by Lexy Wolfe
Chapter 20
THE road was little more than an expanse of rock worn down by centuries of feet wearing it smooth. Around them, rocks ranging from the size of fists to that of large ships littered the landscape. The longer the travelers looked, the seemingly unchanging browns revealed a richness of color beneath the dust that covered everything.
As if bearing testament to a tenacious will to survive, they began to notice plants. Strange tiny trees twisted from the winds, bushes almost completely stripped of most of their leaves, strange plants that looked liked green tree stumps with vicious needles covering them, and long threadlike grasses grew among the rocks, stubbornly defying the desolation that loomed over the travelers.
"This place is so... empty," Terrence whispered. He could not mask the horror he felt, witnessing the wasteland. "How can anyone live here?"
Taylin squeaked as she pulled her horse up short, staring at a nearby rock. "I saw something move!"
Mureln glanced over his shoulder. "There are a surprising number of things capable of enduring this hell, but it is often hidden from sight." He looked ahead as the ground flanking the sides of the road began to rise up, the road itself following the course of a ravine. "And it is very dangerous."
As if to prove the truth of the bard's words, several spears with shafts made entirely from a bone-like material decoratively wrapped in dyed leather impaled the ground in front of several of the horses. The alarmed animals reared up, spreading their panic to the others and forcing their riders to struggle to get them under control. Several dark skinned men revealed themselves from behind large rocks and hidden ledges, aiming weapons at the group.
The one nearest the party stood up from his perch boldly, unconcerned about a counterattack. He did not need to be with the many other warriors with weapons trained on them. The man growled in heavily accented trade common. "What reason dare taint our lands, Outlanders?"
Almek reached up slowly with both hands to lower his hood, impassively regarding the warrior. The warrior's eyes went very wide as the sun glinted off the metallic markings on the Guardian's cheek. "Almek Two-Tones!" Barking orders to the others, the awe spread to the half-concealed warriors, but none lowered their weapons even the slightest. Their aim shifted away from the Guardian and Vodani to the Forentan and Sevmanan members. "Your return to our lands honors us, Lord Almek." With disapproving harshness, he demanded, "But why have you brought this filth?"
"They are my students." Calmly, Almek spoke firmly without lowering his gaze from the warrior. "I have urgent need to see your elders. I request safe passage for myself and for my students." With a practiced formality, he said, "On the honor of my ancestors, I offer my life that my students will bring no harm to Desantiva."
The man nimbly hopped down the nearly vertical rock face to the road with enviable agility. He walked among the party, studying them each with dark, narrowed eyes. He stopped when he came to Ash, his scowl deepening. Ash silently returned the gaze without expression.
Minutes passed, neither man looking down or away. "You would trust your life to this vile get of the defilers?" The venom in the man's voice only emphasized the Desanti man's skepticism, looking as if he would kill the mage without a second thought if Almek gave the word.
"I trust him with my life," Almek replied unhesitatingly.
Growling under his breath, the man turned his back on Ash to return to Almek. He pointed down the road with his spear. "Stay on the road. If even one strays, all will die. If any threaten Desantiva, all will die."
Accepting the edicts, Almek nodded once. "Understood, Warrior."
Satisfied, the warrior nimbly returned to his perch atop the ravine wall to speak to the other Desanti. The decision was received poorly, many loudly arguing with their leader with sharp gestures made towards the group, especially towards the three Forentan.
The leader replied with harsh finality in his native tongue, pointing his spear meaningfully towards Almek. Unhappily, the others subsided. All but the leader and one other man vanished into the terrain again. Despite being unseen, the travelers knew the warriors had not left. The leader turned to Almek as the second man descended the ravine wall. "Go. Warrior Radisen na'Citali will escort you." With that said, he vanished into the landscape as well.
Almek inclined his head respectfully to the displeased warrior that joined them. Radisen raised his eyes to fix a hard stare on Almek in silence. His eyes were a startlingly light, golden brown verging on true gold that contrasted with his dark brown complexion and black hair. After a time, he finally nodded once, turning on his heel to walk down the road at a swift pace. Almek quickly urged his horse to follow. The others hurried to do the same, murmuring only when they felt they were far enough away.
