Part 4 (1/2)

The Guards shrieked in terror. Paralyzed with shock, hardly able to believe their eyes, Lief, Barda, and Jasmine lay rigid beneath the concealing cloak. The monster had been perfectly hidden in the dune. Waiting. One more step, and they, instead of their enemies, would have been its prey.

Lief stared in fascinated horror. The creature was eight-legged, with a tiny head that seemed all mirrored eyes. Dozens of leathery bags, like the one they had seen lying on the ground, hung from its body. Sand still poured from its joints and crevices. It regarded its captives without curiosity as they struggled and swung in its terrifying grip. Then it opened its mouth, leaned forward a and abruptly, mercifully, the screaming and the struggling stopped.

It had all happened in seconds. Sickened by what they had seen, Lief, Barda, and Jasmine remained huddled under the cloak, not daring to move.

Delicately, using its pincers, the monster picked the clothes from the dead bodies of its prey, like a bird sh.e.l.ling snails. The companions watched as clothes, boots, money bags, Jasmineas medallion, metal canisters of blisters, slings, clubs, and water bottles thudded onto the sand. Then the creature sat back on its spiny haunches and began to eat, taking its time. Lizards and flies crawled out of the sand in the thousands to feast on the sc.r.a.ps that fell from its mouth.

Lief buried his face in his arms. He had no love for Grey Guards. But he could not watch this.

The lowering yellow cloud blotted out the sun so completely that Lief lost all sense of time. For what seemed like hours he, Barda, and Jasmine lay motionless while the creature ate its fill and slowly the bags hanging from its body swelled till they looked like gigantic grapes hanging from a stalk.

aThey are stomachs!a breathed Barda in disgust. Lief shuddered. And even Jasmine, familiar with so many weird creatures in the Forests of Silence, wrinkled her nose with distaste.

At last, the flies and lizards scattered and the beast stood upright. One of the swollen stomachs, bigger than all the rest, tore away from its body and rolled to rest in the sand, leaving only a ragged stump behind. Seemingly unconcerned, the creature crawled forward and settled on top of it.

aWhat is it doing?a breathed Lief, unable to keep silent.

aI think it is piercing the stomach and laying an egg inside,a Jasmine whispered back. aThat way, the hatchling will have food while it grows.a Barda turned his head away.

But the sand beast had already finished its egg-laying and was moving again. Sluggishly, it ambled through the ruined dune in which it had hidden and climbed the next, soon disappearing over the top. The companions waited a moment to be sure it would not return, then climbed stiffly to their feet.

Without hesitation, but still gripping her dagger, Jasmine hurried over to where lizards and flies still swarmed over the Guardsa bones and the bloodstained tatters of their clothes. Beating away the scavengers, she began rapidly sorting through the rags, putting aside in a small pile things that would be of use: the Guardsa slings and blisters, their clubs and water bottles, the money bags. After a moment she looked up, startled.

aThe money bags burst as they fell,a she called in a low voice. aMost of the coins spilled out. But they are not here any longer. They are gone! And so has my medallion.a aThat is impossible!a Barda strode towards her and himself began searching. Lief followed more slowly. His attention had been caught by a flat patch of sand just beyond where his friends were crouching. What he saw there made his flesh creep.

aThe creature was blocking our view for hours as it fed,a Jasmine was insisting. aSomething or someone crawled in unseen and took a”a aIt cannot be!a Barda was growing impatient as he fruitlessly searched the tumbled sand.

aLook!a Liefas voice sounded choked, even to himself. He cleared his throat, and pointed.

The smooth patch of sand was covered with hundreds of strange, circular marks. Marks that had not been there before.

Jasmine stared. aNever have I seen tracks like these,a she said finally. aWhat creature could have made them?a aWe cannot know,a Lief said flatly. aBut whatever it is it is something that does not fear the sand beast, and something that likes gold. Perhaps it likes gems, too. Perhaps it is the Guardian.a aBut surely the sand beast is the Guardian!a Barda exclaimed.

Jasmine shook her head. aI think it is just one of the creatures of the Sands,a she said positively. aWe have just seen it lay an egg. What is more, we pa.s.sed an empty stomach skin on our way here. That hatchling had already emerged to fend for itself. There could be hundreds of sand beasts here. There could be thousands.a Barda cursed under his breath.

The low, droning sound drummed in Liefas ears. He stared at the circles on the sand. They seemed to mock him. He tried to look away, but his eyes kept being drawn back to them. He forced his gaze up to the sky a” but there was no relief there. The unchanging roof of cloud seemed to press down on him, hemmed in as he was by faceless dunes. And all the time fear plucked at him like the flies which had returned in force, stinging, stinging a Suddenly he could stand it no longer. With a m.u.f.fled cry he leaped upon the tracks and kicked at them, destroying them, digging his heels deeply into the soft sand and scattering it everywhere.

aLief! Stop!a he heard Barda call. But Lief was past listening. He shouted and fell to the ground, beating and tearing at it. Barda and Jasmine ran to him, trying to pull him to his feet. He fought them away.

