Page 112 of Crown of the Dunes

“We normally are,” I pointed out. It was generally a pleasant truth of our rides together. We did not need words to understand each other, and I had enjoyed the soothing presence of her company even when there was no conversation between us. Even our morning katas that we did together when traveling were done in silence, the matching of our breaths and the tandem flow of magic around us joining us in a way words never could.

Keera’s eyes narrowed, but I just shrugged. This silence between us was different—heavier. I hadn’t seen her since I had left her sleeping in her room after her engagement party. There was just so much I couldn’t say, because at the end of the day, she was marrying somebody else. She had to, for Kelvadan’s sake. Just like I had to do many of the awful things I had done for the sake of the desert whose Heart I had sworn to return.

“The entrance to the tricrith lair was near the base of the mountains,” I said, instead of mentioning any of that.

Keera nodded. “What’s the plan?”

“Don’t die.”

“That’s rather ambitious.”

Despite the gravity of the situation and the dead weight of my heart in my chest, heavy as a stone, my lips twitched. “We know their weak spots are in the gaps between the armor and their mouth,” I pointed out. “We’ll do what we’ve always done. We take turns distracting it while the other aims for its vulnerabilities.”

“Distracting it will be more dangerous this time,” Keera argued. “One scratch from their stingers and it’s over. And in case you don’t remember, they have three tails, and there are only two of us.”

“Then I’ll handle two, and you handle the other one, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Keera shot me a hard look that indicated she didn’t appreciate my flippancy. “Considering I’ve landed the killing blow on the last three terrors of the desert we’ve faced, maybe I should take two of them.”

“You’ve only been able to take those killing shots because I’ve been such a thorough distraction,” I argued.

I could sense the way she prickled, her shoulders drawing up toward her ears, and I reveled in it. It was like peeling back the layers of the veneer she had painted herself with during the months in the city to get to the wild and untamed woman beneath. I closed my eyes, stopping myself and clenching my fists.

She was a queen now, and I had sworn to her I would not let her fail at it.

“All I’m saying,” Keera continued, “is that we don’t need to take any unnecessary risks. We don’t need to kill a tricrith. We just need its venom. If we manage to cut off one of its tails, it will have a stinger and venom in it, which should be all we need.”

I tilted my head. The idea had merit.

“All right. Once we find one, we will try to sneak around behind it and relieve it of its stinger.”

She squared her shoulders and nodded, before we continued the ride in silence, plodding along in the shadow of the mountains. Finally, a dark spot became visible on the ground in the distance. I recognized the burrowing hole that I had identified from the bestiary as being an entrance to the tricrith’s lair.

It grew from a small dark splotch to a gash in the earth as we approached. We stopped before it, dismounting from our horses and standing with our toes brushing the point where the ground began sloping down into the shadowed abyss. The air shifted beside me, and I glanced over to see a shudder pass over Keera’s body.

I echoed the sentiment. The open sky, stretching endlessly in every direction, barely even interrupted by clouds, was one of my favorite parts of the desert. Staring up at it was often my greatest comfort—the exact opposite of the stone cell that plagued my nightmares. But the idea of descending below ground went against every instinct I had.

“I brought torches,” I said, turning to Alza and retrieving one pack from her back. “That should help us navigate in the darkness.”

Keera chewed her lips and nodded. “We’ll get in, we will get what we need, and we’ll get out.”

I hummed my agreement. “I’m ready when you are.”

Keera spared a glance over her shoulder at Alza and Daiti, who hovered just behind us. Daiti’s nostrils flared, and he pawed at the ground nervously, kicking up dust. He clearly liked the look of the tunnel as little as we did.

“Stay,” Keera ordered. Then she squared her shoulders and marched forward into the darkness. I steeled myself against the cold dread slithering up my spine, insidious and quiet as a snake, and I followed.

The air grew cool as the earth sloped down. The sand underfoot only slipped slightly, packed tightly by the tricriths’ burrowing bodies. In the increasingly dim light, I could just make out Keera pushing her hood back from her face before me. She tilted her head up, and I followed her gaze, taking in the round passage that had been cut into the earth.

After just a few minutes of walking, the sun from the entrance could no longer penetrate the blackness, so thick it was nearly tangible. I fished a torch from the pack in my hand. Holding it before me, I found a thread of magic and pulled.

The torch flared to life with so much force, I almost dropped it, and it nearly exploded in my hand. Keera looked over her shoulder at the bright flash of light, and I grimaced as I breathed out slowly through my nose, forcing the flame to settle into a small, steady light.

With my control leashed once more, I held up the torch to light our way, and we continued walking.

“How deep do these tunnels go?” she wondered aloud.

“They might connect the whole desert, for all we know,” I admitted. “They could allow the tricriths to traverse long distances and only burst through the ground when they have found their prey, like they did at the funeral.”