He studied the ruined city with the idea of living there. He couldn’t restore that desolate place. Just him. Alone. Little supplies. No tools. No way!
Then Khan snuck a peek at the Earth screen—at the determined set to his brother’s jaw. Amir wasn’t going to stop hunting. And when he found him…. At least in this new world, he’d be safe from murdering relatives. Let Amir wonder what had happened to him. Let his brother live in fear that someday he’d reappear. Let him spend their father’s fortune fruitlessly tracking Khan.
“All right, I’ll go.”
The crystalline tears in her eyes dried.
He knew that underneath her veil, for the first time in ages, she smiled.
“I don’t suppose you can do something about those monster things?”
The veil moved, as if she laughed.
“It was worth a try,” he grumbled.
But then in the archway appeared an image of one of the beasts. Armored in large gray scales, it had paws tipped with four-inch claws. One of the talons on the left paw looked thicker than the others. The creature tore viciously at a goat-like creature, jerking away hunks of meat and grinding the flesh between thick jaws.
Dull black eyes, like coal with an evil spark of red in their depths, gleamed at Khan. As if the monster animal could see him, it yipped shrill screams and abandoned its prey, stalking him, blood dripping from half-open jaws.
Even though Khan knew the beast was just a vision, he stepped back, his body trembling.
A second, smaller monster dog joined the first. A female. It lifted a front leg. The middle claw on the right paw grew into a talon several inches longer than the rest. Reddish liquid glistened on the tip. Poison. The creature lifted her fanged muzzle, exposing a white patch in the scaly gray skin of her throat.
Khan fought down his revulsion and fear to study the reptile-dog. He took refuge in humor. “That’s it? Their only vulnerability a patch the size of a tennis ball? Great. Just great. Are there many of them?”
The statue shook her head. “That’s a relief. I don’t suppose they’re allergic to humans?”
She raised an eyebrow.
He mimicked her, lifting his own eyebrow. “I can hardly wait to meet them.”
She changed the picture to one of the beasts raking a poison-talon across Nika’s sleek black side. In only a couple of moments Khan’s proud stallion dropped to his knees and rolled over, prey to the reptile-dogs.
His stomach tightened, like someone had reached inside him, grabbed with both hands, and squeezed. He ran a shaky hand over Nika’s neck, fighting to still the trembling of his body. But several minutes passed before his knees stopped quaking.
“I guess I’d better get ready.” He croaked the words, sounding like a frog. Not a bad idea. In a backwards twist on a fairy tale, the goddess could turn me into a frog. I get to spend the rest of my time splashing around in the healing waters of her pool. Not a bad life. He opened his mouth to facetiously ask her, then realized she might actually grant his request. On second thought, I’ll take my chances with the reptile-dogs.
He dressed, keeping off his boots, and walked barefoot over to the garden to replenish his supplies. Hopefully they’d last until he found a new source. He sensed the lady wouldn’t send him to a completely barren place, but finding food and water might take some doing.
The alcove proved larger than he’d thought, the opening expanding into an underground greenhouse, with patches of grass interspersed with plants and even some trees. The horses trailed after him. Khan left them chomping on the grass and reached for the nearest fruit—an orange globe he didn’t recognize, hanging from a tree. He bit into it, enjoying the burst of sweetness in his mouth. While he ate, he noted the nuts dangling from a lacy bush, and other types of exotic fruit and vegetables.
Resisting temptation to savor the scent of loamy earth and growing plants, to explore the strange varieties, Khan ate his fill. Then he gathered as much of the nuts and produce as his empty provision bag would hold. He snipped off some cuttings and wrapped them in a damp handkerchief.
He loaded up the horses, then rolled up his pants above the knee, and tucked up the hem of his robe. The only way to Kimtair lay directly across the pool.
“I’m ready.”
Once again, the statue waved toward the opposite side. The arched doorway appeared, exposing a corridor similar to the one he’d traveled from Earth.
Taking the lead ropes, he stepped into the water and began to wade to the other side, the horses following. When he reached the statue, he stopped and glanced behind him. He wasn’t surprised to see only a solid marble wall. No sign of the area where he’d camped or the corridor he’d entered. The Goddess had closed the door to his former life.
