The Scorpions of Zahir

by Christine Brodien-Jones

  Sliding back the bolt, she threw open the door. A heap of matted fur lay on the tiles. Curious, she crept forward, her stomach turning as she inhaled the cruddy stench of the hyena. She gazed at the dead animal with relief and disgust, marveling that it hadn’t killed her. Its eyes had glazed over, and inside its mouth she could see double rows of long sharp teeth—probably engineered by Olivia.

  From behind the dead hyena stepped a thin shadow, startling her. Ashen-faced, Mina stood holding an ornate brass urn, blood dripping from the bottom of it.

  “I followed you,” she said in a trembling voice. “The hyena tried to break down your door.”

  “Mina! Oh my gosh, you’re so brave!” Overcome with emotion, Zagora threw her arms around the girl’s shoulders. “You killed the hyena!” She’d read about “narrow escapes” in books before but had never grasped the true meaning of the phrase. “You saved my life!”

  Mina hugged her back, and Zagora could feel her shaking. It took a lot to scare Mina.

  “My grandmother tried to show me a path,” said Mina, “but I was too angry to see it.” She stepped back, fixing her intense gaze on Zagora. “I was angry at you, Zagora, because you have desert sight and you are Sentinel of the Stone—and I wanted these things for myself. But I see now that my path is different. As long as you have the stone of the oryx, I must follow and protect you. I am—how do you say?—a guardian. Together we must keep the stone safe.”

  Zagora nodded, thinking how her words made perfect sense. “Being a guardian is a really important job,” she said.

  “We are friends, yes?” Mina smiled, her eyes wide with delight.

  “The best of friends,” said Zagora with a grin. “Friends forever.”

  Another quick hug, then they were running through the empty rooms of the palace, alert for hyenas, searching for the others as they raced from one floor to the next. Outside, the sky was growing darker by the minute. Wheeling around an archway, Zagora jumped in surprise as Duncan stumbled out from behind a tapestry.

  “Am I glad to see you guys,” he said. She could hear him struggling to breathe.

  “You okay, Duncan?” she asked, worried about his asthma.

  He waved his hand dismissively. “I’m cool. Everything’s under control.” He looked around. “Razz isn’t with you?”

  “No,” said Zagora, and they exchanged anxious glances.

  “Razziq is smart,” Mina said confidently. “He’s fast. They will never catch him.”

  Zagora hoped she was right. Razziq was fast, but could he escape a pack of wild hyenas? What about Olivia and her bodyguards? And the giant scorpions?

  “A hyena chased me,” she told Duncan. “It tried to smash down the door and it stank so bad I almost threw up. Good thing Mina killed it or I’d be dead right now.”

  Looking deeply impressed, Duncan turned to Mina. “You killed a hyena?”

  The girl nodded. “This creature was unnatural.”

  “It had double rows of teeth on the top and bottom of its mouth,” said Zagora.

  “Sounds abnormal, all right,” said Duncan. “One more of Olivia’s—” He stopped in midsentence. “Oh no, I knew this would happen!” he cried. “They crashed through the glass wall!”

  Through an archway, Zagora could see two huge segmented creatures, moving stealthily amid the marble columns of an inner courtyard, stingers raised: scorpions the size of horses.

  “They’re stalking us,” whispered Mina.

  Zagora watched them with fascination and dread as they moved in erratic circles around a dark shape on the tiles.

  “They killed a hyena,” whispered Duncan. “We’ll get stung, too, if we don’t watch out.”

  Zagora looked at the others with weary, frightened eyes, wishing desperately that Razziq would show up. Where was her dad? Why was everyone taking so long?

  The scorpions had caught sight of them. A warped and frightening intelligence flickered across their eyes. Zagora’s heart quailed. They were sending out thoughts to frighten her! Relinquish the treasure; it belongs not to you. Relinquish the treasure and all will live; hold on to the treasure and all will die.…

  She began to shiver.

  “Zagora, what is wrong?” whispered Mina.

  “The scorpions are threatening me,” she said. “They want the Oryx Stone!”

  Mina threw her a ferocious look. “That will never happen.”

  “We risked life and limb to get that stone back,” said Duncan. “You’re not going to let those mutated arachnids take it, are you?”

