Voronica Whitney-Robinson - Sands of the Soul

"If we can find some that have buried roots," Fannah cautioned her. "Only those will have liquid in them."

"I will find them," Tazi swore. "I want you to stay with Steorf in case he needs something."

"I don't know what I can do for him," Fannah said, slightly flustered.

"You can be with him," Tazi explained. "Let him know he's not alone."

Fannah nodded and moved back over to Steorf's side. She gathered up one of his hands in hers and squeezed it tight. Tazi wasn't sure what he was aware of at this point. She emptied the sack containing Ciredor's writings and left them in Fannah's keeping.

"I'll need something to put the roots in," she told Fannah confidently.

She stroked Steorf's forehead, shocked by the heat that radiated from him.

"I'll be back as quick as I can," she promised her two friends.

"We will be waiting," Fannah answered.

Tazi turned and marched off to the west. The sun had reached its apex, and Tazi could feel her arms burn under its glare. With only her leather vest and pants, her arms were near to blistering. She occasionally wiped at her eyes, which had become bitterly painful. As she became more and more dehydrated, she could literally feel her eyes pull back in their sockets. Tazi realized that her orbs were mostly comprised of water and she was losing that at an alarming rate, so her body stole from itself. There was nothing to be done about it other than finding the Calim cactus.

Part of her rational mind was convinced that they were going to fail. There was no other logical outcome. But deeper down, in her soul, she hadn't quit, and that was the force that drove her on. It was as though the desert had burned away everything excessive that she carried and left her only her core intact, like a worn stone. The mild winds had smoothed and shaped her and left her determined.

"That's why Fannah knew I needed to pass through the ritual successfully," she said aloud. "Out here, we are nothing but our true selves, whatever they may be."

A little farther to the west, Tazi saw what she thought was some scrub and rocks.

"Please," she whispered in a voice rapidly becoming hoarse, "let that be real. No more illusions."

As she trudged closer, the scrub did not fade from view or remain in the distance. Tazi realized she was actually gaining on it. Heartened, she picked up speed, and soon enough she was in the middle of a small area of brush. Though it was mostly insignificant piles of rocks and quick-moving lizards, there was a little plant life.

Everything she saw was dead. Tazi slumped down on the ground and dropped her head in defeat. She wanted to scream but didn't possess the energy.

Shaking her head, she whispered, "I don't even have enough water for tears. In the end, I'm not even allowed that."

She debated going farther but knew she had reached her limit if she was going to return to her friends.

"If I'm going to die," she finally said, "there's no finer company to be in."

She started to rise wearily to her feet when some movement to her right caught her eye. Several speckled lizards darted in and out of a cluster of stones. Almost as though mocking her, one sat on a small boulder and defiantly licked at the moisture on its own eyeball. Tazi toyed with the idea of trying to catch some of them, but tossed the thought aside.

"Even if I could snare you little demons," she muttered, "all of you put together wouldn't make a meal worth the effort."

Something about their numbers puzzled her, though. Nowhere else in this little haven had she seen any wildlife.

"Just what makes that pile of rocks so special," she wondered aloud, "that you all have to hide there?"

She moved over to investigate, and the moment her shadow passed over the lizards they scattered in every direction on their spindly legs. She didn't bother worrying about whether they might be poisonous or not, if any still remained. She simply thrust her hands into the clutch of stones and started moving them around.

There, nestled in the protective shelter of the gravel, was a small clump of what could only be Calim cacti.

"Thank you," she murmured to no one in particular.

More precious than gold, the group of plants meant possible salvation. Tazi was overjoyed to discover that there was more than one and all of them had submerged roots. She carefully brushed away some of the sand and began to pluck the cacti. They had sharp thorns that tore at her cracked hands but Tazi hardly felt the pain as she pulled out the only desert treasure worth harvesting.

True to Fannah's description, the tiny plants had tremendously long roots and Tazi could feel that they were heavy with moisture. She used her sword to hack the roots free from the thorny part of the plants. Tazi then tossed the cactus tops aside and hoped that they might form new root systems.

"Something for the next lost soul," she explained to a lone lizard before it skittered away.

When her sack was full of the priceless fauna, she stood up and started to turn around. One last cactus caught her attention, and she nearly dismissed it as the plant's roots were fully exposed. Prom what Fannah had explained, that meant the plant was seeking water and of no use to Tazi-but a strange thought came to her mind.

"It's worth a try," she said as she carefully removed the whole plant.

She carried this one away from the bag crammed with the engorged roots and started the trek back to her friends. She debated about trying one of the roots on the march back, and though her logical mind argued that it made sense since she had expended so much energy to find them, she found she couldn't do it knowing that Fannah and Steorf still suffered without water.

"We'll all have some soon enough," she promised to the little voice of reason that nagged her.

Whether it was because she had simply not accurately kept track of time or her excitement had quickened her pace, Tazi made it back to her friends in short order. Even from a brief distance, one look at Fannah's face spoke volumes to Tazi. There wasn't much time left for Steorf. She rushed to their side.

"Fannah," her voice cracked, "I found them."

"Thank Sharess," Fannah offered in prayer. "I knew she would show you the way."

Tazi found herself tempted to make a joke about Sharess and speckled lizards, but she didn't. She realized that she wasn't sure if someone had led her to the plants or not, so instead of insulting any benevolent forces, Tazi dropped her sack in front of Fannah and laid the intact plant beside Steorf.

"What's the best way to get the water from them?" she asked.

Fannah took a chunk of one of the roots and scored it with Tazi's dagger. It started to bleed water.

"Hold this with both hands," she instructed Tazi, "and suck on it. When you can't get any more liquid out of it, chew up the pulp and extract the last bit of water that way."

Tazi took the first piece that Fannah had cut and held it to Steorf's lips. His face was flushed, and Tazi was alarmed to see that he had stopped perspiring altogether. For a heartbeat, he didn't respond to the liquid Tazi could see rolling into his mouth and she feared the worst.

She leaned close to his ear and implored, "Please take it, Steorf. I won't go on without you."

She held her breath.

Slowly, Tazi could see Steorf's eyes flicker and his tongue gingerly dab at his moistened lips and the strange object he found near his mouth. His eyes opened slightly, and Tazi knew he recognized her. She hadn't lost him.

"Don't talk," she whispered. "Just keep sucking on this. I'll explain it all later."

She placed his hands onto the plant.

"Take this," Fannah told her gently and handed her a section of the root. While Tazi sucked out the life-saving liquid, Fannah asked, "Did you bring any of the little cacti as well?"