Page 5 of From the Myths of Kings

The Soundless Oasis was quiet again, living up to its name.

“I don’t see anymore,” Saoirse observed, wiping the moisture from her brow. Her clothing was soaked in a mixture of water from the pool, blood, and sweat. Every breath was labored, the air burning in her chest as she inhaled. She needed another dose of titansblood.

“I have no doubt more will find us. Or creatures much worse,” Noora said, scanning the dark trees around them. “Who knows what other games the oasis still wants to play.” She began plucking arrows from the bodies that littered the ground, wiping the bloodied tips off with her cloak.

“What happened to us back there?” Aurelia limped over. Her hair had been freed from the headscarf, blonde curls hanging in sweaty tendrils. “There’s strange magic in this oasis. It felt like my body wasn’t my own. All I could feel was an overwhelming urge to drink.”

“The Soundless Oasis has a mind of its own,” Noora answered wearily, collecting the last of her arrows. “It wanted us vulnerable and exposed. It made us think we were safe so that it could strike. I’m sure there will only be more tricks, each worse than the last. It will not be pleased we survived.”

Saoirse looked to the sky, noticing that the first rays of the sunrise had begun to invade the night. The moon was fading from view fast. Soon, daylight would be upon them.

“How could someone live in such a place?” Aurelia asked. “Where is this Tezrus the Scholar? He certainly picked a fortified place to hide from the Elders.”

Noora hesitated at first, averting her eyes. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “The last time anyone saw him was when he set out from Bezhad twenty years ago. Legend has it he traveled all over Revelore, journeying from city to city searching for a place so uninhabitable the Elders wouldn’t think to look for him there. He settled on the Soundless Oasis after learning of it from Tellusun folklore. A tracker went with Tezrus to guide him here, but the tracker returned alone.”

“Wait, he could be dead?” Aurelia retorted. “No one has seen him in twenty years. Hasana sent us out here not knowing if Tezrus was still alive? What if he died the minute he set foot in this cursed place, and we’ve just wasted days of precious travel all for nothing?”

Noora tensed at Aurelia’s tone, instantly on guard. A cool stillness shifted over her face as she asked, “You dare question my princess’s judgment?”

“I’m not sure what to think,” Aurelia snapped. “This whole time, we’ve been putting our lives in danger over an uncertainty, a mere guess. It doesn’t seem like Hasana thought this through. If she thought there was a chance he could be dead, maybe that’s why she sent us here instead of coming herself.”

“You know very well Hasana had to remain in Bezhad to regroup with the rebellion and plan our next moves. If you’re this quick to distrust her, I’m not sure you deserve a place among us,” Noora said coldly.

“He traveled all over Revelore?” Saoirse interrupted before hostilities grew further. “What kingdom did he hail from?”

“Terradrin.”

Aurelia scoffed. “An under-dweller taking up residence in the warmest part of the world? Now we know for certain he’s long dead.”

“It makes sense. This is the last place the Order of Elders would think to find him,” Saoirse considered. “Even if he survived the horrors of the oasis, the sun would still be an eternal threat.”

Saoirse looked at the looming sunrise again. She wanted to leave this eerie place as soon as possible and they were running out of time. They could be lost here for days if the oasis decided to rearrange itself and make them lose their way. Or worse, the fickle oasis could move locations on a whim and transport them across the Shujaa Desert, placing them weeks of travel away from Bezhad. They needed to find this Tezrus soon. So where was he? She didn’t think one of the most acclaimed scholars in Revelore would be foolish enough to choose a hiding place where he knew he wouldn’t survive.

Aurelia paced in a circle, clearly biting her tongue to keep herself from saying something brash. Saoirse understood her anxiety; she was just as worried they might not find the answers they’d set out to find and end up as lost as they were four days ago. But she had to hope Hasana was right and that the scholar was still alive.

“Someone from the Under Kingdom would have a difficult time surviving in the desert heat under the Shujaa sun,” Saoirse remarked. “But not if they lived underground.”

Aurelia cocked a brow and stopped pacing, a flicker of hope igniting in her turquoise eyes.

“What if Tezrus found a cave under the oasis? Or perhaps he created tunnels for himself. He was a scholar of ancient arts and he understood the most carefully-guarded secrets of Revelore. It isn’t beyond the realm of possibility.”

“You’re right,” Noora considered slowly. “That’s also how he could be safe from the beasts who make their homes here. He could be living underneath the oasis.”

The fertile earth here was different from the arid dunes beyond. One could feasibly dig into the ground without it collapsing in on itself, and because the wandering piece of land could magically shift through the desert like a ship on the sea, it stood to reason that anything under it might move as well.

“Let’s look for an entrance then,” Aurelia nodded. “I hope you’re right.” She sheathed her sword, wiping the gore from her hands with a grimace.

They wandered further into the oasis as the sun rose into the sky like a burning omen. Saoirse was grateful for the palm trees overhead, their fanned leaves creating ample shade from the unforgiving heat. Just as she’d suspected, the colors of the oasis in the daylight were stunning. Richly colored flowers studded the vibrant green walls like jewels and notes of jasmine and citrus floated on the breeze. They passed by more sparkling pools of water, but this time the compulsion to drink didn’t torment them. It was as though the oasis had played its first trick on them and didn’t want to repeat itself. Or perhaps the water truly was magical and quenched every ounce of thirst they might have.

It was still eerily silent, but the occasional caw of a brightly feathered bird broke the quiet. It seemed not every animal in the oasis was bloodthirsty, but Saoirse was wary of even the smallest beetle creeping on the ground. She jumped at every bend of a tree or whisper of wind through the leaves, her hands falling to the sword at her waist. As they made their way through the cursed paradise, Noora periodically tied scraps of fabric to the tree branches they passed, marking their path. If the oasis decided to rearrange itself and throw them off course, at least they’d be able to tell if they ran into a previous marker.

Saoirse stopped for a moment, looking up at fractures of azure sky through the canopy of leaves. She closed her eyes and listened for anything out of the ordinary: the sound of dripping water that might indicate a cavity in the ground, or a hollowness that echoed faintly where they stepped. She couldn’t hear anything save for the faint call of a bird.

Wait. There is something.

The rumbling timbre in the distance was so subtle she almost didn’t catch it. The low cadence sounded like a male voice. He was speaking but she couldn’t make out the words.

“Do you hear that?” Saoirse asked. “It sounds like a voice.”

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