Part 6 (1/2)
”There.” Abeke pointed. ”That plant.”
”What about it?”
Abeke didn't answer right away. Instead, her attention stayed on the plant. It was a short, squat, ugly little thing, with swollen leaves that looked like little green sacs. Back in Nilo, they called it a water bulb, due to moisture that the plant carried in its body. This one was covered in brightly colored spiked leaves, but otherwise, it looked fairly close. She dismounted from her horse and headed over to it. Conor followed her.
”Careful,” Conor said, but Abeke gave him an encouraging smile and stooped down to peer at the plant.
”I won't touch the spikes,” she promised. ”Look at those colors they're probably poisonous.”
She removed the knife at her belt and sliced one of the green bulbs off. She carved one end of it open. Wet, clear liquid dripped onto her hands. The others stopped in their procession to watch. Abeke stared at the liquid for a moment. It could be poisonous, of course but at this point, she was so thirsty that she didn't care. They would all die without water, anyway. Taking a deep breath, Abeke lifted it.
She sipped the clear liquid.
Then she closed her eyes and drank deeply. Water! It tasted slightly sweet and wonderfully cool before she knew it, she'd finished drinking the entire bulb. When she opened her eyes again, she noticed that the plants grew in a large cl.u.s.ter hidden behind dry, p.r.i.c.kly bushes. Conor stared at her in shock. She looked back at him with a grin, and Conor's expression changed to one of delight as he realized what Abeke had found. They both turned and enthusiastically waved the others over.
”Water!” they called out in unison.
Everyone set about filling their canteens and watering their horses the best they could. The water from the plants wasn't much, but it was enough, and the mere fact that they would be able to find bulbs like this in Stetriol's barren lands gave Abeke hope that they could make it across.
”I'm going to search for more plants,” she announced, then set off up the hill to find more cl.u.s.ters. They seemed to grow together, and if she found a few more at the base of the hills, they would be set for another week.
”Wait for us!”
Behind her, Conor and Rollan came running. Maya stayed behind to look after Kalani, who still didn't seem her best. Abeke waited until the boys caught up to her, and then the three of them set out together.
”I used to survive on bulbs like that when I went out hunting,” Abeke said. ”The thing is, they tend to grow in lands that have some underground water or tiny streams. If we find any more cl.u.s.ters of them growing, then we might be able to find a bigger water source.”
”Bigger water source,” Rollan said, still drinking from his refilled canteen. ”Music to my ears.”
They covered the short distance between the plains and the foothills. There, to Abeke's delight, they found two more cl.u.s.ters of the water bulbs growing. There had to be some sort of stream around. Abeke, Conor, and Rollan climbed higher up the first hill. The wind had picked up again, and the cool breeze it brought was a welcome change from the stifling heat. Abeke breathed a sigh of relief. Thank Ninani their luck was finally turning around. At this rate, they'd be prepared when they caught up to the Conquerors. Sure enough, Abeke glanced down from the hill to see the first sign of a thin, snaking stream. She laughed as they went.
”Look!”
Conor stopped so suddenly that Abeke b.u.mped right into his back. Rollan smashed into her in turn.
”What is it?” Abeke said. Then her eyes settled on what had captured Conor's attention, and her words faded away into nothing.
From this vantage point on the hill, they could look down at a vast expanse of flatland, partly framed by the Red Mountains. The nearest side the side they now stood on was lined with narrow ravines. On the far side was a strange, s.h.i.+mmering red rock formation that plateaued high above the ground, looking like a giant ant mound.
And in the flatland's center, between all of the formations ... were thousands of Conquerors.
SO MANY OF THEM.
That was Conor's first thought.
His second: We can't fight them. We have to go around.
And his third: Olvan's army should be here by now.
”Let's go back,” Conor whispered, crouching lower in the gra.s.s. All thoughts of water seemed to have escaped him. ”We have to warn Finn.”
”Right,” Rollan whispered. He turned abruptly around and started making his way through the tall gra.s.ses. ”It's a good thing we went searching for plants. We would've walked right into them. They probably have troops guarding all the pa.s.ses.”
