Shadows Book 1 in the World of Shadows (30 page)

He nodded. “I can accept that.” He gave me a
sideways glance. “How many times have you risked your life for
them?”

I smiled. “A few; but they’ve risked
everything for me, too.” I thought of Axon risking drowning to free
me from the cage on the ship, and his kiss afterward. I thought of
all our kisses and it made my heart race.

“
Would you do again?” Pyth
asked, following my gaze to Axon.

I nodded. “In a heartbeat.”

He sighed and settled more comfortably on
his cushion. I watched the colors of the desert change slowly from
a blush of pink to deep red, then to velvet purple, and finally
shifting to a midnight blue so deep it was almost black. The Nathos
awoke and packed up the tent, then carried the stretchers now
bearing the Luminos. Pyth and I followed them and the rest of the
Duskies until we were too tired and had to give in to being carried
as well.

Sentries topped a dune in front of us near
noon the next day, then stopped walking. Axon shaded his eyes with
a hand and waited for them to signal that all was clear, but the
signal never came. He held up a hand and the Commanders behind us
halted the company. Stretchers were lowered and weary legs rested.
The Luminos never wavered with their endless sunstrength, but the
Duskies pushed on stalwartly and never complained, a point I took
pride in and commended them for.

Axon, Commander Jashen, and I climbed
quietly up the side of the dune and knelt next to the four Luminos
sentries. I blinked at the sight before us, then rubbed my eyes in
the hopes that it was a mirage, but the image didn’t disappear.

Thousands of footprints covered the valley
between two dunes. The number showed a far larger horde of Sathen
traveling together than we could have imagined. Every inch of sand
was disturbed, and the depth of the prints and the shadow of the
upturned sand told that they had passed mere heartbeats before
us.

“
They’ve formed an army,”
Commander Jashen breathed.

“
They’re heading for the
Caves,” Axon said quietly, his tone betraying nothing.

“
And they’re moving fast,”
one of the sentries said, “Far faster than we can hope to keep up
carrying each other.”

Steel glinted in Axon’s eyes. “Then we’ll do
the best we can and hope to reach the Caves in time to fight
back.”

He motioned for the Commanders to continue.
When the Luminos and Duskies bearing stretchers circled the dune to
see the footprints, nobody said a word, but fear was evident in
their eyes and clenched jaws. Weapons were checked and placed where
they would be easily accessed and no one complained at a quick
lunch of corn rolls, dried sweet meat, hard cheese, and rice milk
eaten as we walked. The Duskies took turns sleeping in stretchers
along with the Nathos so we would be fresh if the Sathen came upon
us.

We pushed hard and were so close to the
Caves by evening we wanted to keep going, but we didn’t dare risk
being caught in the open by the Sathen with both the Luminos and
Nathos at their weakest. I set up a perimeter around the inside of
the tent again, and warned everyone to be on the lookout. I
couldn’t shake the feeling that we were in danger. Even though we
had brought half of the Duskie soldiers from the ships, leaving the
other half to help guard Lysus against further attack, we would be
hard pressed to defend triple that number of Luminos and Nathos if
the Sathen attacked.

It was nearing moonrise and the rise of the
Nathos when commotion from the other side of camp caught my
attention. I motioned to Pyth and he followed me swiftly through
the sleeping bodies.

“
What’s going on?” I
whispered to Kennik, one of the captains Pyth had
appointed.

He pointed without a word. I followed his
finger and my heart slowed at a plume of dust past one of the sand
hills. The plume grew closer while we watched, and it became
obvious the dust wasn’t stirred by wind.

The Duskies closest to us began to whisper
among each other and I raised a hand to draw their attention.

“
Keep absolutely silent,” I
whispered as loud as I dared. Pyth spread the word to the Duskies
on the other side of camp and I saw fear in the gazes they turned
on me. “We'll be alright as long as they don’t hear us. The tent
will mask our scent.” The same promise on my last journey through
the desert rose to my mind, but I shook it away and forced down the
fear so it wouldn’t compromise my ability to lead.

The plume continued to grow; eyes widened
and hands touched sword hilts, but the Duskies stayed silent and
watchful.