He cupped a hand under the water trickling from the statue’s palm and touched his forefinger, first to his forehead, then to his chest. “Be with me,” he murmured, not sure if he was appealing to her or to Allah. Maybe to both.
In response, the luminescence within her brightened to a glow stronger than a full moon on the darkest of nights, bringing him some comfort.
He tugged on the lead ropes, guiding the horses to the other side of the pool. Once on the marble shore, he kept going, the clop of the horses’ hooves loud in the silence. He didn’t pause to look back. For if he stopped, he wasn’t sure he’d have the courage to continue.
CHAPTER SIX
Thaddis stood on the king’s deck of Besolet’s Glory, watching the gray-green waves of the ocean through the lens of a telescope. He scanned the gray horizon, searching for sight of land. Nothing. Their ship was alone on the endless sea.
Pasinae stirred beside him, and he lowered the scope to gaze at her. The wind fluttered her unbound black hair and pressed the red velvet of her crimson dress close to her body, outlining her magnificent breasts. One dark tress streamed next to him, trapping his wrist in a silky binding. Her obsidian eyes gleamed with an inner excitement, and a faint rose-colored flush stained the smooth skin of her face.
As always, her beauty wrapped around his heart like the twisting vines of the tashalily twining up a tree trunk.
She turned, sliding her hand up his chest. “Ontarem’s land approaches.”
“There’s nothing in sight.”
“I can feel the closeness here.” She placed one tapered hand over her breast. “Long have I been gone from my God. Faint, indeed, has been our connection. But soon I—” she reached out and tucked her hand around his arm “—we will stand once again in His presence.”
Deep within the secret place in Thaddis’s mind, a feeble voice of protest stirred. He cocked an inner ear, trying to hear the words.
The eagerness in Pasinae’s black eyes shifted to unease. She tugged on his arm, pulling him closer. She slid her other hand around his neck, lifting her exquisite face to his, and pressing her lush body closer. Her spicy scent filled his nostrils. Her red lips parted slightly, an invitation he never failed to respond to.
Mesmerized by her beauty, the very power of her essence, Thaddis lowered his mouth to hers, and all inner protests stilled.
~ ~ ~
The floor of the corridor sloped in a slight upward direction, the marble giving way to brick. When Khan passed beyond the figure’s illumination, he switched on the flashlight, shining the beam around. If he didn’t know better, he’d think he’d walked through the original corridor. The musical sound of the water grew faint. In the silence, the hoof beats of the horses echoed through the tunnel. His footsteps slowed, but all too soon he reached the end.
Khan touched the door to the outside world. For a moment he hesitated, reluctant to face his choice. He ran his right hand over the brick of the exit. Whatever magical latch existed for the doorway wasn’t apparent. He swept his hand back and forth, then curled his fingers around a brick, pushing and pulling. No movement.
He dropped the lead rope and the reins and pressed against the wall with both hands. It inched forward. Remembering his previous attempt at the entr
ance portal, he pulled sideways. The door slid open with a scraping noise.
Sunlight flooded in. He squinted, throwing up an arm to screen his face. Through half-closed eyes, he studied the landscape, identical to the scenes the statue had shown him—nearby ruins clumped amid a barren wasteland.
“I don’t suppose you could show me where to go?” He spoke aloud, as if she could hear him.
A picture flashed in his mind of the circular park he’d seen before, set in the midst of the city, the original lushness now only a beautiful memory.
He shook his head. How was he supposed to find that place? “Do you have a map?”
Only silence.
Khan stepped over to fondle Nika’s ears, delaying the inevitable. Clicking off the flashlight, he stuffed it in one of the packs and rummaged for his bow and some arrows. He took a moment to string the bow, slipping the arrows into the soft cloth quiver he’d made for his camping trips, and then looped the strap over his shoulder. He pulled his knife from the sheath, checking the long, curved blade. Then he tucked the dagger into the pocket of his robe.
