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She turned the wafer over, searching for a date stamp or another identifier. Static snapped against her wrist. Dreven’s head lifted. Kesta barely noticed.

“If we can recover the memory, we may be able to identify her transport, where she was taken, perhaps—”

“Kesta.”

Something in his voice made her look up. The western sky had changed. Red cloud rolled above the ridge in a wall so dense it looked solid, moving much faster than anything that size should have moved. The black glass beneath Kesta's boots had begun to produce a high, almost inaudible hum. Dreven was already standing.

“We leave.”

Kesta looked toward the drag marks.

“If we follow those for another few minutes—”

“No.”

She stood sharply. “You agreed to ten.”

“The conditions changed.”

The answer came with unmistakable command in it, and irritation flared before she could stop it.

“We have evidence that a human woman was taken from here.”

“And we will return for it.”

“The tracks may disappear after the storm.”

“They have survived years.”

“You don't know that.”

Dreven’s face hardened.

“No. But I know what that sky means.”

Kesta looked at the approaching red wall. Part of her still wanted the next piece of evidence. One more minute. One more measurement. One more fact before weather erased what remained. Then she looked at Dreven. His tail was rigid. The scales around his temples had tightened. He was not frightened for no reason.

Kesta shoved the wafer into the protected pocket of her medical pouch.

“All right.”

For a heartbeat Dreven simply stared at her.

“What?”

“You agreed.”

“Do not waste time being astonished.”

His mouth almost curved. Then the first gust reached them. It struck hard enough to make Kesta stagger. Dreven caught her elbow and released it the moment she regained her balance.

“Cloth.”

She pulled the breathing cloth over her mouth and nose. The second gust carried black grit. Dreven’s expression changed instantly.

“Uphill. Now.”

They ran. Within seconds the clear world disappeared. Salt dust turned the air into a red-black blur. Kesta kept Dreven’s broad shape in front of her while grit struck every exposed patch of skin like thrown sand. The glass beneath her boots vibrated so strongly that she could feel the hum through her legs. Then something moved beneath it. Kesta saw only the distortion at first. A dark shape rose from the storm.