"Savage animals." Amelana was flushed, overheated from the merciless sun beating down.
"You might do well to shut up, Journeyman Amelana," Mureln pointed out sharply. "Desanti tempers are short and violent, and they would love nothing more than a reason to kill a Forentan."
She sniffed and mumbled, "As if they could."
The group traveled for several more hours on the ravine road, the heat growing increasingly unbearable as the sun crested its path in the sky. It was not long before they were jumping at shadows, certain there were murderous warriors hiding along the way. Radisen walked in silence, ignoring any attempt to engage him in conversation, even from Almek.
"I really hope there be some worth t’ stickin’ our necks out in this gods forsaken land," Emil stated unhappily, wiping his face with a rag. "Iffin the Desanti don’t kills us, I bet th’ sun’ll do it fer them." He squinted up at the cloudless sky and fiercely intense sun. "Gods, it’s killin’ me."
Though stoically silent, the Forenten were looking the worst of the group. Dressed as if they were in their far cooler northern lands, the heat was taking a toll on them.
"Master Ash." Terrence's voice was weak and his eyes were glazed. Ash looked over at Terrence frowning faintly with concern. "I-I am not feeling very well..." Before the mage could say a word in response, the younger man sagged forward.
With lightning swiftness, the master caught his apprentice before he fell off his horse. "Taylin!" Ash called sharply, bringing the group to an abrupt halt.
The healer looked over her shoulder, and then wheeled her horse around and rode back to them, heedless of the threat of hidden desert warriors. Frowning, she reached over and touched the young man's forehead. "He needs to be cooled down," Taylin stated with urgency in her voice. "If this goes on too much longer, it could do him irreparable harm, or kill him altogether." Both Illaini Magus and healer worked to get the heavier robes off the young man.
Almek tried speaking to the impassive Desanti warrior, insisting he had to help the boy, but Radisen just blinked at him.
Annoyed, Mureln took a deep breath, and spoke with Radisen in his native tongue, including several hand gestures that indicated dire promises. The man unhappily removed his own waterskin, taking a sip from it himself before tossing it to the bard. Radisen spoke curtly, making a gesture with his spear down the road.
Mureln handed the waterskin to Taylin, who dampened a towel to wipe the young man’s brow, then with Ash’s help, got him to drink some of the water. Terrence roused, coughing as he made a face.
"Radisen says First Home is just ahead. He will take us to the..." Mureln considered the words and translated, "visitor’s area. It will be cooler and there will be access to water. It will not be much longer."
"Think ye ken hang on, lad?" Emil asked. He received a weak nod and faint smile in reply.
"Better not be much longer," Ash stated in a low voice, his icy glare meeting the hateful one of the Desanti warrior.
Chapter 21
THE wide valley of First Home dominated the view as the group emerged from the ravine road. A sea of colorful tents and pavilions surrounded the elegantly carved face of the huge central butte. Brilliantly colored banners and ribbons fluttered in the hot desert winds. They cou
ld hear loud voices and the calls of unfamiliar animals, the sounds of song and music mingling through it all.
Radisen guided the travelers through one of the winding roads between the pavilions. The Desanti they passed all turned to watch the travelers with open hostility. Occasionally, hateful shouts would follow them. The warrior spoke curtly with another man, then vanished into the forest of tents without a word now that his duty to the Dusvet Guardian completed.
"Welcome t' Desantiva," Emil said dryly as young children took the horses to a neighboring pavilion to be tended to and the humans were guided to the one they would stay in.
Mureln shook his head at Radisen's departure before he gave the pavilion a critical assessment. "I am surprised they gave us such nice quarters." Rubbing the heavy canvas between his fingers, Mureln said more to Almek than anyone else, "No doubt for your benefit, Almek. Last time I was here, I had to share some overly crowded quarters with the other Vodani traders who had come here."
"Nice?!" Amelana put her hands on her hips in critical outrage. "It’s a tent! Peasants live in tents, not highborns. What kind of privacy can you have in a tent? None!"
