“Olive,” Maveryck said hesitantly, “has Heidel ever… spoken of me?”
“Uh…” I wasn’t sure how to answer. “Well, I’m afraid Heidel is a guarded person. She’s had a rough past, so she’s not necessarily open to speaking about her personal life.”
“Ah, I see. So she hasn’t mentioned anything about Earth Kingdom… or about me?”
“No, but I don’t expect she would. Her memories of Earth Kingdom are gone.”
He nodded but bit his lip, not seeming appeased by my answers. “Do you think she would ever consider someone like me?”
I shifted in my seat, unsure of how to answer his question. Kull would kill me if I gave Maveryck the okay to date his sister. “You know, that’s probably something you should talk to Heidel about.”
“Oh.” His face fell. “Yes, of course. I’m sorry to have brought it up.” He smiled, then turned away from me to stare out the window.
I wasn’t sure what to think of Maveryck. While he was polite and seemed to want to help us, I couldn’t help but feel he was hiding something.
Except for the whirring of the carriage’s magically hybrid motor, the rest of the trip passed in silence. Outside, the sun rose, changing the sky from gray to cloudless pink, revealing a flat, barren landscape devoid of trees or plants of any kind. Sand stretched away from us in a seemingly endless ocean.
Heidel and Kull both woke, and we had a scanty breakfast of nuts and cheese. As I chewed my food, I glanced out the window and saw that the landscape was changing from flat, broad plains to mountains in the distance and tall sandstone pillars that rose three stories high. As we put the food away, the carriage slowed and then stopped.
“The light-rails won’t bring us to the mountains,” Maveryck said. “From here, we’ll have to hike.”
Blinding sunlight streamed inside as the doors opened with a soft, motorized whirring sound. After we climbed out, the doors sealed shut and the carriage zipped away, leaving us alone in the desert.
The tall pillars surrounded us like trees as we trudged toward the mountains. Sand billowed around us, and I tasted its gritty particles on my tongue. The dry air was swelteringly hot, and soon I was covered in sweat. When we reached one of the taller pillars, we found some shade, pulled out our canteens, and rested before going any farther.
“How long will it take us to get to this compound?” Heidel asked.
“Only a few more hours if the weather holds, but we’ll have to be careful—the sandstorms here can come without warning.”
After replacing our canteens in our packs, we continued hiking toward the mountains. I glanced at Kull as we walked. Without speaking, he focused straight ahead. He hadn’t tried to kiss me since that evening in the Wult outpost when I’d pushed him away. The feeling of growing distant from him made a knot form in my stomach, and an idea formed that if I kept pushing him away, I wouldn’t get him back. But knowing I would destroy the world—and worse—with Theht’s presence still lurking in my head, made it painful to be with him, and I didn’t know what to do to make it better.
The sun beat down on our backs, hot and oppressive until I felt I was suffocating, but still we walked. The only thing that kept me going was to focus on Fan’twar. Every step I took brought me closer to freeing him.
Up ahead, strange brown cacti grew as tall as buildings. Some had magic trapped inside, and occasional bursts of blue ran through their spines and zapped the ground.
“Watch out for those,” Maveryck said. “Get too close and they’ll give you a nasty shock.”
Dark storm clouds gathered overhead, giving us a welcome break from the glaring sun. The flat expanse of sand began to change to a rocky ground, and the gently sloping hills grew steeper as they led toward the mountains.
The rain-scented air mingled with the billowing dust clouds. Up ahead, the crumbling mountain range stood like a fortress blocking our path.
“Are you sure we’re in the right place?” I asked Maveryck. “I can’t imagine anyone actually living here.”
Heidel spoke up. “I agree. The only people willing to make this place their home are those wishing to hide, which begs the question, why are they hiding?”
“And who are they hiding from?” Kull asked.
The wind picked up, causing the dust to obscure the air and making it difficult for us to see more than a few feet ahead. I pulled the fabric of my cloak across my face to keep the sand from entering my nose and mouth, and the others did the same. Behind me, the sound of ringing steel caused me to stop. I spun around to find Kull standing with his sword unsheathed. With the wind whipping his hair and the sandstorm as a backdrop, he looked like a true barbarian—and sometimes I had to remember, he was.
Kull motioned for us to do the same. Confused, I scanned the desert, but with the sandstorm, it was nearly impossible to see anything other than a wall of sand.
“What’s the matter?” I yelled over the wind.
Kull shook his head and put a finger to his lips.
“Drop the weapon,” a rough voice shouted over the howling wind. Two men wearing rags wrapped around their heads and faces appeared ahead. Both of the men carried crossbows pointed at us. “Drop it!” one of the men repeated.
“I’d rather not,” Kull called back.
“Drop it, or we put a bolt through your heart.”
“I’d like to see you try!”
Maveryck kept his eyes on the two bowmen as he took a step toward Kull. “Do as he says,” Maveryck said calmly. “They won’t hurt us as long as we follow their orders.”
“I’m not in the habit of being ordered around, thief.”
“Brother,” Heidel said,
