Mirage (25 page)

Dash and most of the other Serpenti would compete in the Path of Sand, which contained all the trials of skill — spear, sword, bow, strength, agility, and even falconry. Dash was certain to win the falconry contest, if only they could buy or trade for a falcon in time. Shining Moon had refused to sell any of theirs, as it increased their chances of winning if Dash couldn’t participate. The Bronze Disc of the Sand would go to the herd with the highest combined total in the Path of Sand competitions.

The final category, the Path of Sun, was both the most important and the most deadly. It contained only one competition: combat. After two days of bouts, the final two competitors would face each other the last night of the Thunder Trials, after all other competitions had been determined. The winner would earn the Gold Disc of the Sun for his or her herd.

The Sun Disc trumped the others. Unless another herd won both the Moon Disc and the Sand Disc, the winner of the Sun Disc was considered the winner of the entire games and would earn the title High Khan and the right to rule the herds for a full year.

Flame Heart would enter six competitors in the Path of Sun: five Serpenti warriors and Aluna. If any of them won, or if Khan Arasen or Dantai from Shining Moon was the victor, then Red Sky would lose power and their alliance would be meaningless. Scorch and Karl Strand would find enemies instead of allies among the Equians.

When Tayan was done speaking, Aluna nudged Hoku. “You should put the shield in the tech competition. I bet you could win.”

“No doubt he would win,” Rollin said, idly kicking her horse as it munched on a shrub. “Best tech I’ve seen in ages, and it doesn’t even work yet.”

“Then it’s decided,” Aluna said. “We need that victory. If I don’t get the Sun Disc, we’ll need both the Moon and the Sand in order to take the desert from Onggur.”

Hoku looked at Aluna. She was short, even for a Kampii, but her arms and shoulders bulged with muscle under her brown skin. She wore her hair short — less as an afterthought now, and more like a style. Instead of hiding her growing tail beneath layers of desert cloth, she had wrapped it in a glittering Serpenti skirt.

So far from the ocean, she was more herself than he had ever seen her. Then again, he was more himself, too.

“No,” Hoku said.

“What do you mean, ‘No’?” Aluna said. “This isn’t just your decision. It’s about the good of the herd.”

“Spoken like a true Flame Heart,” Dash said happily.

“This
is
about the good of the herd,” Hoku said, squaring his shoulders. If Aluna wanted a fight, he was ready for it. “I didn’t build the shield to sit on a judging table. I built it to protect my best friend.”

They all stared at him. Even Aluna. He could tell the anger had washed out of her like a tide. She took his hand and squeezed.

“Spoken like a true Flame Heart,” Dash said again. And the discussion was over.

As the sun began to set, the campsites filled with nervous excitement. Over in the Sun Stadium, Equians were building the great flame that would burn throughout the night. Already, a huge plume of smoke twisted and curled into the darkening sky.

Hoku tugged on his shirt and checked the neckline for the third time. Nathif had shown him how to attach the light-blue and yellow Flame Heart colors with tiny stitches. He’d enjoyed doing such simple, focused work while sitting by Calli’s side. He wished Calli could join him at the ceremony, but she still hadn’t woken. Her face had more color, he was sure of it, but Nathif refused to tell him that she would live. “I do not believe in jinxes,” Nathif had said. “But I do have a decent respect for them.”

“Hoku,” Aluna said. “You ready?” She carried the Flame Heart banner, her eyes dark like deep ocean in the fading light. Dash rode beside her, his chin high, his dark hair streaming behind him. No one wore head wraps to the Ceremony of Flames. They were to “meet and know their Equian kin, bonded by the heat of fire.”

“We’re together again,” he said. “I’m ready for anything.”

She smiled, a smile just for him.

Drums echoed in the distance.

“The call,” Dash said, sitting taller on his horse. “The drums call to all Equian warriors across the desert, asking them to come and give honor to the sun and moon and sand.”

Ahead of them, Tayan raised her sword. “Flame Heart!”

Hoku and the rest of the herd yelled, “Flame Heart!” in response, and they were off.

