Love is like the wind. You cannot see it; you can only see its effects. You cannot touch it, but it touches you. It moves you. It scares you. It can be a gentle breeze or a fierce storm.

They stole our world, civilization, our family. They stole her from me. Amber eyes and bright smiles all the time, until the smile was ripped from her body.

You cannot fight love any more than you can fight the wind. Dive into it. Embrace it. Use it. That is what I have done and it has sustained me this far. Though the voices inside try to twist me and change me. I will not yield, I will push forwards, for her.

We take none of this life with us. But in those final moments we have our love to draw strength from. Death comes to us all, none can hide from it. All we can do is use our final breath to save others. As I will use mine.

When I close my eyes after this is done, her face will come to me. My wife. You are the wind and you are always with me.

-Doc Vorran

TALEA:

I look up in the sky and see the familiar the familiar black bird flying in high circles. There’s something strange about her, when she talks, I feel like I’m speaking with something so much bigger. Lesedi can talk for days about the soleenas and what we’ve discovered. That’s all well and good, but there’s just something that feels off.

After leaving the mother tree forest and crossing the plains bordered in by the big black wall Shamira reappeared. She didn’t say anything, didn’t make a dramatic entrance, all she did was fly. But there’s something about her, I know she wanted us to follow her.

The problem with the enormous wall that’s been in front of us, getting bigger and closer every day, is that we need to get on the other side of it. But how? We can’t climb it, there’s not enough rope in the world. Plus, we would need to abandon our zigons. There doesn’t seem to be a gate of any kind, anywhere. But I follow Shamira, because there’s a feeling down deep that I can trust her. My feelings tend to get me in trouble, but they’re all I have.

After travelling in a straight line for two days Shamira makes a sharp turn to the left. I steer our zigon and the pack follows suit. Lesedi follows, but she barrels up beside me with a frown. “Talea! That’s the wrong way! We’re heading towards the coast now!”

I shout to be heard over the charging zigons and point up. “Shamira turned!”

Her eyes widen incredulous. “You’re following the bird?! Talea, we need to keep heading north! To the wall! We’re so close!”

I shake my head. “We follow Shamira!”

“But Talea-”

I cut her off. “I don’t know Lesedi! I just know, we need to follow her!”

We ride in silence and Lesedi allows her zigon to fall back a bit. She doesn’t trust me. She thinks I’m an idiot child who doesn’t know what she’s doing. I know I’m more than that, I know this is the right call. After a long time of riding east Shamira turns again and we resume our path north to the wall. It’s so tall now it looks like it could block out the moon.

For hours Shamira guides us, turning east again and then north again. I know it looks like the goings of a madwoman chasing a bird, but every time I look up at her it feels like she’s calling me. She knows more than we can see, she’s older than our entire civilization, why wouldn’t I trust her?

As the suns begin to peek over the horizon turning the world a cool blue with lines of pink, we have no choice but to come to a halt. We’ve reached the wall. The pack comes to a loud stop and looks around with a combination of excitement and confusion. I look up and I see Shamira stop and then land on the top of the wall, perching, a small smudge in the distance above us.

I leap off my zigon with the moongrass padding my thump. Now what? I do the only thing that comes to mind, I approach the towering black barrier. The wall is so tall it hurts my neck to look all the way up it. It looks like it could shake hands with Father Sky himself.

My hands reach out and touch my palms flat across the surface, it’s smooth as any hardstone I’ve ever seen. But it feels so ancient. I feel Lesedi come to my side and let out a breath of frustration. “How do we get over it?”

I shrug and keep sliding my hands along the wall. There has to be something here. “I don’t know.”

“What does Shamira say?” Her tone is half sarcastic and half curious.

I shrug again as I keep feeling the wall. “I don’t know.”

She sighs. “Then what’s our plan Talea? You do have a plan, don’t you?”

I shrug while my hands slide along. “No.”

I can feel her roll her eyes as she steps away. “Suns! Talea!”

The sky brightens as it fills with color, the black wall reflects a hint of the sunrise blush in its shiny material. I feel it, there’s something here, Shamira knows there’s something here. I can hear Lesedi’s voice behind me muttering about something, lecturing about something, but it all sounds distant and far away. I feel focused in every way on the feel of this wall and its continual smoothness. Then, like feeling a grain of sand in an otherwise clean bed, my fingers come across something.

I feel something embossed on the wall, it feels smooth like the rest of the structure, but it pops out. I smile. “Uh, Les, you might want to stop ranting and come see this.”

She appears in a flash beside me. “What is it? It’s so black I can’t see anything.”

I grab her hands and place them on the embossing where mine are. “I think it’s what Shamira wanted us to find.”

Her face comes into full focus as her hands move along it. In an instant her expression changes from concentration to excitement. “It’s a sign! Like in the tunnels!”

