Page 16 of Heart of the Desert

I reached out toward Aderyn, grabbing her arm and trying to haul her up, to little avail. She shook her head and panted.

“Elion… hit on the head. I think he’s unconscious.”

“I’m climbing down,” Dhara declared instantly, unstrapping her weapons so they wouldn’t weigh her down.

Hooves sounded behind me, the horses having followed now that the ground was still. Erix took over helping Aderyn and I jumped to my feet, quickly grabbing a rope from my pack. Dhara had already begun sliding down the sloped ground toward the edge of the cliff, as if prepared to dive into the abyss with no aid.

I stopped her just in time with a hand on her shoulder as I fell to my knees at the edge once more. She glared at me as if to scold me for stopping her, apparently having been planning on relying on the strength of her grip alone, but I handed her the end of the rope.

“Daiti and I will pull you back up,” I promised.

She nodded sharply and quickly tied the cord around her waist. Then, she levered herself over the edge. While there was still slack on the rope, I quickly stood and clicked my tongue. Daiti, seemingly recovered from the scare of the earthquake, obediently approached, and I quickly tied the other end to the makeshift harness I used to attach my packs to his back.

Task completed, I stilled. Long moments stretched, marked by Aderyn’s labored breathing as she tried to hold on, and the patter of pebbles continuing to rain down into the newly formed gully in the earth. I racked my brain for something else I could do to help Dhara get Elion over the edge of the cliff before he dragged Aderyn to certain death.

Then, Dhara’s voice drifted up from below, strained as if cursing to herself in frustration.

“You giant idiot.”

Another moment of shuffling followed, punctuated by a much louder call. “I’ve got him. You can let go.”

Aderyn grunted in relief as Elion’s wrist slipped from her fingers. She reached toward Erix, who already stretched down to grab both her forearms and haul her up to safety. I clucked to Daiti, who began to back up obediently, slowly towing Dhara and Elion up. His feet were sure, and his muscles bunched with immense strength under his silky coat.

Once again, I fell to my knees at the edge of the incline as Dhara came back into view. She had managed to loop one of Elion’s arms over her shoulders and had him halfway draped across her back as her other arm looped around his thigh. His head lolled and a trickle of blood ran down his temple.

As soon as I could reach them, I grabbed his other arm, and Dhara and I dragged him to safety. Even as I got Elion over the edge and laid him on his back next to where Aderyn sat slumped and gasping, I winced at the ripped skin on Dhara’s elbows and the crimson stains on the knees of her loose pants.

Finally, she made it to flat ground and collapsed, so all of us lay and sat scattered about in various postures of relief.

I leaned over to check on Elion, who was now blinking sluggishly. He was conscious but clearly dazed from the blow that had left him unable to climb to safety himself. Dhara crawled over to look him over as well.

Aderyn, seemingly having recovered some of her strength, spoke. “I nearly fell in when the ground collapsed. He was trying to help me up when the rock fell and hit his head. I barely managed to catch him when he went over.” Her voice was hoarse

“You’re lucky we heard your scream when we did.” Erix reached for his water flask and handed it to Aderyn.

She took a grateful swig and swished it around in her mouth before spitting it out. It was reddish brown with dust she’d inhaled in her fall.

“You saved me.” Lord Elion said. He had turned his head and was looking at Lord Dhara, although his eyes were still mildly unfocused.

She folded her arms over her chest and looked away. “I wouldn’t have had to if you learned how to duck. You’re lucky we got here when we did.”

With the immediate crisis averted, her words made me frown. “How… how did we get here? We were riding in opposite directions.”

Erix and I exchanged a glance, and the deep frown he wore echoed my own confusion.

Aderyn pursed her lips. “We haven’t intentionally been following in the rising sun, but our horses seem to have been favoring that direction. We don’t know where the other clans might have gone, so we have been letting the desert guide our mounts.”

Elion groaned and sat up. For how dazed he had been, he seemed relatively steady. When he reached up to gingerly touch his head though, his fingers still came away crimson. “Perhaps the desert knew we would need help today and granted us a boon.”

I huffed. “Why would she do us such a favor while trying to destroy us with monsters and disasters?”

“Women are fickle creatures,” Elion observed. “I don’t try too hard to puzzle out their motives, or I might give myself a headache.”

Despite the direness of the situation, Erix snorted and Dhara sniffed.

“I’m pretty sure the headache you have now is due to a fast-moving rock to the skull more than anything else,” I pointed out.

Elion grimaced. “I don’t think I’m fit to do any more riding today. Perhaps we can make camp together while we puzzle out why the desert brought us together again.”