Page 82 of Blood of the Sands

For some reason, that irked me too.

I rolled out my sleeping mat on a soft patch of earth, and he did the same. We were both quiet as we went about our evening activities, him sharpening his weapons and me working on mending a rip in my shirt I had acquired when Erix tackled me to the ground the night before. We had been mostly quiet as we rode as well, but for some reason the silence now seemed thicker.

After the sun had set, Erix laid down on his mat on the other side of the fire—I had left the lighting to him—and I squinted at his outlined form. He was still fully dressed, including his gloves and the strange mask. I still hadn’t been able to puzzle out its purpose.

“I won’t look,” I found myself saying.

A rustle sounded on the other side of the fire, but I stared straight up at the sky to prove my honesty.

“At what?”

“If you want to take your mask off, I promise I won’t look at you.”

There was a moment of stillness, and then a slow, deliberate rustling. I hoped he had taken advantage of my offer, but true to my word, I didn’t look over to check.

His words drifted across the fire so quietly that I thought I might have imagined them.

“Thank you.”

I rolled onto my side, facing away from the fire, to avoid the temptation to look into those striking metallic eyes of his. Instead, I found them in my dreams.

My eyes fluttered open, and my muscles filled with the languid energy that only comes from a long, restful sleep. I stretched luxuriously, keeping my eyes closed against the pale light that indicated dawn.

Movement that I felt in my bones more than heard made me look around for the source of the flowing energy. A way away along the bank of the oasis stood Erix, flowing through his forms just as I had found him several nights before. I watched for only a few moments before grabbing my own saber from where it had lain at my side as I slept.

He didn’t react as I joined him. I fell into rhythm with his movements, breathing his breaths as if they were my own. My movements flowed even more easily than before. Part of me kept waiting for the swell of power within me, a fraying of the edges of my identity, but it never came. Out here in the quiet of the wilderness, kept company only by the light morning breeze, my soul remained calm.

We finished in unison, ending in the traditional pose with our hands clasped on the hilts of our sabers before us, tips pointed directly at the ground. Finally, Erix looked over at me, and we stood together in perfect stillness for a moment.

In an instant of pure instinct, I rapped my knuckles to my brow as I would in respect to Aderyn or another teacher. I froze, but to my surprise, Erix returned the gesture. Then he turned toward our makeshift camp, moving to pack up and tend the horses.

“We should hunt before we go further,” he said by way of good morning.

I nodded. In my haste, I had only taken what meager supplies Neven had gathered for me. After months of regular meals, the thought of going without made my heart quicken.

We walked back to our small camp, and Erix grabbed the bow I had seen him use during the hunt in the Trials from his packs. fished out my sling and a pouch of rocks I had gathered. Erix stared at the crude weapon in my hands, but I shrugged.

“Rocks are easier to come by than arrows.”

“I’ll teach you how to use a bow,” he offered.

“Once again, you volunteer to teach a warrior who is to be on the opposite side of a war from you. I wonder if you are as effective as all the tales say,” I observed.

“And once again, I say you might end up joining the clans by the time I am done teaching you.”

I looked away from him, turning to count the rocks in my pouch. The truth of the matter was that, while I loved Kelvadan, and I found myself missing Neven and Aderyn dearly, being back out in the wilds was a balm to my soul. Under the stars, with Erix the only other human around for miles, I’d slept the best I had in months.

“Let’s get hunting so we can move on,” I urged, not wanting to continue down my mental path. With that, I tucked my sling into my sash and slung my saber across my back.

We both mounted our horses, Daiti seeming happy to stretch his legs without the chafing of packs tied to his back. Without a word, we set out. We would not have to go far to find prey, as they would be drawn to the water of the oasis, even if we had scared them away briefly with our presence. Erix’s falcon joined us, perching familiarly on his gloved arm before flying off in search of small game.

We made our way toward a rock formation where nooks and crannies would give wildlife a place to make their homes. The air here was thick, and an odd earthy scent raised the hairs on my arms. We hadn’t gone far when we heard it—an eerie hissing and spitting like a caracal in heat.

I whirled around, but it was too late.

“Keera!”

Daiti reared, turning on his back legs to avoid the black and white blur that leaped from a nearby boulder. I slipped backward but managed to squeeze my legs tight enough at the last second to avoid falling to the ground.