Soul Fire

Soul Fire - Chapter 25

After some time, at a signal from the Palians, their group turned away from the river having followed its bank some distance south. The Palians paused, fingers flickering quickly just in front of their mouths, with words racing from their lips in their native tongue. They bunched and kissed their fingertips then flicked them open, toward the river. They filled waterskins and encouraged the Asillians to do the same, even those which were partially empty.

"My friends, what swirls in your skins is more precious than the troves of gold in your palace coffers. You are truly blessed. The mountains share with you in abundance what our desert home does not."

Once more, the Palians brushed their blessings against the full skins as they rose to leave.

As they traveled farther from the river, the bright green surrounding them began to pale, the vast swaths of grass giving way to straggled tufts, and patches of bare earth. Soon, the life around them would need to rely on increasingly rare rains to sustain it.

The lands west of the river reminded Dathion of the plateau marking the eastern border of his homeland, a place he was forbidden to approach - where life crumbled into death. When he looked to the north, the mountains of the Masans and Cerds formed a distant backdrop, with the jagged peaks falling away to low hills on their western edge. Though the eyes of the Palians faced forever forward as they rode, Dathion found his often turned back to the east, in the direction of home.

Behind them, the river retreated to a long blue ribbon, snaking from north to south, the border of the world he knew. Due to its imposing height, the city wall of Cretia remained long in view, towering above the plain from which it rose. From this distance, the city looked small and lonely, a receding circle against a mainly unblemished landscape. Ahead, laid the unbroken haze of the Palian desert, a line of white and pale yellow which crept ever closer.

Before long, parched earth became packed mud and clay, with jagged cracks flaking the soil into an arid skin. Countless tiny fissures split the ground. From the crevasses, an army of ants scurried, some around the length of a small finger. They struggled to mete out a meager existence, gathering the seeds of hardy grasses which fought for life at the edge of Palia's border.

As they traversed the final stretch to the desert, one change in particular became noticeable.

The wind.

It was no longer playful, nor still. With each step it grew incrementally, a shade stronger and a touch less predictable.

They took their rest on the last tract of hospitable land. Gnarled trees anchored their ropes and rudimentary shelter. Strong sunshine that had fueled the games of the boys back in Asillia, now sapped Dathion's strength and left him sleepy. He propped his back against a tree trunk and loosened the straps on his breastplate. Hot wind probed inside and vented the heat, allowing his sweat to finally cool him. His clothes were so drenched they had ceased to be uncomfortable. Back in the palace, just a few stains of sweat made Dathion run for the baths. These days, he figured he was already wetter than the tubs of water could make him, so what would be the point. Rather than bathe in it, he'd be tempted to drink it instead.

The mystery of what waited in the desert consumed Dathion. His imagination conjured their eventual destination from endless possibilities. He dreamed up everything from ancient treasures of a long forgotten city, to caverns filled with crystals and gold. He also imagined more sinister locales, such as a crypt with skeletons entombed in stone, their epitaphs telling tales of lords from a time long past.

Artallah had mentioned writings, so perhaps it was a lost library, one stacked with columns of dusty tomes, their tales recorded in a long dead language. He was tempted to query the Palians further. After careful consideration, he decided against that path. He did not want to be disappointed and discover a mundane reality, when his fantasies were so grandiose and marvelous.