She handed it to me without unfolding it.

  It was a very dry sheet of paper folded into quarters, and it felt almost brittle in my hands as I started to open it.

  But before I could unfold it completely, the rushing sound of a strong wind drifted up to us from downstairs.

  Chapter 7

  “Is that wind?” Prinna gasped.

  “Yeah, I think so,” I said.

  It sounded like there was a full gust of wind bashing right against every wall around us, and I was amazed by how forceful it seemed. It faded slowly, after a few minutes, and the sound of calm chatter took its place.

  “There are people at least,” Kaz said with a shrug.

  “They don’t sound alarmed by the wind, either,” Izzie pointed out.

  “Maybe it’s a regular thing,” I said, and I turned my attention back to the map.

  This place seemed to be fairly small like Ebon had been, and it was surrounded by large swaths of blank space in all directions. There were six main roads that led out like spokes of a wheel from the main city center, and I got the feeling it was a travel hub of some kind.

  The map identified the name of the realm as Maardox, and there were three names written in fine print in the wide expanses around the central area.

  “Singing Winds,” I read. “The Great Stretch, and Burning Mirror. Well, shit, that one sounds unpleasant as fuck.”

  What was even more confusing were a few random words at the edges of the city or whatever it was. Strength, Wisdom, and Excellence were written on the map in different areas, and I couldn’t understand what they marked.

  “Perhaps we should avoid that one,” Kaz suggested.

  “Yeah,” I scoffed, and I pointed at the red X on the map that was marked in pen over The Resting Oasis. “Apparently we’re here…”

  “Safron Tavern,” Prinna read.

  “So are we going to go downstairs, or what?” Izzie asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  The three of them smiled with the kind of thrill I remember having right before my first roller coaster ride, and I went to open the door. The voices became louder, and I realized they were on the same floor as us.

  “Huh,” I huffed with surprise. “We’re not upstairs, I don’t think.”

  We walked into the hallway and found even more sand in every corner of everything. The walls were made of the same kind of light tan wood as the dresser, and the floor seemed to be some kind of tile. The sand scraped and crunched under my boots as I walked down the hall toward the sound of voices.

  As we went, I realized how hot and dry the air was. I swallowed hard against the lack of moisture in the air. I paused in the hallway to remove the rucksack, slipped my leather jacket off, and tucked the jacket into the bag before we carried on down the hallway. I quickly removed my venturer’s badge and secured it to my belt instead.

  A tan linen curtain was draped across the end of the hallway, and I held it aside to step through.

  The main room of the inn was heavily occupied, but people were heading toward the door. I wondered if the intense wind we’d heard had driven everybody nearby into the building for shelter, and now that it had died down, they were ready to go about their day.

  The people wore clothes that made me think they were going to walk through the Sahara. They were all made of lightweight fabrics in light shades like tan and white. The women wore scarves wrapped loosely around their heads, and the men wore thin wrapped hats that looked like something between a durag and a turban. Every foot I could see had an open-toed sandal of soft leather on it.

  A long bar took up one whole side of the room, and six tables occupied the rest of the space. There were no chairs that I could see, and only backless stools were positioned at the bar and tables. Large cushions in vibrant colors had been tossed into every corner, and several people lounged back against them. Everyone in the room held a simple globe-shaped glass with a flat bottom, and they all had a clear liquid that either had to be something like vodka or just plain water.

  They all held their cups in gentle grasps, and they sipped them carefully and slowly like the liquid inside was more precious than gold.

  “Desert,” I hummed to myself.

  A man with a long, dark beard and a tan turban around his head worked behind the bar, and he nodded politely at me as I walked forward.

  “Greetings, traveler,” the man said. “Welcome to The Oasis. How can I serve you?”

  He spoke in a thick accent that sounded trapped in the back of his throat before it escaped through his nasal passages. It was vaguely reminiscent of an Indian accent to my ears.

