Dawn arrived in the southern region of the Kingdom of Sand. The warm, orange glow of the sun bathed the cold sands as golden rays shot out across the dunes. The calls and hoots of the desert's night dwellers faded into silence as the sun's warmth increased to a burning heat. Updrafts shimmered, distorting the air, as two Sandwings flew low overhead. They were dirty and tired, their scales marred by numerous cuts and scratches crusted over with dried blood. They beat their wings quietly, voices silent, conserving strength and staying as stealthy as they could. A moonstone pendant hung from the neck of one Sandwing, an amber earring from the ear of the other.
Suddenly the Sandwing with the earring pointed off into the distance.
"Thorn, look! Water!"
The other Sandwing swung her head toward where her companion was pointing. "You sure about this, Qibli? The last two you spotted were dried up."
"Naw, I see water for sure. Looks like a river—I bet it leads to the ocean."
Thorn squinted. Sure enough she saw something twinkling through the sand beneath tall palm trees. She let out the breath she'd been holding. Finally she and Qibli could get some much needed rest.
"Alright. Let's go."
They banked and turned toward their target, pumping their wings quickly to cover the distance. A few moments later they pulled up and landed next to the muddy banks of a shallow creek filled with rocks and sand. Trees and bushes lined the creek, the vegetation providing a much needed relief from the heat. Thorn and Qibli quickly drank their fill from the creek. Though the water was filled with grit, it was cool and refreshing. Thorn savored the taste as dehydration's noxious roots receded from her mind.
Not once in the past four days since their escape from the Scorpion's Den had she and Qibli found a decent source of water. They had searched fruitlessly for oases and rivers as they zigzagged across the desert to evade the patrols chasing them. They'd chanced upon some large cacti two nights ago tapped them for their water stores; it had worked, but it still wasn't enough for a grown dragon and an energetic dragonet. Under normal circumstances the two of them would have been fine for weeks, but the brutal fight against Smolder and his troops had taken a lot out of both them, not to mention their non-stop flight to avoid capture. Even Sandwings had their limits.
Mentally Thorn cursed herself again as she thought back to the day Smolder had arrived at the gates of the Den requesting an audience with her on Blister's behalf, two flights of troops in tow. She should have run, right there; if she had she wouldn't have lost half her gang and been stuck here without the other half. She'd known Blister would be furious at her for interfering at the peace meeting, and it was only a matter of time before the Sandwing queen would find her base of operations.
And yet, she'd refused to run at first. She couldn't pinpoint a single reason why she'd marched out of her tent to confront Smolder and his troops in the central courtyard of the Den, cursing the snake to the moons and back and telling him never to show his face in her town again. Certainly she was still bitter at him for trapping her and Sunny in Burn's stronghold, though the events of the past week had kept her too busy to think much of him. She definitely resented his complete submission to Blister, and felt nothing but disgust for the royal Sandwing who had willingly traded his freedom for safety at the claws of his despot of a sister.
Perhaps the biggest reason, however, was to keep it all from going to waste. Thorn had fought long and hard to get the Den to its current state, transforming it from the squalid town of brigands and criminals she'd grown up in to a halfway decent trade center. After years spent fighting countless battles and dethroning numerous bandit lords and gang bosses, she had finally gathered her own group of loyal followers: the Outclaws, who fed the young and helpless of the Den and protected its inhabitants, while simultaneously retaining the freedom they cherished as thieves and ex-soldiers. Initially she had done it all to find Sunny, but as the years passed and the search for her missing dragonet dragged on, Thorn consoled her inner anguish by taking pride in what she'd accomplished.
