by Lexy Wolfe
"Our horses are being taken to the Vodani city to be cared for there until we return," Almek assured the Forentan woman. "It is wiser to use mounts adapted to survival in this land. The extremes here would probably kill the horses, and I doubt you'd want to walk." He looked to his animal as a handler offered him its reigns. "They are called drizzen."
The drizar obediently sank to the ground at a mere touch. Storm mounted her massive animal to wait patiently while the handlers gave instructions to the non-Desanti on how to manage the beasts. The drizar suddenly shrieked, unsettling both humans and drizzen as he surged to his feet. Everyone looked up to see two other Desanti ride up, dressed in travel robes and their faces wrapped against the elements.
Storm put herself and her mount between the two men and the rest of the group. Her words were clipped, harsh and the gestures that she made were definitely threatening. The men growled back at her, apparently disputing whatever she told them.
Mureln frowned and muttered from where he waited near Ash, "I recognize those voices." Ash made a noise of agreement in his throat, scowling darkly at the larger of the two newcomers.
Almek joined Storm, regarding the men. "You will speak where all understand, or you will depart," he stated flatly.
The men unwound the fabric covering their faces, the smaller of the two offering a grudging respect to the Dusvet. "Lord Almek Two-Tones," Radisen greeted. "Excuse our intrusion. My and Sumalen's business with Storm is unrelated to you."
"Storm has sworn herself to me," Almek returned flatly. Radisen shot a look at the scowling woman. "If your business interferes with her, then your business is related to me."
The two men were silent, unhappily considering Almek's words. Sumalen growled finally. "We come with. It would not be right allowing our desert flower to travel among outlanders unprotected."
Storm narrowed her eyes, bristling. "I should rip your throat out right here for your continued insults," she snarled, her hands snapping to the hilts of her paired single-edged blades. She froze when Almek put his hand on one wrist.
"It is still the Time of Gathering. I will not have you breaking your traditions, Swordanzen." Almek watched her profile intently. "So long as their presence does not interfere with our task, I am unconcerned."
Releasing her weapons, Storm made a disgusted, dismissive gesture, pulling her beast around sharply. She spoke to no one as she ranted, riding a short distance away. But considering the surprised expressions of the two men and the coughing and blushing of the young drizzen handlers, the others could only guess what she was saying.
Ash looked over at Mureln, who looked both amused and fascinated. Feeling the mage's eyes on him, Mureln glanced over. "I have heard colorful cursing before, but this is quite educational. I do not think some of what she said is even physically possible."
"I see." Ash turned his impassive gaze towards the Desanti woman again.
Mureln chuckled as he adjusted the cowl of his desert robe's hood, putting the face wrap around his neck loosely to allow him to pull it up later. "I would not want to get on her bad side. Especially when she is not restrained from acting."
Amelana rode up between Mureln and Ash, roughly pulling her drizzen to a stop. "Desanti dogs," she growled. "They are a bunch of animals." She subsided when Ash gave her a darkly meaningful look.
Chapter 29
THE group was silent as they followed Storm along one of the roads that led out of the valley of First Home. They paused on the ridge as the woman stopped her animal to look back. Drawing her two-edged sword, she held it up in a salute, murmuring something in another tongue before lowering her eyes. She then slid the blade back and wheeled around. The other drizzen followed the larger beast without their riders' urging.
"What be that about?" Emil wondered curiously, glancing back the way they came, then towards Storm up front.
Even Mureln was perplexed. "I do not know. I have never heard that tongue before."
"It is a Swordanzen ritual of farewell," Radisen stated tonelessly as he passed near enough to the Sevmanen and Vodani to hear them. "She asked the Totani to watch over the people in her absence."
"But what language did she speak?" Mureln looked at the Desanti woman's back. "I thought I had heard all languages, but that sounded... very old."