Almek let the door flap fall back into place. "The fact that there are separated sleeping areas is about all the privacy I imagine foreigners like us would be allowed. Be grateful for this much, Journeyman Amelana."
"No," Mureln stated flatly.
Almek blinked, then nodded to the bard's curt correction. "Ah, yes, I forgot myself." The others looked confused.
"Permit me to clarify." The bard fixed the others with a hard look, his patience strained. "Almek is a Guardian and is welcomed only due to the colors that mark him with his status. I am a foreigner." Mureln ignored the startled expressions at his uncharacteristic behavior. "Because the Desanti recognize the Vodani as ancient relatives, but no longer as one of them. The rest of you are outlanders. You are defilers, the unforgiven descendants of those who desecrated this land, making it into the wastelands they are now."
Undaunted by the looks the others gave him, Mureln stated with an edge to his voice, "And if it were not for the strict tradition of peace during the Time of Gathering and being Almek’s students combined, the rest of you would likely have been fed to the beasts by now." He looked directly at Amelana as he gave his advice. "So I strongly advise you shut your damned mouths and respect our hosts before you end up a footnote in the histories of your own peoples."
Having only known the bard to be generally easy going, Mureln’s terseness shocked them, even his Sevmanan friends surprised. Ignoring their staring, the bard turned and walked towards the tent's sleeping area and jerked back the curtain divider to one of the private areas. "I am going to take a nap. Desanti do not do much until the sun begins to set and the land begins to cool. Nothing of interest will be going on until then. I suggest the rest of you do the same."
Almek cleared his throat. "For all his bluntness today, Mureln speaks the truth. These are Desanti lands, and we should be respectful." Amelana huffed, crossing her arms as she looked away. "And we should rest while we can. The journey here has worn on all of us."
Ash pushed Amelana off as she started to walk with him towards the sleeping areas. "I suggest you share an area with the healer, Journeyman. It would be proper, don't you agree?" Amelana was stunned speechless, oblivious to Taylin's grimace. Ash did not wait for the Forentan woman to recover or the Sevmanan healer to protest, heading to the sleeping area the bard had disappeared into.
Ignoring the prospect of sharing space with the journeyman mage, Taylin pulled Terrence aside, her voice kind to the young man, "Come over here and we'll see about getting you back in a better state, hm? Emil, see if they have left us anything edible. And some water, please."
"'Course, Healer." The sharp-featured man joined them agreeably. "Yer lookin' whiter 'n a ghost, lad." He patted Terrence's shoulder. "Be fine if'n ye were a ghost, but as ya ain't..." Terrence chuckled weakly, flushing at the mercenary's teasing.
Satisfied his apprentice was going to be well cared for, Ash paused in the entrance to the sleeping area briefly before entering fully, letting the divider fall back in place.
Stripped down to just his trousers, Mureln had flopped onto his sleeping mat in the area he had claimed, arm thrown over his eyes to block the sunlight that made the roof and walls of the pavilion glow. He poorly concealed his attempts to ignore Ash's presence, not speaking nor moving to acknowledge him.
Dropping his gear on the floor, the mage laid out his own sleeping mat and sat down, removing his robe and tugging off his boots. Ash kept his voice low as he spoke. "Of everyone, I would not have expected you to lose your temper."
Mureln looked up at Ash in surprise at the unexpected sympathy from the Forentan Illaini Magus, and then resumed lying back with his arm over his eyes again. "Of everyone, I would have expected you to have lost it long before now."
Methodically removing his robes and folding them carefully, Ash replied blandly, "I assume you are speaking of my journeyman."
The corner of the bard’s lips curled ever so slightly. "She must be particularly gifted for you to put up with her attitude." Mureln lifted his arm slightly to observe Ash's expression curiously.
There was only silence for a long time after Mureln's comment, Ash frowning inwardly. "I do not expect her to attain mastery." Ash carefully laid his clothing on the low table provided to keep them off the ground. "I have considerably more hope for my apprentice. Terrence has shown significant promise already."
