3. Chapter 3 #3
Today, with Keera at my side, the forms succeeded in burning away some of the frenetic energy that seemed to feed the chatter in my mind. Finally, we reached the end of the time-honored exercises and stopped with the tips of our sabers pointed straight at the ground.
A smile quirked Keera’s lips, and she offered me a respectful tap of her knuckles to her brow. I returned the gesture and remembered how we had done so at an oasis what seemed like a lifetime ago, as our enmity was just beginning to thaw.
“You perform those well. It makes me feel like perhaps I should practice more.” A voice sounded behind us.
I spun in place to find Dhara standing in the space between tents. Her arms were folded over her chest, and she leaned one shoulder on a tent pole.
“I have a feeling your forms are nothing to be ashamed of,” Keera responded.
“Perhaps, but we should all be as sure of our sword skills as possible these days,” Dhara observed, pushing off the pole and taking a few steps toward us. “As soon as Elion and Aderyn reunite the clans, it will be time for war. We will need all the skilled riders we can muster.”
Keera stiffened, and we shared a glance.
“Our path does not lead us to war,” I admitted. “Not yet.”
Dhara quirked a brow. “Does this have something to do with why you ran from the fire last night?”
I bit the inside of my cheek in shame until I tasted copper.
“You said before that you could feel the way the desert frayed at the seams,” Keera spoke. “The path to fixing her does not lie in Kelvadan.”
“And where does this path lead?”
“The ocean,” I said, before hesitating for a moment.
Lord Alasdar had always insisted that the true goal of restoring the Heart be kept secret—that others knowing of the Heart’s power would lead to betrayal and a race to gain its power.
But his plan had failed, and he had fallen in the face of the bond I shared with Keera.
I had never cared much for how the clans saw me then—hiding behind a mask so they didn’t even know my true name. But now that mask had been left behind in Kelvadan. A knot beneath my ribs ached at the thought the clans would see me leaving them as a betrayal.
I reached into my belt and pulled out the halves of the broken Heart. Like this, they only looked like a large red gemstone, cloven neatly in two. “The Heart of the Desert must be restored to a temple that lies at the edge of the sea,” I explained.
“The Heart of the Desert is a legend,” Lord Dhara said, even as she unfolded her arms and stared down at the glittering red rock in my hand.
“A legend, but a true one,” Keera said at my side.
Dhara glanced up at her.
“And you plan on going to the ocean as well?”
Keera lifted her chin. “Where he goes, I go.”
“I know the other lords will not like it,” I admitted. “But if there is to be a city to save and clans to unite, the desert has to be healed.”
Dhara looked between the two of us. “The journey will be treacherous.”
“Even more treacherous than it has been, with the desert’s anger rousing ancient creatures,” I admitted.
“Truly a test for the fiercest warriors,” she mused.
“We will manage.” Keera set her jaw. “We bested the lava wyrm that terrorized your clan before. We can manage this.”
Dhara pursed her lips. “It was always my great shame that I could not save my clan from that monster myself. Now, I would like to save my clan from the desert’s wrath. I will come with you to the ocean.”
I blinked, and I sensed Keera was surprised as well.
“But uniting the clans…” she started.
“After you left last night, I volunteered to join the group who would ride to the other clans and persuade them to join us in besieging the city. Lord Elion suggested I stay behind though, observing that I tend to persuade with a blade in hand, and that killing our allies would not be helpful.” Her nostrils flared and she bit out Elion’s name with no small bit of frustration.
“In fact, after I helped you rob Izumi, my presence may make an alliance more difficult. But sitting idly by while others work to restore the desert—it does not befit a true lord.”
The fierce edge to her dark gaze brooked no argument, and I understood why Keera and Dhara had quickly found a sort of kinship.
“We should discuss with Lord Elion and the others,” I pointed out. “We need to make sure there are enough strong warriors here to protect the clans.”
“Lord Elion does not command me.” Dhara’s eyes flared. “And Lord Koen was already prepared to lead and protect all the clans gathered here.”
Keera and I shared another glance.
“There will be worse dangers than lava wyrms between us and the ocean. Do not tell me you escaped the last encounter with a lava wyrm so unscathed that you would refuse the aid of another warrior.” Dhara flicked her fingers, and flames weaved between them like coiling snakes. Her power was not to be underestimated.
I grimaced at the reminder of Keera’s state after our battle with the lava wyrm, but Keera reached out a hand.
“We will be happy to have your sword.”
The women clasped forearms, and it was decided.