The Hidden Relic (The Evermen Saga, Book Two) (18 page)

As she looked on, despair came over Shani and she could take no more. With her jaw clenched tight and her fists held out in front of her, the fireball appeared between her cuffs before she even knew she'd made a sound. With a flick of her wrists, Shani threw the fireball at the cage, ending the cries in an instant.

They'd pursued her, but Shani was good, and no warrior could touch her. Only another elementalist could take her down, and none could be summoned before Shani forced the ferrymen guiding the Halapusa Ferry to take her across. All alone, she made her way over the Elmas to Altura, fleeing to the very people she was supposed to hate.

"And you know what? You Alturans aren't so bad," Shani finished.

Ella's eyes were red, but her mouth was set in a grim line, her forehead creased with determination. "Don't stop, Shani," Ella said. "Don't stop until your people are free. It isn't much, but I'll do everything in my power to help you."

Shani shrugged. "There are decent Petryans and there are bad Petryans, just like anywhere else. But I've made my stand, and any who fights at the High Lord's side is on the wrong side. I'm sure I'm not the only one among my people ready for change."

Ella told Shani about her own childhood, and about her confused relationship with Brandon, the man who had raised her and Miro. No matter what the circumstances were, he had loved the two children, and many times now Ella had visited his grave, each time laying down bunches of summerglens and starflowers. Ella spoke about the lessons she'd learned while studying at the Academy of Enchanters, for the first time able to talk about them with a steady voice and a clear mind.

"There's more," Shani said. She pushed her dark hair out of her eyes and leaned forward to touch the pendant Ella wore at her neck.

Ella hadn't even realised she was holding it as she spoke.

"Who is he?" Shani asked.

"His name is Killian. He was a thief, from Aynar, working for the Primate. He has a strange ability, it's difficult to explain, but he used his ability and the fact that I was… fond… of him to steal the Alturan Lexicon. We tracked him down. I… found him. Or, I suppose, he found me. He had a change of heart."

"It sounds to me like you're having difficulty explaining." Shani grinned.

Ella blushed. "Nothing happened. Well, we did kiss, but that was back in Sarostar."

Shani whistled. "You really feel something for this thief, don't you?"

"He's not a thief."

"You just said he was." Shani's grin broadened.

"He had a difficult life, that's all. He grew up in an orphanage and then on the streets of Salvation, with no family and no home. Stealing was the only thing he knew. He always wanted to be something else. He even spent some time working as an acrobat."

Ella remembered Killian's sad story. The only family he ever knew was killed by the Emperor's men, their tents and wagons burned to the ground. No wonder he had turned to the Primate.

"You love him?" Shani asked.

Ella looked down at the pendant in her fingers. "I don't know. I don't even know if I'll ever see him again."

"He stole your Lexicon, and then he had a change of heart. What made him change?"

Ella remembered her and Killian's conversations about the Primate's dream. It all made sense at a basic level, but she felt that equality always needed to be balanced with opportunity. Some people needed a measure of security from poverty, disease, and the threat of violence — a kind of safety net — but people also needed freedom, and the right environment to grow and fulfil their potential. Destroying the system of houses and making everyone equal under one nation, one leader, might be appealing, but life was never that simple.

Most of all, with each generation came new ideas, and changes to a land's culture and the way people's lives were ordered came about gradually and inevitably. Gradual change was rarely detrimental. There was only one way to bring about rapid, wholesale change in the way the Primate intended.

War.

"We talked, I suppose," Ella said.

"Did you ever think it was more than words that changed his heart? That he might have been in love with you?" Shani asked.

"Me?"

"Yes, Ella, you. You're an attractive young woman. Surely you've seen the way men look at you."

Ella blushed. "I don't know."

Three sharp knocks sounded on the door to their shared cabin. "Ella, Shani. Come up to the deck," Jehral's voice called out.

~

T
HE
ship tacked back and forth as the helmsman and captain worked in tight concert with the sailors. This was evidently a delicate manoeuvre: to line them up at the correct place and slip the ship between the two cliffs that guarded passage to the river that would take them into the Hazara Desert.