  Zagora swallowed hard. “Yeah, but if I let the scorpions have the stone, they’ll let us go and they won’t—” She paused, not wanting to say kill us. “If I don’t, we might not get out of here alive!” The thought made her go cold with fear.

  “Do not be foolish,” said Mina with disdain. “You cannot barter with scorpions.”

  “Even if you give them the Oryx Stone,” said Duncan, wiping his sweaty brow, “there’s no guarantee they won’t sting us anyway.”

  Zagora met his tough blue gaze. They’re right, she thought. What was I thinking? I’d be crazy to trust the scorpions. She knew her dad would offer the same advice. Charles Pym, Edgar and Pitblade Yegen, Freya Stark—all of them had taken risks and stepped over the edge, flying in the face of danger. Now it was her turn.

  The Oryx Stone winked up from her palm. For centuries it had aligned Nar Azrak with the pyramid, creating a barrier around Zahir, balancing the energy between the earth and the heavens. The stone had been the glue holding everything together—until it was stolen. The scorpions feared the Oryx Stone not only because it could harm them, but because it had the power to set things right again. Hadn’t Pitblade said the scorpions wanted the stone in order to destroy it?

  “Hey, those things are watching us!” hissed Duncan. “Man, is that ever creepy.” He nudged his sister with his elbow. “Let’s go, it’s not safe.”

  Hands linked, the three took off.

  “Nar Azrak!” gasped Zagora, looking out a window as they ran past. The rogue planet seemed to be growing larger, as if it were speeding toward Earth, about to engulf them all.

  “Wait, stop!” cried Mina, slowing down, gazing at the scene outside. “I know it is my task to protect you, but I see my people coming. I must go—for a short time only. I will return soon, I promise.”

  Before they could protest, she sprinted down the corridor and vanished.

  Zagora stood on her toes and stared out the window. “Duncan, there’s a line of people crossing the dunes, and they’re carrying swords and torches! The Azimuth are coming to Zahir!”

  “That means Dad’s on his way,” said Duncan excitedly. “And Pitblade, too.”

  “We have to find the pyramid before the eclipse happens!” Zagora turned to her brother in a panic. “Come on!”

  They raced off, heading for the back of the palace. As they ducked into the kitchen, Duncan came to a screeching halt and Zagora felt the hairs on her head stand up. Beneath the archway stood Olivia, holding a chain attached to a snarling hyena. Her other hand gripped Razziq by the neck of his T-shirt. He looked as if he was gasping for air.

  “Razziq!” she screamed.

  “Let Razz go or we’ll attack you again,” threatened Duncan, shaking a fist at Olivia.

  Zagora felt her stomach drop as the two henchmen rushed inside from the courtyard, their expressions dour.

  “I’ll let your little friend go free,” said Olivia. “Along with my doggie friend here.” She yanked the chain and the hyena snapped its enormous jaws. “Better yet, why don’t we barter? The stone in exchange for your friend.”

  Zagora glared at Olivia, overcome by a hopeless rage, hating her with a furious passion. Duncan stepped forward, about to speak, when the guard with the mustache cried out. Zagora saw a tall shadow looming up behind him. Olivia screamed as a massive claw locked on to the man’s arm and his eyes glazed over with fear. Hissing wildly, the scorpion dragged the screaming guard into the courty
ard.

  After that, everything went into warp drive. Hackles up, the hyena started barking, snapping the links of its chain and tearing away in a cloud of dust. The other guard turned on one heel and raced through the kitchen, almost knocking Zagora over as he disappeared into the palace. Razziq whirled around, kicking Olivia; cursing, she staggered sideways, nearly falling over, and Zagora cheered as Razziq broke free. Flying across the room, he dove into Zagora’s and Duncan’s arms and they all embraced at once.

  A shriek cut through the air and the children jumped apart. Zagora watched in horror as two giant scorpions closed in on Olivia.

  “Do something!” Olivia screeched, her face white with fear.

  Tails rattling, the scorpions attacked. Olivia shrieked as they seized her arms with their claws and pulled her roughly through the doorway. Zagora and the boys bounded across the kitchen into the courtyard, where she could hear Olivia’s muffled screams as the scorpions dragged her, struggling, down under the sand.