”It likely also means we're close to Kovo's prison,” Abeke piped up. She looked sharply at Conor. ”Anything familiar to you out there? Anything from your dreams or visions?”
Conor furrowed his brows. Up ahead, the others had already quieted and turned to watch them running frantically back. Conor's persistent visions flashed through his mind the eagle, the ape, the snake, the golden leaves. The cliff, the red earth ”That red rock,” he muttered under his breath. Then louder, ”That rock formation we just saw, on the far side. I think that's Muttering Rock.”
”Do you think they've freed Kovo already?” Rollan asked.
”I don't know,” Conor admitted. ”But we have to head there all the same. If Kovo hasn't been freed yet, it won't be long before he is.”
The three charged back to the others. Finn frowned at their expressions. ”What did you see out there?”
”Conquerors,” Abeke said breathlessly. ”A whole army of them.”
”And no Olvan,” Conor added, saying what Abeke had been hesitant to voice. ”His forces are supposed to hold them off and give us the chance to go ahead.”
”We may have arrived before him,” Finn said grimly. He nodded toward the foothills from where they'd just come. ”Show me.”
Conor took them back to the crest, where they all got down on their bellies to watch the ma.s.sive expanse of troops arrange themselves into practice formations. It seemed as if they were preparing for a big event, and Conor had no question what that event would be. Maya crawled over to join them after a while. She sucked in her breath at the sight.
”There,” Abeke snapped, pointing out a lone figure standing near the front of the flanks. Her jaw clenched until Conor thought it might break. ”Shane!”
Even from this distance, the Devourer's enormous crocodile was clearly visible camped out at its human partner's side, its mighty jaws opening and closing. Conor s.h.i.+vered at the way its tail swept back and forth, and imagined the wide swaths it was painting in the desert sand. He looked back at Abeke to see her hands were clenched into fists. The fire of rage lit her eyes, a rare sight.
”If Shane's here,” Rollan added, his own eyes sweeping the scene, ”then maybe Meilin is too.”
Conor's gaze settled on the strange rock formation he'd seen earlier. Something about it continued to hold his attention. Kovo. He called Briggan out from his pa.s.sive state, and the huge wolf joined them in a small flash of light. His hackles were already up.
”Conor,” Finn said, looking at the rock. ”Is that ... ?”
Conor nodded.
”We have to find a way around this army and reach the rock without drawing their attention,” Finn continued. He gestured down to the formations. ”I can see some of their forces down in three of the narrow ravines leading onto the plain. I'm going to a.s.sume they've taken those, as well.” He pointed to two more narrow valleys that fed into the plains. ”If we want to get around them, we'll need to make a wide circle east. And we'll need to do it without our horses.”
Conor felt a pang at that. He looked back at the poor animals, all of whom had already been in bad shape before they set out. How would they survive in the desert?
Finn saw his face and shook his head. ”We can't take them. Where we'll have to go is too steep for their legs. They will die. And if one of them startles when we're pa.s.sing close to the Conquerors, they could give away our location.”
Conor took a closer look at the terrain. The way he was crouched in the gra.s.s gave him a better view of the lower plains than Finn had. As he scanned the s.p.a.ce, he noticed a tiny, shadowed path. Paths. In fact, there were several branches of grooves carved deep into the land, as if some ancient river and its tributaries used to exist there and had dried up decades ago.
The resulting maze of winding paths had tall walls with strange, wavelike formations and natural half tunnels. The paths carved their way all along the edge of the foothills. They stopped short of where their small troupe needed to be, but if they could pa.s.s through there completely unnoticed, they would leave behind the worst of the Conquerors.
”There,” he whispered. ”What if we make our way through one of those river paths?”
Finn followed his finger. His brows furrowed in thought. ”It will take us dangerously close to the troops,” he finally muttered. ”If we're found while still there, they'll easily overwhelm us in a matter of minutes.”
Conor nodded. ”Definitely dangerous,” he admitted. ”But it's faster, and it looks like smooth, flat ground underneath those wave formations. If we pa.s.s through, the shape of it should m.u.f.fle the sound of our horses' hooves, and block them from seeing the troops.” He glanced at the others for their approval.