Xhaxhu.”
A minute later we trotted through an opening in the wall. What I saw inside made my heart sink. Xhaxhu was a big city, with a lot of mouths to feed. I expected to see rows of crops, like on the agriculture barge of Grallion on the territory of Cloral. Well, I didn’t. All I saw was sand. Lots of it. We walked our horses toward the middle of the field, their hooves kicking it up. The place looked more like an archeo-logical ruin in Egypt than a farm. The emptiness was eerie.
Loor must have been reading my thoughts, because she said, “The farmers have given up. Without water to irrigate the crops, there is no need to plant, or fertilize, or even to keep back the sand.”
“Okay, dumb question,” I said. “How important is this farm?”
“There are seven that feed Xhaxhu. The farmers have diverted what little water is still available to three of them. But the food grown on three farms is not even close to being enough. We are dipping deeply into grain reserves. We do not expect they will last long. Reality is that soon, very soon, we will starve.”
“I guess that counts as pretty important.”
That’s when something caught my attention. Several feet in front of us, the sand began to shift. Something was moving beneath it, hidden from sight. A moment later I saw more movement a few feet away. Whatever it was, there were two of them. I glanced at Loor. She didn’t look worried, but Loor never looked worried.
“What kind of beasties hang out here in the desert?” I asked nervously.
“You saw the quig-snakes at the gate?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said, not liking where this was going.
“The desert is full of snakes,” she said calmly.
Snakes. Snakes are the worst. I was about to kick my horse into gear and get the heck out of there, when I heard something behind us. It sounded like a muffled thump. Innocent enough, but since a second ago there was nothing within a hundred yards of us, any sound could mean trouble…especially if there were snakes sneaking around beneath the sand. I whipped a look around, expecting to see a couple of slithering sand snakes about to strike. I was surprised to see that we were no longer alone.
Standing behind us were two white-robed figures. Their heads were completely covered, as if to protect them from the harsh desert sun. Both stood facing us, with their legs apart, each holding a short metal bar that was no doubt, a weapon. I shot a quick look in front again, to see if the snakes were getting any closer.
There were no snakes there, either. Instead I saw two more of these robed figures coming up out of the sand like swimmers rising from the water. These guys looked pretty much like the first two. They got to their feet and held out their weapons, ready.
“Uh,” I said to Loor. “Those aren’t snakes.”
“No,” Loor said. “They are Rokador.”
Rokador. The enemy of the Batu. Not good.
“They look like they know how to use those weapons,” I said.
“They do,” Loor answered without taking her eyes off them. “They are Tiggen guards. Like the Ghee, they are warriors.”
Oh. Getting worse by the second. These bad boys lived underground, but decided to come to the surface and spring a trap. On us. We were alone, with no chance of getting any help from the Ghee warriors back in Xhaxhu. Another battle was about to begin, only this time, it looked as if I was going to be in the middle of it.
JOURNAL #20
(CONTINUED)
ZADAA
Nobodymade a move. Not even Loor. I expected her to tense up, grab her wooden stave, and come out swinging. Instead we all stayed frozen in place. The white-robed figures stood silently, the slight wind snapping at their clothes. Eerie. They were in front of us, and behind. The word “surrounded” came to mind.
“Now what?” I whispered to Loor.
“Stay here,” she ordered, and slid off her horse. I didn’t know what to think. She wasn’t in attack mode. She didn’t even look tense. I had a brief thought that maybe there had to be some kind of ground rules set before they started beating up on us with their metal batons. All I could do was sit there and see what came next.
Loor walked boldly up to the two Rokador guys who were directly in front of us. Her weapon was still in its sheath across her back. I figured maybe she was throwing out the white flag, since we were outnumbered and all. But that wasn’t like Loor. She’d sooner go down fighting. What happened next wasn’t like Loor either. She walked up to one of the guys, threw her arms around him, and hugged him.
Uhhh…
She said, “It has been far too long, Bokka.”
The Rokador pulled off his hood to reveal a white-skinned guy who stood a few inches taller than Loor. He didn’t take off his goggles, so I couldn’t get a look at his eyes, but from where I sat, he looked to be our age, maybe a little older, with longish blond hair that whipped around in the wind. I guess I could say he was kind of handsome, too. But I’m no expert in that department.
“I’ve missed you, Loor,” the guy named Bokka said. He spoke with a deep, authoritative voice that you would expect from a warrior. Though I can’t really say what it was I expected of anybody who lived his whole life underground.
Loor looked at the guy next to Bokka and said, “Is that you under there, Teek?”
The guy pulled down his hood to reveal another blond guy who was a little shorter than Bokka.
“Hello, Loor,” he said with a sheepish smile.
“Pendragon,” Loor called. “Please come here.”
I didn’t move. I think I was still trying to process what was happening. I had been expecting a fight, but instead I discovered that these guys were friends of Loor. If that weren’t bizarre enough, Loor had actually hugged the guy named Bokka. Let me write that again, shehuggedhim. I had never seen Loor that affectionate with anybody. Including me.
“It is all right, Pendragon,” Loor said. “Please join us.”
I took a quick glance back at the Rokador behind us. They stood with their weapons ready. They didn’t attack, nor throw off their hoods and join in this warm reunion. They just stood there. Ready. For what, I wasn’t sure. I slid off of my horse and took off my black cloak, dropping it to the sand. I figured these guys should see that I looked like a Rokador. Sort of.
Loor put her hand on Bokka’s shoulder like he was a bud and said, “Pendragon, this is my oldest friend, Bokka. We have known each other since we were children.”
I held out my hand to shake, which made the three other Tiggen guards tense up and lift their metal weapons, ready to rock. I suddenly got the vibe that these guys were like bodyguards. Even Bokka took a step back. I stood there with my hand in the air like a dope, afraid to move.
“It is all right,” Loor assured them. “Where Pendragon comes from, that is a sign of friendship.”
Bokka relaxed, took my hand, and squeezed. Youch! This guy had a grip! But I wasn’t about to squeal. No way.
“Hello, Pendragon,” Bokka said. “What tribe do you come from?”
I glanced at Loor, partly because I didn’t have an answer, and partly as a plea to get this guy to let go of my poor hand before bones started snapping. Loor reached out and gently eased us apart. For a second I thought my fingers were fused together. I had to work them to get the circulation back. I wouldn’t let Bokka see that, though.
“I met Pendragon when I made the journey to the far desert. He is from the tribe known as…as…” Loor was scrambling. Bokka didn’t know about the Travelers. I had to bail her out.
“Yankees,” I said. “The Yankees tribe.” Hey, what can I say? It was the first thing that came to mind. “It’s a strong tribe,” I added. “Respected by all…except for our mortal enemies, the Sox tribe. They hate us. Especially the