Running like an excited child she bolts to her bag to pull out one of her journals. Her fingers flip through the pages until she finds the series of letters, she had taken a record of. Her eyes squint as she looks at the journal while running her hand along the letters.

She sighs. “This would be a lot easier if I could see them.”

The black wall feels more like a void in its darkness, making the letters almost impossible to see. I glance towards the sunrise. “Well, the sun will be up soon. Maybe then-”

She gasps again and runs back to her bag. I stifle a giggle as I look at the nightstalkers with confused expressions, their tilted heads follow her back and forth. They’re lost, but they trust Lesedi to know what she’s doing. So, they stay silent in respect and let her think.

Lesedi comes back to the sign and tears out a page of her journal. I gasp and she shoots me a grin. “It’s ok. Watch.”

Her eyes are dancing like they always do when she has an exceedingly clever idea. She tosses the journal at me without looking and I catch it. Temptation overwhelming me I can’t help but look through the pages to snoop without judgement.

“No time for that. You can look later. Come here.” I look up to see Lesedi scratching her charcoal against the paper with it pressed up against the wall. She smiles with victory and pulls away from the wall. “Aha! Hold this and don’t smudge it.” She hands me the paper and tears another piece from the journal to copy more of the sign.

I look at the paper in my hands. The charcoal colored in the lettering on the sign while leaving the rest of the paper untouched. I smile, my clever sister. She goes through three more pages before she has the complete sign. In a thinking fury she runs to Othin and grabs him by the wrist, tugging him over to my side. Muttering to herself in a low voice she places two pages in his hands, and two in mine. She moves our arms so that we can hold them up as if it’s the wall, then she grabs her journal and thinks. For a long time.

“Um, Les? Can we just put these down on the ground?” My arms are getting tired, not to mention I’m getting bored.

She shakes her head. “No. The ground is wet; it’ll destroy the paper.”

More time passes and I hear Othin chuckling from deep within his chest. I look up to seem him smiling, his whole body is moving with the movement of his laughter. “Of all the things I imagined for our journey, I did not think standing and holding paper would be one of them.”

Then to my surprise, Lesedi reaches up on her tip toes and flicks him in the chin. “Be still.” That makes him laugh more.

I sigh. “Suns Les! Can you just tell us what it says?”

She blows a loose strand of hair from her face and pulls out of her frenzy. “It’s not easy you know. The language from an epoch a thousand years ago is different from ours. But, in essence, it’s talking about a door. Or, that word could mean gate.”

I smile. “A way in!”

She nods and writes something in the journal before looking up and pointing at the first piece of paper. “That first one says Warning, Danger.” She shoots me a glance and then goes back to her notes. “This word is tricky; I think it means allowed persons only. Then there’s some I can’t translate.” She steps back looking at the whole thing together. “It’s strange, the first half of it essentially says it’s a door, or gate, for entry and only people with permission can enter because it’s dangerous. The second half is just the alphabet.”

“Like, letters?” I frown and look at it as if I’ll be able to understand any of it.

She sighs. “Yes Talea, like letters. Their alphabet seems to work like ours does. They have the same number of symbols and each one represents a different sound. String the sounds together and you have the spelling of the word. But their symbols are different than ours and for all I know they pronounced words differently which would change what symbols they use for each word. Do you see the problem here?”

I shrug. “No.”

She pulls at her hair and leaves a charcoal smudge on her forehead. “It’s a password. But we don’t know what the password is. If we did, we have no way of knowing if we were entering it correctly.”

I hand my papers to Othin and approach the wall. I do not accept failure. We did not come all this way only to be beaten by some symbols on a wall. Lesedi comes up beside me and speaks with hopelessness. “I’m sorry Tal, but I don’t have any ideas.” She sounds heartbroken over it.

“I don’t accept that. Failure isn’t an option.” I cross my arms feeling my stubbornness rev up.

“That doesn’t mean it won’t happen Tal. We’re going to need to figure out a different plan.” She begins to turn around giving up.

I grab her by the arm. “Which of these letters spells out Zaran?”

She rolls her eyes. “I told you-”

“I know. But, Zaran is a word from before. We’ve always known this world as Zaran. Maybe it’s sounds wouldn’t have changed.” She looks at me with disbelief. “Just try it Les. We need to at least try.”

She shakes her head sighing and referencing her journal she pushes on the first symbol. It falls back into the wall with a click. Trying to not get her hopes up, and failing, she finds the next symbol. It also falls away with a click. I glance over my shoulder and now the entire pack is right behind us looking over our shoulders. I flinch and wave everybody back while she works. Lesedi pushes in the last symbol and we all hold our breath. We hear another click and then all the symbols pop back out. Wrong password.

Lesedi shakes her head. “I’m sorry. There’s too much we don’t know.”

“What about that bird?” Echo calls out from behind us.

I frown and turn and look at her. “What?”

