“A storm,” I breathed.
“That will cover our tracks in the interim. But we need to make haste before they catch up to us.”
We traveled for days, portioning out the rations we’d taken from Nanu, and harvesting from the forest in the mountains for the rest we needed. Noor proved remarkable at knowing which plants to eat and which were djinn-made, which wouldburn us from the inside outas she put it. We ate wild red plums, roots boiled in goat’s milk to remove the bitterness, and mountain scorpions that had found their way into Noor’s bag roasted over the fire. And every day as we moved through the terrain and followed Souma’s route, I repeated the same names like a mantra.
Casildo.
Darbaran.
Vahid.
Mazin.
It kept my feet moving, stopped me from falling to my knees and sobbing into the earth every time I thought about my father’s death.
Because if I stopped moving, if I stopped plotting, I’d have to face the reality of life without him.
Noor and I traveled mostly in silence, and I could sense she was giving me space. At night she adjusted our course by mapping the stars, muttering to herself and taking us on a zigzag path through the mountains.
I spent the evenings sharpening my knife.
Mazin’s pendant hung cold against my chest, and each time it slid under my kurta I took a slow breath.
A reminder.
We camped under the stars for small snatches of time, just in casethe soldiers were still tracking us. Because of that, we never rode a direct route and switched back on ourselves multiple times to confuse our trail.
At last, we came to the other side of the mountains, where enormous boulders littered the ground, making it nearly impossible to travel through.
“We’re here,” Noor said, looking at the rocks as if she could tell each one apart from one another.
“How do you know?”
“Souma gave me the exact location and described this place well. He called it thegraveyard of stone.”
I looked around at the vast space, the formations indeed piled high like tombs. “How are you meant to find anything here?”
“There are clues. Souma gave me a map.”
I shot her a look. “How did you smuggle a map into Thohfsa’s prison?”
“I didn’t.” She tapped her temple. “It’s all in here. Souma made me memorize it.”
Now that we’d reached our destination, her face glowed in the morning light and her eyes shone even brighter.
“You’re happy we’re here,” I said slowly, recognizing the lightness of her steps as she moved through the boulders.
“I finally get to see Souma’s life savings.” She shot me a smile. “The treasure he hid from the world.”
“And confirm that he trusted you with it, over everyone?”
Noor met my eyes, her smile fading. “Yes, that’s part of it too.”
The treasure could be anywhere, and navigating this type of geography would be impossible. We could be overturning rocks looking for this mystical djinn treasure for the rest of our lives.
I chewed on my bottom lip, shielding my eyes from the sun. “What else did Souma say?”
“That there was a spot where four stone tombs stood in a row. Near that was a cave invisible to the eye.”