  “Hello,” I said, and I gestured to my ladies. “We were looking for some information about Maardox, we’ve never been here before.”

  “Ah, yes.” The innkeeper smiled. “This I can see. My name is Sahlen, and this is my inn. We cater to all travelers, but venturers are my particular favorite.”

  My eyebrows rose with interest. “Do you get many venturers through here?”

  “Occasionally.” Sahlen nodded once. “Maardox is a place of connection. We are the only viable resting place between all the major deserts of this realm. If one must travel between the cities, they will stop here to rest before they continue on their journey.”

  “That explains the sand on everything,” Kaz said under her breath.

  “Did you travel on foot, by beast, or along the caravan?” Sahlen asked with an easy smile.

  I went with the closest to the truth. “By foot. We haven’t had a chance to explore the area much. Is there a market here?”

  “The whole of the oasis welcomes trading,” Sahlen said. “But there is a gathering area nearby where many set up for the time they are here. People come in and leave quickly. They do not linger for long, so it is always interesting to see who has arrived.”

  “I take it not many people live here permanently?” I asked.

  “Not many,” Sahlen confirmed. “The people, like myself, who operate the oasis live here, and some vendors and merchants set up camp for many moons at a time. But most people pass through in a few days.”

  “I have a question,” Izzie said.

  “Yes, miss?” Sahlen asked.

  “What are they drinking?” Izzie gestured at the people all around.

  “It is the finest leeberry juice,” Sahlen said with obvious pride in his voice. “I grow the leeberries myself.”

  “It looks like water,” Prinna said in a light tone, and she turned to me. “Can we try some?”

  “Sure,” I said, and I smiled at Sahlen. “Four leeberry juices, please.”

  “Yes sir, right away,” Sahlen said as he hurried away.

  I watched the people slyly from the corner of my eye, and I couldn’t help but notice how slow people were. Not a single one of them seemed in any kind of hurry, and they moved like the hot climate of this realm sucked the energy right from their bodies.

  “Four leeberry juices,” Sahlen announced as he returned with two round cups in each hand.

  He placed them down on the bar, and I reached for my coin pouch to pay the man.

  “Ah, no, sir.” Sahlen held up a hand to stop me. “The first drink is always on me. You may pay for the next one, should you choose to order one.”

  “Oh, okay,” I said politely. “Thank you.”

  He nodded and waited while my ladies and I tried the clear drink.

  I took a tentative sip, and I was delighted by the light and refreshing flavor. It was vaguely tropical like pineapple mixed with mango, and there was just a hint of citrus in there. It was chilled to a refreshing temperature, and I sipped it slowly like the locals seemed to do.

  “Mmm,” I hummed after about a quarter of my drink was gone. “That’s delicious.”

  Sahlen smiled wide and did a little bow of his head.

  I looked over to see what my ladies thought, and I wasn’t surprised to see Prinna’s glass was completely empty already. Kaz sipped it slowly like me, and Izzie had drunk about half of hers so far.

  “Oh!’ Sahlen breathed with surprise. “You like it?”

  “Yes,” Prinna said with a smile. “It’s very tasty. Thank you.”

  Sahlen looked a bit surprised by Prinna’s rushed enjoyment of the drink, but he didn’t say anything else. He took her empty glass and walked away to serve some other customers.

  “Do you think it’s got alcohol in it?” Izzie asked as she took another swallow.

  “I don’t think so?” I said without a bit of certainty. “It doesn’t taste fermented at all. I guess we’ll know soon if Prinna starts acting tipsy.”

  “Whoops,” Prinna giggled softly. “I feel perfectly normal, though. I don’t think it will affect me.”

  Kaz, Izzie, and I finished our drinks, and we left the empty glasses on the bar. I slipped a gold solar out of my leather pouch and left it on the bar for Sahlen. Then we waved as we walked out of the inn.

  “Holy shit,” I gasped as I stepped out into the bright orange sunlight.