She saunters through the crowd and points up the wall. “Your bird Tal. You said her name is Shamira right? She was around when everything got thracked up. Try her name.”

Leseid almost laughs. “The soleenas are of great religious significance today but I doubt-”

“Try it Les.” I urge her one last time.

She shakes her head knowing this won’t work and punches in the symbols. I can hear her muttering under her breath about wasting time and getting our hopes up. As she pushes the final symbol and hears the fateful click, nothing happens. The letters don’t pop back out, all we hear is silence. We exchange confused glances.

“Well, anything different is good I guess.” Lesedi bites her lip.

Echo laughs. “Yeah unless you broke it.”

Before she could retaliate a series of clicks and grinding noises come from the wall. They get louder with every passing second until the wall breaks in half and slides away. Dust falls from the ceiling as the gate shakes and moves. We stand in gasping awe at the wonder happening in front of us. The parts of wall slip away revealing a dark tunnel with a light at the end.

“Great.” Echo groans. “More tunnels.”

Ignoring her Lesedi looks up and then looks at me. “Where did that bird come from?”

With mouth agape I shrug and laugh. “I don’t know. But I’m glad she’s on our side.”

Moving in single file we delve into another tube of darkness. This one is much smaller than the transport tunnels. It’s just big enough to fit the zigons, but we have to walk ahead of them one by one. The last tunnels were more spacious, this feels like a tomb. But at least we’re moving. I hold my breath leading our way through the darkness while the light on the other side gets bigger. My stomach flips and churns. Now we venture into the unknown. The Valley of Sand, the Valley of Nothing, a great unknown with danger written on the door.

✽✽✽

OTHIN:

In the darkness as we walk my mind spins with many things. Words are difficult for moonrunners. We have many thoughts, but they are in pictures and feelings, not words. The daypeople have many words. I fear I am not enough for my Talea, she has so many words, her sister has even more.

Does she know? Can she know? To say that I love her is to say the night is dark. It is not a powerful enough term. The feelings inside threaten to tear me apart with intensity but come into balance by her touch. If ever I were to lose her, I gulp with the thought, I would destroy the Moon Mother herself if that is what it would take to get her back.

But how do I tell Talea this? What words can I use? I try to give her my feelings, but they would be too much. We are journeying into places unknown with enemies ahead we cannot predict. I will die to protect her without hesitation, but if that choice comes, she must know. She must know what she means to me.

An idea comes to me. Lesedi will be my words.

✽✽✽

LESEDI:

We emerge from the dark hole into this hazard zone we need to cross. Stretched out far before us is a flat blanket of, sand. Not like the sand we find on the beach; this is crystalline in nature and sparkles when the sun hits it. Far away in the distance we can see the straight line of another wall. At least we’ll know we’re heading in the right direction.

Talea chuckles with her hands on her hips. “Huh. Sand. Who’d have thought?”

I glare at her. “I suggest we make camp here along the wall before we start travelling through it. If anything-”

She waves a hand at me. “Yeah, yeah ok. We’re all pretty beat so we’ll get some sleep first. But Les, maybe you’re being paranoid. Maybe Valley of Sand was literal and the only thing here is-” She gestures wide to the flat in front of us. “Sand. Lots, and lots, of sand.”

“You saw the sign like I did.” I cross my arms in defense. “They went through a lot of trouble to keep people from stumbling in here. Not to mention the wall being here in the first place.”

She taps me on the shoulder. “Whatever it is, we’ll handle it. For now, we’ll get some sleep.”

I tilt my head towards her and raise my eyebrows. “You will sleep this time, won’t you?”

She wanders off towards the pack. “Yeah, yeah, I promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” I call to her and she waves me away without looking back.

✽✽✽

Per my insistence Talea is spread out on her back deep asleep. She’s been driving herself so hard lately, this is her first rest in two days. She didn’t think I noticed but I know she’s been awake during the day too. She checks the camp and relieves the sentries when she doesn’t need to. She practices with her meteor hammer as if she isn’t already amazing with it. It’s like she’s terrified to her bones something will happen that endangers us and if she isn’t ready, she’ll lose us. It’s a fear that’s driving her beyond her limits. Though, who am I to say what her limits are? I have no frame of reference for someone like her.

The tent flap opens and Othin steps inside, he smiles while he glances at Talea. I can see the love in his eyes. He leaves her undisturbed and approaches me like a silent stalking predator. My body tenses up, I am alone. Othin and I have had few one on one conversations. He crouches in front of me and pauses, staring into me with those red eyes that unsettle me down to my soul.

“Um, Othin? Can I help you?” I shift and fidget trying not to look as scared as I feel. Othin nods but doesn’t speak. I try to divine what in the world he wants but I can’t just feel like Talea can. I need words. “Can you tell me what you need?”

He tilts his head; his eyes look away trying to find the words. He has to hunt for them sometimes like they hunt for food. “Help.”

