A Mage's Power (Journey to Chaos) (29 page)

Their second night in the desert passed the same way as the
first, only with less food and water. Anuzat closely rationed the rest; right
now, it was their most valuable commodity. Eric took his on autopilot. He was
busy planning Kasile's rescue but so far, he had nothing.
Why did I
say-think-that?
He didn't know where Kasile was, how to find her, or how to
get past the kidnappers. He dropped his head in despair.
This'll never work
. . .
His hand drifted to a secure and padded region of his pack.

Shouting! All around them wild shouting! Team Four instantly
formed a triangle around Anuzat as sand exploded around them. A swarm of dark
creatures burst out. They were everywhere! In seconds they formed a tight circle,
stomped the stand, and sank the perimeter ten feet.
They're setting battle
conditions!
High ground was lost to the attackers and their own mobility
was limited.
We can't fight like this!
They drew their bows. With one
voice they shouted, “The Breath of the Desert brings death!”

One took aim at Anuzat. She ignored him. “But with weariness
and respect it can bring life as well.” The words came out like threadbare
leather. “Put those bows away.”

The one signaled the others and they all put their bows
away. Then they stomped the ground and the sand elevated to its previous state.
The speaker took their mask off and revealed himself as a silver-white
kangaroo.

“Anzu, what happened? Becoming a Sand Stinger used to be
your dream.”

“That was before I grew up. We had this conversation the
last time I came.”

“Ohh, I remember your first day on a sand waver . . .” The
silver kangaroo said fondly. “You were so excited you didn't watch where you
were going and ran straight into a cactus . . .”

“Dad . . .” Anuzat growled.

“All the others called you 'cactus stinger' . . .”

“
Dad!”
Anuzat was blushing through her fur.

 “Where's your caravan?” Anuzat's dad asked. “Did something
happen?”

“This is my caravan,” Anuzat replied evenly.

Her father glanced at the still unconscious Basilard. “Your
mother and I have told you time and again how dangerous that place is. Now do
you believe us?”

“I'm alive, aren't I? And I have emergency funds stashed
away for just such an occasion.” She finally looked her father straight in the
eye. “I'm not coming back.”

“I'm not asking you to,” her father said gently. “I'm only
saying that, if you
wanted
to come
back, the Elders would be more
than happy to—”

“Dad, I'm on a tight schedule. I don't have time for a
stroll down memory lane.”

Her father sighed. “All right, we'll escort you to the Stone
Pile.”

Anuzat pointed at Team Four. “
They
are my escorts!
I'm not a little girl anymore! I don't need your help!”

So that's why she gets along so well with Tiza . . .
The
silver kangaroo insisted, but Anuzat was resolute. With a deep sigh, her father
signaled the others to move out.

“All right, say ‘hi’ to your mother if you get the chance.”
Anuzat nodded.

 He strapped himself onto his surfboard, waved to Anuzat,
and jetted away. In his hands, he held wind spells that propelled them along
the sand.
Like a hovercraft . . .

“Come on,” Anuzat said. “I want to get to the Stone Pile as
soon as possible.”

“Wait a minute!” Tiza said, “What was that all about?”

“Oh, just outlaws on patrol.”

“Outlaws?” Eric asked, “The good kind or the bad kind?”

Anuzat looked at him with the same confusion. Nolien told
her he was an Otherworlder. Anuzat nodded and said it was a long story.
All
the most interesting things about Tariatla seem to involve a story so long no
one wanted to tell it.

Just before dawn, Team Four was ambushed by a trio of giant
scorpions. They were called boack and ranked as D+ class. Tiza was ecstatic,
but Eric was scared. Without his magic, he had to use his staff as a club and
the claws of the boack were longer.

He sidestepped the tail just as it plunged into the sand
next to him. The area turned black and exploded, showering Eric in hot sand and
scoring his face. It pulled its tail out and struck again while jabbing at him
with its claws. Eric frantically blocked each strike with his staff while
dodging the tail. The monster forced him back to the center of the trio's
triangle and all the while sand exploded around him. All three weapons darted
to impale him and
Now!
he
jumped forwards. The sand behind him
exploded and the claws clashed into each other. Eric mercilessly beat the
monster between its antennae. Anuzat told them this was the weak spot. After
the fourth blow, the monster withered and died.