  It felt like I’d walked out onto a hot plate. The ground was made up of packed sand, and it took my eyes several seconds to adjust to the intense light.

  Then a small oasis with sparse palm trees, jewel-colored tents, wooden booths, and small stone buildings appeared before me. The entire oasis had to be less than five square miles, and I could see the rolling sand dunes in every direction. They rose up behind a ten-foot-tall stone wall that seemed to run the perimeter of the oasis. The dunes were like the Rocky Mountains, and this little place of respite was like the valley in the center. A glittering blue pool of crystal clear water was about forty feet in front of the inn, and a row of four-legged animals drank from the water.

  They must be the local version of a camel, but they had short trunks like elephants. They weren’t furry at all, and they were covered with armored skin like an armadillo. The creatures were roughly the size of a horse with wide, flat backs and stubby little tails. Many of them wore harnesses around their faces like horse reins.

  “Animals,” Kaz breathed with amazement.

  “Domesticated animals,” Prinna elaborated.

  “Those must be the beasts Sahlen alluded to,” I said.

  People in the same kind of robes, head scarves, and turbans milled around the area slowly. Now that I paid more attention, I realized there was a wide variety of people here. It had been hard to tell before because they all wore the same kind of clothing, but that had to be a climate thing, not a cultural thing.

  There was a group of short folks with light-green skin that reminded me of some of the people I’d seen in that first inn in Kohvra. A handful of people had the orange skin and short horns of the people we’d seen in Amirma. Others looked entirely human like my ladies and me, and I nearly shit myself when I spotted a group of people who I hadn’t even realized were people.

  I’d thought they were statues or something.

  They had rough skin that made them look like they were carved of stone when they stood still. And they could stand very still. One of the men in the group spoke, and the others stood unmoving while they listened. It didn’t even look like they breathed, they were so still.

  “I think I see the market,” Kaz said, and she pointed in the distance.

  I dragged my eyes away from the stony people and followed her finger.

  The area was filled with jewel-colored tents, and a lot of people milled around slowly. I could hear shouts coming from the area, too, and it definitely seemed like that would be the market area.

  “Let’s go,” I said, and I took a deep breath.

  It had the opposite effect of what I normally expected, though. The air was so hot and dry, the deep breath didn’t relax or refresh me at all. It felt like trying to breathe in a room filled with spray paint fumes, and I started to cough deep in my lungs.

  “Ugh!” I coughed again, and I forced my lungs into a shallow breathing pattern.

  “The air is very poor here,” Prinna said. “Many of the women are holding their hair scarves over their mouths.”

  “The men, too,” Izzie pointed out.

  I hadn’t paid much attention, but now that they’d pointed it out, I saw it was true. The women looped their head scarves across their faces, and many of the men pulled linen squares over their faces.

  The heat from the desert had to be the cause, and I couldn’t even imagine trying to cross that death trap.

  We started to walk toward the market, and we passed the crystal clear pool and the strange beasts along the way. I looked at them more closely, and I spotted several evolutionary traits that would have helped them adapt to the desert environment.

  Much like earth camels, these animals had very long and thick eyelashes. I also caught sight of one closing a hidden third eyelid like lizards had. That must help against uncomfortable sand getting into their eyes. Their feet were wide and flat with thick webbing between their wide toes. One of them snuffled through its trunk as I walked by, and I saw something fascinating on the end. The only way I could think to describe it was like a screen door. Instead of two large nostril holes, the animal had a few hundred tiny holes like some sort of filtered mesh.

  I nodded with admiration at the way evolution shaped creatures to survive, and then I turned my eyes forward to look at the market.

  “Wooowww,” Kaz breathed as we rounded the packed dirty path.

  The market was bigger than it looked from outside the inn, and I was excited to see what kind of goods would be sold here. There were people unlike the ones I’d encountered in other realms, but they were also all dressed in the desert apparel like it was some kind of dress code.

