Page 67 of Fateless

“Neither am I, to be fair.” Raithe glanced westward as well, his jaw tightening. “But we need to get Sparrow to your people as soon as possible. Waiting out the storm means she’ll have to go even longer without sleeping, or risk falling to the ma’jhet’s magic again.”

“I’ll be all right, Raithe,” I told him. He looked at me, worried, and I shrugged. “It’s not the first time I’ve had to go on no sleep for a few days. I’ll be fine if we need to stop.”

Though Iwastired. The constant travel, the brutal temperatures of the steppes, the worry about Vahn and the Deathless King, even riding for hours on a sand dragon—it was all wearing on me. In fact, this entire journey, from Kovass to the strider to now, felt like one long, extended race for our lives. Weariness gnawed at me, the kind of exhaustion that was less physical and more like your very soul was tired.

And Raithe, watching me with perceptive eyes, knew it.

Kysa gazed between me and Raithe, her expression solemn. Finally, she gave a decisive nod. “We push through,” she said, andHalek groaned. She ignored him. “Tie a cloth around the lizards’ eyes,” she went on briskly, looking at Raithe. “It’s the only place they’ll be vulnerable to the sands. When the storm hits, walk single file behind me and Rhyne—we’ll try to provide a little cover from the winds.”

“You’re not going to fly?” I asked.

The insect rider gave me a faint smile. “I said I would guide you through the steppes to my clan,” she replied. “I will keep that promise, even if it is to be through a sandstorm. Besides,” she went on, with an affectionate look at Rhyne, chewing a dead bush behind her, “rock beetles are typically hatched in the harshest regions of the steppes, where the wind and storms are much more severe. Unlike soft and fleshy mammals, sandstorms are nothing for them.”

“What about you?” Halek asked. “I mean, I hate to break it to you, but you’re a soft and fleshy mammal, too.”

She snorted. “That’s why I wear armor.”

The winds grew stronger, gusting across the steppes and sending giant clouds of dust into the air. The dragons were too agitated to be ridden, continuing to toss their heads and claw at the ground. Kysa and Raithe wrapped strips of cloth around their eyes, and we led them into the wind.

“Here it comes,” Raithe muttered.

I peeked up and saw a wall of sand coming toward us, swallowing the earth as it moved. Ducking my head, I braced myself as the storm front crashed into us, and everything vanished in a maelstrom of swirling sand and shrieking wind.

I kept my head low as waves of sand battered my clothes,stinging my arms and the backs of my hands. Peeking up, I could just see Rhyne’s large black bulk in front of us, trudging steadily through the wind. Sand curled around him, splitting on either side of his carapace as the giant beetle moved forward, shielding us from the worst of the storm. I glanced behind me and saw Halek walking forward with one arm raised in front of his eyes, a strip of cloth wrapped around his own face, covering his nose and mouth. Raithe brought up the rear, head down and shoulders hunched against the wind as he walked.

A strangled cry echoed through the swirling sands, and behind me, my dragon jerked to a halt. I turned, holding its reins tightly, as it threw up its head with a snort, baring its teeth and scratching at the ground. Its blindfold had come loose, and I saw that its pupils were razor-thin slits against the yellow of its eyes. Behind me, Halek’s and Raithe’s dragons were also rearing back and shaking their heads with alarmed snorts.

“Kysa!” I called, my voice muffled by the swirling winds. “Something is wrong! I think the dragons sense—”

With a shriek that sounded more terrified than angry, my dragon leaped backward, tearing the reins from my hands. Before I could react, it turned and bolted into the curtains of sand around us. Moments later, my blood chilled as a scream of pain and terror echoed through the gale, causing the other two dragons to go wild with fear. Halek’s dragon lunged at him, fangs bared, and the Fatechaser dropped the reins as he jerked back to avoid the snapping teeth. The dragon instantly whirled and dashed away into the sands and darkness. But before it disappeared, several goat size shadows scuttled forward and swarmedthe dragon. I heard another chilling shriek as the storm swallowed them and they vanished from sight.

“Kysa!” I turned, searching for the insect rider. “What’s happening?”

Something came through the sands at me, something small and red, with six jointed legs and a pair of sickle-like jaws gaping wide to bite. It darted forward, horrifyingly fast, bulging black eyes fixed on me as it lunged.

A spear flashed through the air, striking the ant creature square in the head and pinning it to the earth. It lay there, legs still working, jaws clenching and unclenching weakly, as three more ant creatures scuttled out of the sands, crawled over their dying brother, and came at me.

Rhyne plowed into them, the massive horn on his face catching two and flinging them back. The third was crushed under the bulk of the rock beetle as the huge insect trampled it, leaving it squashed and broken in the dust. I gasped, staggering back a pace, as Kysa leaned down, yanked her spear from where it had impaled the first giant ant, and then held out a hand to me.

“Get on! Hurry!”

I leaped forward, grabbing her outstretched hand, and she lifted me onto Rhyne’s back. Looking around frantically for the others, I saw Halek scramble onto a large boulder as several ants swarmed the place he had been standing. Raithe finally released his shrieking sand dragon, letting it go as he drew his sword, whirled, and sprang onto the rock with Halek. The unfortunate sand dragon tried to run but was instantly covered in a half dozen ants. They crawled all over it, sinking curved mandiblesinto its flesh, until the dragon collapsed with a final shriek.

From atop Rhyne’s back, I gazed around in horror. The ground was vanishing at a rapid pace, replaced by swarms of giant ants that scuttled forward, gnashing their jaws. Rhyne swept his great head around, catching several and flinging them away with every toss, but there were always more. Halek and Raithe stood back-to-back on the rock, stabbing at and kicking away the ants that tried to climb up, but they would be overwhelmed in seconds.

“Kysa, get us out of here,” I gasped, as the swarms around us grew thicker. “Grab Halek and Raithe and fly us away!”

“I am working on it.” Her voice was far too calm for what was happening. She stabbed an ant crawling up the rock beetle’s leg, then shouted an order to Rhyne. The rock beetle immediately put his head down and charged, scything through the ranks of ants like a giant wedge, knocking them aside. We drew alongside the boulder just as the carpet of ants swarmed up to cover it, and I held out my hand to Halek and Raithe.

“Jump!”

They did, Halek leaping first and grabbing my arm as he landed half on, half off the side of the rock beetle. Raithe stayed where he was a second more, cutting down another ant to give Halek time to get away before leaping and landing gracefully behind me. Halek kicked and clawed himself onto Rhyne’s back, gritting his teeth as I dragged him up in front of me. Below us, the sea of ants tried to latch on to Rhyne as he barreled through, but their jaws scraped off the rock beetle’s carapace or were knocked aside by his horn.

“Hang on,” Kysa warned, as Raithe’s arm curled around mefrom behind, sending a ripple of heat through my stomach. “I don’t know if Rhyne will be able to fly with this many riders, but we’ll have to try. Rhyne, up!”

Behind the saddle, the rock beetle’s shell split open, translucent wings unfurling from his carapace. With a drone that rang in my ears and made my teeth vibrate, the huge beetle rose into the air. For a moment, he wobbled in midair, as if adjusting to our weight. I looked down and saw a writhing, squirming carpet of ants climbing over each other as they tried to reach the hovering rock beetle. Thousands of curved jaws gnashed in our direction, thousands of black, bulbous eyes glared up at us, making my stomach turn and my skin crawl with fear.

The buzz of Rhyne’s wings sounded labored. He drifted above the carpet of ants swarming frantically below, but couldn’t seem to climb any higher.

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