That I can work with. I keep in mind my revelations of Kr’thitch and Gi’mntat, I remember that though they are scary, they are people. Different, but people, and this one needs help. I reach out my hand and touch Othin’s long fingers. “I’ll try my best. But I need to know what you need help with.”

Othin looks at Talea and smiles with all the love in his eyes. “I-I love her.”

I let out a tense breath. “I know Othin. She loves you too.”

He frowns and scrunches his eyebrows into a scowl. I sense his anger is directed at himself. “Love, it is not a big enough word. I need your help. I need her to know how much I love her.” He pauses and runs his clawed hands through his white hair and sighs with exasperation. “I do not have the words for it.”

It’s sweet and I can’t help but melt. The connection Othin and Talea have rivals that of any bondmates I’ve seen or read about. Theirs isn’t a doe eyed sort of love, it’s more like a burning fire that could consume them if they let it. Perhaps that’s because they both share an indominable will and unstoppable determination.

Othin glances over to my journal. Before I can stop him, he picks it up. His fingers move with gentleness as he opens it up and flips through the pages. He smiles at my illustrations. I’ve drawn portraits of our pack members with notes about each one beside a page dedicated to their personal stories. He points to Kr’thitch’s page.

“You made this?” He asks while his claw traces the gravity defying hair.

I nod. “Yes. It’s a drawing. As much as I would prefer to be humble, I’m quite good. The pictures are so that no matter what happens we’ll always remember them.”

He flips forward a few pages to see the drawings I did of Vrx and Thrik from memory. He looks up at me, mouth agape with shock. “That is the most honor anyone has ever given any moonrunner. Not even leaders have this honor.”

I blush. “I know. I just-”

“I did not know you cared for us this much.” He flips through more pages each one bringing him more joy. He comes to a blank page and an idea sparks in him. “Could you make one for me?”

I smile and take the journal back, opening to a different page I point to a picture of Othin. “Didn’t you see your page? I drew you too.”

He shakes his head. “No. Not of me. Of Talea.”

I pause with confusion. “You want me to draw Talea?”

He shrugs and crouches closer to me. He shakes his head with frustration while his eyes dart back and forth trying to explain it. “Yes. But from here.” He points to his head. “Moonrunners think in pictures. I have a picture of my feelings of Talea. But, no words for it.”

I can’t help but sigh, I didn’t realize Othin was so sweet. The claws and eyes distract me from it I suppose. “I would love to. But if you can’t use words to describe it then how can I draw it?”

His eyes squint and wrinkles scrunch on his nose. “Your mind is strong?”

It’s an odd question but I nod. “Yes. I’m considered exceptionally intelligent.”

He shakes his head. “But is it strong?”

I shrug. “I’m not sure how to answer your question.”

He sighs losing hope in his plan. “I can give you my picture. But it is intense, that is why I have not given it to Talea. Can your mind keep it?”

A telepathic link? I thought that was reserved for only bondmates. But, if they communicate with each other in feelings and pictures in the same way they think, it must be able to be passed among them. This isn’t something skysingers can do though, I wonder how nightstalkers got this ability. Perhaps when The Poisoning changed them and destroyed their language skills their brains found another way. Like how when a person goes blind the brain changes to help them hear better. So many questions, not enough answers.

When he speaks of the mind being strong, he may not mean intelligence. He could mean resilience. The ability to not be overwhelmed by another’s emotions. Nightstalker emotions must be intense as it is, the feelings of a nightstalker towards its bondmate would be overpowering.

A ball of nervousness forms in my stomach and I look towards Talea. Othin is right not to share this with her, she’s almost as emotional a creature as they are. She gets swept up in emotions without even having a link to them. There’s no telling what would happen to her if he tried to flood her with what’s in his mind. But I know, something like this will make her so happy.

My eyes move back up to Othin. “Let’s do it. I can handle it.”

He smiles and claps his hands. “Good. I will give you the picture only. But it will be strong.”

I take a moment to put on my “Lesedi face”. I feel my emotions ice over and numb to the cold within me. I feel my logic and intellect wrap around me like a comforting blanket and see the world though eyes of cool reason. I in essence push all of my emotions away into a tidy box, ready to be unpacked later.

My voice is monotone. “I’m ready.”

Othin scoots closer to me, he takes a deep breath and stares into my eyes. “Do not blink.”

In another circumstance I would be filled with trepidation, but as I gaze into those pools of red, I feel nothing. The glowing orbs fill my vision as the world around me blurs away and I snap into a void of blackness. I can feel my eyes are open, and yet I see nothing.