He ran out of excuses. Time to leave the safety of the shrine and head out into the wilderness. His heartbeat quickened, and he forced himself to take deep breaths to calm his fear. No use. He might as well make peace with the feeling; in this new land, fear might shadow him for a long time.
Khan knotted Nika’s reins in case he had to drop them to fire at the monster reptiles. Would the creatures be lurking outside the exit? Good thing he’d played at being an American Indian when he was a boy. He’d spent hours on horseback shooting his bow and arrows. His abilities had improved from his archery competition in college, and he’d kept his skills honed on camping trips. But that wasn’t the same as using them to survive.
Nika nickered, nudging Khan’s arm.
Khan rubbed the black nose. “You ready, boy? I’m not sure I am.” He took a deep breath. “Let’s move on out.”
Taking Daisy’s lead and Nika’s reins, he led them out of the opening. As soon as they’d cleared the building, a grinding noise alerted him of the closing door. “Allah, be with me….” Khan stopped the prayer. He’d entered a new land—a new world. Perhaps even Allah would not find him now. His heart twisted. To give up his God….
He pulled his bow off his shoulder, strung an arrow, and sighted around, ready for an attack. His pulse beat in his ears, so loudly, he could barely hear.
Nothing happened.
Khan waited long minutes, then relaxed, lowering the bow and arrow. He burrowed the toes of his boots into the sand, opening all his senses to the new world. The lavender sky arched overhead, clear like pale amethyst, beautiful…alien. Yet … somehow familiar.
The amber sun tinted the landscape with golden light. He inhaled a breath. He had thought there would be a staleness to the air, matching his visual of the bleak ruins. Instead it seemed fresh and crisp. He caught a whiff of an herbal tang.
He stepped to the side of a nearby boulder. Sighting the scraggly plant growing in the shade, he crouched and reached out one finger to touch a fuzzy arrow-shaped leaf the color of sherry. Then, remembering all the science fiction books he’d read, he jerked back his finger, almost unbalancing himself in the process, and envisioned a poisonous reaction leading to a painful death. For a panicked moment, he recalled stories of every benign-looking plant or animal that turned out to be lethal. How would he ever survive?
A soothing sensation flowed around his fearful fantasies, like water cooling a burn. A sending from the statue? The coolness increased, wiping away his fears, filling some empty well inside him with the wisdom of this planet. The plant was harmless. In fact, the dried leaves would make a healthy tea. He didn’t question his knowledge. He knew it came from her.
Excitement bubbled within him. “Thank you,” he said, wishing he knew her name.
Khan stripped the leaves off several stalks, dropping them into the pocket of his robe. Then he examined the ground beneath him where mineral sparkles glinted in the sand. He stooped to gather a handful, allowing the fine granules to trickle through his fingers. Elation twined with sadness. If he’d known his journey would take him to an alien land, he’d have brought a few handfuls of soil from his home—earth to mingle with…. What would the word for soil be in a different world? The goddess had called this world, Kimtair. Hardly a good descriptive word for dirt.
Khan straightened, dusting off his hands. Walking back to the horses, he realized the gravity of Kimtair seemed about the same as Earth’s.
He picked up Daisy’s lead and mounted Nika. His bow rested across his lap. He kneed Nika forward, while Daisy followed behind them.
Riding with senses alert, Khan scanned the first of the tumbledown buildings—only half-shells remaining of what might have once been houses.
A plump brown bird burst from cover into the air.
Nika shied away.
Khan’s heart jolted; he tightened his knees around the horse. “Whoa, boy. Just a bird.” The words sounded a little shaky. He took another deep breath, steadying himself. His body hummed with energy, like he’d just downed ten cups of coffee.
The bird had vanished too quickly for Khan to compare it with the kinds he’d known. But the sighting reassured him, slowing his pulse. Perhaps this world wasn’t so different after all. And he’d be able to hunt, stretching out his food supplies.
The farther he penetrated into the city, the higher the ruins clustered, skeleton outlines of buildings the height of tall palm trees. Dark scorch marks and melted slag made him wonder if war had destroyed the city and its people.
Something skittered in the sand alongside a broken wall, and he pulled up Nika. Lizard? Crab?
