Sweat streamed down Brax's forehead, but he couldn't wipe it off. He was too focused on hanging on to the snake's scales, fearing he'd fall to his death in the burning sands, never to be seen again.
Frensia's insane idea had worked, he had to admit. Nothing traversed the desert sands so quickly and effortlessly as the snake the umgar had called with their whistle. Still, riding it wasn't easy. His knuckles ached from the strain of holding on so tightly. And even worse than the red fingers and his fatigued biceps was that he'd lost all feeling in his ass. It was as if his body had melded to the snake's, and he had no idea where it stopped and he began. He wasn't confident he'd be able to walk again once they stopped.
He looked ahead to Frensia, who stood on the snake's neck, confident and strong. They didn't seem to have a concern at all about falling off. Instead, they seemed to be truly enjoying the ride. Just in front of Brax, Ademar, holding on as tightly as Brax was, looked back over his shoulder to check on Tace, making sure she was okay. He did this regularly, and Brax couldn't help but laugh every time. Ademar's expressions told him Tace was just fine back there.
After a long day of riding with only stopping once to eat and take a piss off the side of the snake, night finally began to fall. The temperature went from scalding to freezing in what felt like a matter of moments. But the snake just kept on slithering forward. Brax shivered and pulled his cloak tight with one hand while hanging on for dear life with the other. Eventually, somehow, he fell asleep, his head bobbing and lolling all night long.
Brax opened his eyes. The sky was lightening, but the night's chill hadn't yet begun to dissipate. He shivered.
"You okay up there?" Tace called from behind him.
"I'm fine," Brax yelled back.
"I bet we'll stop soon. Let me ask Frensia."
"Do you want me to shout it up to Ademar and have him shout to Frensia?" Brax asked.
She laughed. "No."
Before he knew what was happening, Tace's hand was on his head. She stepped around him, both arms out at her sides to help her balance as she walked up the length of the snake. When she reached Ademar, she rested a hand on his surprised head, too, as she maneuvered around him. She moved slowly but confidently, setting one foot in front of the other, adjusting with every movement of the snake. When she reached Frensia, the umgar held out a hand, and Tace took it.
Brax could see their lips moving. Frensia pointed one of their long fingers to the south. Tace nodded, then headed back.
She stopped briefly beside Ademar and whispered in his ear, her lips brushing up against him. Ademar turned to her, his lips a breath from hers, but they did not meet. Brax still couldn't understand why. It's not like he didn't know the two of them were involved. They were a curious couple indeed.
Tace straightened up and moved back toward Brax. But as she approached, the snake suddenly shifted, and Tace fell.
With a shout, Brax reached out and caught her by the hand.
Tace dangled underneath him, her body smacking into the side of the snake, which hadn't slowed or altered its movements. It continued to shift from side to side, slithering across the blistering sand below.
"Hold on!" Brax yelled.
The snake jerked again, and Brax lost his grip on its scales—though he held on to Tace more tightly than ever. He started to slip down the side of the snake, with Tace swinging from side to side below him. The little dragon flew off her shoulders, flapping frantically. His shoulder strained as he dug his fingers into the snake's scales, desperate to find a solid purchase, but the best he could do was slow his descent. With Tace's weight pulling him, he was gradually accelerating toward the sands.
A hand grabbed his arm, and he felt himself yanked upward. He landed on his stomach on the snake's back, Tace next to him, both of them breathing heavily. Raseri flew back to Tace, curling up in the crook of her arm.
"You could have broken your necks," Frensia said, calm as ever. "Don't do that again."
"I'll keep that in mind," Brax said.
Frensia turned away and walked casually back to the snake's head.
"Thank you," Tace said without hesitation. "I don't know what would have happened if I'd fallen."
"You would have done the same for me," Brax said. "We may not always get along, but I have no desire to see you die."
"That doesn't sound wholly comforting," Tace replied, a smile on her face. "But I'll take it."
Ademar scooted along the snake's back toward them. "Maybe we should all sit a little closer.” He rested a hand on the small of Tace's back. "There's safety in numbers."
"That's fine," Tace said between gasps. "Frensia says we're almost to our destination anyway." She looked at Brax. "That's what I was about to tell you before I lost my balance."
"Good," said Brax. "I can't wait to get off this thing. My thighs are killing me."
"And we made it through the desert," Ademar said. "That's something I never thought I'd say."
Brax looked ahead into the swirling sand. Ademar was right: they had made it through the desert. He just hoped he'd be able to say later that he'd made it into the desert and back out again.
A loud, angry call sounded in the distance. The snake altered course, heading directly toward the noise, which grew louder by the moment. Ahead of them, a large swirling mass of sand came into view, larger than any waterspout Brax had ever seen off the coast of Soleth. He pulled his cloak over his face, so only his eyes were exposed to the elements. Ademar and Tace quickly followed suit, but Frensia remained standing ahead, staring directly into the funnel.
Sand pelted them from all directions, and soon Brax could handle it no longer. He retreated fully into his cape, covering even his eyes, careful to breathe only the air trapped in there with him. He stayed like that until he felt the sand stop its assault. Then he peeked out with one eye.
The swirling sandstorm had dissipated. Just ahead of them stood a great castle, so tall it reached into the clouds, so wide that Brax could not see the end of it.
Before Brax could say a word, the snake's head dug into the ground, and its body began to follow, disappearing back into the sand from which it had emerged. Frensia slid off the snake's neck to the ground, then waved to the three of them. Ademar and Tace dismounted, and Brax quickly followed, his pack securely on his back. In moments the snake was gone, and the sand settled next to them as if the snake had never existed.
Brax's hood fell back on his shoulders as he walked to Frensia's side. "How is this castle out here in the farthest reaches of the desert?" he asked.
"This is the Fifth Sanctum," Frensia said matter-of-factly. "The answers you seek lie within its walls."
"So we just enter and get the information?" Tace asked. "It can't be that simple."
Frensia turned to her, their black eyes wide. "Of course it is not that simple. If it were, the secrets would not remain hidden. The castle would have been overrun long ago. The Fifth Sanctum is protected by both magic and weapons. Anyone who is lucky enough to make it through the Ciera Desert to the castle must know they have barely begun their journey. This is why no human has ever returned from the desert before. They die."
"Lovely," Tace muttered under her breath. "Well then, how do we survive?"
"You must face the challenges the Fifth Sanctum presents to us. Only then will you be judged worthy to approach the answers we seek." Frensia shrugged. "You will probably die, though."
"What?" Brax said. "You brought us all the way out here, and you don't even think we can survive? This is madness!"
Ademar placed a hand on Brax's arm. "We have to try. You know that."
Brax shrugged him off. "I'm not ready to die."
"Then you are not worthy." Tace glared at him. "None of us want to die, but we must always be ready. We must be willing to risk everything to achieve our goals. The stakes are too high. If we don't try, many more will die."
Brax wanted to reply, Let them. Instead, he steeled himself. The orc was right. The umgar was right. His fellow human was right. He'd always questioned his mettle. It had so rarely been tested. He'd followed his queen, taking the war to the orcs, not because he wanted to, but because he'd felt he had to. He'd come with Tace and Ademar on this quest, not because he'd wanted to, but because he'd felt it was the right thing to do.
Who was he now? Was he the same man who just went along with the tide? Or would he finally stand up and be the man others thought he was?
Brax looked up at the castle. Then he looked at his companions. "Fine. We will do this. And damn it, we'd better survive."