Shifting to prop himself up on his elbow, Mureln frowned slightly in puzzlement. "Then why keep her as a student? She obviously does not even respect her own arts, much less those of anyone else." Ash remained silent as he stared at a point on the ground, holding an ornate pendant that indicated his rank. Finally... "Ahhh. I see."
Ash frowned slightly, narrowing his eyes on the Vodani as if trying to determine if the bard mocked him. "Even if she is a very minor member, the Avarian family is well placed enough to have influence on matters of student assignments."
Mureln blinked. "You are Illaini Magus. You do not choose your own apprentices?"
"We are Forentan. If for no other reason, it makes the matter more complicated." The mage shrugged one shoulder. "By tradition, no one can order a master into a marriage contract without his consent. They can, however, prevent an apprentice from being taken if said well-placed family insists that their own family member be assigned as well in the hopes the master would change his mind about marital matters."
The bard simply watched Ash, his expression empty of criticism or judgment. Ash looked away as he tugged off his own shirt. "Amelana has no shame. And," Ash sighed a little. "She is convenient."
Mureln shrugged. "You deserve better." The bard quirked a smile when Ash looked at him with mild surprise. Mureln simply nodded towards the sleeping mat. "Get what rest you can in this infernal heat. Life picks up considerably when the land cools." Laying back with his arm over his eyes again, Mureln yawned. "It will be educational." He smiled at Ash's snort.
Chapter 22
"ELDER Verris na'Zhekali is honored you have blessed Desantiva with your presence once again, Dusvet Guardian Almek Two-Tones." Ornate beading and dyed leather cords braided together decorated the dark skinned young woman's pale brown leather halter top and short paneled skirt. She offered a warm smile to Almek as she rose from her bow, white teeth bright against her dark skin. "He wishes for you to meet him at the Hall of Remembrance at your convenience."
"Your Elder Verris is very kind," Almek replied with a smile. "Will my students be permitted to explore the area unescorted while I am speaking with Verris? I do not wish our visit to be an inconvenience at this time of celebration, but I do not wish my students to waste the opportunity to observe your people."
The girl's smile faded to one of guarded curiosity as Almek addressed his students' welfare. "Your students will come to no harm should they choose to leave the tent because it is the Time of Gathering." She added, "Bu
t should they leave this valley, their lives are forfeit. It has been so decreed by the elders."
"Do you require my attendance, Master Almek?" Ash ignored the dark look the Desanti girl gave him, more menacing than the one his journeyman shot him.
Almek shook his head. "No. I wish to speak to Elder Verris alone. The rest of you..." He waved a hand. "There is much to learn here. Keep your eyes open and stay out of trouble." He turned to the Desanti girl. "Let us go, Tia." She nodded and led Almek out.
"Stay out o' trouble," Emil muttered in echo. Once Almek and the girl were gone, Emil clapped and rubbed his hands together in eager anticipation. He looked up at his brother. "C'mon, Emaris, these desert folk has t' know 'bout toss stones or somethin' wi' gambling." The big man snorted and followed his friend out of the tent.
Taylin was hesitant to leave. "I want to watch over Terrence a little longer. He is mostly recovered, but dehydration is not something my touch alone can heal." The sickly pale young man looked down shamefully, starting to apologize. "Shush, I will hear no apologies for something so out of your control. This land is harsh and you are unused to it. It could have happen to anyone. Come." She led him to the low table surrounded by huge pillows, taking a piece of fruit and handing it to him, ordering him to eat. He smiled a little as he sat on one of the pillows and obediently took a bite.
Amelana sniffed critically as she watched Terrence and Taylin and stated loftily, "I want nothing to do with these savage dogs." Without another word, she flounced off to her sleeping area.
Mureln shook out his wide-brimmed hat and put it atop his head, adjusting it before heading outside. He stopped short at a shrill voice speaking in Forentan. The bard paused, looking over his shoulder. Amelana held onto Ash's arm, preventing him from following the bard.
In response to her strident protest, the mage said absolutely nothing, simply staring at her with displeasure. When she finally went quiet, he said something to her in a low voice, firmly removing her hands from his arm. Mureln hurriedly turned away and went outside.