Eric leaned on his staff to catch his breath. Nolien tricked
his opponent into stinging itself and stood in the center of smoking entrails.
Tiza wasn't satisfied until she had dismembered hers: she cut off the claws,
sliced its tail clean off, and impaled its head.

“I hardly think that's necessary,” Nolien said.

“Well, I do!” Tiza said. “Remember those things in the cave?”
Eric only remembered the dimming eyes of his former roommate and his hand
automatically went to his pack.

Nolien noticed the reflex and said, “Good job, Eric. Boack
are the same rank as the Cecri from—”

“Poop Island!” Tiza shouted as she walked to the severed
tail. Eric laughed.

“That's not what it's called!” Nolien hissed. “Anyway, your
fighting skills have improved.”

Eric blushed and turned away. “N-no they haven't.” The hand
on his pack scratched his neck.

“Eric. You defeated a D+ class, without magic and on your
own. Trust me, you've gotten better.”

“Yeah . . .” Tiza agreed as she reached for the boack's tail.
“You're not deadweight anymore.”

While Nolien scolded Tiza for her backhanded compliment,
Eric felt warm inside. He'd been deadweight his whole life and to be told he
wasn't was an incredible feeling. It didn't last.

“Don't touch that—” Anuzat shouted, but Tiza had already
pulled out the scorpion’s stinger. It sprayed black liquid all over her. “Off!”
Anuzat cried, but Tiza was already pulling off clothes that were rapidly
turning black. They exploded in midair.

“What were you thinking?” Anuzat shouted, “Scratch that! You
weren’t thinking.”

“Yeah, I was!” Tiza protested. “I wanted a trophy, and I
thought it could be useful.”

“Ah, I should've told you about it, but still, it was crazy!
You should have expected—”

“All right, I won't do it again,” Tiza promised. “You guys
can look now.”

The boys automatically did an about-face when they saw her
shedding clothing. Now that it was safe, they saw her wearing Anuzat's
sand-strewn cloak and the kangaroo fussing over her.

“We can get you new clothes at the Stone Pile,” Anuzat said.
“You'll have to share your burden with the boys since we don't have a sled
anymore.”

Tiza scowled. “Then I don't need this.” She was already
removing the cloak. Faster than the speed of blushes Anuzat fixed it back
around her shoulders.

“Yes, you do,” she insisted. “You'll be cold enough with it.”

“Oh, all right,” Tiza relented.

Eric cleared out his ears; he hadn't known Tiza to give in
that easily. Basilard had to threaten her training before she listened to him
and she insulted most of their clients; sometimes to their faces.
They must
have done a lot of bonding . . .

 Anuzat made another Sand Shelter and they all climbed in
for the day. Getting Basilard inside was a challenge because they couldn't
agree on a method: Tiza was all for dragging him in by his feet while Nolien
insisted on carrying him off the ground. The argument became heated and Anuzat
refused to get involved. So the pair turned to Eric and he was startled by
their similarities. He was frightened too, but for a different reason.

He was tired and Tiza could hit harder so he sided with her.
Nolien gave him a nasty look but conceded to Tiza's method. It wasn't long
after he closed his eyes that he felt them open again under cloth.
Good
morning, Your Highness.

Eric had another long talk with Kasile about each other's
lives. She was very interested in Threan life, especially how a modern society
developed without mana. He was more than happy to tell her about Threan-style
power plants and she would become so absorbed that she forgot she was being
held captive. He woke up refreshed and ready for another night of marching
through the desert.

Chapter 10
The Stone Pile

 Anuzat's ears twitched and she called a halt. Less than a
mile ahead the air was thickening. Fog gathered from the sand to the clouds; a
stadium for Chaos! It swirled and churned and crackled with energy. A spark of
light illuminated the cloud as it channeled from one end to the other. All at
once, it ejected into the distance and its crash was a fireworks spectacle. In
its wake was a new rock formation. More bolts charged and discharged in all
directions. They crashed to earth or exploded midair in fantastic displays of
light and sound.
A mana storm!

