelings well enough. The druidess also seemed to have summed up Max and Audrei’s feelings, as the two luranar nodded with her assessment. Galadon and Delkantar had also agreed in their own fashion, which left only Starlenia.
The Okonashai woman looked at everyone’s attentive expressions. “What’re you looking at me for? I’m not the boss of this outfit.”
“We don’t have a boss,” Galadon said. “If you can present a good reason not to take him, then we’ll take that into consideration. It won’t help us to silence anyone’s voice, no matter how many of us may agree on a course of action.”