Chapter 8

"Good, I was hoping you would say something like that. It isn't so much of a question as it is an observation I've made. That wizard sure does move that sand quietly, doesn't he?"

He looked at me for a moment as if weighing my words then slowly turned his head to look at the wizard. Watching him in what appeared to me to be a new light. His expressions quickly flowing from surprise through anger to resignation as he turned back to me.

"Yes it does and it moves like a snake into a pit. That particular wizard works for me and has for many years. But the work he is doing is an easy task for most wizards."

Even as he spoke I looked around and saw a few more wizards had come out of their trailers and started helping move sand so we could get the caravan moving.

Several more weeks had past as we moved deeper into the desert. Every few days one of us would accompany Jeffe for a few hours. On occasion he would have us ride with one of the other men to help teach us a particular skill or to reinforce a skill. Sandstorm is not like the deserts of Earth. Here there's a lot of oasis and life. I had mentioned desert cats and birds before. Here, while not numerous they do live in this desert. Life at and in the small oasis and burrows is there and then the large oasis have more trees than the palm like trees you normally associate with the Earth desert. There is also a type of desert grass that is long and sways with the wind. Sometimes it is all you can see. Then it reminds me of the wheat fields dancing in the wind. We have much to learn about Sandstorm, tracking and surviving.

Jeffe and I rode up a small sand dune to look around. The caravan is off to our left about a mile. As I neared the top of the dune I felt my medicine bag warm up from the coin inside. Someone or something around here is setting off my little magic alarm. I looked at Jeffe and he didn't seem to notice anything.

"Jeffe, we have been working together for months now. I have observed you in the caravan and out here in the desert. You have sparred with myself and both Great Mothers but you have shown very little interest in our, uh, travel arrangement."

He turned toward me and smiled, "Dallan I would never intrude on your, uh, travel arrangement." His smile widened, "myself and all the others would love to know how one man could live with not just one but two Great Mothers and survive. We all know of the Great Mothers, some of us more than others. In my families history it is known to have had dealings with Great Mothers and their Adventurers in the past."

I was shocked to say the least. His family has had dealing with off worlders before. Things that have happened and been said makes a lot more sense now. His knowing that Ellen was matching his skill level in their training. His readily acceptance of us. His lead in just about everything related to us.

"Jeffe, would it surprise you that someone could sense when magic is near?"

He turned to look around for a few moments then returned his gaze to me. "No, most magic users can sense when magic is being used around them. It is not unusual at all. Maybe it is the Protector you sense." Indicating with his head off to our right.

I looked and could see the figure soaring at what appeared to be a high altitude. Nope, I don't think that is it. It didn't acknowledge the protector in the courtyard as magic so why would it react now? Besides, it is a long way from here and just to far away for the coin to sense it. I returned my gaze to Jeffe. "I don't think so, it would feel different. This feels closer, much closer as we neared the top here I started to feel it." It did feel closer, not just the coin being warm, I seemed to feel it also. Almost like goose bumps or hitting your crazy bone but nowhere near as intense, just a funny feeling that wouldn't go away. Old, that is what it felt like, very very old. "Jeffe, I am not a magic user. I've never felt it before, but I do now." I pulled a Yoda, raised my hand and tried to reach out with my palm as if searching for the force. Back toward the caravan was another small dune. That is where it seemed the magic was coming from.

"Jeffe, let's take a look at that small dune and see if it is something more than what it appears to be."

He looked at me with a bit of surprise on his face. "You have never felt it before? But you feel it now?

Very well Dallan, we can take a look but then we should be getting back to the caravan our time is almost up for this patrol."

As we approached the dune I started to circle it instead of climbing it. Jeffe followed my lead. As we reached the back side there looked to be a large burrow or small cave. I studied the ground and sand in front of the cave very closely but found nothing to indicate the hole was occupied. I looked to Jeffe, " I don't see any tracks or markings, do you see anything? He had been looking while I had, he even got down on his hands and knees and inspected near the entrance.

"Dallan, this is very strange. There should be some kind of markings here in front of a burrow that size. Even the wind would leave small furrows here. There is nothing to mar the surface of the sand." The hole was only about 18" wide, much to small for Jeffe's bulk to enter without a struggle. I moved toward the entrance when Jeffe said. "Dallan, do not even think of entering that hole. It must be investigated by one of the wizards before anyone enters. If it is part of the old ones they sometimes left traps.

Traps? Why would an old civilization leave traps? Why would so called traps still be able to work after all the time that had evidently passed? Why did the structures even exist after all the time that had passed? Why did I keep coming up with all these questions? Jeffe moved toward the hole when a screech was heard and we both turned. There on the ground behind us was a Protector looking at me as the one before had. I heard Jeffe's small gasp of surprise and then his quiet words, "Dallan, it has been said that a Protector has visited you before.

"Yes Jeffe, just before we left on this quest" I quietly replied.

"And now another one visits you, or, maybe the same one.

How did it get here so fast? It was a long way from here and flying very high when we saw it before.

We watched as the Protector walked toward the hole. It was about the right size for the hippogriff. Maybe it was it's lair. That would make a kind of sense but I had always read that they lived in rocky almost mountainous terrain. Of course that was in Earth legends too. I didn't see any mountains near us of course. The only mountains were far off in the distance, probably hundreds of miles away. With the surface of Sandstorm being as big as it was they could be even further depending on their height. Since Sandstorm also didn't have all the crap in the air that Earth had, it was also possible to see much further too.

As it got in front of Jeffe it stopped, as if blocking him from going further. We both looked at each other. "Jeffe, has a Protector ever been known to hurt anyone?"

He hesitated for a moment thinking, "No Dallan not really, I have never seen any record or story of a Protector ever harming anyone directly. There have been cases of harm coming to an individual by a Protector as they prevented an attack from that person. Basically they got hurt by the Protector as they tried to hurt some else. They always stop the individual before it happens if one is around.