"It is the holy language of the Swordanzen." Before Mureln could ask more, Radisen spurred his drizzen forward to ride nearer to Storm and Sumalen. The bard narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
By noon, the heat from the sun was scorching and the light was nearly blinding. The welcomed relief of the setting sun was short lived. It was only a few more hours until the sun fully sank below the horizon, the land cast in the twin moons' silvery blue glow. The day's warmth seemed to vanish with the sun, bitterly chill breezes blowing around the travelers.
Almek pulled gloves on calmly and urged his drizzen up next to Storm. Unhappily, Sumalen and Radisen fell back out of respect for the Guardian. "How long until we reach our destination?"
"Three, perhaps four days if we encounter nothing to delay us." Storm pulled her face wrap down, looking towards Almek. "I could make it there alone within two, but none of your outlander students would be able to manage the pace or the terrain."
The Guardian nodded, giving her his complete trust. After a moment of silence, he glanced over his shoulder at the pair of Desanti men. "Your suitors are persistent."
Storm looked sideways at Almek. "You were not entirely truthful to the elders. Not all of the outlanders are your students," she replied, avoiding the topic.
"You noticed that, did you?" Almek was bemused. "I suspected you were quicker than you let on. I let the warriors who challenged us assume they were. The elders accepted their assumptions as fact. I thought it prudent to let them continue believing so."
"Understandable." Storm shrugged. "And wise. Desanti like things to be simple. They would claim they thought they were attacking one of the tagalongs, not a student, to get around the edict not to attack your students." Carefully, she maneuvered her mount around a small rock protrusion. "Know my oath extends only to your true students, Lord Almek. I will not protect the others. Especially not the other two defilers. It is enough I have to protect one at all."
"Storm." Almek watched her as he spoke with quiet emphasis. "The loss of any who are here would distract my students from our purpose. It would please me if you would include them in your protection."
The woman made a face and glanced at him. "You ask much of me, Lord Almek."
"No more than I know you can give, Storm."
Sighing, rolling her eyes, Storm acquiesced. "Very well, my lord, if it is your desire, than I shall protect them all." She paused. "Even the defilers' get."
Almek shook his head, flicking a glance over his shoulder towards the Forentan contingent. Balancing the pride and egos of the mage and the Swordanzen was certainly a challenge he had not expected. He changed the topic entirely. "The drizzen you ride. It looks like a fine animal. Is it a different breed from ours?"
A small smile touched Storm's lips as she looked at the beast fondly who bobbed his head, as if knowing he was being discussed. "Not at all, Lord Almek. The ones gifted to you and your students are females or males that failed to mature. My companion is a drizar. A full male." She reached forward to scratch at a patch of hair on the beast's neck. "One of the tests of a Swordanzen is to find a wild drizzen as a companion. I am the only one who has been able to achieve a drizar."
"It must have been difficult to tame him."
"Tame?" Storm looked over in surprise. "My lord, Swordanzen do not tame their companions. Taming breaks the spirit. Necessary for those untrained to handle the true spirit of the land. But it would be an atrocity for a Swordanzen to break the spirit of a brother or sister creature."
"Ah, I see." He glanced over his shoulder. "I must make the use of the time of our journey and give my students more instruction."
Storm smiled faintly as she pulled her face wrap back in place. "Do no
t worry, my lord. I will not permit Radisen or Sumalen to distract me from my duty to you."
Almek nodded and dropped back. Almost immediately, the two Desanti men flanked Storm. He sighed unhappily as he fell in beside Taylin.
"There is something different about those two men, Master Almek," Taylin commented. "But... I am not sure what."
"Each race has a special... quality to them." Almek looked at the three Desanti a long moment. "But even in my five hundred years, I have not learned much about the Desanti." Taylin looked over at him in astonishment. "I am beginning to see the prices their people have paid in the time since the lands were sundered that I and other Guardians have carelessly overlooked."
Taylin frowned, studying the backs of the three Desanti in the front. "Prices?"
Almek nodded. "I used to be a weapon smith's apprentice when I was a boy. It was not nearly as fine an art then as it has become now." He sighed wistfully. "I still remember some of my first attempts. One blade was too soft. The first time it came in contact with something hard, it bent and had no effect.
