Chapter Thirty-Six
I dreamed that night of the goddess. That pulsating feeling was still there, that negative noise that canceled everything else out. The landscape was the same but no Eramis. I again watched her struggle on one knee, as if being pushed down.
Win.
It was frustrating not to know what the dream meant. What else could I win? Was she referring to the Thracian concubines in Epirius? Did she want me to win their freedom?
Zain woke me up the next morning after his watch shift with a sweet kiss. I sleepily smiled up at him. While I didn’t enjoy being in the Wastelands, I did like being with him.
It was easy to pack up and get moving—both he and I had a lot of experience traveling.
I wasn’t so worried about being attacked, given that we’d gone an entire day without seeing anything.
So I didn’t object when he told me more stories about heists he’d performed and interspersed those tales with facts about himself.
Like that freshly baked bread was still his favorite thing to eat.
That his proudest moment had been when he stole a sheepskin made of silver for a client, something everyone else said was unstealable.
That he hated training but loved how much easier it made things like thieving and bedroom activities.
I might have blushed at that last revelation.
He also shared that the time he’d spent with me was the most he’d ever spent with one woman and he was surprised by how much he liked being with me.
That did two contradictory things to me—it made me concerned that he would never have an actual relationship because he didn’t seem interested in commitment, and it also made me want to preen that I was the one woman who had caught his attention.
It was another long day that felt practically identical to the first. Stop, water and rest, start up again, stop, water and rest, start up again . . .
The one difference was that we talked most of the time.
Traveling confirmed what I’d already decided—that we were safe—because I hadn’t seen anything to indicate there were giant monsters ready to eat us. No tracks, no bones. The Wastelands were dead.
It was strange not to hear insects buzzing or any kind of animal sound.
Just total and complete silence surrounding us.
Which was another reason why the talking was nice—because it kept that unnatural quiet at bay.
The Epirians had provided special ointments to protect our skin from the sun and I was glad for it because I burned so easily. We also had hats that looked ridiculous but managed to cover our faces and necks.
It amazed me that he could still look so desirable, rugged, and handsome even with the silly hat.
“Do you think the Daemonian guard can see us?” I asked him at one point.
“They might have a Carian glass that allows them to see this far,” he said.
The idea that two men were constantly watching and following us bothered me. If Daemonians were less capable, I might have considered hiding somewhere and attacking them, tying them to their horses, and sending them back to Epirius.
But there was too much of a risk of failing, so I did my best to ignore them.
Hours later, we had settled into another cove of rocks to sleep for the night. I had just finished off my dried meat when I heard a strange sound.
It reminded me of a small arrow hitting the ground.
“Did you hear that?” I asked.
The sound happened again.
And again.
Then there were more.
Zain quickly stood and picked up Dagger, sticking the dog down the front of his tunic.
“What are you—”
“We have to get to high ground, right now!” He started yanking bags off the horses and put them over his shoulders.
I wanted to question this, but instead I did the same as him, grabbing everything important that I would need from my horse.
Zain untied them and then slapped them both on their rears so that they would run off.
What was he thinking?
He immediately turned and started to climb the rocks. “Hurry! Get up here as fast as you can!”
I followed him and it was difficult to figure out where to put my hands and feet. I had the strength to do this but not necessarily the dexterity.
He made it to the top and held out his hand to me. Instead of trying to climb up the last few feet, I made sure I had a good footing and then jumped up to take hold of his hand. He helped to haul me up and I landed on the top of the rocks next to him.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
Right then a drop of water hit my face. And another.
It was raining.
But why had that concerned him so much?
He answered my question without me asking.
“The desert is not built for rain. The goddess of discord keeps this place dead and the ground will not accept the water. It doesn’t seep down but runs along the surface and becomes flash floods that sweep away and kill everything in their path.
” He glanced around. “I’m not even sure we’re high enough. ”
We were at least twelve feet off the ground.
The rain began to fall faster and faster. It wasn’t long before I was completely drenched, my teeth chattering. Too cold.
“Put on everything you can!” Zain yelled over the rain. It was difficult to move but we both put on our extra clothing and armor. I secured my weapons to make sure they stayed on and he did the same.
He pulled out the rope of Phrygia and tied one end around a thinner outcropping that was attached to the rock we were on.
“Come here!” he shouted.
I got as close to him as I could and it was like being next to a burning branch. Despite being soaked, he still exuded warmth and I nestled against his neck as he tied the rope around us, lashing us together and then to the rock.
We sat down and I could feel Dagger breathing against my chest. I was glad he was covered.
Zain’s mouth was next to my ear. “Stay close! The best thing we can do right now is combine our body heat.”
“I don’t think I have any to contribute,” I said through chattering teeth.
