Chapter 4: Traveling to Sin-Haree

Traveling in one desert is much like traveling in another, you always need water. Each desert though has its own dangers to be aware of. I was only a half day away from Amgree when I saw the large rocks. I had put my assassin’s bow together earlier and slowed the drama to look at the rocks closely. At the base of the rocks were the bleached bones of animals.

When the creature came out it was large. It had six legs and two pincher like arms. It held a wicked looking tail up behind it that looked sharp and pointed. It danced back and forth and chattered while the drama hissed angrily. I pulled the bow back and aimed carefully before releasing. The scream it made when the arrow struck was high pitched and almost painful.

The drama all growled until I hissed a warning. They quieted and I watched the creature as it lay on the ground and jerking and twitching. I slid out of the saddle and set the bow down before moving forward carefully. I skirted the spider like creature and checked the rocks before coming back to lead the drama. I unsaddle them by the rocks and then used a sword to break open the shell of the spider thing.

As soon as the drama smelled the insides they came forward. I headed to the packs and moved things around before stretching a large gauze sheet from the rocks over my packs. I ate some dried fruit, drank a small bit of water and waited for the drama to finish eating. When they were finally done I hissed and moved out to scratch and rub them.

I led them back to the packs and had them lay down before hissing softly. I moved back to my nest under the gauze and watched the male and female shift and move together before putting their heads down. I closed my eyes and slept lightly, I woke to the sun setting and moved to get the drama up before saddling them.

I went to look at the scattered remains of the spider thing and found two fist sized blue stones. I used sand to clean them and tucked them away in a pack. I scratched the male behind his ear hole, “Water.”

I wet my hand from my water bottle and rubbed his nose before climbing into his saddle. It was semi dark as we headed into the desert. There was a half moon looming over the desert so I could see. It was almost dawn when the male hissed a warning. I was looking around and could see an area in front of us that might be a small spring.

I leaned forward to hiss softly and scratch his neck before slipping out of the saddle. I had the drama kneel and we waited while watching the spring. Just as the sun began to rise I saw the tiny shifting of small bodies near the spring. I waited and then pulled my swords and moved forward, leaving the drama behind. I was almost to the small pool of water next to a large rock when the sand shifted a few feet away.

I stopped and waited, I did not concentrate on the one place where the sand had moved. When the sand moved suddenly from both sides of me, I shifted and slid back. Two snakes came out of the sand and coiled. They almost looked like cave vipers but were longer, fatter with a slightly different color. I kept watched and a third and then a smaller fourth joined the other two snakes.

One seemed to yawn and right then I knew they were something other than vipers. The teeth I saw were meant for eating and they almost looked hollow. I put my swords away and pulled out small darts. I put one in the head of the largest snake and as it died the rest hissed and rose up. I killed a second one and the last two began a hypnotic sway. I killed a third and the last began backing away.

I killed the last one and slowly moved closer to the water. I checked around the spring and then knelt to skin the four snakes before bringing the drama closer. The male nudged the snake bodies to the female and she hissed softly before snatching them up. I let the drama drink and filled my water bottles before mounting again. It was an hour before I stopped against the side of a ravine.

I unsaddled and fed the drama dried meat before having them lay down. I positioned my gauze tarp and moved under it to sleep through the day. I woke to the shifting of the drama and looked up to see dark clouds. I quickly broke camp and put the packs on before moving out of the ravine. I led the drama up the side of the ravine as lightning crossed the sky.

I kept to high ground and moved slowly as the heavy sky opened and rain poured down. The drama shifted and the male turned to lead the way along a narrow ledge. I glanced down at the wet ravine below and then up to look through the curtain of rain. The male turned and entered a wide overhang and the females crowded around.

I slipped out of the saddle and scratched behind his ear hole before walking to the edge of the overhang. I could hear the distant grumbles of thunder and sighed knowing this would be a wet night. I moved through my drama rubbing and giving each a little attention. I heard a clatter of rocks and spun as I drew a sword. The drama hissed as a huge wide bodied toad like creature appeared, it was four foot tall and twice that long. Before I could do anything the drama lunged.

I did not recognize the creature but the actions of the drama were those of a hunter attacking prey. I put my sword away and watched as they tore the animal apart and devoured it. I checked the rest of the area under the overhang and squatted by the edge. The drama finally left the shredded remains and moved to the back before dropping to the ground with a satisfied hiss.

I smiled and looked out as the ravine filled and a flash flood roared down. It was several hours before the rain stopped and I prodded the drama up, I kept to high ground as I moved out. Dawn found me looking at the broken expanse of a bright yellow shale. I finally hissed and the male moved forward leading the way and seemed to spread itself wider and get lower to the ground.

The shale shifted and moved as we went over it and the drama began moving as if to go around something. I did not ignored their unspoken warning and let them make their own way. We were almost all the way across when the shale off to one side began sliding as if into a huge sink hole. The drama hissed in anger as a huge spider rose out of the shale.

I slid off the male as it shifted and then they were all attacking the spider. The fight spilled down into the now open shale pit and I moved closer with my swords drawn. I watched as first one female would attack and then back off as the male lunged in. It was finally over and the spider was being torn apart as I dropped into the pit. I glanced around at the bones scattered along the walls.

I found several human remain as well as animals, there was no egg sac and no young. I walked into the drama hissing to get their attention. One at a time I stripped their saddles off and let them finish eating. When the drama finished with the spider I prodded them into laying down.

The day was muggy and hot but I felt the electricity in the air and knew another storm was coming. I dozed off and on throughout the day and then woke a few hours before the sun set. I saddled the drama as they woke and stretched. We moved out of the pit and I headed towards a ridge to one side of us. The sky was again overcast and lightning flashed through the clouds.