"Another blade was hard and sharp. But brittle. It withstood nearly all things, but when it came into contact with something hard, it proved to be too brittle and shattered." He looked at Storm again. "The men are difficult to see clearly. I cannot read our Swordanzen at all. But not because I do not have the ability." Taylin blinked in surprise at Almek. "But because she does not allow it."
"She can do that?" Taylin whispered in awe. "Is she a-a Guardian?"
"Yes. No." Almek frowned. "The world will provide when there is a void. Not only did the Desanti shut out everyone from their lands, they shut themselves into it. But that which Guardians protect against knows no borders. The Desanti must have forged themselves into weapons to survive and protect Desantiva from the likes of temporal shifters, whether they knew them as such or not. But Storm is something more, even among them."
"She frightens me," Taylin confessed, looking ashamed.
"She should," Almek replied crisply. "The Desanti have nicknamed the desert at the hottest part of the day the Forge. She is no meek desert flower. Storm is a weapon forged and tested, but I have not yet determined her mettle." He smiled at the healer. "Now then, we should continue your lessons." Taylin looked relieved to get her mind off the troublesome topic of the Desanti.
Chapter 30
THE journey felt like an eternity in the bitter cold of Desantiva's night. In the moons' silvery light, the terrain seemed unchanging, craggy rocks and endless ocean-like swells and depressions frozen in place. The hardy drizzen followed the full male drizar, echoing his shrill challenges into the night. Sometimes, the quiet sounds of an answer floated back.
For all the appearance of lifelessness during the day, the desert teemed with activity as strange animals emerged into the chill, moonlit darkness, singing their songs of mating and challenge to one another. The day-loving humans had long fallen silent; even Storm's pair of suitors who continuously dogged her were subdued, keeping their desert robes pulled close about them against the bitter cold.
As the sun began to cast its soft glow on the horizon, the subtle changes in their surroundings they missed were starkly apparent. Taylin was the one to voice what was on everyone's mind. "My gods," she breathed. "This land makes where we started seem lush!"
Incredulously, Emil peered closely at his scaly, fur-patched mount and squinted. "Is this thing eatin' rocks?"
"Drizzen eat whatever they can find." Storm brought her mount to a stop, reaching forward to thump the broad neck affectionately. The drizar snorted as he stopped short, pawing the ground, and bobbing his head arrogantly. The other drizzen, as if following some unspoken command, all came to an abrupt dead stop in unison, pawing the ground as they snuffed around in their continuous hunt for food. "We will stop here for the day."
"Are you mad, woman?" Sumalen demanded with a snarl, trying to kick his animal to move towards the Swordanzen. The animal bucked in refusal, forcing him to slide off to the ground, bringing a darker color to his already anger-flushed face. He stalked towards Storm. "You were the one who started this fool journey. You want to stop now?! We are losing precious travel time!"
Storm's mount sidled away from Sumalen as she drew one of her single-edged blades, holding it pointed at his heart. "It is not your decision when or where we stop. It is mine. The outlanders are not capable of enduring Desantiva days without rest." Her expression was hard and unflinching. "Even most Desanti are not fool enough to challenge the heat of the Forge directly."
"If they cannot keep up, let them lie where they drop!" Radisen growled in a low voice, looking directly at the three Forentan. "They are not our responsibility."
"They are my responsibility." Eyes narrowed, Storm stated tonelessly, "You were not invited. If you intend to remain, you will do as I say. Otherwise, you have only two choices left to you. Leave. Now. Or die, and I will feed you to the drizzen to stretch our supplies even further." The rest of the group watched the interaction with varying amounts of interest, curiosity, or disgust. The silence stretched out until the drizar shrilled in challenge, angling his metal-capped horns menacingly at the Desanti men.
Holding their hands up, both backed down reluctantly, sullenly going to the pack animals to drag off the large sun shelter. The gypsy-born Emil and Emaris, used to similar travel, dismounted to help them.