I am now a traveler in Othin’s mind, or rather, a part of it. From the abyss of utter darkness, a star appears. The star grows bigger and brighter until it explodes in a sunburst of light. Within that sunburst emerges Talea. Her pale purple hair is smooth and long past her feet. It blows with a breeze I can’t feel. Her bright purple eyes glow like lanterns. Her feet are bare and her body is clothed in gauzy white fabric. The dress swirls away from her blending with the light. Her illumination pushes into the darkness like it’s fighting back. Wispy white tendrils spread into the inky blackness and conquer it. Stars form at Talea’s feet and begin to swirl around her as if she commands them with the ease she does her meteor hammer.

The vision is intense. Though Othin tries to only give me the image, feelings still make it through. The darkness is Othin, inside he’s as dark and twisted as the others. He holds onto his reason by virtue of his training, but he still fights it every day. Talea is his light. With her, he pushes back the abyss, without her, he is lost to it. She is his beacon. His bright and powerful star who commands the world at her feet.

I always thought Othin was the dominant one in the relationship. It always seemed that way to me. But now I see with fresh eyes and a vivid picture. What I perceive as dominion is protection in service to her. She is his light and he would rip the world apart to keep her. Where she leads, he will always follow. Because without her, his light is gone and he would be sent reeling back into the darkness.

Despite packing my emotions away, I feel overwhelmed by all the feelings swimming around my mind. I can feel the darkness inside Othin, like a sticky tar that won’t let go. I can feel his struggle as he fights to rise above it, his only escape is pulling towards Talea. He is a drowning man and she is his air.

Other figures of Talea appear in the background, their color has been washed out and they look almost transparent. Like spirits. I see her punching Othin, several times. I see her storming away in a fit of rage. Figures appear of her yelling and glaring at him with her arms crossed. Then more appear of her smiling, her fight in the arena, her swinging her meteor hammer, laughing and crying. All of those images, those spirits, play against a black background before being sucked in to the main white clothed image of her, and as they do, she glows brighter.

The inevitable feelings seep through and I can understand. Talea is hot headed, unstable, and often times selfish. But she is also loving, brave, and determined. All of these come together to make this woman, and Othin loves all of her. Needs all of her.

The vision tears away and I find myself gasping for breath. My cheeks are wet with tears. I feel a swirling vortex of emotion and my heart is racing. I look up at Othin with wide eyes and a head that’s swimming. “That’s how you really feel?”

He nods. “Can you draw it?”

Ridiculous. How can I translate the full scope of what I just saw to paper? How could anyone? No wonder he can’t find the words for it. I speak with awe and a far-off look in my eyes. “I don’t know. But I will do my best.”

He nods with gratitude and leaves the tent to return to his watch. I don’t imagine he could sleep right now if he wanted to anyway. It’s a wonder he can sleep at all, I know I won’t today. I pull out my supplies and lament that I didn’t bring any colors. Black and white will have to do. I roll up my sleeves and get to work, trying my best to do justice to such a beautiful vision.

✽✽✽

TALEA:

Purples, reds, and golden yellows fill the cloudy sky with so much color and shape it looks like a blooming meadow. The camp is silent and squared away while everyone takes a six-hour rest. I volunteer for first watch even though Echo was next in line, there’s something about this place I don’t like. I need to be out here on alert, I need to take care of them.

We managed to ride all last night without incident, there’s nothing out here but sand. That has become my internal mantra to keep my fear at bay, there’s nothing but sand. I lock my worries away in a box in my mind and shrug off Lesedi’s concerns. I push forward and act like everything will be fine, but I know she’s right. It won’t do any good for us both to be panicking though. At least if I act like she’s being paranoid it won’t feed her worries, and everyone else’s.

Squinting across the sparkling sand I see the short shadow of the second wall in the distance. That’s the target we’re travelling towards. It feels so far away, but then again, this wall did too. We’ll get there, intact, together, I promise this to myself. We’re so close to the end, but at the same time it feels like we haven’t even started yet. Beyond that far away wall is Srexi territory, I’m sure they’ll find us as soon as we enter it. Then what? Somehow convince them? I rub my temples, Lesedi is right, I don’t have a plan and I have no idea what I’m doing. All I have to go by are my instincts, and all those tell me to do is hit people.

I feel myself frowning as my thoughts tumble over each other. These thoughts get interrupted by Othin’s arms wrapping around my shoulders. I giggle. “Now aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”

His soft lips breathe against my ears. His grip pulls tighter and his deep breathy voice blows hot air onto my neck. “Why would I sleep when I could be here with you?”

I spin around and peck him on the lips. “You distract me from my watch.”

He raises one eyebrow. “It is supposed to be Echo’s watch.”

I run my pointer finger down his nose and pull on his bottom lip. “True. But it does give us an, opportunity.”

He growls under his breath and pulls me in for a heated kiss. Just before I lose myself to it, he pushes me away, using all the restraint he has. “I have something for you.”

I snort with frustration. “Can it wait?”

He shakes his head and pulls a rolled paper from his pocket. Unrolling it he hands it to me. “Words are difficult. At times I do not have enough of them. Lesedi helped me pull my feelings for you from here-” He points to his head and then to the paper. “To here.”

