She sat now on some tumbled fragment of stone among a heap of loose rubble and scrub brush. She chewed absently on a smaller stone she kept in her mouth to ward off thirst, and gazed into the dim horizon. Sometimes the Drucians were easiest to see in the violet dusk.

Someone came up behind her. From the length of the stride, she guessed it was Ahmed. She turned.

Ahmed hesitated, just an arm’s length away. He followed her former gaze, out at the horizon. “You thinking it’s time to take them out?”

“Rather figure out what they want, first.”

“I assume they want to kill us.”

“Can’t go around thinking the whole world’s out for you. It’s a big place. Lots of people in it.”

He, too, was sucking on a small stone. Eskander kept promising them that they were near a settlement, and kept them running along on a thin stream of drivel. Nyx wasn’t sure how much longer she could put up with it.

Ahmed folded his arms. “We used to have Chenjan scouts follow us like that. They were usually doing it to make sure we ran right into some ambush.”

“They aren’t Chenjans.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“It means not all of us think alike.” Nyx turned back to camp. They weren’t bedding down this time, they were just getting up. Being out in the desert this exposed meant it was time to start traveling exclusively at night, with a short break during the deepest part of it. Traveling at night meant they needed less water, but it didn’t mean they thought about it any less. She saw Kage sitting at the edge of camp. She, too, was staring out toward the eastern horizon. Nyx had caught her at it a few nights now. She suspected that putting Kage on watch for them would save her a lot of time. The girl was far more vigilant.

“Ask Kage to come over here,” Nyx said.

Ahmed looked puzzled, but obeyed.

A few moments later, Kage stood next to her, massive gun in hands, gaze on her feet.

Nyx nodded to the figures on the horizon. “You know those folks?”

“Not all Drucians know one another.”

“You seem to take a special interest in these ones.”

“I do not trust strangers.”

Nyx wished she had some sen. She’d spit it on the girl’s sandaled toe. “Then maybe you can give me some insight. What you think folks like those are doing still trailing us after all this time?”

Kage said nothing.