Ella, Shani and Jehral stood at the rail, holding their breath as the squat ship lumbered from angle to angle, gradually growing closer to the cliffs and the rocky shores that lined their base.

This far south, the sky was clear and devoid of clouds. Ella looked down into the water and was surprised she could see all the way to the bottom. Starfish dotted the seafloor here and there, and huge fish could be seen swimming in lazy circles. Ella looked back at the wake the ship left behind, where dirty bilge water and food scraps trailed the ship night and day. The triangular fins of sharks pierced the waves.

She looked ahead again, and, high above them, the tall cliffs suddenly loomed down on the ship as she passed between them. Ella could almost reach out and touch the face of the cliff, they were so close, and looking quickly to the other side of the vessel she could see that there was little more room on that side.

Ella exchanged glances with Shani, and then looked at the helmsman for reassurance. There was little succour there, his usually blank face was fearful and sweat poured from his forehead.

A sound like wood being dragged through gravel reverberated through the ship. Jehral closed his eyes, and Ella wondered what deity the desert warrior worshipped.

Then they were through.

The sound vanished as swiftly as it had started, and the helmsman broke out in a beaming grin. Jehral rubbed at the desert rose on his sash and smiled, nodding.

"Thanks for inviting us up on deck to witness that," Shani snapped.

Jehral emptied his lungs, breathing out in a slow, steady sigh. "That was even worse on the way in than it was going out."

"This isn't the first time you've done that?" Shani asked.

"Oh no," Jehral said. "My prince commands…"

"And you obey," Shani finished for him. "I understand, man of the desert. You have a wife, don't you?"

"Yes, in Agira Lahsa."

"Well next time, if you're looking for a companion for the delicate enchantress here, why don't you bring her?"

Jehral was pensive for a moment, before he seemed to come to a conclusion. "I was afraid also, Petryan."

Shani glared at Jehral and stormed back below decks.

~

B
Y THE
next day the cliffs had levelled down to rocky sands, and Ella recognised the unbroken expanse of the Hazara Desert. Waves of heat rolled off the ground, and images could be seen in the distance, shifting and changing like the illusions of Raj Hazara's lore.

Two days later, as the ship continued to follow the river deeper into the desert, Ella saw that the light brown of the shoreline had become yellow, and the rocks were fewer in number. To either side dunes rolled like the waves of an endless sea, as unchanging and indomitable but starker, for this ocean was devoid of life. The sand here must be finer, for the gentle wind Ella felt on her cheeks blew the tops off the dunes, spilling the sand into the air like the foam of a breaking wave.

She could see now why the chosen colour of the Hazarans was yellow. It suited them perfectly.

Ella felt Jehral beside her and turned. "I've always found your homeland beautiful."

"My prince and I, we both knew you felt that way. Only some see the true nature of the desert, but I could always see it in your eyes."

"Have you missed it?"

"Yes, Ella, I have missed it. One more day will bring us to Agira Lahsa, and I will again see my wife. It is not just my family though that I miss. I miss the quiet, and the way the stars shine at night. I miss the way water is valued for the precious, life-giving thing it is. I miss the different winds, and the varying textures of the sand. Ah, it is good to be back."

"Jehral, when I was with your people, you were the only one I could call my friend. Thank you."

"It pleases me to hear you say so, Enchantress Ella, but that isn't true. Prince Ilathor and I, we thought you were dead. The body of Evora Guinestor was hung from the walls of Tlaxor. I even had it pointed out to me."

"I'm sorry for the deception," Ella said. "I… I didn't think that I would be the cause of sorrow."

"That was not why I brought it up," Jehral said. "Ella, we were both upset. I had lost one I thought of as my friend," he grinned, "even if she did steal my horse. But, my prince…"

Jehral turned away from looking out at the desert and met Ella's eyes. "Enchantress Ella, I think he grieved more than I."