Sort of both. A whippy lizard’s head, attached to a brownish crab-shape about the size of a flat cat, flicked back and forth. A forward set of formidable claws clacked together. Wouldn’t want to be pinched by those.
Already his newfound wisdom told him the crab-lizard would be edible. Before he could make a decision about catching it, the critter whisked around a corner, moving more like a lizard than a crab. Part of his future food supply. “Any ideas how to catch it?” he asked the statue.
Silence.
“Isn’t that just like a god, I mean goddess,” he told Nika as they continued toward the heart of the city, past the walls of hollowed-out buildings, spiking stacks of trembling gray bricks, and the remains of melted metal beams. “They’ll help you, but they won’t do for you what you can do for yourself. She knows I can figure out how to hunt that thing. She’s not going to let me get lazy and dependent.”
A scratch of claws against the mounded pile of stone to his right interrupted his conversation.
Nika’s ears pricked forward; he arched his neck.
Khan jerked upright in the saddle, pulling an arrow from his quiver and nocking it. The breeze blew a whiff of rotten meat smell across their path. He caught a glimpse of a shadow slithering away. The reptile-dogs.
His heartbeat quickened, and he swallowed down a sudden burst of fear. Khan didn’t dare urge Nika to run away. He didn’t know where he was going or what lay ahead. He could get trapped in a dead end, or run into an ambush set by those monster things. Who knew how sentient they were?
Nika flicked his ears, and Khan felt the horse shiver beneath him. They both feared the creatures, but it didn’t help for the horse to sense Khan’s own tension. Daisy edged forward until her nose was level with his hip.
He kept Nika walking, willing himself to remain calm. He glanced upward at the uneven edge of the walls, hoping the reptile-dogs couldn’t climb.
A tug on his mind guided him left between two buildings. His own instinct, or her help? Kneeing Nika into a trot, he pulled Daisy’s lead to urge her to keep up with them.
He rode into a wide-open space, only dirt dotted with scraggly yellow and brown weeds. He guessed the area must have once been an enclosed park, surrounded by beautiful homes, or perhaps quaint little boutiques selling alien wares.
Not the most hospitable place, but at least he’d be able to see the reptile-dogs if they came after them. In the center of the park, a walled enclosure looked the most intact of any building he’d seen. An opening beckoned. Feeling a sense of urgency, he pushed Nika to greater speed.
From behind him, yipping growls followed. The hair on the back of his neck stood up.
A glance behind showed two of the creatures moving in leaping bounds over the land, their tongues lolling between fangs the size of his fingers. Bigger than the Labrador retrievers he’d first compared them to, more the size of mastiffs. He wheeled Nika in front of Daisy, dropping the reins and cocking his bow. The arrow shot straight toward the chest of the leader, bouncing off the scaled hide.
He shot again, aiming for the white patch at the throat. This time, the arrow penetrated. The reptile-dog slammed to the ground. The smaller companion circled around her mate, her yipping increasing in pitch. Khan aimed for the throat target and missed two shots in a row.
The reptile-dog abandoned the corpse and closed the distance to Khan.
Khan’s third arrow lodged in a knee joint. Instead of slowing the beast, the wound seemed to madden her. The creature raised her nuzzle and howled. Khan’s next arrow caught her throat in mid-sound, and the howl cut to a squeal, then a whimper.
When the reptile-dog dropped, Khan kneed Nika toward the walls. He needed to find a secure place to hole up before any more of those monsters appeared.
He rode between two columns from which had once hung the metal gates, now lying half-buried in the soil. He smiled in relief. There at the far end of the enclosure, under a dome held up by five pillars, was a familiar figure—his veiled lady. Although begrimed with the dirt of ages, she still stood intact.
Somehow, he knew this had once been an outdoor shrine. A sense of peace relaxed him, and he glanced around. A good place to set up camp. The walls looked high enough that he doubted the reptile-dogs could get over them. He could use the horses and the ropes to drag the gates into a blockade and find other metal bits to screen the entrance from any four-footed intruders.
Sower of Dreams (The Gods' Dream Trilogy) Page 6