Then the plume neared the edge of the sand
hill and the first Sathen became visible. Several Duskies gasped,
but I held up a hand and they fell quiet again. The Sathen walked
toward us with a sound like the rise and fall of the ocean as their
clawed feet dug through the sand. I motioned for half of the
Duskies to line the edge of the tent they walked toward. Swords
were drawn silently and held at the ready, but the Sathen turned at
the last instant and followed the edge of the dune toward the
Caves. Hundreds of Sathen, smaller than the mass of footprints we
had seen, but far larger than I had ever faced, hurried past, their
razor sharp teeth, claws, and barbed tails glinting in the
starlight. The scaled red bodies flowed like a living river of
death and their overpowering scent of decay washed over our
camp.

The Duskies around me looked as though they
wanted to run, but it would be futile. I held up a hand and felt
all their eyes darting between me and the mass of Sathen just past
the edge of the tent. I mouthed that it was alright and kept a calm
front despite the fact that my heart pounded so loud I feared the
Sathen would hear it. I patted my sword with a reassuring smile and
saw several hesitant smiles cross the faces of those around me. The
sword wouldn't be much help if we were attacked, but the steel was
reassuring and the fact that both Dathien and Axon slept nearby
gave me courage.

The scented tent was all that stood between
us and the nightmare creatures that flooded past on the other side
of the cloth. The tent had failed me once, and the claw marks and
scars along my back, sides, and stomach attested to that. I hoped
for the sake of all those behind me that it would hide us this
time, that no Sathen would slip and fall past the fabric, and that
everyone on our side had the frame of mind to keep silent until
they passed.

A Nathos soldier stirred behind me as he
awoke, and his sword bumped against the links of his armor. Pyth
knelt at his side and whispered to him; shock washed over the
Nathos' face, but he kept silent. I turned back in time to see a
Sathen look our way, his pupil-less black eyes narrowed and
searching. Sathen relied mostly on their sense of smell and hearing
to hunt; their eyesight, especially at night, was poor; our best
hope was keep perfectly still and silent.

The Duskies around me froze and many held
their breath. When the Sathen finally turned away, I realized I had
been holding my breath along with them. I let it out silently and
motioned for Duskies to go to the other Nathos. They knelt beside
the soldiers and quieted them, warning them of what was happening.
The Nathos rose like silent wraiths and joined us to watch the
throng of dark creatures make their way to the Caves.

“
We should stop them,” a
Duskie said when the last of the Sathen disappeared from
view.

I shook my head. “It would be a death
sentence. We don't have enough soldiers to fight them and we would
have to leave the Luminos unprotected. The citizens of Firen Caves
have lasted this long. Let’s hope they’ll survive one more attack
before we arrive.” I chose not to mention the far larger horde that
had passed before us already in the hopes that perhaps it had
missed the Caves altogether, though deep down I doubted it.

Scattered groups of Sathen drifted after the
others throughout the night. With so many around, it was decided
that we would be safer waiting where we were instead of risking
discovery outside the safety of the Caves. The chill of the desert
night slowly sucked the warmth from the sand and shivers ran down
my spine that weren't just from the cold. We passed food around,
things like dried fruit and hard rolls that didn't have much scent
to attract the creatures.

The wait was long, silent, and harder than
any from my trek with Axon's men. I tried to figure out why, then
realized it was because this time more than just seven strangers
looked to me for protection. The Duskies, Luminos, and Nathos
around me waited on the desert sands because Axon and I had brought
them here to save others. They looked to me while Axon slept to see
them to Firen Caves safely, and not let them get killed and eaten
along the way.

Fewer Sathen returned from behind the dune
just before dawn after the Nathos had gone to sleep and we awaited
the awakening of the Luminos. The Sathen were bloody and grinning,
showing their multiple rows of serrated teeth. Several carried what
looked like body parts and ate them while they walked. We stayed
silently behind the tent like before, but one of the Sathen,
distracted with what it was eating, strayed off the path of its
fellows and walked toward us. We watched helplessly as the Sathen
drew closer and closer. I walked soundlessly barefoot in the sand
along our side of the tent so that I stood across from it, its
shadow larger than life from the cast of the fading stars. The
Sathen paused and looked up, realized he had left the path and
turned to go back, when a click sounded behind me.

