Fun & Games
Isaac awoke to abright, starry sky.A hand covered his mouth.
“Be still,” Zariawhispered.“They’re coming.”
He looked, eyeswide.
Around him, thenight was dark and cloudless.A thin crescent of orange was the only indicationof Reinga, the sister moon.Solnova, the yellow patriarch, was just below thehorizon.Ulderon was in the shadow of his father.Usually, if all three moonswere visible, the night was nearly as bright as day.
Isaac shook away hislessons of astronomy.
Right now, all hecould see of the desert was varying shades of black.The dunes were covered insuch shadow that the stars were often the only sign of where the land ended andthe sky began.There was no movement, save for a small spout of sand still twistingin the wind.
Slowly, the sandshipemerged.
It crested the peakof a dune, cutting sideways across the tall rims of sand that surrounded theirshelter, like a finger circling a cup.Lanterns dangled across the edges of thetop deck, illuminating the magically treated wood of the hull.A sigil of windmagic burned across the twin-masted sail.As he watched, Isaac began to see theoutlines of lions and hyenas at watch positions, peering into the night with apredator’s vision.
“Ain’t likely tospot us,” Zaria said.“I’d still rather scamper, if you’re of the mind.”
Isaac nodded,tugging on his restraints.He could smell the dirt and animal musk in her hand.Fur tickled his nose.
“Gonna let youbreathe.Don’t scream like a maiden.”
He looked at herindignantly.
She released hisface from her grip, and the glint of her dagger reached down toward hismidsection.There was an audible series of cuts.Severed rope fell past hisankles.His hands were still tied.He did not complain.
Using as littlemovement as possible, the two hefted their packs and began to climb up the duneon hands and feet, clinging to the thin shadow across its face.Isaac was verycareful not to slip through the loose sediment.When they reached the top, the shipwas still sailing east at a watchful pace.Its black pirate standard flutteredin the night breeze, and the brass lips of the cannon holes glinted beneath thelight of the lanterns.
“Xotra’s cunt,”Zaria said.“Check the broadside.”
If Isaac squinted,he could just barely make out a circle of pale wood against the hull’s darkerbrown.At this distance, it was about the size of a coin.To his untrained eye,it looked like an emergency repair on the middeck hull.
“That’s my oldship,” Zaria said.“TheSilent Saber.Thought she’d head for port afterI blew a hole in her side.”She stared a moment.“Didn’t think she’d range thisfar to the tomb, neither.”
“I thought you saidpirates were superstitious.”
“Worse than a crone,believe me.”
The longer hewatched the skimmer, the more he caught glimpses of various species holdingpositions along the rim of the vessel.Many were slung across the rigging.Further above, human-shaped animals watched from the gunner’s perch, visibleonly by the reflected light in their eye.It seemed that half the crew wascurrently on watch.
“They must reallywant you dead,” Isaac said.
“Aye.That they do.”
TheSaberdipped down the face of a small dune.For a moment, only her glowing sailremained visible, like the fin of a shark skulking through water.
“We should go,”Isaac said.“They could see our outline from here.”
The hyena continuedto watch the skimmer, her mohawk swaying with the breeze.The fur on her neckwas standing on end.
“Zaria.”
“Aye,” she said,snapping herself around.“Right.Onwards.”
She dashed down theopposite side of their dune, moving with more speed than care.Isaac followedbehind.With their packs hastily slung over shoulder, they threshed their wayacross the valley floor, the sand glimmering orange beneath Reinga’s crescent light.
The Silent Saberdisappeared into the night, never once betraying a sound.