~

A
GIRA
Lahsa, the hidden city, was not what Ella had expected. Her experience of the desert-folk was that they lived in tents, yet their humble-seeming abodes didn't prevent them from displaying evident wealth. Prince Ilathor had told her of great market cities where tents were lined up as far as the eye could see. Ella had expected Agira Lahsa to be something similar.

It started as a strange shape on the horizon, jutting out of the desert in a series of stone blocks that made little sense. Then, as the ship grew closer, Ella saw that the stones formed once-great structures that had since become victims of the elements.

Walls clustered around the hidden city, some fallen into complete disrepair, others as tall and proud as when they were built. Ella puzzled over the largest structure, a great circular ring with blocks rising around it in tiers, finally realising it was an amphitheatre, twice as large as the Singer's Arena in Sarostar. Scaffolding formed a web around many of the buildings, and men swarmed around them. As they came to the small dock — one of the first things Jehral said they had repaired — Ella could hear the sounds of hammers hitting and saws scraping.

Facing the river, an enormous archway with a tower to each side was evidently the main entrance to the city. Ella could see two roads that joined and became one greater road that led to the city's entrance. One of the roads led down to the river, while the other headed into the desert.

Several oases dotted the landscape around the city, visible by their clusters of palms, and Jehral said that before he left they'd repaired at least four fresh-water wells inside the walls.

Most of the population, however, clearly still continued the nomadic life, living in black tents that sprawled in the valleys and in the shadows of the walls. Jehral had said times were changing, but Ella could detect a hint of nostalgia in the way he said it, and Ella wondered if all the desert folk were as progressive.

The ship was a flurry of activity as they docked. Hawsers were thrown, sailors called out to one another, and the ship creaked as it bumped up against the groaning wooden pier.

Ella suddenly couldn't wait to get off the ship. She caught Shani smiling at her and smiled in return, moving to follow Jehral as he tugged his loose black clothing and adjusted the silver circlet he wore at his brow.

The two young women reached the plank that led to the dock and Jehral turned, noticing Ella for the first time. He held up his hand. "No, Ella. You'll stay on the ship until I come to get you."

Ella stared open-mouthed at the desert warrior, suddenly grown serious and forbidding. "Jehral, I've spent weeks on this ship. I refuse to stay longer, and even more, I refuse to see Prince Ilathor before I've had a chance to rest and revive."

Jehral held up an admonishing finger. "Stay here. I will come for you."

Ella tried to follow him down the plank but two warriors in black stood at its foot, yellow sashes worn proudly, ready to receive Jehral's orders. Jehral spoke to them and turned, pointing up at Ella.

With a sigh, Ella saw Shani approaching and shook her head.

~

J
EHRAL
returned at sundown, more furious than Ella had ever seen him. He stormed up the plank, calling her name, pacing back and forth across the length of the deck.

"What is it?" Ella asked.

"He's gone," Jehral said. "They've all gone!"

Shani came up to join them. "What do you mean, desert man?"

"The prince grew impatient. Either that or his warriors did. He's taken the army and crossed the Hazara Desert. He plans to invade Petrya. I can't believe he left without me."

"Can we catch up with him?" Ella asked.

Jehral rubbed his forehead with three of his fingers. "They'll be across the desert by now."

"Well, I suppose we'll have to cross too then," Ella said.

"Ella, you don't understand. This city has remained hidden for a reason. From here to Petrya is a difficult journey, yes, but there is more to it than that. Only a large group of warriors can cross. The three of us would not make it through alive."

"Why not?"

"The Devil of Lyra. That is why not."

"What's the Devil of Lyra?" Ella asked.

"It is a creature," Jehral said. "It first appeared nearly a hundred years ago at the Oasis of Lyra, the only oasis between this city and the lands of Petrya. Sixty men stopped for water at the oasis, for the desert cannot be crossed without refuelling there. Four men came out alive."

"Ella," Shani said, looking intently at her. "My wish is to see a new High Lord of Petrya, but I don't know how these desert men intend to treat my people. We must cross the desert."

"Then, Jehral," Ella said. "If we're going to cross the desert and potentially face this creature, I suggest you give us our possessions back."