The longer we sat there, the worse the rain got. Faster and faster, hitting harder and harder. It began to feel like I was being pelted with tiny darts. Even wearing so many clothes and my armor, even with my head being protected by his, those darts were everywhere, stinging my skin.
It felt as if I would never know what it was like to be dry ever again.
There was a bright flash and I was startled when a loud crash of thunder shook everything around us.
And we were attached to the highest point around us. Did we now have to worry about being struck by lightning?
I was about to ask Zain if we should move to a different spot when I heard a roaring sound. Like an army of lions.
“What is that?” I called out.
“Flash flood!”
He’d used that term earlier and I was about to ask him what it meant when the answer appeared in front of me.
Lightning repeatedly split the sky above us, lighting up the earth so that we could see what was happening.
And it was terrifying.
The rocks we had chosen to sleep in were arranged with a chain of rocks that led off far into the distance. I could see a wall of water rushing down the center, like a river gone mad.
It headed straight for us, carrying dirt and brush and other unidentified objects.
It crashed hard against the rock wall we were perched on. The earth seemed to move beneath us.
“What is—”
My question was cut off by the water hitting the rock wall again. And again. With more force each time. It was like it was trying to push the wall down and out of its way so that it could cause more destruction.
Water poured between the large gaps in the rocks, but it didn’t make the main body dissipate.
Somehow the water continued to get higher, continued to pound away at the rock wall.
And there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t fight the flood. My strength didn’t matter, his cleverness didn’t matter. We were at the storm’s mercy.
There was nowhere for us to go other than where we were. We were trapped.
I tried to tell myself that this was fine, that we were safe. The water was several feet beneath us and I didn’t have to worry.
But the water continued to rise until I could feel it lapping at my feet.
“It’s coming over the wall!” I yelled to Zain and felt him nod.
“Hang on!” he shouted back.
At first it seemed harmless, like a small wave in the ocean. A thin line of water would rush against us and retreat, over and over.
But then the water got bigger. And stronger.
And it crashed against us, as if trying to knock us off the wall. I wanted to ask Zain if this was what these flash floods were supposed to do because it didn’t feel natural.
It felt like we were being attacked and I didn’t know why.
Or who could be behind the attacks.
The water would push us and we would dig in, holding our position, and it would retreat. It began hitting harder. So hard that Zain lost his footing and was yanked off the wall.
I screamed his name and grabbed the rope on the outcropping with one hand and the rope attached to him with the other. I felt his body weight as I began pulling him back to me. The flash flood wasn’t allowed to have him.
Another wave hit me but I held on. I would keep us both safe, no matter what. I yelled at the water, as if that would do something, but it felt as futile as everything else.
Lightning lanced above my head and I saw Zain, hanging on to the rope. His head and torso were above the waterline, which meant that both he and Dagger were safe.
“Thank Invara,” I whispered, pulling him back up.
It was so hard to pull—I was so cold and tired and the water sucked at his feet, tugging him down.
I yelled again and put all my strength into jerking him free of the roiling water.
He used his feet as leverage and was able to walk along the rock wall as I tugged him to me.
When he was back on the ledge, I threw my arms around him. “Shorten the rope!”
“What?” he shouted, not able to hear me.
“Shorten the rope! There shouldn’t be so much slack between us!”
He looked as if he wanted to argue, but instead he fixed a length of the rope so that we were much closer. I didn’t want him pulled out of my arms again.
I did my best to shield us from the incoming waves, using my strength to stay in one spot, but I still stumbled, as did Zain. The waves had started to feel like giant fingers that grabbed us, trying to drag us back into the flash flood.
Hanging on felt like the most hopeless thing in the world. A bleak part of my brain told me that eventually the water would sweep us away and we would both drown.
Then there was this disquieting voice, piercing through the thunder and the rainfall, and it said:
Give up. Let go.
That had not come from inside me. I’d heard that with my ears from outside myself. I knew that to be true when I saw from Zain’s expression he had heard it, too.
You’ll never win. Untie the rope.
I wanted to ask who or what that was, but I was certain he didn’t know the answer, either.
The voice didn’t speak again. My body went rigid while I waited, expecting it to say something else horrible, but it didn’t.
And I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, but it seemed like the water was dying down. Less rain was falling.
Would the voice return? Would the water get worse?
This was not how I wanted to die. I wanted to end my days fighting on a battlefield. Not sitting on a rock in the middle of the Wastelands hoping I didn’t drown.
“Everything is going to be all right!” he said, and I wasn’t sure if he was trying to calm himself down or if he thought I might panic. “We will wait until the storm passes. And we will be fine so long as we stay together.”
I hoped that was true.