  The courtyard fell silent. Zagora thought she might throw up. All that was left of Olivia was an emerald sandal, inlaid with gems, lying on its side in the dust.

  “I don’t believe it,” croaked Duncan. “This is too horrible for words.”

  “They have taken her to their lair,” Razziq whispered. “There is nothing we can do.”

  Was this a sort of rough justice, wondered Zagora, because Olivia had terrorized them and kidnapped their father? Not really, she told herself. Being taken by scorpions wasn’t something she’d wish on anyone—not even her worst enemy.

  The wind began to rise, whipping Zagora’s hair into knots and tearing the fronds off the palm trees. The sky darkened and the wailing wind picked up sand in long trails. High overhead, feverish waves of mist swirled around Nar Azrak.

  “Hey, guys, the eclipse!” said Duncan, spitting out sand. “We don’t have much time.”

  “Everything is in your hands, Zagora,” said Razziq. “Only you can find the pyramid.”

  Standing in the dusty courtyard, she imagined the desert she loved so dearly, trying to call up her desert sight. Before long she heard the familiar distant wind, low and haunting. Waves of shimmering sand swirled before her eyes.

  Images came flying at her, moving so fast she could hardly follow. All at once she saw things that were bound to the earth and things that were not. She saw the vast expanse of the Sahara; secret words and mystical signs; tracks in the sand left by the oryxes. She could see a ragged band of travelers making their way over the dunes, belongings piled high on camels, following a tall man in white robes. Beneath the sky rose the golden-red walls of Zahir. In a vast courtyard, workers constructed a pyramid while an olive-skinned craftsman polished a perfect blue stone, an oryx carved at its center.

  Next she saw stonemasons unpacking sledges and chisels, digging trenches near the pyramid and lining them with goat droppings, packing in layers of rock salt. Using cut blocks of stone, they shaped seven arches and a gateway, filling in the gaps with small stones. The gateway, inscribed with magical writings, was fitted with heavy wooden doors. When the arches were completed, they built an earthen dome around the courtyard so that the pyramid would be hidden from view.

  Pictures whirled, confusing Zagora, and she was in a different time. A man with hatred in his eyes wrenched the Oryx Stone from its setting, and a chill fell over her heart. She saw Zahir thrown into chaos, and a future where Nar Azrak blotted out the stars. Gone were the oryxes and camels, the moths and lizards and nighthawks, the snakes, centipedes and wasps. All she could see, for miles in every direction, were scorpions.

  But other futures were possible, too—if only she could locate the pyramid.

  She turned to the others as if awakening from a dream, the images fresh in her mind. “They hid the pyramid,” she said excitedly. “See that wall over there?” She pointed to the far side of the shadowy courtyard, which abutted a high earthen wall. “There’s a gateway through there and we have to dig it out!”

  She saw Duncan and Razziq exchange quizzical glances, but neither questioned her. Duncan switched on his flashlight and they ran across the courtyard to the wall, which was covered in layers of sand and dust and dirt.

  “Behind this wall there’s a gateway of painted stone, covered with glyphs and symbols. I saw it, really I did,” Zagora told them. “It’s carved with crosses, dots and moons, and arrows and suns—and golden oryxes along the edges!”

  “Magical squares,” murmured Razziq, “and holy circles. It must be centuries old.”

  “How do you know all that, Zagora?” asked Duncan, his voice filled with admiration.

  “I saw it with my desert vision,” she said, her face flushed with excitement. Odd, but she felt sort of like a celebrity. “Next we have to find a way through the gate.…”

  “Hmm.” Duncan furrowed his brow in concentration. “If the gateway is made of stones, then there has to be a keystone. That’s the main stone at the top of an archway, holding everything together. Remove the keystone and the whole thing will collapse. By taking it out, we might be able to get to the other side.”

  “Brilliant,” said Zagora. Okay, maybe her brother was kind of dorky, but he was a whiz kid when it came to practical solutions.