Tayan kept their pace slow and stately, letting all the lingering herds take a good, long look. Most had never seen a living Serpenti, and none had ever seen a Kampii growing her tail.
If only Calli were here with her glorious wings
, Hoku thought. No one could see them and not want to fly.

They wound their way through the campsites toward the arena. Hoku couldn’t speak. After so many months of travel and sweat and tears, his head and heart felt too full, too heavy, too amazed. Six months ago, he’d spent most of his days inside his cramped Kampii room tucked under a coral reef. Now he rode in the Thunder Trials, part of a newly awakened but ancient herd.

The Sun Stadium had been dug out of the salty Ghostwater ground. In the middle of the vast arena, a huge bonfire blazed. It looked as if the Equians had trapped a piece of the sun itself.

The herds arriving at the arena joined a line that wound down around the rim of the stadium. Once they reached the bottom, they bolted into a gallop. They circled the bonfire three times, once for each day of the Trials, once for the sun, the moon, and the sand. Then, amid the cheers of the other herds, they found their way to an empty space near the bonfire, making sure to leave enough room for the next herd.

Hoku’s pulse quickened as Flame Heart edged its way into the stadium, waiting its turn. Some herds had brought hundreds of competitors and thousands of spectators. When Red Sky, the largest herd, entered the stadium, Hoku finally understood why the games were called the Thunder Trials. So many Equians pounding the ground as they ran shook the very sky.

When Flame Heart’s turn finally came, Hoku found himself grinning. Tayan yelled and raced forward. He didn’t wait. He kicked Sunbeam, and the horse launched itself into the arena, following its leader. Aluna and Tal surged ahead, keeping just behind Tayan. Dash galloped at Tayan’s other side. Behind him, Hoku heard Rollin whooping and cheering on her horse, Cactus.

But the Serpenti surprised him most. He’d expected them to make no noise except the quiet hiss of their snakeskin against the sandy ground. Instead, they spread out behind Tayan and the other horses in a triangle, holding their Human heads and torsos low, just a meter above the ground. Every few seconds, in time with the Equian drums, the Serpenti bobbed their bodies up and slammed them down, driving their fists into the earth.

Boom. Boom. Boom
.

Hoku yelled and thrust his fist into the air.

Aluna screamed, “Flame Heart!”

Dash yelled, “For the honor of Chabi!”

Hoku felt the heat of the giant fire on his cheeks, felt Sunbeam’s skin break into a sweat beneath him. He wanted to race in that circle forever, yelling with his friends, always on the verge of battle, but never actually entering it.

Too soon, their laps were done, and Tayan led them to their spot in the circle, where they could watch the remaining herds enter the arena.

Hoku’s breathing necklace pulsed bright as the sun slipped all the way behind the mountains and the last herd finished its run. When High Khan Onggur finally appeared on the high podium overlooking all the competitors, Hoku knew that he was ready. The drums had called them, and they had answered.

Here we are. Flame Heart. Our hearts aflame
.

O
NCE ALL THE HERDS
were arrayed in the stadium, torches burst to life in the pavilion. High Khan Onggur, illuminated by the flickering fire, seemed even larger and more impressive than ever. A ring of Red Sky warriors stood around him, and Scorch, her red shirt now embroidered with orange-and-black flames, smiled easily at his side.

Aluna studied her. She knew exactly how to get what she wanted from Onggur, and to make it seem like it was his idea. A whispered bit of advice here, a poke at something sensitive there. Scorch wasn’t the ruler of the desert by name or title, but she was something far more powerful. The hidden danger. The shadow controlling everything. Without Scorch, the desert herds would have united against Karl Strand. Instead, they were about to become his greatest weapon.

Scorch
. If Aluna had the chance, she’d have to kill her. If she could. The Scorch they’d encountered in Mirage had seemed indestructible — fast, strong, cruel. Great White with a lot more malice.

Dash moved Sandwolf next to Tal and leaned in. The wind tossed his long hair against Aluna’s cheek. “You look angry,” he whispered.

