Azra of the Burning Sands (Genesis Project) (8 page)

‘You must know these things, for there are people out there who hate us just because we exist... you must know how to defend yourself my daughter...’

-King Hadrian Minna, to Kialandria, when she was young, and didn’t want to do no more stupid sword training anyway

ZHARIN FORTRESS – BAZRA DESERT – HALLI

W
ith the revelation of the King Hadrian’s plans, in the event that Azra couldn’t retrieve his daughter, the Raiders began to look nervously at each other. They had always thrived on fluid warfare, and the fact that they were never a bigger threat than any of the other warring Kingdoms. Azra smiled a little at their nervousness and pushed his advantage.

‘I don’t know how powerful you are, but I think even
you
would have difficulty facing down all the court Wyzards the King would use in the attack. You also know, as well as I do, that your friends here are not made for siege warfare. They took more losses than they should have when they laid siege to my city. They aren’t going to live through
this.’

Azra could see the disdain Shakla had for his men, and guessed he wouldn’t care if they all died, so long as he got his goal.

Azra looked to the ones holding Kia and said, ‘What did he promise you when you agreed to serve him? Fabulous treasure? Power? Hard to enjoy those things when your carcase is being pulled apart by the beasts that live in these burning sands.’

A Raider with a neatly trimmed beard, and striking blue eyes stepped forward, towards Shakla, and hissed, ‘My lord, let the girl go. You could command the snake to stay with her.’ He gestured towards the serpent that was still coiled around Kia’s leg. ‘This way you can keep Azra in line.’

Shakla was silent, thinking.

Azra could feel the tension building in the room.

Shakla let out a low hiss, his eyes narrow, looking towards the Raider who had made the suggestion. 'Amahl, you would be wissse not to quessstion me.’ Shakla turned to Azra, and snarled, ‘The quessstion you need to ask, dear Asssra, is whether you think your King can afford to be in thisss battle. He isss at war after all. It would be a ssshame if hisss enemiesss took advantage of his dissstraction.’             

Shakla nodded at the two Raiders holding Azra. They undid his chains.

‘You may go, Asssra, but you had bessst be quick. Otherwissse you may have no Kingdom to return to.’

‘Just let me say goodbye.’

Shakla looked at the two, and then nodded. He rose up from his seat and began to walk away.

Azra walked up to Kia. ‘I’ll be back for you,’ he promised.

‘I know, Uncle.’

‘Just don’t do anything too rash.’

Azra reach around Kia and hugged her. She couldn’t return the favour because of her shackled hands. Azra withdrew and held her hands.

‘Stay safe,’ he said.

As he pulled away, Kia clenched her hands tight, making sure the guards didn’t see the folded piece of paper he had slipped into her hands. As they watch Azra go, Kia quickly stuffed the paper into her clothing, and then let the Raiders lead her away.

*

BAZRA DESERT – HALLI

I
n a whirlwind of blue flame, Azra appeared outside camp. John was on his feet, and started to walk towards the Baron. His men were waiting in position around the cave entrance.

‘The Princess?’ John asked.

‘Still in the sorcerer’s Possession. He told me what he wants though,’ Azra sighed.

‘And?’ John asked expectantly.

‘He wants something that he says came to this world three thousand yehvs ago. He said that a race called the Nehhom would know where it was,’ Azra said.

‘The Nehhom? What world are
they
on?’ John asked curiously.

‘Here. He said they dwell beneath the waves.’

John looked at him in disbelief. ‘And he wants
you,
a noble of a province that is almost entirely desert, to look for them? What do you plan to do?’

‘I plan to look for them. If he wants to talk to them,
I
want to know why.’

‘What about the Princess?’

‘I managed to slip her a map of the fortress. I found it in the library at Sallock.’

‘What good will a map do her if she’s in a cell?’ John asked.

‘She’s resourceful. I think she’ll find a way out. I want you to wait here. If she manages to make it out, you’ll need to get her back to Jarridon as fast as you can, and wait for the Sorcerer’s counter-attack. King Hadrian will be mustering his forces at Jarridon for his attack on the Raider’s fortress. I think with his forces, we’d be able to hold off anything the sorcerer throws at us.’

‘How long do we wait?’ John asked.

‘Until I get back,’ Azra said, and then vanished away in a whirlwind of blue fire.

John let out a sigh, and walked back to the men.

*

ZHARIN FORTRESS – DUNGEON

Kia was back in her cell. The snake had uncoiled itself from her leg and was in the far corner. Kia couldn’t make it out very well, but saw the reflection of the dim light in its eyes. It hissed softly.

Kia had waited for quite some time before her nerves settled down and she unfolded the paper she had got from her Uncle. It was hard to read with only the light from the hallway filtering in from the bars in the door, but she had realized quickly what it was.

It was a map, not of the whole fortress, but of a route from the dungeon to a passageway somewhere else.

It must be my escape route
, she thought hopefully.

From what she had noticed since being held prisoner, there was only one way into the cell block – a door at the end of the hallway. There were no guards in this part of the dungeon.
They
were all on the other side of that far door. With only one way in or out, it seemed like a good way of keeping her trapped.

Kia heard the door leading to the dungeon click unlocked. Scrambling, she folded up the map quickly, and hid it as best she could. She heard the far door being locked again.

Footsteps came down the hall, and she saw the face of a Raider outside her door. He had a scraggly beard, and a heavily tanned complexion. His face had a number of scars on it.

The Raider unlocked her door and opened it. He stood in the door way looking down at her. He didn’t say anything.

