Page 67 of The Lost Child

“North, then,” I said aloud to no one. As bothered as I was by leaving Nerissa, I couldn’t help the small bit of nervous excitement I also felt. I was going to see new lands and new people. I wasn’t afraid; I could fight off any opponent I encountered.

Determined to find my people and save Nerissa, I set off.

* * *

Two days later, I was not as excited for my journey. Leaving the south had been leaving everything that made up life: water, plants, fruits and game that could be hunted. Nothing lay in the north but hot, red sand that got into every crevice of my skin and hair. My skin burned and blistered, then turned darker and ceased to burn.

I refused to eat my food until I needed it and only sipped the water sparingly. I knew what it was to truly starve, so I would conserve my supplies until this desert ended.

Surely it ended, right?

How could these other kingdoms and creatures that Alkdama had spoken of exist in such a wasteland? The desert was simply large, and I would need to be patient. There were mountains to the west, but I could not detour. My path was north.

I started sleeping during the day when the sun was high in the sky and flying at night. I needed to find more water; I was feeling sick with the lack of it, my thoughts muddled and hard to pick through. That was how I found myself turned around and nearly upon the mountains to the west. I’d been flying the wrong direction for an entire night!

There wasn’t much I could do about it. The mountains at least would provide decent cover, and perhaps there were underground springs and small vegetation to be found. I landed roughly on a flat bit of cliff, where a hole in the rock indicated the presence of a cave.

I bent my head and tucked my wings close to my back. I was covered in dust and exhausted.

The cave wasn’t entirely empty, to my surprise. Was someone living here? Orhadlived here was probably more accurate. Small clay bowls and utensils were stored tidily, along with a few scraps of brightly colored fabrics. Dresses? That indicated a woman, and yet … how would anything live up this high without wings? I sniffed around deeply, but only got wisps of impressions—a smiling face, and happy times. The scents were familiar, yet not.

My heart beat frantically in my chest. Were there drakens here? The smell of them was stale, perhaps a week or so old, but Iknewthe smell deep in my soul.

That, and the scent of fresh water.

I followed it to a large fissure in the rock. It was much too small for me to shimmy behind. I sniffed deeply, confirming there was water behind it.

Taking a step back, I cocked my fist and aimed carefully.

WHAM.

Rock crumbled and gave way, and I had enough room to comfortably walk through without brushing my wings. My hands stung, but I shook them out and ignored the pain. Better to hurt my hands than my wings. Besides, there were more important things to focus on, such as the glorious, glorious water that lay beyond.

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dark, but a large pool lay before me. I dipped my fingers into the water, shocked when it felt warm.

Was this … a bathing pool? I knew some of the pirates (and Nerissa) liked to bathe in the small pools near my cave, but they weren’t warm like this.

I bent down and took a sip. The water was warm, but clean. There was no salt in it, unlike the poisoned waters of the sea around the island.

I nearly tipped into the water as I eagerly drank my fill, paused, then drank more for good measure. I filled up my water skin, then decided I may as well wash the dust off me. As I splashed around and dunked my head under the water, I wondered if drakens had actually lived here, or if my nose was making things up.

If they had, why had they left? Were they coming back? By how empty the dwelling was and how carefully it had been tidied up, I didn’t think the owners were coming back anytime soon. That meant I needed to push on through the desert.

First though, I would sleep here for the day, content in the knowledge no predators were this high up to bother me. When night fell I’d drink more water, then head out once more.

Twenty-Three

When I woke again, I flew north as long as I could, taking only sips from my waterskin. Hunger gnawed my belly, but I’d had worse. That’s what I kept telling myself: I’d had worse. Nerissa was relying on me to find the other drakens and learn how to heal her. My pain and suffering was nothing compared to that.

But on the fifth day, I drank the last of my waterskin. My head pounded, and the sun was coming up. The mountain range had been to the west and my left most of the journey, but when I glanced up, they were ahead of me.

That wasn’t right.

If my head stopped pounding so hard, I might be able to think for a moment, and figure out where I needed to go. The sun was rising in the horizon, so I needed to bunk in the mountains again for shelter. It was the best choice to hide under an overhang rock and sleep on the mountain during the days, if a cave couldn’t be found. I hadn’t been able to find anything as nice as the cave since I’d left, and no more sources of water.

I had to make a choice: either go back to the cave for water so I wouldn’t die or press on and hope to find something else.

Failure wasn’t an option. I had to be close to something. I had to be.

---