Half Magic | Book 2

Eight: The Sands

As the sun set, Schula, Nassir, Puko, and I walked to where we were meeting Kai at the south gate of Sulls.

Kai had taken us back through the markets to pick up another item or two that we didn't know we would need, then he instructed us to sleep the day away and meet him at the gate. 

I put on my cloak, hopefully for the last time. The four of us left the rented rooms, leaving the key on the bed.

Puko sat on Nassir's shoulder, as he had taken to doing lately when we walked. Puko and I got a lot of stares and whispers, but they didn't bother me. Not when I was on my way out of Sulls, ready to leave the humans behind for a while.

When we finally reached the gate, I saw Kai leaning on a shaded part of the wall before he saw us. Puko cawed, shifting all the eyes in the area to us, including Kai's.

"Oh hush," I hissed at the raven as Kai approached with a curious look on his face.

"That bird is black as the night sky between the stars," Kai said. 

Schula let out a small laugh. "I take it there are no ravens in the desert."

"They don't come this far south," I said to her, then turned to Kai. "They are a common sight up in the mountains. They are smart birds, but this one is a bit peculiar, even for a raven."

'Caw!'

Kai eyed Puko, who eyed him back from Nassir's shoulder. "If you say so."

I hid a small smile and Schula brought Nassir forward.

"Kai, this is Nassir. Along with Puko, this is our traveling party," Schula said.

Kai recovered enough to address Nassir. "Nice to meet you. I'm assuming you are... like them?"

Nassir smiled.

"I am like this one." He nodded to Schula. "But Wren here is one of a kind."

I blushed and shifted my eyes to my feet. 

"Well," Kai said. "This is sure to be one of my more interesting trips, so lets get it started while the sun is freshly set."

We were glad to follow Kai to the large gate. A guard exchanged a few hushed words with Kai, and we were let through a small opening that gave us our first steps into the sands.

None of us were prepared for the beautiful landscape.

Kai went first, taking us to the side of the gate and away from other traffic that might come into the dessert. We just followed him dumbfounded by the endless expanse before us.

I had seen the desert before from a distance. Bryn had shown me the view from a tall building once, and of course a certain amount of the sands are visible from most of the city. 

But this, standing here, this was different. We were in the desert. An endless sight of sand dunes and a few meager sprouts of tough plants. The expanse of it was so empty, and it reached out all around us. If I didn't know that the city of Sulls was right behind me, I would have thought there was nothing around for days.

Puko took off for the open skies, staying within our eyesight but clearly enjoying himself. 

"Its so..." Schula started, but she never finished her thought.

Nassir knelt down and placed his hands in the sand, running his fingers through the grains of it. "This doesn't feel like normal earth at all."

Kai, stood back and observed our reaction to the sands with a smirk. He was still a little nervous around us, but his shoulders were relaxed this evening as he waited and I could tell that time would erase the rest of his worries. I turned to him and his gaze met mine. He shrugged.