* * *
Unexpected rain fell on Luna’s face, waking her up like a slap. She shook off the disorientation of finding herself in a strange place. Then she remembered her thirst and opened her mouth to welcome the water drenching her body. After a few sips, she opened her water pouch to catch more rainwater.
The rain ended as suddenly as it had begun, however, leaving her pouch only half full. The sun’s rays broke through the thinning clouds, and what moisture covered the ground quickly evaporated.
Luna checked her bow, arrows, and quiver before moving on.
To her despair, the rain had washed away the tracks left by her tribe! Luna searched frantically for any sign of their trail, even a lone footprint or hoof mark. There was nothing. The rain cleansed the ground as thoroughly as if no one had ever passed.
Panic surged within her chest. She was a warrior, not a tracker. How would she find her tribe now?
Luna thought of staying where she was and waiting for her people or someone else to find her, but she knew that was foolish. No one was coming by. At least not before she died of thirst or starvation.
She shook the hopelessness away. She was a warrior, she reminded herself again, and warriors didn’t sit around waiting to be saved. Luna recalled the direction in which her tribe had traveled the previous day and hoped they hadn’t changed their course. Continuing on the same bearing as before seemed like as good a plan as any. Perhaps she’d pick up their trail again later in the day.
The morning passed without any signs of her tribe. The ground grew uneven, and her progress slowed as she navigated the rougher terrain. Luna began to doubt that her people traveled this way, as the footing was too difficult for the horses and wagons. She veered in another direction until the ground leveled off and then continued on her former course.
By late morning, peaks rose up on her right, and she steered toward them. Thirst parched her throat, and hunger churned through her stomach. She took a sip from her water pouch, not daring to drink too much this time for fear that she wouldn’t find more water before rejoining her tribe.
The terrain grew rockier as she walked. The peaks she had seen earlier turned into mountain ranges. They were too far away for her to reach before the sun set, but Luna headed toward them nonetheless. Without any other landmarks in sight, she believed that her people were as likely to trek toward the mountains as any other destination.
She rested for a moment on a shelf of rock smoothed by the wind, but she didn’t drink from her pouch. Luna scanned the sky. The sun beamed brightly through wisps of clouds. Not a single bird flew through the air. There were no signs of life in the air or on the ground.
Luna didn’t notice until then that the few trees and bushes she had seen earlier had disappeared. There was only rock and sand around her.
Pockets of green dotted the mountains, but they were still hours away.
She tried to imagine her people journeying through her present location, but it no longer made sense. They wouldn’t choose to travel through such barren lands, even if the mountains beyond promised signs of life. Would they?
Luna found it difficult to think straight. The heat and thirst and hunger weighed on her. She could see for miles, yet there was still no sign of her tribe. She couldn’t possibly have fallen so far behind. They must have changed course.
Which meant that Luna might never see them again.
She lay on the slab of rock and closed her eyes. She felt her soul evaporating like vapors under the hot sun, a sacrifice to the sun god himself.
No, she scolded herself, I will not give up. She was still alive, still able to walk. Tyal had died while protecting the tribe from the sand dragon, yet she was spared. Luna didn’t know which god had granted her a second chance, but it would be a shame to throw that gift away so soon.
She forced herself up onto her aching feet and trudged toward the mountains. It was her best promise of life among the barren surroundings.
Less than an hour passed before Luna needed to rest again. The dryness in her mouth grew unbearable, so she risked a gulp from her water pouch. Then she pushed onward.
The base of the nearest mountain slowly steepened, making her journey even more difficult. Her rests came more frequently, as did her longing to drink what little water remained. Occasionally, Luna’s gaze took in the land around her in the faint hope of finding her tribe, but they were still nowhere in sight.
Twilight brought another long rest stop and the last sips of water. Luna was grateful that the air cooled with the disappearing sun. At least one less foe tormented her.
She was nearly to the first plants on the mountain. Luna remembered that plants sometimes gathered dew in the mornings. Some even stored water inside them. With a goal in mind, she stood shakily and staggered forward. With her full strength, she would have reached her destination in minutes, but the hike uphill took an interminably long time and all of her energy.
Luna collapsed beside a bush with green and yellow leaves. It was smaller than she had imagined when she first saw it. More bushes sat farther up the mountain, but her body refused to carry her onward.
Lying on her back, Luna waited to catch her breath before trying to walk again. Instead, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Celestial Page 42
