‘So this is the answer.’ Cam leaned in and indulged in a long sniff. His eyes rolled back. His bottom lip trembled. ‘The answer to all the mysteries of the Great Drought and the Crier and everything. And to think, I’ve never seen a picture of this stuff, or a mention, or anything at all in any of the books I’ve ever read.’
‘Does that surprise you?’ Samsah asked, leaning his large body against the cave wall. The dim light from the Sinai made his square face seem solemn and serious, everything about him reeking of caution.
‘No. No surprise.’ Cam shook his head, wrinkling his nose and sniffing again. ‘It makes everything seem more real.’
‘Issit real?’ Ellcia asked.
‘Issit, Micah?’ Ellia whispered, glancing from behind her sister’s shoulder.
‘Yes,’ I said, muffled by the strip of boilweed over my mouth. I waved my hand over the top of the table and felt the surging heat. ‘Very real.’
I’d called the meeting in my old tinkershop, back in the cave, only inviting the most trusted members of the Flock. I didn’t want to chance bringing the weapon of the enemy into the Sanctuary. There were too many innocent Jadans there.
A few leftover tinkering remnants remained in the cave, including stacks of clean boilweed. Anyone not wearing breathing protection had to stay behind a line I’d painted around the table, at the spot where the trace of heat ended. I’d demanded five minutes alone with the stuff to make sure it wasn’t poisonous, breathing it in with the utmost hesitation. When I was still standing after the allotted time, I’d let the others into the cave.
I still felt nauseous and sweaty, but that was probably more from the reputation than the thing itself. Dunes had carried it from the bottom plateau back through the tunnels of the Coldmarch. He seemed relatively unharmed, which gave me hope that we weren’t all in danger of keeling over dead any moment.
Shilah had tears in the corners of her eyes. I hadn’t seen her so emotional since the discovery of the Coldmaker; when she’d taken me in her arms and kissed me. But this time she didn’t weep with celebration. This was much more sombre. This was from the pain of being right all along.
They put it in the ground.
Desert.
It was real, and now we had a piece of our own.
‘Here is the reason our people were made slaves,’ Shilah said, stabbing a finger towards the table, but careful not to cross the line. ‘This is how the Sun-damn Khat stole the world. Now we have actual, absolute proof. Dunes, you’re a hero.’
Dunes didn’t break rank. He remained completely still. The only sign of pride was a darkening of his cheeks.
I checked the tension on the boilweed strips to make sure the Desert was still strapped down. The ropes fastened on top kept cooking down into wilted mush, and I’d already had to change the boilweed out three times. My audience was too precious. And there was no telling how caustic or explosive an impact might be if the Desert hit the stone floor without padding. I’d ringed the table with the thickest boilweed I had just in case the thing escaped, but I wasn’t sure if it would be enough. We were all blind in a sense; our eyes closed to what this thing could do.
It was roughly the same size as the Frost, the opposite in every other respect. It was hot to the touch, and its sheen was a sickening orange that oozed and squirmed. It reeked of death, and vibrated with a tiny, sickening sound that I could feel in my ears, like a shriek deep beneath the land. The noise could have been my imagination, but I didn’t think so.
Like the Frost, the Desert also had a strange pattern at its core, but this one seemed to steal light instead of giving it off. Three parallel lines scarred the centre of the orb. The spaces between the lines appeared to be sinking, almost like they might swallow our fingers whole if we tried to touch its surface.
Split sat in a chair, tugging at his wan cheeks. His mumbles were getting more gruesome the longer he stared at the bubbling orange surface, the colour only slightly quelled by the boilweed wraps. ‘Boil the skin off my arms. This is the curse.’
Het remained in line with the Five, but as opposed to Dunes, Het wasn’t able to keep still, his fingers cycling through every ward he knew.
The Five stood at attention in the corner, while the rest of us were circled up around the table, keeping somewhat of a safe distance. Standing too close meant getting struck with a terrible heat and an equally terrible smell.
I couldn’t believe I had a piece of Desert in my possession. We were likely the first Jadans in the history of the Khatdom to bear witness to the sickening material.
I stepped further ftom the table, taking off the mask and clearing my throat. ‘Thoughts?’
