Chapter 7

 

 

As the magic of Eldor’s staff burst around him, Lore was blinded by its brilliant orange light. He couldn’t see what it had done and was still terrified that a snow beast would grab him. But as his vision slowly returned, his eyes widened in wonder at what had happened.

 

For yards around from where he had jammed the staff, the snow had been melted away to reveal green grass beneath. Of the snow beasts there was no sign and he gave a sigh of utter relief. Eldor’s promise of help had come true.

 

He saw Nyssa and Rena picking themselves off the ground and grabbing the staff, hurried over to them.

 

‘What happened?’ Nyssa asked who was a little dazed from the attack.

 

‘Eldor’s staff,’ Lore replied. ‘I remembered what he told me in my dream… that he would help us if I called on it.’

 

‘And just in time!’ Rena said as she rubbed her neck. ‘A little longer and that… that thing would have choked me! Now let’s get to the canyon ahead. I don’t think Orcon will be finished with us just yet.’

 

And even as she spoke the wind suddenly began to gust around them again and fresh snow began to fall. They hurried forward and quickly entered the canyon. It widened a little further inside, its walls high and sheer and rising to narrow strip of sky above. The ground was quite rough, littered with fallen stones and rocks.

 

They followed it for a short way till they came to where it branched in two directions. To their delight Moonwing was waiting for them, perched on a rock and eyeing them intently.

 

‘Hello, Moonwing!’ Nyssa said as she went up to him and stroked his back.

 

Moonwing gave hoot and rubbed his head against her hand.

 

‘Well, it’s up to you, Moonwing,’ Lore said. ‘You have to show us which way to go.’

 

Moonwing answered with another hoot and launched himself into the air. He flew down the canyon branching to the right and they followed him. They walked for about an hour, the canyon twisting and turning. Then as the light began to fade they came across a small cave. They decided to sleep in it for the night, quite exhausted from the day’s ordeal.

 

‘How long do you think it will take to cross the mountains?’ Lore asked.

 

Rena shrugged.

 

‘Hopefully only a few days,’ she replied, her boots off and giving her tired feet a rub. ‘And then we have to find Ashmon’s cave… wherever it is in the desert. It’s going to be a hungry journey with the only food we had left now at the bottom of the lake.’

 

‘We’ll just have tighten our belts and do without,’ Nyssa said.

 

‘Yes… but water will be the biggest concern,’ Rena added. ‘We’ve lost our water bottles too and will have needed them in the desert.’

 

‘They’ll be water in the mountains I’m sure,’ Lore said. ‘We’ll just have to make sure we drink as much as we can whenever we find it.’

 

They turned in at that, their confidence a little dented with what they had discussed. Without food and nothing to carry water in, any desert crossing was going to very hard.

 

* * *

 

For the next two days Moonwing guided them across the mountains. There was no trail to follow and they were forced to make their own way, climbing up steep cliffs and over ridges and then down into shadowy ravines and long, snaking canyons.

 

As they went Rena marked their route, hammering crosses on rock walls and boulders with a hammer and chisel from her pack. They would have to come back this way and none knew whether Moonwing would remain with them once he had accomplished his task.

 

Their spirits were lifted when Orcon’s dark clouds slipped behind them during the first day. It seemed the Ice Lord did not have the strength yet to cross the mountains fully. It spurred them on, eager to reach the Scorching Desert before him and find Ashmon’s cave.

 

They went hungry, tightening their belts as Nyssa had said. They found enough water in the mountains to keep them going, coming across the odd spring here and there. They drank as much as they could and it eased their hungry a little.

 

On the morning of the third day Moonwing guided them into a series of long, twisting canyons. They found the air much warmer and the sun quite hot in the sky. They started to come across drifts of sand on the canyon floors, evidence that the desert was quite close.

 

Then as mid afternoon approached they turned down a final canyon and its end they could see the desert. They hurried down it and emerged onto low shelf of rock. Wonder filled their eyes as they gazed out across the Scorching Desert. It spread out in all directions, a vast place of yellow sand, rolling away in high dunes.

 

It was also very hot, the sand baking under a blazing sun. The horizon shimmered in the heat, but to the south they could see more mountains, a small group rising high into the air.

 

‘What a sight!’ Lore said in awe. ‘I wonder how big it is?’

 

‘I don’t think anyone knows that, Lore,’ Rena said. ‘No dwarf or elf has ever been here before.’

 

‘It’s pretty humbling to be the first, isn’t it?’ Nyssa said.

 

Rena nodded with a grin.

 

‘Yes… something to tell your children about.’

 

‘Do you think those mountains to the south is where Ashmon’s cave is?’ Lore asked.

 

‘Let’s hope so!’ Rena said. ‘I don’t relish the idea of walking across this place for too long.’

 

A hoot from an owl disturbed them and they spotted Moonwing perched on a large rock nearby. They walked up to him and gave him a friendly stroke. He hooted again and suddenly launched himself into the air. He then began to wing back northwards.

 

‘He’s leaving us!’ Nyssa said, a little disappointment.

 

‘Probably going back to seek out Eldor,’ Rena replied. ‘He’s done what was asked of him and we’re on our own now. It’s up to us to reach Ashmon.’

 

‘How far away do you think the mountains are?’ Lore asked as he looked south again. ‘It’s hard to judge in the heat haze.’

 

‘A couple of days hopefully,’ Rena replied. ‘Any longer than that and we’ll be in trouble.’

