Page 50 of Heart of the Desert

All four of us hurried outside to where Elion waited with the horses. There was no monster or disaster waiting for us though. Just Elion staring at the horizon, shading his eyes from the sun and contemplating the ocean with the look of utmost concern.

“What is it?”

He pointed out over the water. “Something is out there, and it’s coming closer.”

I mirrored his posture, squinting in the direction he indicated. At first, I had the odd impression that distant horses galloped over the water as what looked like the heads of animals bobbed up and down. Then a memory of Prince Calix jovially describing his boat in a palace hallway what seemed like a lifetime ago surfaced.

These were ships.

I tried to count how many there were, but quickly lost track after a dozen, with the way they bobbed strangely on the waves. I did not know how I had mistaken them for horses at first as I watched, their movements not nearly as elegant and fluid as the creatures of the desert.

One thing was clear though—there were too many for the five of us to fight alone. If Erix and I truly unleashed the strength of our power, we might be able to cripple them, but it would buy a pyrrhic victory, likely to annihilate our own little band in the process.

“We can’t let them see us,” I said, my voice quiet despite the fact that the ships would not be close enough to hear me even if I shouted with all the force in my lungs. It was as if some latent instinct reared its head, like a snake in brumation rising from its burrow at the sign of a threat. I was a single exile hiding at my oasis, hoping to escape the notice of a passing clan. But as I had then, I also knew I couldn’t run away. I needed to creep closer. I had to find out why they had come and what their intentions were.

I jerked my head at Erix and the others.

“Take the horses and ride down the beach,” I murmured. “I’ll spy on them and see if I can learn anything.”

Erix shook his head. “There’s no need to risk you being seen. We know it’s Calix. His people used to worship the sea the same way we worship the ocean. It has to be his warriors.”

“Why would they sail to the coast when they can already come through the mountains?” I asked. “I have to know.”

“I agree,” Aderyn cut in. For the first time since the ordeal in the fog, her voice was the clear, commanding tone I had often found so reassuring in Kelvadan. “We have to know everything we can about Calix and his plans. For Kelvadan. Perhaps it is why the desert brought Elion and I this way on our mission to find aid for Kelvadan.”

I nodded at Aderyn. I had come to the ocean to save the desert. All of the desert. If healing the Heart was still a mystery to me, then I would take what chance I could to cripple Calix’s hold on Kelvadan and the grasp he sought to tighten on the clans.

“Go,” I assured Erix. “I’ll be fine. I robbed you once, I know how to remain unseen.”

He frowned. “I caught you.”

“You wouldn’t have if I hadn’t gotten greedy and tried to take your sword. I know better now, and I already have my own blade.” I gestured to the saber at my hip.

He pursed his lips but nodded. I sensed his unease like a nest of vipers in my own belly, but he knew I was right. After a decade of creeping in and out of encampments in the dead of night, I was better suited for stealth. And one person was less likely to be spotted than two.

Quickly, Elion and the group mounted up and turned to ride away along the beach, parallel to where the waves met the shore. I clucked my tongue at Daiti, indicating he should follow, and he put up more of a fuss than Erix did, but eventually followed.

As they disappeared from sight, I found myself a shadowed alcove in the eroding walls of the temple to crouch in. I shoved myself into the smallest possible ball, hiding myself from view behind a toppled pillar where I could just peek out over the top and watch the ships approach.

My heart steadily accelerated as I watched them grow closer to the shore. Large, dark canvases drifted above their elongated shapes, looking like unanchored tents—sails, Calix had called them—to catch the wind.

I understood why I had thought they were creatures at first. Wooden shafts emerged from the sides to propel them through the water, almost like spindly legs, and by now I was sure that they had some sort of animal head engraved on the very foremost point, although it appeared more canine than equine.

Finally, the leading ship bumped against the sandy bottom, shallow enough that the man in the front of the boat was able to vault over the edge and land in knee-deep water.

I didn’t expect to recognize Calix’s agent, although I prepared to feel anger at his presence in my country. It was bad enough that Viltov’s Prince had installed himself in Kelvadan as a false king, but the sands belonged to the clans, and they would not suffer invaders.

Then, a flash of copper hair shone in the sun as a familiar face scowled out at the sandy landscape, and dread rose in my throat.

General Warrick.

I didn’t know what the warrior from Doran was doing on our shores, but the sight of his face made unease wash over me like icy water, despite the blistering heat of the afternoon sun.

Chapter seventeen

Erix

Fire flared under my skin. I could barely hear the conversation around me as I tried to suppress the magic that flared in the wake of my anger.