‘This proves once again that you’re Meshua,’ Leah said, her hands grabbing fistfuls of her shirt at her side. It was a nervous habit, but I almost asked her to stop. The motion unintentionally – I hoped – tugged down the cloth at her neckline, and I couldn’t deal with any more heat.
‘The Crier obviously wanted you to have the weapon of the enemy,’ Leah said. ‘This way you could study it. And then destroy it with your bare hands.’
Shilah rolled her eyes.
‘Shilah,’ I said. ‘Thoughts?’
‘I have many thoughts,’ she said, her voice heating up. ‘First thought. We show the Desert to every Jadan in the city. We march them in here and show them the lie that killed our people. Then we strap it to the end of a pike and wave it across the walls to show the Khat and Ka’in and the Vicaress that they don’t scare us and that—’
I held up my hand to stop her.
‘Yes?’ she asked, visibly boiling.
‘We can’t do that. Think about it.’
‘I have,’ Shilah said, her knuckles tight around the handle of her Stinger.
‘If this is truly what we think it is—’
‘Sun-damned Desert,’ Split chimed in, swallowing hard. ‘What else could this foul shit be?’
‘Yes, Desert,’ I said. ‘We have to consider all of our options and, more importantly, all of the consequences.’
Ellia slipped to her knees, turning away from the table and placing her forehead against the ground. Ellcia grabbed her sister by the shoulder and hurled her back to her feet. ‘Get up, priss,’ she whispered. ‘Time fur praying latah.’
‘I wassun’t praying,’ she whispered. ‘My head was hot. I wanted to cool it off.’
‘Dunes found the Desert buried in the ground on the second plateau,’ I said. ‘The soil and sand was freshly upturned, which is exactly what Shilah said we should look for. So good thinking on that, Shilah. It means the Khat snuck someone inside the city walls to plant it. There’s heat coming off it, and probably other poisons, so I’m guessing maybe it makes the land sick and the ground dies?’
‘Micah, this is everything we’ve been waiting for,’ Shilah said. ‘This is how we get our people to fight back. We expose the truth of the Drought.’ She turned to Ellia and Ellcia. ‘Tell me, girls. If you were seeing this for the first time, wouldn’t you feel inspired to fight?’
The sisters nodded in unison.
‘Maybe that plan would work,’ I said. ‘But we could also take a book out of the Khat’s page. He’s much better at manipulation than we are.’
Shilah crossed her arms, the Stinger blade catching some of the Sinai light. ‘We don’t want to manipulate our own people, Micah.’
‘Not manipulate in a bad way. But … like how Cam did with the Jadan kids and the promises. That was smart manipulation,’ I said, giving Cam a wink and a nod. ‘And it was for good.’
‘So what are you suggesting?’ Samsah asked.
‘We make it a story that works for us,’ I said. ‘If we go and show the Desert, then the Khat could easily say that the Desert rained upon us from the sky, and it was proof that the Crier wants us gone. There’s no proof to trace the Desert back to the Khat.’
‘Dammit,’ Shilah said. ‘You’re right.’
Leah came to my side, bunching the cloth at her waist even tighter in her fist.
I cleared my throat. ‘So what we need to do is keep things very secret. Because if we keep the Desert out of the ground, then the land won’t heat up, right?’
‘We hope,’ Split croaked.
‘And if the land doesn’t heat up, that means the Khat will send more Desert inside,’ Shilah said quickly. ‘And put more of it in the ground.’
I nodded. ‘And if we keep finding them, and keeping them out of the ground, then there’s no second Fall and the Khat loses. And that’s how we control the story.’
‘So we have to find any Desert he sends in,’ Shilah said. ‘We have to have different teams on the lookout all the time.’
‘You all,’ I said to the Five. ‘I want to know what you think.’
‘We are released?’ Kasroot asked nervously.
‘Released,’ I said with a sigh. ‘Although I’m in no way your master, and you can do what you like.’
Dunes came to me and knelt so hard he must have bruised a knee. ‘Put me in charge of this, Meshua. I won’t fail you. I won’t sleep until every piece of Desert is found. I’ll make sure every plateau is covered. You can trust me.’
I nodded. ‘I already trust you. Completely.’
