Page 61 of Fateless

He walked away, leaving me inwardly gasping on the cot, both relieved and wishing desperately that he would return.

The next two days followed the same pattern: ride our dragons through the endless, snaking pass until Demon Hour forced us to take shelter in the caves and crannies carved out by those who had made the journey before. Sometimes Kysa would ride beside us, sometimes she and Rhyne would scout ahead, perhaps bored of our mounts’ inability to fly. Halek told stories of all the places he’d been and often pulled me into friendly games of Triple Fang or cards. We didn’t gamble, as I hadn’t a coin to my name. But it was a way to pass the time while we waited for Demon Hour to subside.

Raithe was distant now. Outwardly, his demeanor didn’t change; he was still polite and controlled, with a quiet confidence that infused everything he did. His faint, easy smiles didn’t fade, and he maintained that subtle sense of humor that surprised you if you weren’t expecting it. But he was definitely cooler toward me. Never cold or unfriendly, just... reserved. Sometimes, I thought I felt him watching me, but when I peeked up at him,his gaze was always somewhere else. I tried not to be affected by it; I tried telling myself it was a good thing.Don’t get close. Don’t let down your guard. Trust leads only to betrayal. Love leads only to heartbreak. But the mantras I continued to tell myself faded whenever I saw him smile or heard his rare, quiet laughter. I remembered the kiss, the look in his eyes when we were alone, and my emotions continued to swirl wildly whenever he was nearby.

On the morning of the third day, about an hour after the suns rose, the steep, vertical walls of the pass fell away and we found ourselves at the edge of a sprawling desert. The ground wasn’t sand, but cracked red earth that rose in uneven steps and plateaus to the distant horizon. There were no trees, cacti, patches of grass, nothing green. A few scraggly bushes, barely more than clumps of thorns, dotted the landscape, poking up through clay and rock. The air shimmered with heat, causing the horizon to waver and strange shadows to dance across the plains.

“Welcome to the Barren Steppes,” Kysa said, sounding both relieved and joyful to be home. Even Rhyne raised his head with a strange huffing sound that I took for happiness. “If we hurry, we should reach Carapace Basin by nightfall.”

Raising an arm to shield my eyes, I peered across the endless expanse. To my mind, it was full of nothing, but I knew the different insect rider clans roamed the steppes, as well as groups of feral malkah who viewed everything, even sentient creatures, as prey. According to all the stories, it was a dangerous, barren, hostile land that did not take kindly to outsiders. Even the various rider clans did not tolerate intruders stomping through theirterritory. I was glad we had Kysa showing us the way.

“Just out of curiosity,” Halek commented, squinting as he gazed across the barren landscape, “how are we going to avoid Demon Hour if we’re out on the steppes? I don’t see any caves we can duck into.”

“There’s an oasis not far from here,” Kysa replied, gesturing northeast. “It’s a small underground spring, and it’s in neutral territory, so all the clans can use it. We can refill our water containers there.” She gave Rhyne a tap with her spear, and he lumbered forward, going northeast without being directed. “Just watch out for stonebeaks near the spring,” Kysa warned over her shoulder. “It’s breeding season, so the males will kick you to death if they have a female.”

“Oh,” Halek said as we nudged our dragons and headed into the steppes. “So just like in Tahveena.”

Twenty-One

It was miserably hot out on the Barren Steppes.

I was used to heat. Heat was a way of life for everyone in Arkennyah. When the suns were up, it was hot. Sweat and sunburn and sweltering temperatures were normal, and everyone found ways to live with it. Be that wearing light-colored clothing, building a city with as much shade as possible, or sleeping through the worst of Demon Hour, life in the kingdom was all about working around the scorching rays of the twins.

But out on the Barren Steppes, the heat was a different story. There was no shelter. No cloth overhangs, no buildings to duck into, no trees to provide even the slimmest branch for shade. Solasti beat down on the hard-packed earth, unrelenting and unmerciful, and I could feel her gaze searing the top of my head, my back, my shoulders. I guessed I just wasn’t used to it, because Kysa seemed fine, in good spirits, even. For her, this scorched, sun-blasted stretch of wasteland was home.

