The Parched sea

what the outcome will be.'

'Or when it will happen?'

The widow shook her head.

The warning did not frighten Lander, for he had long lived with the idea that the Zhentarim might try to assassinate him. Still, knowing that such a thing would occur- without knowing when or where-made him feel rather helpless. While sobering, the knowledge that such an attack would occur contained no hint as to what should be done about it-if, indeed, anything could.

'Thanks for the warning,' Lander said. 'I'll try to be careful about who I let behind me.'

'It will do no good,' Ruha said. 'No matter what, you will be cut.'

'At least you didn't see the dagger stuck in my heart,' Lander said.

'I just thought you should know,' Ruha replied. 'I didn't say this to upset you.'

'I know,' the Harper replied, looking toward the base of the mountain and hoping to change the subject. In the growing dawn light, he saw a few wisps of smoke rising from a half-dozen dying fires, but otherwise the camp seemed empty and motionless. 'Are they gone?'

Ruha nodded. 'Their fires died last night, but I thought they had just fallen asleep. I didn't realize they were gone until nobody stirred with the dawn.'

Lander studied the camp for a few minutes more. When he saw a vulture appear out of the east and drift straight into camp, he realized that there was no sign of the birds that had hovered below the ridge all day yesterday. The Zhentarim had, indeed, slipped away in the night.

'If the vultures are bold enough to land, then they're gone.' The Harper called, 'Kadumi, wake up! It's time to go.'

As soon as the youth woke, the trio untethered the camels and led them down the mountain. By the time they reached the bottom, the sun had risen into the blue sky and the rosy morning light had faded to its usual white blaze. They paused at the spring to let the camels drink, then moved into the camp. Dozens of vultures took wing and hovered fifty feet overhead, watching the three companions with black, jealous eyes.

As at El Ma'ra, the invaders had razed all the khreimas, and the odor of singed camel-hair still hung thick in the air near the charred tents. There were Zhentarim fire rings everywhere, many of them still smoldering, and every combustible thing in camp had been burned. The entire area was littered with the hides and bones of half-eaten camels, and it appeared that even one or two dogs had been roasted.

The trio studied the ghastly scene in silence for several minutes before Ruha asked the question still troubling all three of them. 'What happened to the bodies of the Mtair?'

Lander shook his head without speaking, then walked toward the edge of the camp. After picking up a waterskin to replace the one that had fallen off the mountainside with Kadumi's gelding, the widow and the youth followed with the camels. The companions soon found the spot where the Mtair warriors had made their stand. Crossbow quarrels, arrows, and broken-bladed weapons lay scattered along a quarter-mile battleline. Along the entire course, the sand was mottled with the brown stains of dried blood. Here and there lay camels or fleet-looking dogs unfortunate enough to have been caught in the crossfire, and Lander even found a golden jackal that had somehow gotten mixed up in the battle.

There were no human corpses. At El Ma'ra, the Zhentarim had taken care not to leave any of their dead behind, so Lander had not expected to discover any Black Robes or their reptilian mercenaries. On the other hand, he had expected to find the Mtair Dhafir's dead warriors. Instead, all he saw here were shredded abas, blood-stained keffiyehs, and discarded jambiyas.

'Look at this,' Kadumi called, motioning for Lander to join him and Ruha.

The youth had discovered a trail of long, splayed-toed tracks. 'Good work,' Lander said, recognizing the footprints as those of the Zhentarim's mercenaries.

The trio followed the trail around to the north side of the mountain to a wadi they had not been able to see from their perch atop the ridge. As they approached the edge of the dry gulch, the thick odor of blood and entrails assaulted their nostrils, and all three of them nearly wretched. Lander motioned for the others to stand back, then stepped to the edge and peered down into the draw.

The bodies of the Mtair Dhafir lay scattered along the bed of the gulch, dozens of vultures feasting on their remains. If Lander was sickened by the desecrations of the scavenger birds, he was outraged by the mutilations that had been performed upon the bodies before the vultures began their grisly feast. The entire khowwan looked as though it had been attacked by man-eating beasts. The soft parts of their bodies had been ripped open and savaged as he had seen Sembian bears do to deer and other large game.

Kadumi and Ruha stepped to Lander's side.

'What happened?' asked the widow.

To Lander's surprise, his companions were not staggered by the sight. Their faces showed anger and outrage, but there was no sign of horror in either of their expressions.

'The men ate the camels,' Lander said, wondering if all Bedine were made of such stern stuff. 'The reptilian sell-swords ate the men.'

'There must be over a thousand mercenaries with the Zhentarim,' Kadumi said, studying the gruesome scene with a thoughtful air. 'A few hundred could not have eaten so many.'

'True, but this points out the Zhentarim's weakness,' Ruha said. 'The invaders must be running low on their food. Perhaps they will starve, after all.'

'If that is going to happen,' the Harper said. 'We must reach the next tribe before the Zhentarim feed it to their mercenaries. Can we do it?'

Ruha nodded. 'Colored Waters is a week away. With Kadumi's extra camels, we should easily overtake the Zhentarim.'

The youth frowned at his sister-in-law. 'Do you know who is camped at Colored Waters? Are they allies of the Mtair Dhafir?'

Ruha shook her head.

'Then perhaps it is not our place to go with the berrani,' he said. 'Even if they let us into camp, those camped at Colored Waters may not believe us.'

The widow shrugged. 'I see no harm in helping Lander,' she said. 'Besides, it is our duty to avenge the slaughter of the Qahtan and the Mtair Dhafir, is it not?'

Kadumi regarded the corpse-filled wadi for several moments, then nodded. 'It is.'

'Good,' Lander said. He glanced at the bodies uncomfortably. 'Is there anything we should do?'

Ruha shook her head. 'N'asr's children took their spirits away last night,' she said. 'There is nothing we can do but reach Colored Waters as fast as we can.'

Lander did not understand what she meant, but he felt he should follow his own custom and warn the spirits about the dangers they faced in the Realm of the Dead. He stepped to the edge of the wadi, then called in a clear loud voice, 'Dead ones, Cyric-er, N'asr-has denizens everywhere. Remember your gods and keep their faith. If you doubt your gods, you will suffer as surely as the wicked.'

When the Harper turned away from the gulch, Kadumi was openly smirking at him. Even Ruha's eyes were twinkling as she asked, 'What did they answer?'

'It's sort of a prayer,' Lander explained.

'It sounded like advice to me,' Ruha countered. 'Have you visited N'asr's camp?'

'No, of course not.'

'Then how can you give advice to the dead?' demanded Kadumi, forcing his camel to kneel so he could mount it. 'You don't know what they'll find.'

Lander started to explain that he had learned about how the Realm of the Dead worked from his Cyric- worshiping mother, then thought better of explaining his family history. Instead, forcing his own camel to kneel, he simply said, 'It can't hurt.'

'That's right, Kadumi,' Ruha said, also kneeling her camel. 'After the vultures carry off the spirits of the dead, Lander can say whatever he likes to the corpses.' She climbed into her camel's saddle, then added, 'Now, if they start talking back, we'd better change our minds about riding with him.'