Dunes took a deep, satisfied breath. He turned to Shilah next. ‘Put me in charge of this, Meshua. I won’t fail you. I won’t sleep until—’
Shilah cut him off with a gesture, a wry smile on her lips. ‘Done. Just keep me informed on what you’re doing. I trust you completely, too.’
Jia wrapped Shilah and I in a hug with one scoop of his large arms, shaking us profusely. ‘You brilliant, wonderful, beautiful souls. I can’t believe I’m alive to see this moment. Desert. This will change everything!’
Jia released us, his words not helping. I knew his feelings came out of a place of love and respect, but I didn’t need the extra pressure. The presence of the Desert alone was making me uneasy enough.
Jia pulled out two vials of honey from one of the folds in his robe. ‘I was saving these for a moment like this.’
Shilah and I accepted the gift, knowing Jia wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Cleave said nothing. His eyes said everything.
Eventually everyone settled at the rim of the line, staring in at the Desert. The boilweed strips were already looking feeble and I would have to find a more suitable substance to keep the stuff secure in the future. Especially if we were planning on finding more.
Cam sniffed again, pressing his nose to the line and giving an uneasy smile. ‘Is it just me, or is anyone else addicted to the smell?’
Shilah raised an eyebrow. ‘It smells like baked dung.’
‘I’ll have to bake more dung,’ Cam said with a laugh and then stopped short mid-chuckle. ‘Wait, are you being serious? It smells like … gem candy and lilacs.’
Shilah paused. ‘Cam, it smells awful.’
‘Very bad,’ Ellcia blurted.
‘Terrible,’ Dunes agreed.
‘Like a taskmaster foot after stomping around in a bucket of fermented fungus,’ Kasroot said with a shudder. ‘I’m going to have to drink soap to get it out of the back of my throat.’
I nodded. ‘I’d say that’s about right.’
Cam put a finger to his nostril, confused.
Split sighed. ‘Don’t worry, Camlish. I smell it too.’
‘You do?’ Shilah asked. ‘Smell what?’
Split sank back into his chair. ‘Different than how Cam described.’ He cleared his throat, looking a bit embarrassed. ‘But it smells wonderful; enticing to say the least.’
Silence filled the room as everyone made the connection.
‘Everyone clear out and get some air,’ I said. ‘In case the Desert has fumes and can make you sick. Get clean air and drink plenty of Cold water. We’ve been exposed more than enough.’
Shilah squeezed between Leah and I, threading her arm through mine. Leah looked ready to bite her in the throat, but stepped aside.
‘We’ll meet you at the Sanctuary,’ Shilah announced. ‘Everyone is dismissed.’
The tinkershop began to empty, with Split and Cam slinking off to the side, whispering to each other. Leah went to say something to me, but then gave a demure nod and followed the others out.
‘Dunes,’ I called out. ‘Can you bring me ink and some glass vials? And plenty of Cold. And,’ I tapped my bottom lip, ‘the Coldmaker.’
Dunes gave an excited nod and then rushed into the tunnel.
‘You too,’ I said to Shilah, patting her arm. ‘Go get some air.’
‘No,’ Shilah said. ‘I’m here for you, and you’re not going to push me away. Micah, it’s Desert! It proves everything we needed to know. It’s another miracle.’
I smiled and then pulled her into a hug, her body warm against mine. I breathed her in.
‘I’m not pushing you away,’ I said. ‘I just need some time. You go take command and help Dunes make the teams that will search for the Desert. You’re better at that. I’ll do what I’m good at.’
Shilah leaned back and putting her hands on my cheeks, pressing gently. ‘Meshua is two, remember?’
I nodded and took off my gloves, threading my hands in her hair. She gave me a curious look, but didn’t look offended. I found the braid in the back and worked out the knife, careful not to slice away any of her locks.
‘I’ll wash it,’ I said, gesturing to the sacred pool. ‘But I need a good blade to work with.’
‘What are you planning on doing?’ Shilah said.
I turned to the Desert, looking into its glowing centre. It slithered over with heat, already nearly burning through the boilweed strips. The small patch of Adaam Grass in the back of the cavern looked dimmer, like it was sickly. A part of me wanted to flee and have the Five seal the tunnels behind us with heavy stones.
But there was no turning away.
The Khat had fired the first arrow.
Now it was time to shoot one back.