I unroll the paper to see a masterpiece with its focal point, me. I see myself depicted with elegance, nobility, beauty, and courage. I see myself bright and glowing against a backdrop of darkness. The darkness forms tendrils that look like they shrink back in fear from my presence. Lesedi has outdone herself, I always knew she was a gifted artist but I had no idea she was capable of such an emotional drawing. Looking at it I understand what Othin means by he doesn’t have enough words, what I’m looking at are intense overwhelming emotions.

His warm palms rest against my forearms while I look at the picture. “I love you Talea. Those words are not big enough, but I want you to know.” He moves his right hand and points to the beautiful regal woman in the picture. “You are this to me.”

I stare at the picture, stunned. I let out a quick breath that blows a lock from my eyes. “Wow. I, I don’t think I can live up to that Othin.”

His hand moves to my chin and he lifts my head to look into his eyes. “You do. By being you. Talea, this is not who I want you to be. This is who you already are. To me.”

I shake my head reeling from the deep emotional gesture. “Wow.” Is all I can say. My eyes start watering as my mind fills with thoughts. “I never thought-” I cut myself off.

I never thought I would find someone who loved me, for me, as me. Someone who laughs when I punch him in the chest. Someone who doesn’t try to pin me into a box. I’ve spent the years being the person who sticks out, who’s too angry and too gruff, who’s too wild and too weird. I accepted I would only have Lesedi in my life. But now, I have Othin. A man who takes all of those things everyone else thought was unacceptable, and loves me for them.

I pause staring into those red eyes. “You’re wrong Othin. You have all the words you need to express this.” He frowns with puzzlement and I smile. “I love you. Those are the biggest words there are, and they’re all you need. I love you Othin.”

“I love you Talea.” He pulls me in for a heated kiss and I’m happy to reciprocate.

Our limbs wrap around each other and on instinct I leap up into his arms. The beautiful picture floats to the sand when my fingers let go of it. I push my fingers through his white hair and pull at the roots. I feel his hands make their way under my shirt and up my back as he holds me tight. My wild kisses find their way down his throat and to his shoulder and I bite him hard.

He jerks and pulls away, his eyes squinty and his smile foggy. “I will get you back for that.”

I smirk. “Suns, I hope so.”

✽✽✽

After watching the suns, mostly, they reached into the afternoon part of the sky. The six-hour rest is over, time to get moving and make our way towards being done with this unsettling desert. At least there have been no signs of danger so far, though I’ll admit I wasn’t the best sentry today. I shudder with a grin thinking about it and enter the tent door.

Echo is hard asleep sprawled across the tent floor. Her covers twist and tangle around her legs like she’s being attacked by them. Snorts and snores emanate deep from within her throat and I fight back a laugh. Lesedi is curled into a neat ball under an even square of blankets. The clouds sweep in and hide the sunlight giving the tent a dark look.

I crouch down beside my sister and stroke some hair behind her ear. “Lesedi. It’s time to wake up. Everyone’s ready to go.”

She opens groggy eyes and looks around. “Are they waiting on us? Why didn’t you wake us up first?”

I smile with kindness and help her sit up. “I came to get you at the six-hour mark like you said. It’s ok. Nobody’s antsy or anything. I just thought I would wake you last and give you a little extra sleep.”

She yawns and rubs her eyes hard trying to rid them of sleepiness. “We should be on the move. Let’s get going.”

I raise one eyebrow. “You’re in such a hurry. Do you plan to ride with Gi’mntat again?”

She snaps awake and her eyes narrow on me. “We don’t all feel inclined to jump the first nightstalker we meet Talea.”

Ouch. I wince, when she wants to Lesedi can be ruthless. I decide to shut my mouth and stop the jokes right there and wave away the comment. “I took watch today. There’s nothing out there, it’s just sand. I think we’ll be alright. No need to worry.”

She scoots over to her bag and rifles through it pulling out the least filthy clothes she can and begins getting dressed. Her movements are jerky and tense. “You don’t understand Talea. I don’t know anything about this place.”

I shrug. “So. I never know anything about anywhere.”

After pulling on her pants she slams her right foot into a boot. “Because you have me! I’m the one that knows everything about everywhere. But here, there are no books. No topographical maps, no expeditions, no information whatsoever. There have been a few accounts of people attempting exploration but they never came back. It was assumed they were killed by nightstalkers.”

I shrug again trying to maintain an uncaring demeanor. “They probably were.”

She slams her other foot into her boot. “Or they were killed out here!” She pauses and rests her face in her hands. “I feel like I’m blind out here. I don’t know anything. I don’t have any information.” She looks up and her eyes are teary. “Information is all I have. You and Othin, you can fight. Echo-” A sudden loud snore gurgles from Echo’s throat. Lesedi pauses, reaches behind her with one hand, and smacks Echo hard on the thigh. She kicks and grunts as Lesedi turns back to me. “Echo can fight. All of you can. But now, I’m useless.”

