Behind the Lace and the Lies

2 - Among Swirling Sand

Golden dust drifted around me. There was not a single cloud in the azure sky. Water gurgled. There weren't any more creatures, or ash, or wailing. I knew they would be there the next time I used my magic. Blood from the cut on my cheek dripped into my mouth.

With a sudden violent motion, I rolled over onto my hands and knees. I heaved for a moment, but there wasn't much to puke up – I hadn't eaten a full meal since before the mission started. I rocked back into a crouching position. My mouth burned with an acidic aftertaste.

Now that I was laying on it, I felt the sand everywhere. I could feel it in my eyelashes, in the hairs on the back of my neck, between my toes on my shoe-covered feet. It always found a way.

The cuts on my shoulder were minor; I had been mostly in the material plane by the time the creatures found me. I was lucky. Very. It would have been a lot worse if they hadn't taken so long to find me. I glanced around, it was late afternoon, maybe three or four hours since the mission failed.

Juniper and Carmen stood at the entrance of the oasis, near the horses. Juniper leaned against Carmen, her shoulders shuddering as she sobbed. The gravity of our situation came to me in a wave that threatened to drown me. It was a two day trip out of Arijhan and our horses were exhausted just from fleeing Jarrca. Arijhan's troops would catch us long before we got to Phanren.

I stood up, my vision spun with a whirlpool of black dots and my lungs clenched. I leaned over for a moment, hands on my knees, before I straightened. My feet sunk into the sand as I unsteadily walked to Juniper and Carmen.

Juniper saw me first. She released her brother, and hastily wiped the tears from her eyes. "Wren," she croaked, "you were out for so long, I was worried." She brushed the blood from my cheek. "They found you."

"They always do, but it isn't bad," I replied, my voice coming out in jagged chunks. I knew the infection would start if I didn't get medicine soon. That would be a problem for later, if we survived.

Juniper sniffled. I nodded at Carmen. His armor was torn, but he was a wind Genasi – like me – and he didn't need to be in close combat.

"Who made it out?" I asked. It wasn't a question of who made it out, but who survived. We were under strict orders to not be taken prisoner. Prisoners were evidence that the Court of Phanren launched an attack on the Court of Arijhan, and as members of the Empire, civil conflict could lead to the execution of the perpetuating noble family.

Carmen spoke, "General Andre, the three of us, and Weston."

"Just five?" My voice was hollow. A dozen of us went on that mission. That meant Brooke, Syrin, Pike, Sorin, Lynn, and Tez were dead. And Icarus. Icarus, Duke Phanren's son, was dead. At that instant, I realized just how hollow I felt. It was as if someone had carved out my heart and all that remained in that gaping hole were the echoes of feelings. "Icarus?"

"He didn't make it," Carmen confirmed. Icarus was the one reason the Duke cared about us as more than just bodies. And if we did survive and make it to Phanren, the Duke would punish us for failing to save his son. He wasn't the firstborn, but still.

"He could still be finding his way back. They all could be," ventured Juniper hopefully. It was at that moment I realized what I had presumed to be a dried splotch of enemy blood was spreading, leaking out from beneath her damaged armor and staining her tunic crimson.

"You're bleeding. We need to get Tez to take a look at that," I said, urgency lacing its way through my words.

Juniper glanced down, fingers moving to touch the blood. "It's nothing, I just got lightly tapped by a mace."

Carmen stepped forward and crouched down, taking a closer look at Juniper's wound. "Tez is one of the ones that didn't make it back." His voice was flat, but crumbled at the end. He straightened.

Tez is dead. Not gone, not missing, not finding his way back. Dead. It didn't seem possible. I had seen him only hours ago as we had laughed and fried jerky over the fire – our own little pre-mission ritual. I took a single deep breath, this was not the time nor the place.

"Come on," Carmen said, wrapping his arm around Juniper so she could lean on him, "You need to lie down so I can take a look at that and slow the bleeding."

General Andre emerged from the shadows of the oasis. His matted beard was stained with blood, but there was no sign of cuts on his face. His normally well-polished armor was scuffed and scarred. His eyes rested in the shadows of his eye sockets, his gaunt cheekbones protruding under the harsh sunlight.

"Weston is dead," he said. He blinked once.

Carmen paused, Juniper limp against him. "I though he wasn't that injured. That it was just a gut wound."

Andre stepped closer, sand shifting against his boots. "I attempted to remove the shrapnel, I couldn't bandage the wound until I did. But I think it hit an organ, maybe the liver. It was a fast death from there. It's for the best, none of us can be taken prisoner." He turned to face me, his eyes were blank. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. "Wren, good to see that you've recovered."

Icarus is dead. Tez is dead. Weston is dead too.

Carmen replied, a sad look of acceptance on his face, "his spirit is free now." He paused. "Juniper's injured, I'm going to take a look at the wound."

Andre glanced at Juniper. "Bring her to the ledge. If she can't fight, the least she can do is stand guard and watch for Arijhan's troops."

Carmen nodded. I walked to Juniper's other side and helped to drag her up the steep sand-covered rocky ledge that blocked the front side of the oasis. My boots slipped on the powdery sand and I panted, hearing the gasps of Carmen and Juniper.

Once at the top of the ledge, we laid Juniper on the base of a palm tree. Her forehead, once pouring sweat, had now dried. She was probably dehydrated. Her breath was ragged and inconsistent. Carmen muttered something about medical supplies and retreated down the hill.

"It's not that bad," Juniper groaned.

I crouched down and I brushed her forehead with my hand; her skin was clammy. "You should have said something sooner," I replied.

"Everyone was worried about Weston." She trailed off. "There's only four of us left."

I stood up, covering her with my shadow. "I know."

Carmen returned, arms full of medical supplies. He began to tend to Juniper's wound. Their words blended into an indistinct hum. A gust of wind tugged at my clothes. It whispered to me, it told me of the tiny fish in the oasis, of the piles of now-unnecessary sleeping mats, of the heat shimmering off of the desert sand, of Weston's dead body lying beside the oasis's pond, the sand around him stained red.

Juniper was injured, and would be unable to fight. Andre was a strong fighter, but possessed no magical abilities, and was a single person. Carmen was a wind Genasi, but by far the weaker of the two twins. The other seven members of the mission were dead. And I had already pushed my magic to its limits today.

Goosebumps rose on my arms as the wind blew. I could hear it again fully, for the first time since this morning. It spoke of sand. Distant cacti. Juniper shifting uneasily beside me. Andre sharpening his sword. Piles of sleeping mats that wouldn't be used again. Dozens of distant soldiers on horseback.