Page 94 of Oaths & Vengeance
Others had come at me as well, but that one had annoyed me the most, which was why I took his head. I couldn’t very well carry any more decaying trophies through a hostile environment, though. That would have been ridiculous.
This time, I didn’t travel on foot. We’d acquired large desert cats from a border village a mile inside the Oarwar desert, each of them varying shades of beige and brown. They could easily hold the same amount of weight as horses, had large paws that moved well over sand, and were surprisingly easy to tame despite being utterly vicious against predators. We started out with them yesterday at dawn. It became too hot by late morning to continue, so we took a break until early evening.
We’d spent most of last night traveling, but that had held other risks. Desert spirits came out to cast illusions that tricked the mind into going straight into danger. I’d used the clarity stone Aella gifted me to see through their effects and guide the rest of the group. If not for her timely present, we would have ridden into a fire lake and burned to ash with only our souls left to haunt the desert forevermore.
The foothills of the Sobaryan Mountains lay ahead in the distance. I could barely make out the high lavender peaks to the north that faded into mute copper as they descended south. The most powerful seer in generations lived in a cave there.
He was a troll and should have been dead long ago, considering he’d far exceeded other fae life expectancies and made it to nearly three hundred years old. I knew he was alive only because he still had supplies delivered to him every month. The nameless ones only knew why anyone would willingly make that journey so often, but perhaps he made it worth their while somehow.
Only an hour of daylight remained, and a handful of miles stood between us and our goal, but we’d entered the most dangerous section of territory. It was the place where Aella’s mother died in her effort to reach the elusive seer.
“This journey cannot end fast enough,” Jax said, grimacing toward the rugged hills where we headed.
I lifted a brow at him. “Don’t forget the trip back.”
He scowled. “Which is why I wanted your wife to come along with us so we could portal out once we got the information. We could have brought a portable ring.”
“She’s still angry with me for yelling at her on my birthday,” I pointed out, shaking my head. “Also, I’m not so insensitive that I’d bring her to the place where her mother died. We will share the information with her once we have it, reveal our plans, and show her that her mother’s journey wasn’t in vain. Perhaps that will help me win her favor back.”
We wouldn’t have known to look here if not for learning the real reason Nerine and the other druids came to the desert, which had been kept quiet for a while after her death. That was vital intelligence I’d finally gleaned a few years back, but it took even longer to find out where the seer lived since I had no desire to wander the desert for weeks searching.
My mother had uncovered that final bit of information and gave me the details the night I brought Aella to meet her on Jolloure Island. From what she’d discovered, if the troll didn’t wish to be found, he could camouflage his home. The clarity stone would aid us with any illusions he might cast.So many pieces of the puzzle had to come together before even considering this trip.
“Dare,” Faina said with urgency in her tone. “The ground is moving suspiciously over there.” She pointed to a spot several hundred feet ahead where the earth rippled and rose. Surprisingly, it barely made a sound.
Jax rolled his eyes. “Anytime the ground here moves, it’s suspicious. Just say to look that way, and we’ll get that danger is coming.”
“You’re such an ass,” she said, glaring at him.
Loden narrowed his eyes. “The way the sand is disturbed, it has to be one of the giant worms.”
The last time I was here, I’d managed to avoid them by taking a southerly route to the obelisk—far from their territory in the north-central part of the Oarwar Desert. I’d suspected I wouldn’t evade them this time.
“Everyone get off your cats and toss your packs to the side,” I said, dismounting as well before addressing my sister. “Do you think you can make the worm drowsy?”
Her ability to burn enemies with flames would be worthless against this creature.
Faina nodded. “I’ll try.”
We’d researched as much as possible about them before coming. While they were called “sandworms” by the natives of this planet long before fae arrived, they technically weren’t anything like the smaller, harmless varieties. These were an odd species with traits from multiple other types since they had bones, excellent eyesight when topside, and teeth.
While they weren’t entirely impervious to magic, all accounts described that most powers were dulled considerably against sandworms. It would need to be a group effort to bring down the massive creature. Even the desert cats seemed to understand the direness of the situation as they backed away from the incoming threat but also crouched in a way that indicated they’d attack when the opportunity arose. Their teeth and claws would be an asset in this battle.
Most likely, they’d traveled to these parts many times before and had experience facing such menaces since they were often loaned to travelers. We’d been assured that if we failed to return, the felines would have notrouble finding their way home without us. I had an odd suspicion that such an event had occurred before.
“Loden, start using your light magic the moment it appears aboveground and aim directly behind the head,” I ordered before turning my attention to Jax. “Try to get on the worm’s back and stab its spine as many times as you can.”
Hopefully, that would limit its movement if he could get through to the bone.
“What are you going to do?” my sister asked, narrowing her gaze as I tossed my pack onto the pile with the others.
I grinned. “Face it from the front and keep it distracted from the rest of you.”
She glared at me.I hope you know what you’re doing.
I spent a significant amount of time considering the best method of attacking the worm before we left. This will work,I promised her through our twin telepathic connection. I needed to appear fully confident. We had to do this because failure wasn’t an option.
She let out a dramatic sigh, tossed her brown and black braid over her shoulder, and faced the incoming sandworm. It was massive, based on the piles of disturbed earth left in its wake. Our only advantage was that it traveled slowly underground and gave us time to maneuver into the best positions. Once it surfaced, it would be able to move faster.