  Duncan propped up his flashlight on the ground, aiming it at the wall, and they began tearing at the stones and dirt, scraping away the layers of sand, until at last the outline of a low arch appeared. Around its edges Zagora could see faded symbols. Once they’d exposed the keystone, they gently pulled out the small stones wedged in around it.

  “Hurry!” said Duncan. “The scorpions will be coming out.…”

  The mention of scorpions filled Zagora with a wordless terror. As she worked, it felt as if hours were passing, though she knew it was only minutes.

  When a space had been hollowed out around the keystone, Razziq turned to Duncan and said, “You are the tallest. You should take out the stone.”

  “Okay, guys,” said Duncan, “stand back.”

  Zagora held her breath as her brother gripped the edges of the keystone and pulled. Dirt flew out from around it. Grunting, he wiggled the stone back and forth, then slowly eased it out.

  “Watch out!” he shouted, and they all jumped away.

  Zagora saw the gateway quake; then came a muffled rumbling as dirt showered down. All the stones began falling at once, sending up dust as they thudded into the sand, followed by the remains of a door, black and rotted, which disintegrated as they hit the ground.

  “Unbelievable,” said Duncan, clicking off his flashlight.

  “By the dunes of the Sahara,” murmured Razziq. “Look!”

  Zagora stared through the gap, astonished: seven archways unfolded before them, each one larger than the last, opening into a space that was filled with an eerie blue light.

  “That’s it!” she cried. “The ancient palace courtyard!”

  She gripped the Oryx Stone and they raced through the archways, following the dim glow, watching it grow brighter and brighter, until at last they came to a space of lofty dimensions: a ceiling that looked fifty or sixty feet high and walls encrusted with strange, indiscernible designs. Zagora realized at once that this was a dome the Azimuth had built around the original courtyard.

  High overhead, at the top of the curved ceiling, she saw a large opening to the sky, through which a flood of blue light poured down from the planet Nar Azrak.

  “Mega cool,” said Duncan, gawking in disbelief. “Wow, this place is bigger than South Station in Boston!”

  Most amazing of all was the steep three-sided pyramid, at least twenty feet high, rising out of the sand, floating and dreamlike, throwing its unearthly light against the walls of the earthen dome. The meteorites had been cut and polished to perfection, fitted together to create the pyramid. Zagora had never imagined that anything like this could even exist. The pyramid, spare and elegant, was much higher than she’d envisioned. It looked like a shining relic from another world.

  “
Oh, wow,” she breathed. If only Edgar Yegen had lived to see this.

  “The Pyramid of Xuloc,” said Razziq in an awestruck tone. “Built by the ancients with stones from Nar Azrak.”

  At the top of the pyramid Zagora saw a small oval groove—the place where the Oryx Stone belonged. Her stomach gave a sharp twist. She was going to have to climb up there.

  “You mean that pyramid’s been hidden all this time and nobody knew it?” said Duncan. He turned to his sister, giving her a high five. “You found it with your desert sight—cool!”

  Zagora felt delirious with joy and astonishment.

  “Feel that electricity in the air?” Duncan went on. “You know, if the scorpions’ nest is under the pyramid, it’s no wonder they’re so huge and demented. Think of all that intergalactic energy they’ve been ingesting.”

  But Zagora wasn’t thinking about the scorpions. Eyes shining, she marched excitedly toward the pyramid, preparing to return the Oryx Stone. This was, after all, her destiny. The only hard part was going to be the climb to the top: high places always made her dizzy.

  Then something unexpected began to happen. She could hear faint rustling noises, like seeds rattling, and as the sounds grew louder, she felt the air vibrating around her.

  “What the heck’s going on?” said Duncan, squinting at her through whirling dust.

  Zagora saw the strange designs on the walls of the dome begin to move. Clods of dirt fell from the ceiling. Tiny stones crumbled off the walls.

  “It’s coming down!” she heard Razziq cry.

  They weren’t alone.

  The walls of the dome were suddenly alive with scorpions.

  “Run for your lives!” shouted Duncan, grabbing Zagora and Razziq. She felt her brother spin her around as they made a swift U-turn and raced back to the seven arches.

  We can’t fight giant scorpions, Zagora thought in despair. We’re just kids. She held the Oryx Stone to her heart, hoping it might give her strength against the creatures.