I couldn’t turn to see what had caused the
sound. The Sathen’s black eyes widened and it reached out a sharp
claw toward the tent. When it met resistance, it jumped back with a
hiss. Several other Sathen by the dunes turned toward the sound.
The first Sathen slashed at the tent and ripped through the side.
He stared in surprise at our party, and his lips drew up in a
malicious grin. I leaped through the hole and cut off his head with
one slash of my sword. I glanced back and saw the shock on the
faces of the Duskies behind me.

“
Defend our people,” I
yelled. The shout jarred them to life and they drew their swords
and took positions around the camp.

I fell back to stand above Axon, his still
form below me and his life in my hands. Pyth appeared at my side,
his sword in one hand and a knife in the other. “Feel like your
last time out here?” he asked.

The horde of Sathen swarmed toward us and
time slowed. “Getting more like it every heartbeat,” I replied.

He grinned and cut down the closest Sathen.
My heart pounded, but I pushed my fear of serrated teeth and
merciless claws deep down and felt the clarity of adrenaline
strengthen my grip on the sword. I took off two heads, spun and cut
two others through the stomach, disemboweling them, then brought my
sword back around and cut off the arm of a Sathen who tried to
reach Dathien while I defended Axon.

Pyth moved to cover Dathien and I nodded
gratefully, cutting down two more Sathen who charged at Axon. Claws
sunk into my leg and I turned and cut off the Sathen's arm when
another set scratched deep along my back. I grimaced and cut off
the head of the first one and spun back in time to see Serion from
the Lysus castle kill my second attacker and then finish another
one who was about to leap at Pyth.

“
You're handy in a battle,”
I said, sinking my sword into the stomach of a Sathen and then
using the sword to throw the body into two others.

“
Life as a Duskie isn't
always the safest,” Serion replied through gritted teeth. He
chopped off a Sathen's legs, then ended its life with a deep slash
through the spine. “It helps to know how to defend
yourself.”

I nodded gratefully but didn’t have time to
answer. Though fewer Sathen had returned from Firen Caves, the deep
red swarm of them across the desert sands looked endless. If I had
time to fear, I might have second-guessed our ability to defend
ourselves against the ocean of death; but there wasn't time for
worry or second-guessing, only to act, so I lost myself in cutting
down bodies, defending my loved ones, and ignoring the pain of the
claws and teeth that swept free of my guard.

By the time the sun warmed the sand, Sathen,
Duskie, and Luminos bodies had colored it dark with blood. Bodies
littered the ground everywhere I looked. It had been a close thing,
but the Duskies fought bravely and the Sathen fled at dawn when the
Luminos rose full of fury and strengthened by the sun. Axon stood
beside me and gazed down at our fallen companions with heavy sorrow
on his face.

“
They’ve got to be
stopped,” he said quietly.

I nodded. “Who knows how many they killed at
the Caves, though it looked like the citizens there took a heavy
toll on them.” I took a shallow breath. “We would've been
overpowered if they found us on their way to the Caves instead of
on the way back.”

“
Where do you suppose they
went?” Dathien asked behind us.

I followed the path between the dunes until
it disappeared in the distance. “I don’t know, but we’d better get
to the Caves and see how we can help. We can’t be caught out here
another night.”

“
What about the bodies?” a
Luminos soldier asked, a bandage obscuring half of his
face.

Axon rubbed his eyes and turned away, but
not before I saw the anguish in them for his fallen people. “We’ll
have to leave them. There’s no time to waste.”

The soldiers around us cleared the camp with
silent efficiency, lifted the Nathos and wounded onto stretchers,
then followed us quietly along the path the Sathen had come from. I
racked my mind for a plan. It would be a lot more dangerous to do
what we intended now that we knew the great number of Sathen we
were up against and with the heavy losses we had already suffered.
I needed to minimize more losses and trap the entire horde of
Sathen. It sounded simple and impossible at the same time.