There was a soft s.h.i.+fting sound and a low rumbling. Then the earth began to move. Lief heard Barda and Jasmine cry out. And just in time he grasped their hands as huge columns of sand began to thrust themselves upward all around them.

Jerked off their feet, the three tumbled together, rolling helplessly, blindly, as the sand roared and quaked beneath them. Lief could hear Jasmine screaming for Kree, and the birdas answering screech. He could hear his own voice, too, groaning in fear.

There is something here.

He knew it. He could see nothing, for his eyes were tightly closed against the stinging sand, but he could feel a terrible, rage-filled presence all around him.

And he knew what it was. It was the thing that had been drawing him on. The thing that was hungry for what it sensed he could give it.

It wants the Belt a It will not rest until it has a Then, suddenly, he felt the power withdraw. And immediately, as quickly as it had begun, the storm ceased and the ground quieted.

He lay still, dizzy and panting, as the last of the flying sand fell around him like rain.

With a rush of wings, Kree landed on Jasmineas arm. He was unharmed, though powdered all over with red dust. He began ruffling and preening his feathers, trying to clean himself. Filli chattered excitedly inside Jasmineas jacket. She murmured to him, calming him.

Lief brushed at his face with trembling hands.

aAn earthquake,a mumbled Barda. aSo a” that is why this place is called the s.h.i.+fting Sands. We should have realized aa aIt was not an ordinary earthquake,a snapped Jasmine. aIt cannot simply be chance that Lief was kicking those marks away when it began. Lief, why did you do that? What is wrong with you? Are you ill?a Lief could not answer. He was staring blankly around him.

Everything had changed. Dunes had collapsed and formed again in different places, and great valleys had opened where hills had been before. All tracks and signs that had previously marred the sands were gone. The ruined dune, the place where the Guards had died a” both had disappeared.

He, Barda, and Jasmine may as well have been dropped from the sky into a part of the Sands they had never seen before. Only the low, droning sound was the same.

aLief will not speak to me!a he heard Jasmine say to Barda in a frightened voice. She sounded very far away.

The sun was still blanketed by the clouds above. Lief could not tell which way was east and which way west. And he had been spun and tumbled so many times that he had no idea from which direction he had come.

So this is the beginning, he thought.

His glazed eyes fell on a mark in the sand, quite close to where he was lying. His throat seemed to close as he stared at it, and understood its meaning.

Lief felt Barda take him by the shoulder and shake him. He licked his lips and forced himself to speak. aDo not worry. I am all right,a he said huskily.

aYou do not seem all right,a Barda growled. aYou are acting as though you have lost your wits!a aIt is Jasmine who has lost something,a murmured Lief. aShe has lost her dagger a” the dagger with the carved crystal set in the hilt.a aOh, did you find it?a Jasmine exclaimed. aI am so glad. I dropped it just before the sandstorm ended. It was my fatheras. I thought it was gone for good!a aSo it is, I fear.a Lief pointed to the drawing on the sand.

Jasmine and Barda gaped, speechless.

aThe thing whose anger caused the storm accepted the dagger as tribute and left us in peace while it took it away,a Lief murmured.

aThe circles in the sand! They were not tracks, but pictures of the gold coins, and the medal!a Barda gritted his teeth. aWhat sort of creature is this? Why does it leave marks to show what it has taken?a Lief shrugged. aWhy do sculptors carve figures of stone, or shop owners list their wares upon their windows, or fools write their names upon trees and walls? To show what they love. To show what they own. To leave a message for all who pa.s.s by that way.a Jasmine was looking wary. aYou are talking very strangely, Lief,a she said. aI do not like it. You speak as if you know this thing.a Lief shook his head. aIt is beyond knowing,a he said.

The verse they had seen carved on the stone at the crossroads kept running through his mind.

Death swarms within its rocky wall Where all are one, one will rules all.

Be now the dead, the living strive With mindless will to a survive.

He knew that he did not have the last lines quite right. But two words he was quite sure about.

Mindless will.

A thing of mindless will ruled the s.h.i.+fting Sands and all that was precious in that fearsome place it gathered to itself. The terrifying creatures who shared its domain could have the flesh of their victims. The Guardian wanted only the treasure the victims carried.

For the first time since entering the Sands, Lief touched the Belt under his s.h.i.+rt, checking that the fastening was secure. As he did, his fingers brushed the topaz, and suddenly his mind cleared.

It was as though a dusty veil had been ripped from a window, allowing light and air to enter. But somehow he knew that the flash would not last long. There was another power at work here, and it was ancient and terrible.

He whirled around to Barda. aWe must move on,a he said urgently. aLight is fading, and the place we seek is far from here, for the Belt is not yet warm. But I want you to fasten us together so that we cannot be separated. I must be in the middle, tied very tightly.a Grimly, Barda did as he asked, using the rope they had bought from Mother Brightly. It was light, but very strong. Lief tested it, and nodded. aDo not release me, whatever I say,a he muttered.

His companions nodded, asking no questions.