"It's like watching two male dogs encountering the same bitch in heat." Emil cleared his throat, pointing behind Mureln after the bard's droll observation. The Vodani's eyes widened as he glanced over his shoulder. Coughing, Mureln turned to look at Storm. "Er, no insult intended, Githalin Swordanzen." He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
A barely perceptible smile touched Storm's lips, though it did not reach her eyes. "Once you have your gear, turn the drizzen loose so they can forage. They will stay near my drizar, and he will remain in sight of me." The wicked beast lowered his head as docile as a gelding to allow Storm to remove his head harness. He remained where he stood obediently until Storm made a gesture away and he suddenly turned and bounded like a northern deer.
At the far end of the group, the Forenten were having considerable difficulty with their mounts. None of the creatures would hold still long enough to permit them a safe dismount. "Senior Apprentice Terrence," Amelana ordered sharply. "Get over here and hold this mangy beast still!"
"I would if I could, Journeyman." Exasperated with Amelana's complete self-centeredness, Terrence struggled to hold onto his unruly drizzen. The animal bucked, forcing the young man to wrap his arms around the thick neck to keep his seat and not be thrown into the sharp rocks surrounding them.
While not having complete success, Ash's years of horsemanship aided in keeping his animal under some semblance of control. Angling his beast to move along side his apprentice's, Ash leaned over to grab the head harness of Terrence's drizzen. The drizzen hissed at the mage malevolently, a wad of spit spattering on Ash's cheek. Grimly silent, Ash said nothing, his hold secure and forcing the animal to calmness. Terrence gratefully slid off and grabbed his gear, backing away from the baleful creature before it kicked him.
Before Amelana could shrill demands at the young man to assist her now, Mureln went over to Amelana and her unhappy beast, crooning a soothing song. Almost at once, the drizzen calmed, its ears flicking forward. Taking hold of the harness, Mureln said cheerfully, "Come on and get down, princess. You have been nominated to take the first turn to prepare the morning meal. Hop to it!"
Amelana's eyes widened with indignant outrage. "What?! How dare you order me around, you-you Vodani peasant!" Without a groom to assist her, Amelana's dismount possessed a decided lack of grace. The snickering from the pair of Sevmanan gypsies only added to her sense of personal insult. "Do you know who I am?"
"There are many words that describe you, defiler." Storm approached to assist with the drizzen. Given her attention to the animals, it was obvious the animals rated more concern than the humans to the Desanti woman
. She removed the harness and saddle from Terrence's animal, tossing him the beast's gear before sending it off after the drizar.
Storm did the same for Amelana's, but the 'toss' forced the Forentan woman to take several steps back on impact. "If you do not want to cook, you do not have to eat, either." The cold look Storm leveled on Amelana almost begged the Forentan woman to give the Swordanzen reason to draw a weapon on her.
The two women glared at each other in silence for the space of a heartbeat. "Master Ash!" Amelana turned suddenly to the mage before he and the bard had completed removing the mage's gear from his mount. Carelessly dropping her gear, she grabbed onto his arm. "You aren't going to let that Desanti dog talk to me like that, are you?"
Unprepared for Amelana's sudden simpering plea, Ash took a few steps back to regain his balance, glaring down at her flushed, upturned face, unmoved by her plight. The mage's silence continued until Amelana turned a deeper red that had little reason to do with the rising sun.
Finally, Amelana drew away, murmuring apologies to Ash for her outburst as she stooped to gather her dropped belongings, and then turned towards the shelter. She cast hateful glares at the snickering mercenaries, throwing her hair over her shoulder as her subservient posture regained her air of superiority.
Mureln flicked a look between Storm and Ash as the pair fixed each other with hate-filled stares. He noticed Terrence staring wide-eyed between them and threw an arm around the young man's shoulders. "Hey, lad, have you ever played Vodani toss stone?" he asked, drawing him away towards the shelter.
