Kuu
As Kuu raced over the sand, he looked back at the shrinking stronghold of Djozen Yelto’s, which was becoming no more than a speck on the horizon. He still had a good bit of ground to cover before he got home, so for the time being he continued to wear his vulpine hide.
His small gray body was well suited to the desert terrain and even more efficient at retaining water than his human body was. That, combined with the fact that he was light and quick, meant he could cover more ground quicker with less of a toll on his body. If he had to, he could have kept running all night.
But, as it stood, he had only a few more miles to cover before he would reach his family’s stronghold. As Yelto’s fortress disappeared behind him, he caught the familiar scent of home before it came into view. He was close.
He slowed to a trot as he covered the last stretch of desert between him and his family. Looking around at the sparse vegetation that existed this deep in the desert, he wondered whose idea it had been to settle here in the first place and wished he could give him a piece of his mind. The ground was mostly hard dirt as far as the eye could see, cracked from the lack of moisture and dotted by the squat, bulbous ykesha bushes with their hard, skeletal branches.
To live here was to conserve water, and to waste it was to die. Nothing in this desert was ill-suited to survive.
Finally, when he got close enough, Kuu started his transformation back to the form into which he had been born. As his bones cracked and shifted with their realignment, his sharp green eyes rolled back into his head as he tried to block out the pain. It was never easy.
Standing up and stretching his tall, fleshy body, Kuu spotted the false door that led to his family’s keep. He steadfastly insisted they call it a hideout, but his brothers just weren’t ready to make that leap. Dusting off the wicker handle, he pulled it open to reveal the darkness below. He got his footing on the rope ladder and climbed down.
“Is that you, Kuu?” he heard from inside. It was the voice of Sivulu, his oldest brother.
“Yeah, Siv, it’s me,” Kuu answered. He had just put his feet on the hardened dirt floor when he heard Siv sheath a dagger. Always vigilant, thought Kuu.
“So?” Siv asked from the darkness. “Any luck? Did it work?”
The underground keep was spacious and clean, and its location under the desert floor ensured that it was cool enough to make for comfortable living. Kuu’s brothers liked it dark, but would occasionally keep a lamp or two lit. Just as Kuu stepped into the large, circular common room, he saw a spark and then fire.
The small flame lit up Kuu’s emerald eyes, and he saw the familiar form of his older brother sitting in a wicker chair with a small cushion on it. Sivulu’s shaggy black hair matched his beard and capped a rugged face that women made no secret of finding attractive. Leaning back in the chair and clasping his hands behind his head, Siv looked at Kuu expectantly.
“Well?” his brother asked.
“I saw what I needed to,” Kuu answered. “I know how we can get in and out, and now I know how many men there are.” He looked around the room. The four beds lay low to the ground, and the hand-made furniture that decorated the room was simple in design and function. They did not live lavishly, by any means. “Where are Aurik and Kaurik?”
“They should be back soon,” Siv answered. He leaned back a little farther in the chair, which creaked under his weight. “They’re out recruiting.”
“Good,” Kuu replied. “We’re going to need more bodies than we thought. Yelto’s chambers house about fifty men, and—”
Siv held up his hand. “Save it for when the twins get here.”
Kuu scratched his head. “Well, here’s the thing, Siv . . .”
His big brother frowned. “What is it?”
“There were Priests of the Holder with them.”
Sivulu took a breath and leaned forward in his chair, putting a hand to his face and rubbing his eyes with frustration. The soft lamplight made the wrinkles in his forehead more pronounced as he scrunched up his face. “Then we have to move soon,” he said as he stood up and looked down at Kuu, standing just a few inches taller than him.
“I know,” Kuu said despondently.
“Don’t worry,” Siv said as he clapped a hand on Kuu’s shoulder. “The plan will work. I promise.”
Kuu managed a meager smile and hoped his brother was right. They were staking their lives on it.