Page 112 of The Eyes of Tamburah
To die.
No.
To be a velbloud.
To fly.
To…
To be so desperate she’d try anything.
Seven hells.
Dredging the last bit of her stubborn determination, she grabbed a velbloud’s tether and yanked the creature back to the surface. It squealed in distress—a high-pitched warble. Too bad. When it hovered right over her head, its shadow gave her a moment’s reprieve from the killing sun. It shrieked again. Louder. And clawed at the top of her head with its sharp talons.
She let it rise enough so it couldn’t reach her. Wrapping the tether around her chest like the harness Elek had used to spider, she then looped it around her right wrist. Shyla grabbed it and towed the velbloud to its neighbor and started to reel in another creature. It wailed as well. Shyla wrapped its tether the same way except she wound it over her left wrist. How many would she need to fly?
And then something amazing happened.
Either that or the sun had fried her brain.
Other velblouds descended to their stricken brethren and latched onto them. More and more until they all rose into the air, taking Shyla with them.
She hung below them, keeping her elbows tucked close to her ribs as the tethers squeezed her chest. Holding on with her blistered hands, she ignored the pain. They shielded her from the sun’s deadly rays and they floated above the killing heat.
Shyla’s feet dangled as she gazed at the world below her in utter amazement. Various shades of red sand spread out in all directions, appearing like a rumpled fur. Precise shapes poked through the rolling terrain, signaling buildings. She recognized Tamburah’s temple and the monastery. Flashes of color indicated the surface level of Zirdai.
As she ascended, remote travel shelters popped into view. Herds of gamelus—the third creature to be able to survive the fatal heat—stained the sand yellow as they hunkered down. Nothing moved on the surface. The other desert inhabitants had gone to ground. Except her and the velblouds. Distant fuzzy dots of other flocks spotted the pink sky all around her.
Even at this height, the heat baked her, stealing all the moisture from her body. The danger was far from over, but the view… Oh, the view. Worth dying for.
She scanned the horizon and caught sight of the colorful surface level of Catronia and over to the left was… The fiery air seared her thoughts. The map of Koraha that she’d memorized floated out of reach. Its edges curling as it burned. The world spun…or was that her?
Dizzy and weak, she clutched the tethers and wondered what the caretakers would think when they found her dried-out husk tangled in velbloud tethers. She giggled. Well, it sounded more like a cat hacking up a hairball. That thought sent her into new spasms, triggering a terrible headache. It hammered her skull as fast as her heartbeat.
Shyla clung to consciousness as hard as she grasped the tethers. The view expanded as they continued to rise and she didn’t want to miss one angle of it. Eventually, though, the effort to breathe proved too difficult despite the slightest cooling of the air. A breeze?
No. The exhalation of the Sun Goddess.
The goddess had finally arrived to guide Shyla home. Beautiful, with bright yellow and gold hair flowing down to her feet and as tall as the sky, she smiled at her. Shyla welcomed her, allowing the goddess to fold her into her embrace. A cool peace flowed through her.
Does this mean I’m not cursed?she asked the goddess.
You’re a blessing, Shyla Sun-kissed.
Guilt ached in her chest.Then I belonged to the monks, I should have stayed.
You belong to no one.
A deep sadness soaked into her body.I’m alone.
Far from it. The monks are your family. And you aremine, dear child. I do not enjoy seeing my people suffer. Make it stop.
Confused or probably just brain dead by this time, Shyla peered at the goddess.You have the power to stop it.
So do you. Being sun-kissed is a gift.
I wish you would let the rest of the world and especially the Heliacal Priestess know that.Shyla grumped, but then panicked. She’d just yelled at a goddess! Now she’d be cast down into the seven hells.