She stayed where she was and kept looking at him.

An uncomfortable amount of time passed.

‘Our people are in danger of being all killed because of
you.
The Sorcerer treats us like cattle.’

Kia blinked and said quietly, ‘I’m sorry. I don’t want to be here anyway.’

‘You’re
sorry?’
the Raider said, softly.

Kia nodded slowly.

‘You’re
sorry
?’ he said again, his voice rising. ‘You say you’re
sorry
, but you, a
Princess,
never would care about the likes of
us
. Our suffering means nothing to
you!
We
mean
nothing!
When our people bled under the yoke of our oppressors, the nobles of the Kingdoms we turned to for help did nothing! You are
all
alike. You treat the commoners like rubbish, you think the world revolves around
you,
and you care not about the cost your lifestyles have on people!’

The snake hissed from the corner, and began to uncoil itself.

‘The Sorcerer thinks he can just come from nowhere and make us his servants?’ the raider snarled, as he pulled a curved sword from his belt. ‘He thinks he can
own
us? We are no one’s
slaves!
And we will
not
be anyone’s slaves
ever
again! He promised us vengeance on the royals of this world. I’m
not
going wait for him to start on that mission. I will start it myself, here and now!’

The snake slithered between the Raider and Kia, and then raised its head to the height of the Raider’s waist, letting out another hiss.

The Raider glared at the serpent, and his eyes flashed with anger. His sword struck quickly, and the snake’s head left its body.

It fell to the ground.

The Raiders eyes went back to Kia.

‘The Sorcerer wants to keep you alive. That’s too bad. A life has been lost by his snake, and a life must be
paid.
Blood for blood. It is the Code.’

The Raider stepped towards Kia. She scrambled back to the corner and watched as the man raised his sword. Kia felt a small stone under her hand. Her fingers wrapped around it, and she threw it at the Raider.

He saw it coming and dodged his head aside, then glared down at her with unmitigated hate in his eyes. He raised his sword again, but suddenly let out a yelp. His eyes rolled back and he tumbled backward.

Kia stared in wonderment at the snake – now whole again – retracting its fangs from the Raider’s ankle.

Kia sat in silence, gazing fearfully at the snake for some time.

She heard someone try the door at the end of the hall. When they couldn’t get it open, she heard pounding.

Kia went to the body of the Raider, and retrieved his sword. She searched him for keys, and found a ring with several, big bronze ones on it Kia tried them in the shackle around her ankle. She found one that worked, and the shackle clicked open. Kia was up in an instant, looking warily at the snake.

It stared back.

The young Princess took a step towards the door to the cell. The snake got out of her way. As she went into the hall, the snake followed.

It doesn’t seem to care that I’m escaping.

Kia went to the door at the end of the grimy, grey, hallway. Someone was still pounding on the door, making it quiver. Kia could hear shouting too.

Her heart hammered in her chest.

She backed a few paces away and took some deep breaths. She held the sword in a two handed grip in front of her. As much as she would
love
to have her bow, it wouldn’t be very useful in
this
kind of fighting. Thankfully her Father had insisted
all
his children be trained with a sword.

Kia hated to admit that she wasn’t very good.

Plus the sword she had was unlike the ones she had trained with.

She just hoped she was good enough.

The pounding stopped.

Kia heard a scraping noise. Then, with a click, the door unlocked. With an abrupt movement, it flew open, and two Raiders stepped in, wrapped in their desert garb, only their eyes showing. The men – one taller and broader than the other – appeared shocked at seeing Kia, standing at the ready, sword in her hands.

The Raiders hesitated.

‘Where is Ona? He was supposed to deliver your meal, but he never took it in,’ the tall one asked, drawing his own sword. ‘Return to your cell and you won’t be harmed.’

‘Ona is dead. The Sorcerer’s snake killed him when he tried to kill me... just like Rathet!’

The shorter, narrower, Raider said something under his breath. Then he studied Kia carefully and said, ‘Lower the sword, and return to your cell. You cannot make it out of this fortress.’

Kia took a step back. They were between her and the way out, but she didn’t feel confident enough to rush them.

Suddenly, the decision was made for her, as the tall one charged forward. He had the pommel held high, looking as though he wanted to just club her down. She moved to block, but the sword dug into the wall. They hallway was narrower than she anticipated.

She heard a hiss, and saw the snake shoot towards the tall Raider. The man tried to stop his charge, and threw up his arms. The snake bit him on the forearm and he staggered backwards. He fell down and curled up on the ground, beginning to convulse.

Kia looked away from the horrific sight.

The shorter man stared at the snake in disbelief. Then he looked at Kia. He started to back slowly out the door.

Kia took a step forward, and the snake regarded her noiselessly, but didn’t try to stop her. Kia left the hall and found herself in the guard room outside the dungeon. There were two other guards here, plus the short, narrow, man from the hallway. The other two, dressed like their companion, drew swords and went next to him.

The new Raiders were taller than Shorty, and one of them was fat.

Talls, Shorty, and Fatty,
Kia thought to herself.

‘Go get the Sorcerer! His snake attacked Ona and Tam. We can’t touch her,’ Shorty barked at Talls and Fatty.

Kia realized what this meant, and started to walk towards them. Talls put his sword away and took off running out the room, into the fortress. Kia raised her sword and ran towards Shorty and Fatty. Fatty got in her way and stood between her and the door. She swung her sword and he parried the blow. Like a whisper, the snake was upon him and dug its fangs into his plump foot.