The Parched sea

and five dozen men ventured into the dale to probe the sand with their spears.

The probers spread out across the width of the dale and began searching for sleeping asabis. While one man pushed his spear deep into the sand, a comrade stood by with a drawn scimitar, ready to defend him if the prober got lucky and struck a sleeping reptile. When they found nothing, they moved a yard farther up the canyon and tried again. Occasionally a man fell excitedly to his knees and scooped the sand away, only to uncover a submerged rock or the half-petrified trunk of an acacia tree.

The rest of the column waited in the sun, fighting the urge to open their waterskins and quench the thirst that always seemed worse when doing nothing. Now and then, the camels belched or roared, as irritated by the wait as their riders were. In hushed whispers, a few men suggested to their fellows what Ruha and the sheikhs had already guessed: the Zhentarim had escaped.

Ruha's spell fell long before the probers reached the other side of the dale, but it did not matter. The spearmen returned with nothing to report. Though their spears had often sunk clear to the bedrock, they had not found so much as a single asabi burrowed into the sand.

A few minutes later, one of the scouts Utaiba had sent to track the Zhentarim returned. He reported that the canyon was full of camel tracks, but there was no sign of the asabis.

'The Zhentarim are running for Orofin!' Utaiba concluded.

'And they must have left the asabis behind,' Sa'ar added, scowling. 'But where?'

Utaiba shrugged. 'Let's find out.'

Sa'ar nodded, then ordered the entire column forward. As Ruha and the sheikhs moved into the dale, a muffled clack echoed from a crevice on the north side of the canyon. Ruha heard a hiss, then felt her mount's withers flinch. The beast roared in astonishment and rolled to its left. As the camel's legs buckled, the young witch leaped free. She landed a foot behind the Sa'ar's huge mount, already summoning a spell to mind. She spun around and pointed her hand toward the fissure, raising the other toward At'ar.

A bolt of white fire burst from her fingers and streaked into the fissure, then a tremendous boom echoed from the canyon walls. A limp asabi flew out of the crevice amid a hail of stones and dropped to the canyon floor.

'Ambush!' cried Sa'ar, waving the column back down the canyon.

No sooner had he spoke than dozens of muffled clacks sounded from the canyon walls. A flurry of black streaks crossed in both directions. As the crossbow bolts found their targets, men cried out in pain and camels bellowed in astonishment. The canyon erupted into a cacophony of alarmed shouts and cries of warning.

Sa'ar's big camel swung around in front of Ruha, and she saw the sheikh's brawny hand reaching down for her. She jumped up and grabbed at the arm, then felt her feet leave the ground as the burly man pulled her onto his mount's back. They sprang a few yards down the canyon, then ran into a confused mass of riders that had been at the end of the column when the asabis opened fire.

Realizing that those at the back of the column still did not realize that the front of the column had been ambushed, Ruha tugged at Sa'ar's amarat and yelled, 'Blow the retreat!'

As the sheikh raised his horn, another round of bolts tore out of the crevices. More men screamed and more camels bellowed, then the rumbling tones of Sa'ar's amarat echoed off the cliffs. The back of the column immediately reversed direction and rode back down the canyon, clearing the way for their trapped fellows. Within moments, the entire line was trotting away from the ambush.

On the other side of the winding narrows, the procession met Lander and the sheikhs galloping up the steep valley. Behind them, in a long line that stretched all the way down to the mamlahah, were the rest of the Bedine warriors.

The warriors of the Raz'hadi and the Mahwa neatly parted ways to allow the Lander and the sheikhs to pass through unhindered. As they approached Sa'ar, the thirteen men stopped whipping their camels. The drained beasts ceased their running immediately.

'What happened?' demanded Didaji. His brown turban was half-unwrapped, and he was self-consciously holding its tail over his lower face.

'Ruha found the asabis for us,' Sa'ar said, hitching his thumb over his shoulder at his passenger.