The steppes went on, barren and unchanging. No one spoke much, not even Halek. Sometimes, I thought I saw figures moving in the distance, but it was difficult to tell if they were real or mirages caused by the shimmering heat. Sometimes, we stumbled across the bones of large creatures, half buried in red earth and dust. I wondered aloud what kind of animals lived here, as I hadn’t seen any signs of life besides us.

“Those are the bones of a stonebeak bird,” Kysa explained, glancing at a large rib cage jutting out of the earth. “They’re the primary source of meat for our hunters and all the larger predators that live out here.”

“What predators?” Halek wondered, gazing around the barren landscape. “I haven’t seen anything out here except us.”

“They’re around,” Kysa assured him. “Nothing that lives in the steppes is active before Demon Hour. We might see a few at the oasis, but almost everything waits until dusk to start hunting.”

“An oasis,” Halek said. “That sounds nice. It’s one of those oases with water and trees, correct? Not one of those havens with bandits and thugs and things that want to kill you?”

“Bandits, no,” Kysa said. “I can’t say anything about the things that want to kill you.”

A couple of hours later, with Solasti directly above us and Namaia threatening to poke her head over the horizon, we spotted a tiny circle of trees in the distance. As we drew closer, I saw that the trees were growing at the edge of a shallow pool, the surface of which was so still, it looked like a giant mirror in the center of the barren expanse. A pair of large, flightless birds, their feathers so thin they resembled spines, watched us from the other side of the pool. These were stonebeaks, Kysa explained, but they were both female, so we didn’t have to worry about an attack. I was relieved, as the two birds had powerful legs tipped with extremely long talons, and thick beaks that looked like they could crush rock with no effort at all.

The pool was barely a foot deep, but the water was cool and clear, fed by an underground spring, according to Kysa. I refilledmy canteen and splashed water over my face and neck, resisting the urge to lie down at the bottom of the pool. A few paces down, Halek stuck his entire head in the water, then rose and tossed his hair back, flinging droplets everywhere. Kysa rolled her eyes and continued to unsaddle Rhyne in the shade of one of the trees.

I looked at Raithe. He had said very little since we’d ventured onto the steppes, and he now stood a few paces away, gazing toward the horizon with a distant, unreadable look on his face.

I paused, uncertain if he wanted—or was willing—to talk to me now. But he had always been polite, and his behavior had remained unchanged since the night in Damassi. Well, except for the kiss, of course.

I took a quick breath, then walked up beside him. “You all right?”

He gave a short nod, but it was more weary than brusque. “Just thinking of home,” he murmured. “And what I’m going to tell the queen when we finally meet with her.”

I blinked. “I thought it was your duty to bring me back, and that she’s waiting to speak to us in Irrikah.”

“That is true. However...” He paused, a pained look crossing his face. Taking a step back, he lowered himself onto a fallen tree near the edge of the water. Resting his elbows on his knees, he bowed his head. “I was sent to Kovass to uncover the evil lurking beneath the surface and put a stop to it,” he muttered. “To find members of the ma’jhetand cut their threads from the Weave.” Both hands curled into fists. “I failed. And because of that, the Deathless King is now loose in the world.”

My heart clenched. Gathering my courage, I stepped forwardand sat beside him on the log, our knees just inches apart. “It wasn’t your fault, Raithe,” I said, staring at the horizon with him. “If anything,I’mthe reason Kovass fell. I went into the ancient city. I brought the soulstone back to the surface. None of this would have happened if...”

I faltered. I was going to sayifI had refused the Circle’s order to retrieve thesoulstone, but there was no way I could have refused, and we both knew it. Too much had been at stake; the knowledge that the Circle would kill me if I failed and my desire to prove myself to Vahn would have kept me going, even through the danger. There was only one way I wouldn’t have brought the soulstone out of the ancient city.

Raithe gave me a shadowed look that said he knew what I was thinking. “If I had killed you,” he murmured. “Down in the undercity.”

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