I pull Lesedi into a hug. “Les, you’ll never be useless. You don’t need to fight. In fact, I prefer that you don’t.”

She breaks the hug with a sniff. “I know. But information is how I protect you. It’s how I’ve always protected you.”

A brief moment passes and Echo resumes her snoring. Lesedi finishes dressing herself and then takes a boot and brings the heel down hard onto Echo’s flat bottom. An almost animal-like growl rumbles from her as she kicks at the assailant from beneath the covers.

Lesedi rolls her eyes. “Every single night. It’s impossible to wake her up. Once I had to shove snow down her shirt.”

I smile. “Echo is Echo.”

The clouds shift and reveal more sunlight that brightens up the tent. Lesedi gasps. “Talea! Is that a bitemark on your neck?!”

I hunch and turn away. “Maybe.”

Lesedi raises an eyebrow immediately figuring out what happened. “Well, I suppose you’re not as diligent a sentry as you lead on.”

Echo shoots up and looks at me with a wry smile. Her indigo hair frizzes out to the sides like it’s trying to fly away. One eye stays closed rebelling against wakefulness. Her voice is slurred and groggy. “Thraaacking ooon watch Tal?” She nods with approval. “Niiice.”

I pick up Echo’s other boot and chuck it at her. She dodges to the right and it hits the wall of the tent with a powerful force. The momentum jars the tent poles and pulls them down collapsing the shelter around us. I snicker and hop up finding my way to the tent door. I pop from the opening to see the shrouded figures of Echo and Lesedi yelling at each other.

I chuckle and skip away. “Whenever you’re ready ladies.”

✽✽✽

LESEDI:

A breeze gusts through the valley, it kicks up sparkling sand in plumes that dance across the plain. In the distance, the long black shape marking the other side has grown immeasurably. By my estimation we should reach it by morning, we could get there faster by increasing our pace but we would harm the zigons. There’s no food for them here and they’ve had as hard a journey as we have. We’ve put them through a lot, but I’m impressed with the hardiness of the animals.

I look up into the velvety sky with its incalculable number of stars and I’m left with an endless array of questions. The amount of knowledge lost to The Poisoning is staggering. There’s so much we don’t know about our own world, or what’s beyond it. Though there’s plenty of rhetoric to supplement our ignorance. Tales of the gracious Father Sky our benevolent protector guarding us from eternal night.

I hear Wren’s voice as she told the story when we were children. There weren’t any temples in the outlands. We had to make due with the stories and songs. I smile as Wren’s soft voice floats into my mind, I remember Talea and I tucked into our beds listening to the story as little children.

“Long ago, wickedness broke free from the void of darkness beyond. They fought their way past the mighty Father Sky and plagued our world with a sickening blackness. Led by the King of the Void Scliras they infected everyone they could with their darkness and created the nightstalkers. Father Sky pushed Scliras and his wickedness back to the void from where they came. But not before the damage was done. He couldn’t destroy the nightstalkers, but he could push them into the darkness of night and keep them from his children.”

I remember hiding under the blankets wondering why anyone would tell that story to children before bed. Now, with grown eyes, I understand it’s to keep curious little ones from sneaking outside. A child may have nightmares, but at least they’re still alive. It never affected Talea though, she always listened with wide eyes. She always thought it was exciting.

It’s an enthralling story, but it’s riddled with logical fallacies. I don’t for a minute believe it’s real, I believe what I can see. I believe in evidence, cause and effect. We know The Poisoning happened but there must be a tangible reason why. Why it changed people, how it changed people. The most probable cause is an attack by real people living elsewhere. I believe the myths came along in response to the horrible facts, they became a way to explain away the atrocities.

Echo lies back bored and clicking her tongue. Click click click. I roll my eyes. “Echo will you stop that?”

She grunts. “It’s just so boring. Tromping around night and day on top of these things. They’re uncomfortable and they smell.”

I glare back at her. “You have the audacity to whine? You’re the one who forced your way into this expedition!”

She crosses her arms. “I expected a more exciting trip. Not endless lumbering through snow, trees, and now desert. Wow, thrilling.”

I can’t believe my ears. “We began this journey by losing two zigons and almost four people because of a julnik. We almost perished in an ice storm, took refuge in ancient ruins wherein we almost were torn apart by yars and lost two people. We met a soleena, found another ancient ruin, and are currently travelling where no one else has ever gone. How in the name of Father Sky can you call this boring?”

Echo lifts her pointer finger. “One word: Sand. Sand for days.”

I turn back around to look ahead. “I would prefer sand for days instead of crisis after crisis.”

“Thrack Les!” Her voice gets louder and rings with frustration. “At least on the plains there was stuff to hunt! Out here we’ve got nothing! Give me something to kill already.”