Oblivious to the cold night air, Eric watched in awe.
So
that's what they look like . . .
The xethras filled him with disgust and
fear, but this, though more terrible, filled him with wonder. Whatever the
bolts touched, they mutated into something new: a clump of sand became solid
rock or flowers, a patch of sky became colored wind, rain fell from nowhere; a
cherry bomb version of the Big Bang unfolding before his eyes. They shot open
as a bolt flew directly at him.

The caravan dove to either side, and it exploded between
them. In its wake arose a rock of bizarre design. It sat in a hole of sand
proportional to its mass and dragged Team Four down with it. Pieces broke off,
fell with a thud, and stood up. One rotated in Eric's direction and launched
towards him. He dived again and it burrowed into the sand wall. Nolien
deflected a second with his barrier. Tiza whacked a third back into the pillar
with her sword.
That must be some sword . . .
Anuzat crushed a fourth
under foot. Before they could celebrate, bigger pieces came to life.

“This is what I'm talking about!” Tiza cheered as she
engaged a rock golem a head taller than she was. “Alone in the wilderness,
ambushed by a freak storm, attacked by brand new monsters!” Her cloak swayed as
she dodged its blows and jumped. “A mercenary's life for me!” She sliced it
down the middle, her blade glowing with runes designed for stone cutting. She
landed lightly and turned her back on the monster as its two halves fell to
either side.

“I'm gonna die!” Eric shouted as a golem chased him in
circles. It punched from behind and clipped his pack. Eric spun to face it with
narrowed eyes. “Aio's in there!” He ran back at the thing and whacked it with
the mace end of his staff. The impact rattled his arms, but the golem stumbled
and fell on its side. Anuzat smashed it with her big feet.

“Nice hit.”

“Thanks . . . Nolien!”

“Finished.” The healer jerked his thumb at a golem standing
still. “Petrification spells work better on things already made of stone.”

“Fascinating,” Anuzat deadpanned. She kicked the sand cliff
and a ramp formed. “Now we need to get out of here before something else
spawns.”

“Wait for trophies!” Tiza pried off a chunk of her kill. “Stories
are better with visual aids.”

Said kill reformed as
two
kills. The one Anuzat
crushed spawned ten smaller versions of itself. Nolien's petrified victim
lumbered towards them with a sleek new coat. The three novices grabbed Basilard
and dashed up the ramp. Anuzat collapsed it before the golems could follow.

Still the mana storm raged. New forms of life were crawling
out of the sand or taking flight and they preyed on those already living. The
sapients; jackrabbits, lizards, and others happily ate them.

“Run!”

They sprinted as another bolt flew over their heads and
exploded. Drizzles of Fog fell to earth and spawned healthy green moss. Another
landed next to them and transformed the sand into a flower bed. A third formed
a sinkhole in their path, forcing a detour. A fourth spawned a new monster; a
towering lizard with stone skin and frilled neck. It roared, they screamed, and
the chase began. A fifth struck the huge beast and it became a fish shaped
tree. For the next ten minutes, Team Four dodged the storm's bolts and the
monsters it spawned. Then, with all its energy discharged, the cloud
dissipated. It left behind a changed landscape.

New rocks, new plant growth, new animals breeds, sand of
different colors, and even the air itself was charged from the mana pillar. All
that remained now was a thin Fog lazily circulating the area where it was born.
The most radical mutations lay in the center; the boundary was almost normal.

“How often does this happen?” Eric asked Anuzat.

“Impossible to say. Sometimes once a year. Other times, one
every—” She cut off at the sound of heavy footsteps. Through the Fog, she could
see silhouettes of bizarre creatures slinking, flying, stomping, and eating. “Let's
leave before those things notice us.”

They were delayed a solid night and their rations felt it.
They ran out of food the next day. Anuzat purposely steered her caravan into a
monster pack to resupply. Afterward, they were all tired, injured, and used up
their water, but had enough meat for three more days. They lived on cactus
juice for the remainder of the trip. Fatigue, chill, and hunger numbed Eric's
body and mind. On the dawn of the ninth day, he dismissed the strange pile of
stones in the distance as either a mirage or unimportant. Then Anuzat announced
their arrival at the Stone Pile.