Legacy of the Blood (The Threshold Trilogy) (23 page)

The rescue party arose with the dawn and prepared to leave the
port city immediately. They loaded their supplies on the horses and strapped on
the hoof supports that made desert travel less uncomfortable for the animals.

The innkeeper was kind enough to show them how to put on their
brown robes, but he gave a constant stream of warnings as he did so.

“The storms give little warning before they strike. There is
little shelter in the desert, so you will probably not be able to hide before
the first storm hits. And the storms last for many days. If you do not have
proper provisions, you will starve before it is safe to venture outside again.
It would be much better for you to stay here in Jame until after the storms
have passed. My inn is comfortable, and we have plenty of room for you here.
There are underground tunnels between this building and the stables, so your
horses would be safe as well. Animals that are not accustomed to the storms do
poorly in such an environment, but my stables would keep them quite comfortable.”

Adesina was beginning to lose her patience. Mar’sal, who was
standing closest to her, seemed to recognize her expression and quickly
intervened.

“Thank you for your concern. It truly touches our hearts that you
would take such interest in strangers. Unfortunately, our path is set and our
fate is in the hands of the Creator.”

The proprietor appeared to be caught off guard by this sudden
declaration of faith, and he did not argue with it. After all, a man’s beliefs
were his own.

“I do not doubt that your god will favor you. I just fear that you
are tempting fate by riding into such hazardous circumstances.”

The man said no more, but walked away muttering darkly to himself.

“Thank you,” said Adesina quietly. “I was afraid that I would say
something rude if he did not cease his warnings.”

Mar’sal gave a sunny smile. “He meant well.”

“I do not doubt that,” she replied, “but that does not mean that I
was taking it well.”

The group chuckled and gathered up the last of their belongings.
The sun was still low on the horizon, but the heat of the day was already
climbing past comfort.

They mounted their horses, waved farewell to their host, and began
riding south. The city was densely situated, and the buildings came to an end
quite suddenly. The desert stretched out before them in an endless landscape of
brown.

The ground was parched, but still firm. Adesina had expected there
to be more sand now that they were entering the wilderness of Zonne. There was
a sparse amount of plant life, mostly scrub brush and cacti, but the most
noticeable variations in the landscape were the rock formations.

There were no mountains or hills anywhere close by, but there were
occasionally low outcroppings of rock that took interesting shapes. Some of
them were as tall as Adesina as she sat on Torith’s back, but most of them were
closer to the ground.

Ravi viewed their surroundings with sad eyes. “This land still
bears the scars of the Final Battle.”

Faryl turned to him in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“The last and fiercest battle of the Great Wars was fought on Zonne.
The fighting grew so severe that the land itself began to die. That is why this
entire nation is wasteland.”

Adesina also surveyed the landscape with sorrow. She could sense
the desolation that had been wrought beyond what was visible.

“The Great Wars ended centuries ago. Why has the it not
recovered?” asked Kendan.

“The land almost died completely,” Ravi explained. “There was only
the tiniest flickering of life left when the battle ended. The fact that there
are plants and animals living here is an indication of how far it has come
since then.”

“What happens when land dies?” inquired Faryl.

Adesina had a brief vision pass before her eyes. She saw a bare
section of earth where no plant could grow, and no animal could live. The soil
was colorless and barely more than dust.

“It cannot support life, no matter how small,” answered Adesina.
“It becomes…nothing.”

Ravi turned his bi-colored eyes to her. “That is correct.”

A somber silence followed her statement. After a moment, she
cleared her throat and changed the subject.

“Maizah, what do you see?”

The Tracker’s vision opened up to view Zonne as if from the sky.
It looked like a golden creature swimming in the sapphire sea. The vision
swooped downward to narrow the focus of her search. The golden color of the
land became muted to the brown that currently surrounded them, and the harsh
features of the terrain became apparent.

Three figures traveled at a steady pace on the backs of camels.
The animals plodded along, swaying back and forth, and the riders only moved in
accordance with the motion of travel.

The last figure was L’iam. He still wore the black robes and grey
mask that she had last seen him in. The mask bore a scar from where it had been
split, but the wolfish features were still intact.

Adesina’s heart leapt to her throat and she struggled to fight
down tears. How she desperately wished she could simply reach out and touch
him. She also felt a surge of concern for her husband’s health. Wearing such
dark colors in the heat of the desert could result in a number of alarming
situations.

The two leading figures wore the local robes of the Zonnese in the
same brown color of the L’avan apparel. One of them sat on the camel with ease,
and appeared to be searching for landmarks. That had to be the guide that had
been hired to take them through the desert.

The remaining figure was Basha. Her face was covered to protect
her from the dust in the air, and her arms were folded tightly across her
chest. She scowled fiercely at the horizon, and Adesina could sense her
frustration as clearly as if they were standing side by side.

The landscape they traveled through was vastly different from
where the L’avan rode. It fitted Adesina’s original idea of a desert—vast sand
dunes and no plant life.

“How far away are they?” she asked Maizah.

The vision jumped away from the three figures and tracked
backwards to where the rescue party was located. Adesina calculated the
distance to get an estimate of how far they were from their goal.

“About two days,” murmured Ravi.

Maizah indicated her agreement.

“We have not made much progress,” said Adesina in disappointment.