I shake my head. “I don’t understand you Echo. You’re almost as bad as them sometimes.”

She smirks. “You mean those grayskins you’re related to?”

Talea’s voice growls as she swoops into the conversation from nowhere. “Watch it.”

Echo smirks “You mean those gray skins you’re related to?”

“Watch it.” Talea growled without looking back at us.

Echo gets a shine in her eye and I know she’s onto one of her crueler moods. “See, Talea I get. She’s a fighter. Look at her, she’s got that spirit. She never backs down, she never runs away, and if you cross her, she’ll rip your throat out with her own teeth. Thrack, she even looks like them. But you, no offense Les, you don’t have that. I don’t think you could even fight to save your own life.”

Talea’s voice interrupts again. “She doesn’t need to. I do the fighting.”

Echo laughs. “Yeah and she does the thinking. Together you’re almost half a person.”

“I won’t warn you again Echo. Knock it off.” Talea hisses at her.

Echo shakes it off and lays down on her back to look at the stars. “You think this problem will be solved with diplomacy. It will come down to blood, guts, and tears. It always does. The fact of the matter is Lesedi Arathune, you’re not going to survive this trip. And if you do, it will be because Talea died saving you.”

Like a star falling from the sky Talea breaks away from Othin’s arms and bounds onto our zigon. She lunges across its back and grabs Echo by the collar. Her voice is stern and quiet with cold fury. “That is enough from you.” Her red eyes blaze like a burning torch.

As Echo begins to smirk Talea punches her in the face, hard. My voice drops to a whisper as I speak more to the air than to any person. “Echo, why are you so cruel?”

Talea leaps back to her zigon fuming. Echo nods and hums to herself as if she doesn’t have a care in the world.

My mind races through a sea of emotions, but before I can process what Echo said our zigon bucks in its tracks. Looking up I see the whole pack is acting strange, all the zigons are getting fidgety. They slow from their confident march to a skittish skipping. Past the deep bleating of spooked animals I can hear, just at the edge of my hearing, a long vibrating noise. I look across the moonlit sand and up ahead a mound crests and falls.

My hearts pounds with panic. “Echo, Father Sky granted your wish. Things are about to get interesting.”

✽✽✽

TALEA:

Guzu groans and squeals while she jumps and skips around like a spooked fand. I cling on as tight as I can to her long hair while Othin tries to calm her. He pushes outward with peace to lull her but nothing will still her. I can hear the frightened bleats of the other zigon. Grunting curses shout into the air from the pack riders. What is wrong with them?

The whole pack struggles to seize control of their animals. The beasts rear up and groan with terror trying to break free. Some tromp in circles shaking their heads in violent motions trying to throw the riders. I turn to see Lesedi struggling to keep control of her own mount. Her animal moves in bursts as her will tries to push past the panic, in both of them. After some twitching shaking motions her zigon stops and trembles. Lesedi stares ahead, her eyes searching for something and her body is still as stone. Echo pulls blades from her belt and starts arming herself as much as possible.

“Lesedi, do you-” I call out to her.

“Hush!” She quiets me and continues her strained searching. “Don’t you hear it?”

I pause and listen, a strange humming noise sounds like it’s coming from the ground. It sounds like the wings of a bug, and it’s getting louder. Like it appeared from nowhere more noise hums behind us, then to the left and right. All around us we can hear a cacophony of threatening noise with no visible source. Our zigons lose control. They bolt in a terrified dash running like wild from a predator no one can see.

I reach for my meteor hammer. “Othin, there’s something here. I think it’s under the sand.”

He nods holding tight to Guzu’s hair with one hand and reaching back to squeeze mine with the other. He looks at me with knowing eyes, know what I’m not sure. “I know. Talea, you will leave this valley. Promise me.”

I scrunch my eyebrows with confusion. “What? Of course, I will. We all are.”

He squeezes my hand tighter. “No matter what happens. Promise it.” His eyes narrow with determination.

“You’re scaring me.” I try to pull back but he holds me tight and keeps my gaze. “Ok, promise. I’ll get out of here. But you listen to me. Nobody dies today. Got it?” He nods, but says nothing. I look around and feel the panic around us. “What do we do?”

Before he can answer Lesedi screams. “Talea!”

The zigons stomp to a stop. Fifty feet in front of us an enormous creature bursts from the sand. A wave of white particles glitter while catching the moonlight. The body is slender and flexible like a snake. A sort of hard armor shell begins at its head and tapers down the rest of the body in angular plates. A face comes to a distinct point with narrow white eyes catching the light and glowing like stars. The face turns to look at us, a moment of silence, a calm before the storm.

The valley quiets, even the zigons go silent. A low wind gusts along the sand. I feel a chill go through my body. Othin swallows hard and speaks with a stony expression.

His voice is solemn with anger. “We are dead where we stand.”