Page 19 of Crown of the Dunes

Screaming in my head drowned out everything around me, but for the first time since carving the chasm into the earth, I didn’t fight them. They washed over me like a sandstorm, and while my vision narrowed to the monster before me, my awareness stretched the confines of my skull.

This time, when I leaped, I anticipated the creature’s turn, trying to position its injured wing behind it. Power coursed through me as I flew impossibly high, swinging my saber with both hands in a decisive arc at the base of its neck.

The blow reverberated up my body, shocks running through every joint from my fingers to my shoulders as my sword struck bone. Instead of the give of flesh and cartilage under my razor-sharp sword, it was as if I had struck stone.

My blade skittered to the side, over the exposed vertebrae of the skeletal bird, and wedged between two boney protrusions where its neck met its shoulders.

The creature’s cry of rage and pain barely cut through the clamoring in my mind. My world shifted dizzily, a swirl of sand and sky as the creature reared, lifting me higher in the air as I clung to the handle of the sword stuck in its joint.

I kicked my feet, trying to find purchase I could use as leverage to pry my weapon loose. A sound like thunder split the air as the monster spread its wings with a snap. Joints shifted beneath me, keeping me from getting a foothold as the creature pumped its massive wings once, twice.

My stomach dropped as we took to the sky. My feet dangled in the air as I swung precariously from the handle of my sword. I gripped the pommel so hard that it would leave imprints on my hands through my gloves, strain shooting through my forearms as I tried not to be knocked lose by the jostling of wings.

I had flown through the air before, but only briefly and under the power of the desert. That experience was much more like riding a horse—wild and free and exhilarating—and one of the only times I felt in control.

This was the opposite of that—the overwhelming and untethered feeling of falling into the well of the desert’s power with nothing to ground you.

The monster lurched with another mighty heave of its wings, bouncing me hard enough to nearly dislocate my shoulder. The searing pain in my muscles was enough to give me an anchor in the swirling of both the power in my skull and the world around me. I zeroed in on it, letting it clear the shouting in my head enough to come up with a plan.

Pulling my sword from the creature—now the only thing keeping me from falling to my death—was no longer a viable option. I had to get in a more secure position.

I chanced a glance down, only for my heart to jump into my throat at the sight far below us: the horses and clansmen scurrying around in terror looking tiny compared to the dark gash encircling the encampment, and the even more endless stretch of the desert beyond.

I refocused on the pain in my shoulders, letting that drown out any hints of fear and apprehension in my mind as I began to swing back and forth. The creature screamed, clearly unhappy with the strain it put on the sword embedded in its joint, but I did not halt. Instead, I redoubled my efforts, needing to find a more secure position before it shook me loose. I forced myself to swing higher, swaying precariously back and forth twice more before lifting myself with an almighty heave.

With a grunt, I managed to hook one leg over the base of the creature’s wing. The bony prominence of its shoulder dug into my thigh, and I let that pain feed my consciousness too, giving me the control I needed to unravel the knot of power thrumming violently in my head and find the string that would lift me atop the creatures back.

With the aid of the desert’s power, I clambered over its wing, swinging my other leg over so I now sat with my thighs cradled in the dip between its wings and neck.

If I could just get my sword free, I could drive it into the space between vertebrae—and then hope I could survive the uncontrolled descent of its death throes.

I squeezed my legs around its spine and yanked on the handle of my saber, my palms sweat-slick inside my leather gloves. The creature heaved under me, my stomach leaping at the sudden change in momentum as it swerved toward the side the blade was embedded in, nearly dislodging me.

The sword didn’t budge. I yanked again, and the creature swerved to the left again, as if being pulled by my actions.

I frowned. I had heard tell of people from beyond the mountains using some sort of bridle to direct their horses, as opposed to subtle shifts of weight and the seeming sixth sense of mounts in the Ballan Desert.

Despite the pounding of my heart in my ears, a thought—an idea laced with insane hope—took shape in my mind.

Steeling myself, I kept hold of my saber with one hand, using the other to unwind the length of fabric that served as a hood from my shoulders. As quickly as I could with only one hand, I formed it into a loop, holding the loose ends in my fist.

Wind tugged at my uncovered hair, whipping it around in the stiff current of the creature’s wings. I fought against it, hooking the loop around the bony prominence of the monster’s shoulder joint on the opposite side of my sword.

With a silent prayer that the desert would reward my madness for once, I gave the hood an experimental tug.

My heart leapt as the creature swerved toward the pull, even as I had to redouble my grip to not fall to my death. I took a chance and looked toward the ground, still feeling the height like a punch in the gut, despite being more prepared for it this time.

The curling smoke of the bonfires was far off to the creature’s right after our chaotic careening through the sky. I tugged on the makeshift reins around the bird’s right shoulder, hauling on it as hard as I could until it veered toward the encampment.

It shrieked in protest, the sound echoing through its body and reverberating in my chest so forcefully it rattled my ribcage. Still, it was forced to acquiesce to my strength.

The encampment reappeared in my sights below.

Sands.

I had to land.

As the encampment approached, I tried to reason with myself that if Keera could ride a beast as wild as Daiti, then I could conquer this mount.