Michael Foster - She Who Has No Name

Balten was impressed. ‘You surprise me, Sir Ferse, and you seem to have some mysteries of your own. I would not have guessed you knew so much of this land. But,yes, you are correct in your summary,although it is quite a rudimentary account. These lands are vast and dangerous. One small mistake here will see a man wandering and lost, gasping for water upon the scorched earth until the scavengers come to pick at his bones. I don’t know why anyone bothers to persist here.’

‘What do you know of this Desert Queen, then?’ Samuel asked of Balten.

‘Her people called her Alahativa , which means Wondrous One in the most common of Paatin tongues, for they have as many languages as they have tribes,each markedly different and distinct from one another. Nobody knows her full history-only that she came from the desert one day and forged a city in the heart of the Paatin. They sayof all the women upon the earth,she is of unequalled beauty. She is terrible and ruthless,and her people fear her as much as they love her. She is more of a legend than a person, for I first heard tales of her when I was just a boy and she was alreadyrenownedby then. I sometimes doubt that she may even be a single person, but is rather a legacy of queens. There is much we don’t know, but Idare saywe will find out more once we get there.’

‘Can she truly be a witch?’ Eric asked.

‘Again, tales of her powers are common in these parts-but we will be able to make that judgement soon enough.’

Balten led them to a tiny hut, hidden in the crevices of a set of low hills that hugged the side of the desert. He left them waiting outside upon their horses and, while it was evident there were people inside, there was no sound of any conversation. He emerged moments later with an armful of thin,brown cloaks.

‘Put these on, over your underclothes,’ he told them and threw the bundle to Eric. ‘In the desert, you do things in the way of the desert, or you perish.’

They did as they were told, with the magicians discarding their own robes of black for the thinner, brown cloths. Balten demonstrated how to wear them, for the clothes were of a simple cut and needed to be wound around the body and tied with laces and cords. Out of view,Canyon assisted his god to wrap herself in the fabri and,when she re-emerged, she had pulled the hood over her face as tightly as she could.

‘These are clothes of the hill-tribe people. We should not meet any others of such caste here, but they can be quickoftemper. Our disguises will grant us some safety, but it will be even safer to give any others we meet a wide berth.’

He then lifted the heavy lid from a large,flat barrel beside the door,replenished the water bags in their packs and ensured their mounts had drunk their fill. After that, they were quickly away.

They rode along the bleak landscape from landmark to landmark. Sometimes, it seemed Balten had lost his way,but then he would find some tiny feature on the horizon that had them changing direction and setting off again. Nights were spent in the open, and they gathered sticks from the dry scrub that scattered the land to make their fire, eating from their supplies.

Every second or third day, they would spy another encampment or party of travelling desert-men. Sometimes they would change their path to avoid the others entirely and sometimes Balten would speak with them and return with more supplies-the frequency of which seemed impossible to foretell. They only did as they were told, and pulled their hoods up over their heads when he instructed, riding slowlyandwithstraightbacksto avoid attention.

Local food consistedof a high volume of roots and bitter berries, but goat seemed to be the domestic animal of choice and they had that meat as often as they liked, for it was not in short supply. Samuel suspected that some of the flesh they were given was actually horse, for many of the tiny settlements they met had a pen of small strong ponies beside it, with legs and hocks of the preserved meat stored in the shade. He was not bothered after long, for they had little choice in what they ate, and he actually found the tender meat was to his liking,very similar to beef.

‘How do you know these lands so well?’ Eric asked of Balten, as they made for the shadows of a lone cluster of boulders.

‘I come here everyyear orso,’ was the mysterious answer.

‘What business do you have in the desert?’ Sir Ferse asked.

‘The Circle has interest in all the affairs of the world. I go where I am sent,’ was his reply.

It had been weeks since they had entered the wastes and everyone had begun to think the journey would have no end. Each day they rose earlier and slept later. Before noon,they would find whatever shade they could and rest for several hours. In this way, the daytime heat became somewhat more tolerable.

They were leading their horses down a crumbling, red-stoned hill when Samuel felt magic ahead. At the same moment, Balten looked up with alarm and raised his hand for them to stop. He peered down towards the flat land, where dark clots of men were massing like ants, climbing from hidden cracks and crevices. Somewhere down there, magic was being readied.

‘What is it?’ Master Celios asked.

A spell crackled from far away and Samuel suddenly became aware of men on either side. They came chargingat the small group, leaping over the rocks and howling, holding their curved swords above their heads.

Horse was the first to react and he leapt from his horse and ran to meet the men, empty-handed. His strides were like bounds and he covered the distance in a heartbeat, slamming his fists into the first of the men and sending them flying. Others surged around him, but Horse was a blur of fists, ducking their blades and shattering their bones with lightning-fast strokes imbued by his innate magic.

More desert-men were inbound from their right and Eric saw to those with a series of curt spells, thrown from his saddle. In moments, the Paatin on either side had been dispatched, but many more were already scalingthe hilltowards them from below.

‘Leave the horses,’ Balten told them. ‘We run. Back for the top of the hill. We can hold them if we have the high ground.’

He abandoned his mount, then tucked his long,desert-style cloak into his trousers for ease, and began back up the rocky hill as fast as he could. The others did likewise and followed him, dropping from their saddles and scrambling to keep up. Horse climbed faster than everyone. He reached the crest first and stood eyeing the far side with concern. When Samuel finally arrived, panting for breath beside the Koian warrior, it was evident they had been surrounded, for a throng of pale-cloaked Paatin were already halfway up the far side of the rise, some clambering on all fours to come straight up at them, others following the zigzagging path that had been worn into the hill.

‘They are coming from all sides!’ Eric blurted outinalarm.

‘We can hold them,’ Balten said coolly. ‘Just keep the others in the middle to protect them.’ And he turned a grave eye to Samuel. ‘This is no time to hold back, Samuel. We need your strength.’

Master Celios was the first to send out his spells and,although he was not as powerful as the others, he began well by sending showers of loose stones down upon the desert-men, so that they had to cower behind rocks and shield themselves from the bombardment. Eric followed, joining the old Master and lifting great boulders. He sent them bouncing and crashing down the hill, crushing scores of Paatin beneath their weight. Balten faced the other side of the hill, where they had left their horses, and stood calmly holding a Morning Stance while he summoned his power. Samuel took the chance to slip on his ring and he shuddered as the power took hold of him, already smelling the caustic scent of magic in his nostrils. Canyon and Sir Ferse stood warily beside the god-woman, while Horse waited calmly for the attackers to draw nearer.