“Engel lies west of here,” Katharine says. “Follow the brightest star, the Lady of the Lost, and she will guide you through the night. In three nights’ time, you’ll see the city.”
“Thank you,” I say. “Truly. I vow, as prince of Loegria, you have an ally in me.”
I hold out my hand, and Katharine takes it, her grip strong. We shake firmly.
“Go, cousin,” she says. “Since I cannot dissuade you, I hope you find what you seek.”
Without further delay, Aren and I leave the village, riding west, taking a barely visible path toward the fading red-orange sunset. Already, I’m feeling more confident than ever.
Now that I’m not freezing during the night, I’m better able to appreciate the stars that glimmer overhead. The heat of the desert warps their light, making them undulate in blue and orange hues. It’s as if some godly hand spilled diamonds across the sky, so vast and so deep. When I tear my gaze away and look at Aren, I find that she, too, is enraptured by the light above.
“There she is,” she says, pointing at one that shines more than the others. “Right on time. The Lady of the Lost, the brightest star in the sky, to guide us on.”
But I find it hard to look away from Aren. I allow my smile to answer her own.
…
When we stop just before daybreak after our third night of travel, we make camp on top of a sand dune so high, I might have believed it was a mountain. In the distance, I can just make out a flicker of light on the horizon. The sun is rising behind us, so we’re facing directly west. That light ahead can only mean one thing.
“Engel,” Aren says. “We’re almost there.”
I look at her, a spark of hope blooming in my chest. Her bright eyes fill me with a lightness I haven’t felt in so long.
Maybe I’m not the greatest fool in Albion for embarking on this quest. After all, if I had done things differently, I would never have met Aren, and that thought is too much to bear.
Maybe all will be well in the end. The Rings of Fate removed from my body, returned to my father, and the Usurper defeated. Aren makes me feel like I can conquer the world.
“Let’s make a break for it,” she says, with a naughty smile unfurling across her face.
“Now? It’s almost dawn.”
“All the more reason to make haste,” she says. She smiles at me, mounts her horse, and adds, “The sooner you remove the Rings, the sooner your real life can begin. We are so close.”
It’s hard to argue with her, especially when she has that gleam in her eye like she’s challenging me. I mount my horse, and together, we make for the shining city rising from the desert waste.
Several hours later, we pause at the top of a dune. The horses huff and paw at the sand restlessly. “What is that?” Aren asks. “It doesn’t look like a cloud.”
I squint into the bright daylight through my goggles, which Katharine said would lay bare any illusions. But the midday sun is high in the sky, and we still haven’t reached the city. If it’s not another mirage, Engel is farther than I anticipated.
Is the Great Waste nothing but mirages and magic?
Because now, a great cloud suddenly blocks our path. It looms like a monumental wall, so thick even the ferocious desert sun can’t pierce it. Sand churns within it. Where we stand, everything has gone unnaturally still, as if the land itself is holding its breath, waiting for impact.
The ground trembles, and there’s a rumble that grows louder and more menacing with every pounding heartbeat.
“It’s not a cloud,” I say, dread filling my veins as the wall plummets toward us. “It’s a sandstorm.”
My horse rears up, almost bucking me off. I grip the reins, trying my best not to panic, because if the horse is worried, then I should be, too. “Get to cover!” I shout.
Aren doesn’t need to be told twice. She kicks her horse into a gallop toward the wall of sand. I almost cry out for her to stop, to turn around, but then I see where she’s headed. There are ruins half buried in the dune just ahead of us. Shelter.
I give chase, kicking my heels into my horse’s sides as hard as I can, desperate to catch up to her. My breath comes in sharp, shallow bursts, and my chest tightens as the storm looms high ahead, swallowing half the sky in darkness.
The ground trembles beneath us, a deep rumble vibrating through my bones. The storm is alive, a monstrous, growling beast bearing down on us.
It swallows us whole in an instant.
It’s as if we’ve crossed into another world. Grains of sand slice into my skin like a thousand tiny daggers, stinging every exposed inch. My goggles fog up and scratch against my face. I have to close my eyes, trusting my horse to follow Aren’s. My heart pounds so violently in my chest it feels like it might burst. I grit my teeth and forge on.