 

Her tone wasn’t very encouraging and it was not meant to be. They all knew deep down that without water even two days walking across the desert was going to be very tough.

 

‘There was some water dripping down a wall back up the canyon,’ Nyssa said. ‘We should go back and drink as much as we can. Then we’ll start to cross with the night when it’s cooler.’

 

* * *

 

A full moon had risen early with the night, its pearly light lighting up the dunes as the trio trudged up and down them. Stars too had come out, shining in their thousands and they had never seen them so bright. Their glimmer was like a fine net of silver light draped across the inky sky.

 

They had been walking for several hours and had found the day’s heat escaped quickly from the desert. It was now quite cool. But they were kept warm with the sometimes hard climbing up the dunes. Some were quite steep and they would almost reach the top before the sand would suddenly shift at their feet. They would then slide back some distance and often it took several attempts clamber up them. They were very glad that they could slide down their opposite sides.

 

By the time dawn arrived in the eastern sky, they were bone tired, their steps plodding and forced. They had not eaten in almost three days now and their strength was ebbing quickly. Their throats were dry too, even after drinking their fill before they had set out. They knew that the coming heat of the day was going to be dreadful.

 

They struggled on till the sun came up and then sought shelter in a deeper gully between two high dunes. There they would be shaded from all but the noon sun and hoped it would be enough.

 

They managed to sleep for much of the morning, but woke hot and thirsty with the sun high overhead. It was scalding hot, the air so dry that even swallowing was difficult. They dozed again in the afternoon, but woke in the evening wearied as if they had not slept at all.

 

With the night they started moving again, hoping to reach the mountains before another day dawned. But it wasn’t long before Lore and Nyssa had to help Rena, the dwarf finding it tough going. Her breathing became ragged and she was starting to feel her age, though she would never admit it.

 

They didn’t cover nearly the same distance they had the first night. When the sun rose again, they found their strength almost gone.

 

‘I... I can’t go on!’ Rena gasped as she collapsed to the ground in another shaded gully. ‘Another day like yesterday will finish me.’

 

‘Don’t worry, Aunt Rena,’ Lore replied, eyeing her in deep concern. ‘We’ll help you.’

 

Rena shook her head.

 

‘You’ll have to... to leave me!’ she muttered and waved at Eldor’s staff that Nyssa was carrying at the moment. ‘You’ve got to get Eldor’s staff to Ashmon’s cave. If you stay to help me, we’ll all perish.’

 

‘Don’t be silly, Rena!’ Nyssa scolded. ‘We’ll all make it.’

 

But she was very worried at Rena’s weakened condition and she took Lore aside.

 

‘What are we to do, Lore?’ she asked. ‘Rena is spent and we’re not much better. I don’t think we have the strength to half carry her to the mountains.’

 

Lore nodded.

 

‘I know… but we can’t just leave her here,’ he said worriedly. ‘How much further do you think we have to go?’

 

‘It was hard to tell during the night,’ Nyssa replied. ‘I’ll climb up the next dune and have a look.’

 

She set off, using Eldor’s staff to help her climb. She reached the top of the dune and gazed south toward the mountains. They were nearer, close enough for her to make out the detail of their sheer flanks. But they were still another night’s walk away. She shook her head, wondering if they had the strength to get Rena there.

 

She turned around to slide back down the dune to Lore, but froze and felt the blood drain from her face. All to north above the Bleak Mountains hung Orcon’s dark clouds. But worse was a thick bank that had broken away from them, stretching south towards them like a long, dark arm.

 

Then she noticed a growing disturbance in the desert to the west. A huge wall of whirling sand was bearing down on them and she could suddenly hear its sound, a distant but spine tingling howl. She dashed back down the dune with fear in her eyes.

 

‘What’s wrong?’ Lore asked as he saw her expression.

 

‘Orcon’s clouds are behind us… and there’s some kind of sandstorm coming!’ she exclaimed. ‘We’ve got to move!’

 

‘Leave me!’ Rena rambled. ‘Save yourselves!’

 

Lore and Nyssa ignored her.

 

‘How far away are the mountains?’ Lore asked.

 

‘At least a day… maybe more,’ Nyssa replied. ‘But we can’t be caught in the sandstorm here, we’re too exposed. There’s a deeper gully on the far side of the dune. We might be safe there.’

 

Lore nodded and they helped a barely conscious Rena to her feet, now too exhausted to protest. They managed to make it up the dune and then staggered across it. They were almost to its far side when the howling sandstorm caught them.

 

Sand whirled about them, stinging their faces and getting into their eyes. They had to fall to their knees and bow their heads to protect them. The wind began to gust even more and then suddenly they were all plucked from the dune by its force.

 

Nyssa found herself flung through the air, then hit the sand again with a force that knocked the wind from her. She managed to kneel up, gasping for breath as she clutched Eldor’s staff.

 

Then without warning she was suddenly hauled to her feet by unseen hands. A cloak was thrown over her, protecting her from the wind blown sand. Eldor’s staff was taken from her and she struggled to get free, terribly afraid she had been captured by goblins.

 

Then a head poked under the cloak, its face hidden by a veil across its nose and mouth. Then a hand lifted to drop the veil away.

 

‘Don’t struggle so, cousin! We’re here to help you,’ said a female voice.

 

Nyssa blinked away the sand in her eyes and gasped in shock. The speaker was an elven girl a few years older than herself. What was another elf doing out here in the desert she wondered? And then she passed out.