'They ambushed us when we started into the dale,' Utaiba added. 'But not very well. They're hiding deep in the fissures to keep away from At'ar, so their field of fire is not very wide.'

Lander moved past the other sheikhs and stopped his mount alongside Ruha. 'What happened to your camel?'

'Shot from beneath her,' Sa'ar explained.

The widow was pleased to see the Harper's brow furrow in concern. He started to reach for her hand, but quickly withdrew it when Sa'ar moved to intercept it. 'I'm glad you are well.'

'Of course she's well,' Utaiba responded. 'I promised you that Sa'ar and I would take care of her, did I not?'

'Your messenger told us the Zhentarim were gone,' Didaji interrupted. 'Was he wrong? Is our plan spoiled?'

'The plan is spoiled,' Utaiba responded. 'But only because the Zhentarim abandoned their asabis. They're heading toward Orofin.'

Didaji cursed.

'Why are you upset?' Lander asked. 'Yhekal has made his first big mistake. Now that he's split his force, it will be a simple matter to wipe them out separately.'

'It's not going to be as easy as you think,' Utaiba responded. 'An ancient fort guards the well at Orofin. The Zhentarim can hold out inside for weeks. As short as our water supply is, we cannot last nearly that long.'

Sa'ar pointed toward the dale. 'There is no way to ride around the ambush, but if we ride through it at a gallop, we won't suffer too many casualties. With luck, we'll catch the Zhentarim by tomorrow afternoon-a half-day before they reach Orofin.'

'No,' Lander said, shaking his head in disappointment. 'That's what they want. If we bypass the asabis, we'll be caught between the hammer and the anvil.'

'What do you mean?' asked Sa'ar.

Lander held one hand out flat. 'Here are the Zhentarim,' he said. 'Whether we catch them before Orofin or at it, we'll have to stop and fight.' He formed a fist with the other hand, then brought it down into his open palm with a loud pop. 'When that happens, the asabis will smash us from behind, just as a hammer smashes against the anvil.'

Utaiba frowned. 'I see what you mean.' He turned to the other sheikhs, then said, 'I agree with the Harper. If we don't pause now, we'll regret it later.'

'What of Orofin?' countered Didaji. 'Surely they will poison all water that lies outside the fort. Our tribes will die of thirst.'

'The asabis must have water with them,' Sa'ar said. 'It will be enough to get us to Orofin so that we can attack. After the battle, we'll have all the water we want, or we won't have need of any.'

'Before the Zhentarim started poisoning oases, I would never have agreed to such a plan,' Utaiba said, addressing the other sheikhs as well as Didaji. 'Now that I know how corrupt they are, it is clear that we must drive them from our home, even if it means risking everything.'

Didaji reluctantly nodded, then turned to the closest warriors. 'Pass the word to dismount and come forward with lance and sword. We must pry these lizards from their dens.'

The fourteen tribes spent the rest of the day in the canyon, working carefully and methodically. Starting at the near end of the dale, four or five warriors approached each fissure and tried to draw the asabi's fire by throwing rocks into the crevice. Usually, that did not work, so they drew lots and the loser had to jump past the front of the crevice, at the same time throwing his lance into it. Most of the reptiles fired their crossbows as the decoy flashed past and, more often than not, deftly avoided the lance.

Several other warriors then leaped in front of the crevice. One of them threw a torch into the crack to illuminate the target, and the others pierced the creature with their long spears. Once it died, they pulled the lifeless asabi from the crack, took its waterskin, and moved on to the next fissure.

When the mercenary refused to fire its crossbow even at the decoy, the warriors resorted to smoke. They pulled a withered bush and lit it with their torch, then reached around the edge of the fissure and stuffed the burning brush inside. If the resulting smoke flushed the asabi out, they sliced it to pieces with their scimitars as it rushed out of the crevice. Otherwise, three or four of them leaped in front of the fissure and probed into the