The Call of Crows

Chapter 28: Degeneration

Khongira was a dry and cold land of grass, wild horses, and wind. Though the sun shined bright every day, Shahla constantly shivered. Then again, it wasn't as though Qahtan experienced winter, much less the Al-Kubra Bedouins.

The cold, however, was the least of Shahla's ailments. The land was barren, save for rivers and streams that criss-crossed the flatlands. There were no trees to seek shelter from the elements or build fires with. Their heat at night came solely from Lokapele melting a small mound of earth.

As far as Shahla could tell, there was no food on the steppe aside from horses and sheep, all of which were too fast for any of them or kept domesticated by tribes nowhere near them.

For the last five days, they'd subsisted on nothing but tea made from wild millets and seeds. They saw a herd of horses one time, causing Shahla's stomach to growl. Najeem had tried to catch and kill one for her, but only got a swift kick to the chest for his effort.

Since then, they had seen nothing horse-like. But they kept going on the promise of making it to Borhae, the one and only city in all of Khongira. From there, they could stock up on supplies with their remaining collective five pounds of gold and silver.

Shahla fell in their marching order next to Najeem. He was cradling his wrist, the injury still hidden by his bracer.

"Najeem, you've still got that? You shouldn't be hiding it."

"No 'Good afternoon' or 'how are you, Najeem'?" The Asasiyun muttered.

"I'm too hungry for small talk." Shahla muttered.

"My wrist is fine. And, no, I won't be uncovering it." Najeem insisted. After he realized Shahla thought he still felt humiliated by the defeat, he added, "My bracers are fur-lined."

"Ugh..." Shahla groaned, "How does anyone live out here? It's hell."

"It'd be better if we had something to take our minds off the walking." Najeem sighed, "Unfortunately, Captain Conscientious here won't let us forget." He gestured to Seang at the head of the pack.

"Only five more miles to go! Let's move it!" the nun commanded.

Kameko visibly rolled her eyes.

Shahla thought to herself for a moment, "Take our minds off it? Oh! Lokapele!" Shahla caused the somber-looking Aotearoan to jump with a start at her lively tone, "Lokapele, do you think you could sing us a song? Or a poem?"

Lokapele furrowed her brow, reeling back from her, "I have written no songs in months."

Shahla frowned, "But you're always writing songs..."

Lokapele scoffed, "Who the hell has time to write songs anymore? Maybe wait a hundred years after this war ends and you'll hear songs."

With that, Lokapele pushed ahead in the group, leaving Shahla feeling disheartened.

"Bah. Everyone's down on themselves and everyone else right now." Najeem muttered, "Well, except you, I guess. Everyone still likes you for some reason."

Shahla shook her head. "Not when I do stupid things like that. I didn't consider that she wasn't in the mood for any kind of singing."

"Yeah, but you're still the last one to ever make someone dislike you. I'd say that's pretty impressive."

Shahla shook her head. "No one's angry with me because I'm not brave enough to make anyone angry with me. I can't stand up for myself except on rare conditions."

"Well, maybe that's what we need right now." Najeem huffed, "Though of course, I could never help myself from getting into an argument."

Shahla let out a giggle, "I've seen you argue for things you don't even believe in!"