  The place was organized in a jumble rather than in rows or even a circular arrangement. It seemed that merchants and vendors would just arrive and set up wherever there was space.

  Many of the merchants had wooden booths under colorful tents, and the others had their goods spread out on large blankets or rugs under their tents. Muses in jewel-toned scarves called out their masters’ wares, and I realized I’d kind of missed the thrilling atmosphere of a market like this.

  One beautiful muse curled her fingers invitingly at us. Her shiny black hair was so long it hung down to the ground and then looped past her sandaled feet like a tail. She wore deep emerald-green clothing that was very I Dream of Genie. Gold chains looped around her neck, and a thick belt that hung with dozens of medallions and semi-precious stones sat on the widest part of her hips.

  “Best spices in all the realms at Master Mron’s stall,” she said in a cloying voice. “Come if your travels lack flavor!”

  We passed by the booth, and the table was covered in small glass bottles with little cork stoppers. They all had small hand-written labels, and I thought I recognized some of the spices within. One looked like regular pink rock salt. Another I guessed was paprika or something similar. There was a green flaky one that was probably something like basil or oregano. Then many more had completely alien things inside.

  One of them looked like tiny crystals in a shade of periwinkle which made me want to try it.

  “What’s this one?” I pointed at the bottle.

  “Awweshi,” the black-haired muse said.

  She moved closer to me and placed a seductive hand on my forearm. I could feel the possessive reaction from my ladies as I gently pulled my arm away.

  The muse heeded my subtle hint and took a half step back as she smiled politely at Kaz, Prinna, and Izzie.

  “It will give any of your cooking a zest that will set your tongue alive,” the muse said. “Three gold for a bottle.”

  “I’ll take one, please,” I said.

  We exchanged the coins for the glass bottle, and I pulled the cork to have a sniff of the strange blue crystals. I was impressed she had the freedom to complete the sale by herself, but the fat old man who I assumed was Master Mron watched with careful eyes. He clearly had her loyalty, if not her strict obedience.

  “You will wish to crush it before you apply it to your food,” the muse explained in a helpful tone. “That allows the flavor to escape the shell.”

  “Oh, okay,” I said with surprise. “Thanks.”

  “Many blessings on your travels, venturer,” Master Mron said.

  I nodded at the round man, and we carried on through the market.

  The next tent we came to was one with the goods spread out on a large wine-red blanket. There were about fifteen woven baskets spread out at our feet, and each was filled with a different kind of semi-precious stone. I recognized pieces of gold-striped tiger’s eye, vivid blue lapis lazuli, and beautiful pieces of jade. There were also some that I guessed were citrine based solely on their pretty yellow color. The ones I was most interested in were ovular pieces of deep black stone, but in the light, they seemed to glow with fiery reds, oranges, and even some hints of blue and green.

  A muse who was only about four feet tall watched as we knelt down to look at the gems, and I stared at the little folded cards in front of each basket. They had writing on them, but it wasn’t anything close to any language I knew. They might as well have been written in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

  The muse lingered nearby with a quiet presence, and I found it a bit odd that she didn’t try to lure us in with her words. But then she started to rock her hips slowly to some imaginary music, and she clapped tiny symbols between her thumbs and forefingers.

  “Saammm,” Kaz whispered warningly. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah?” I arched a suspicious eyebrow at my Enchanted lover. “Why?”

  Kaz narrowed her eyes at the short muse. “Nothing.”

  The small woman shook her hips like a belly dancer, and she stared hard at me as she moved. That’s when I realized she was probably trying to charm me with some kind of magic, and it appeared that I was immune just like I was to Kaz and Prinna’s magic.

  “Hmm,” the woman hummed and gave up her efforts.

  “What are these?” I picked up one of the fiery black stones.

  “Fire opals,” the short muse explained, and her dark brown eyes landed on my venturer’s badge as I stood up. “They ward against dark energy.”

 

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