“I am,” she said. “But it’s a good thing. I need it.”

He nodded and leaned back.

“Do you think we have any chance of winning the Trials?” she asked him.

Dash looked up at the night sky. The bonfire made the stars hard to see. When he turned back to her, his eyes glowed like embers.

“No,” he said. “I want to say yes, but I cannot. We have no chance.”

Aluna nodded. “Thank you for being honest.”

The corner of his mouth twisted into a smile. “It is the best way I know to show respect.”

Aluna watched Onggur speak and Scorch hover in the shadows.

“We’re going to fight anyway,” she said. “With everything we’ve got. As if we
do
have a chance.”

“Yes,” Dash said. “We are.”

Aluna returned her attention to High Khan Onggur just as he held up his hand for silence. The crowd hushed until only the crackle of the bonfire filled the night. “You all know of our alliance with Karl Strand and his esteemed daughter, Sand Master Scorch,” Onggur said. Weak cheers echoed up from the stadium. “I am now proud to announce that our bond has grown even stronger.”

“Where is he going with this?” Aluna whispered.

Dash frowned. “Nowhere good.”

High Khan Onggur unsheathed his sword and held it above his head. “Welcome Scorch, newest member of herd Red Sky!”

Red Sky and their allies cheered.

“You know what this means,” Dash said.

Aluna swallowed, her pulse suddenly thick in her throat. “It means Scorch is going to compete in the Thunder Trials. It means Flame Heart has to beat her, too.”

When the crowd quieted, the High Khan officially started the games. He yelled, “May we honor the sun!” and slashed his sword through the air. Thunder rolled through the night as more than a thousand Equians stomped the ground and cheered.

Tayan raised her sword and led Flame Heart up the stadium’s edge, away from the bonfire. Aluna saw the other herds doing the same.

“The word-weaver competition begins now,” Tayan said. “We will each perform one time each night. Stay if you wish, but I recommend you go back and sleep. Tomorrow the Trials begin. You will need your strength.”

Aluna touched two fingers to her heart and bowed to her khan. “Wise words from a wise leader.”

Tayan bowed in return and granted Aluna a rare smile.

“It’s our fault about Scorch,” Aluna said. “What we did with Flame Heart, that gave High Khan Onggur the idea of adding Scorch to his herd.”

“It gave Scorch the idea,” Dash said. “She is the one behind this.”

“I agree,” Tayan said. “But no doubt he has alienated some of his Equian allies with this decision. Perhaps it will be to our advantage in the end.”

“No one can beat her in fair combat,” Aluna said. “I think they’ve just won.”

“You have not seen us fight,” Tayan countered easily. “Flame Heart’s warriors may not claim the Sun Disc, but there is still hope for Shining Moon. Both my father and my brother are highly skilled.”

Aluna frowned. She didn’t like the fact that Flame Heart’s khan had more faith in another herd. But up until a few weeks ago, Tayan had been Shining Moon from the tip of her horsey tail to the top of her Human head. Tayan didn’t believe in Flame Heart yet, but Aluna would give her a reason to change her mind.

Tal took her up the slope of the stadium, toward the Flame Heart campsite. Aluna desperately wanted to find open sand and run as far and as fast as she could. She’d done that all the time in the ocean, swimming off on grand explorations minutes before she was due to meet her father or finish a chore. She needed speed. And space. And time away from everything she knew.

Tal huffed and pranced, sensing her mood. Tal wanted to run, too. The two of them were made for each other, a spirit of water and a spirit of sand.

“Not tonight,” Aluna said, patting Tal’s neck. “If either of us got hurt tomorrow because we were too tired, I’d never forgive myself.”

Tal snorted in disgust.

“And besides, we have work to do,” Aluna said. “All this time, we’ve been training to fight Equians. Now we need to figure out how to beat Scorch.”

The next morning, Aluna reported to the Path of Sun record keeper and was assigned Ring Three for her day’s bouts. Only the warriors with the most victories would continue to the elimination rounds on day two, and only the last two competitors would fight in the evening of day three for the coveted Sun Disc.