Mar’sal immediately disagreed. “Not much progress? Of course we
have. When we left Emerald Harbor we were almost a week behind them, and now we
have narrowed the distance to a mere two days.”

Than’os nodded in support of his optimistic friend. “You must not
lose hope, Adesina. We will catch up to them, and before those desert storms
hit.”

As the sun rose higher in the sky, the group of travelers came to
a halt. They had been advised to stop during the hottest hours of the day and
rest, and then make up for lost time by traveling into the night.

They erected a flimsy sort of pavilion to shade the horses and
gave them water and the special feed that would sustain their stamina in the
harsh environment. Adesina gave Torith a rubdown, helping him to relax after
the hard exercise of the morning.

The robes that the travelers wore doubled as personal tents.
Than’os showed them how to prop them up so they would be shaded while they
napped. Faryl handed out rations of food, water, and salt pellets, and they all
retreated to their makeshift tents to rest.

Adesina bit into the small cake she had been given. It was
surprisingly hard to chew, and her jaw ached before too long. The taste was
bland, but it was quite filling. She hadn’t expected her hunger to be satisfied
with such a small portion, but it was.

She swallowed the salt pellets, knowing that her body would need
it after all of the heat and sweat, and then she drank half of her portion of
water. Adesina was aware that water would be their most precious supply, and
she intended to make it last as long as possible.

The young L’avan closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off
to sleep.

***

She knew she was Dreaming before she finished crossing over from
the physical world. She opened her eyes and studied her surroundings.

Adesina was standing in the middle of a vast desert—one filled
with an endless ocean of sand. Her feet were slightly unsteady beneath her, and
she shifted to gain better footing.

“Ma’eve,” came a voice from behind her.

She didn’t need to turn to know that it was Ravi. The connection
of their minds seemed even stronger in the Dream world.

“I have never seen a desert in my Dreams before,” she commented
idly.

“You have never been to Zonne before,” responded her guardian.
“This land, much like the ancient forests of Sehar, invokes a special kind of
vyala
.”

The young woman furrowed her brow. “I thought you said that the
land was almost dead.”

“It bears the scars of great magic,” he explained, “and that has
left it forever changed.”

There was an eerie feeling as Adesina looked around. “We are not
alone.”

She and Ravi were the only creatures in sight, but she still knew
that she was right.

The Rashad inclined his head. “There are many Souls in the Great
Desert.”

Adesina could hear the distinction in his voice and raised an
eyebrow. “Souls?”

“Everything that has
vyala
has a soul, but those with Souls
are creatures of magic. The L’avan have Souls, and humans have souls.”

Understanding dawned in her mind, and she recalled their
experiences in the ancient forest just north of the Shimat fortress. “That is
why I was able to see the spirits of that forest—the one that granted us the
boon. They were all magical creatures.”

“Yes.”

She looked around them at the great expanse of the arid
wilderness. “And there are… Souls… here as well?”

“Yes.”

The silence became, if possible, even more profound.

Adesina listened carefully for several moments before speaking
again. “I cannot hear them.”

Ravi grinned. “The Great Desert appears to be a place of quiet
reflection.”

She rolled her eyes. “You do not have to make up an answer if you
do not know the real one.”

“I have never been here before, Ma’eve. I can only tell you what I
surmise.”

A thought crossed Adesina’s mind, and she suddenly grew excited.
“Do you think the desert would grant us a boon like the forest did?”

The large feline slowly shook his head. “I doubt it, dear one. The
forest was filled with Souls that were tied to the L’avan through your Serraf
ancestors. I do not recognize the Souls of this desert, and I do not think that
they bear any regard for the L’avan.”

Adesina tried not to show the strength of her disappointment.
“Oh.”

The two of them began walking through the sandy terrain. The
oppressive heat that normally existed in the waking world was not present in
the Dream. Instead, it was pleasantly warm.

Shadows and colors flickered just outside of Adesina’s sight as
she walked. She stopped to study their surroundings, but nothing was visible as
long as she stood still. It was almost as if the world fluctuated with her
movement.

“Do you see that?” she asked Ravi.

He looked around, slightly bemused. “What?”

“That…flickering. It looks as if this Dream is not solid.”

The enormous feline slowly shook his head. “I see nothing, Ma’eve.
Only the desert.”

Adesina stopped again, and the fluttering of motion stopped with
her. “Something is not right,” she murmured to herself.

Her instinct was to connect to her
vyala
and investigate,
but a deep sense of dread gave her pause.

During her battle with the aekuor, her power had taken control and
acted on its own. Adesina’s fear of that happening originated when she had
first begun her training with L’iam. She had felt an unaccountable apprehension
that her
vyala
was a being separate from herself.

The anxiety had faded with time. There had been brief moments over
the years—usually during times of great emotional stress—when she had felt
surges of uncontrollable power, but those had always diminished within moments.
Adesina had surmised that all she had to do was to keep her emotions in check
while using her
vyala
.

However, the battle with the aekuor had changed everything. She
had not simple experienced a surge of power. Her
vyala
had acted of its
own accord. Adesina had lost complete control, as if her body were not her own.

She shuddered with terror at the thought.

Now she felt the greatest reluctance to use her magic to do
anything. She could not risk losing control once more. After all, the young
L’avan didn’t know if she could regain control if she were to lose it again.