The Raven Lord | Book I

XX. The Desert

Sand and wind washed over my face in a whirlwind of heat. 

My braid, which had previously been tucked back into my hood, had blown free a mile back and now slashed at my face like an angry whip. My clothes were covered in dust and the cloth over my mouth made it difficult to breathe, especially in the stifling heat. 

Due to the many wards placed around the Shifting Sands, Shadow Jumping wasn't available to us, so Ciel made us bundle up and head ten miles into the desert on foot. Lex didn't seem to particularly care, which didn't surprise me seeing how he grew up in the desert, but to my pleasure Ash and Saskia shared my dismay. The three of us huffed behind Lex and Ciel several paces who, to my chagrin, barely looked phased.

"How much longer?" I rasped, my throat hoarse.

Lex turned back to peer at me, his tan face split by a smirk. "We are almost there. It's just over that dune." He pointed a gloved hand over a steep mound of sand ahead, earning a collective groan from Ash and me. 

"How are we to fight a war if you can't take a little sand?" Ciel chided. Both him and Lex shared a look and some laughter before bounding up the dune as if it were nothing. Saskia muttered a curse under her breath and made for the top, but Ash bent over his knees at my side. 

"They're crazy," I muttered breathily. 

"You get used to it," Ash replied. 

We shared a look of sympathy for each other before heading for the dune. 

Once we reached the top, my heart came to a stop. "There's- There's nothing there," I said. 

Lex made his way to my side, hardly out of breath. "That's because you're not looking hard enough." He nipped gently at my ear before descending the mound of sand and heading toward a dry patch of what looked to be rock, where large pillars of stone jutted upwards and sideways.

The rest of us followed closely behind, coming to a stop when Lex faced us with a grin. "We're here." 

I looked around for something, anything, that would suggest a sign of life or settlement, but all I saw was sand and rock.  

"It's a pretty shitty fort, if you ask me," I said with a sigh, resting my hands on my hips. I was tired. So tired. And I had so much sand in my clothes, and somehow it had ended up in really uncomfortable places. I was in no mood for games, especially those of Alexander Corvus.

Lex chuckled deeply, coming to place his hand on my lower back. "Come with me." 

He led me forward to a pillar of stone with a simple carving of a wave on it. With one look at Lex, I knew all that I needed to: I was about to be proven very wrong. 

He stepped forward and I gasped, jumping back as he disappeared into thin air. I looked around to find Ciel concealing a laugh. I scowled at him before looking forward yet again. With a deep breath in, I took a step forward.

The world around me folded and shifted, shimmering for a second before I stood in front of a citadel of stone. I gasped yet again as I beheld the world that I had been transported to. No, not transported. It had simply been hidden, because there, just behind me, were Ciel and the others, still on the other side of the wall. 

"The fort is shielded by ancient wards," Lex said from beside me. "I told you about the people who dwell here. Something needs to protect them."

I shook my head as I turned back to the Fort. Arches of stone and growing ivy adorned ramparts of gold and rock. Walls towering stories high concealed buildings with pools of water overflowing to rivers and bridges below, where a small town settled around the basin where all flowing water seemed to meet.