"Some say it is a kind of serpent. Others that it is a worm. I have heard it has many teeth, rows of them, and it is impervious to the stroke of a scimitar."

Shani looked down at the red cuffs she wore at her wrists. "Let's hope it doesn't like fire."

"No, Petryan," Jehral said. "Let us hope we don't see it at all."

The three riders continued in silence for a time. Ella watched the sun move inexorably to the horizon, falling as if made heavy by a hard day's work, finally glowing against the dunes, spilling radiant light on the sand, making the riders' shadows long and tapered.

Ella thought about Miro, fighting constantly to hold against the attempts of the Black Army to penetrate Alturan lands. She wondered about Layla, the Dunfolk healer, hoping the small woman was alive and safe from harm. Amber's face swam in front of her vision; she was so soft and gentle, always laughing or crying; the chances of Ella's tender friend surviving capture by the Black Army were low.

Finally, Ella's thoughts turned to Killian. Her intuition told her he'd been successful; that something he'd done had affected the enemy's supplies of essence. It was the only reason Altura had lasted so long. She knew, though, that there was more to Killian's quest. He burned inside, desperate to know who he was, and about this power he possessed.

Fingering the pendant she wore at her neck, Ella looked over at the red bracelets Shani wore at her wrists, contemplating the myriad of symbols that had been drawn with essence on the cuffs, giving Shani the ability to control the elements. Killian could wear those symbols on his skin. His skin! Like Shani, he would still need the knowledge, but the feats he was capable of, if he only had the knowledge, were staggering.

The sun dropped past the horizon, and stars began to appear in the night sky. The temperature fell away, and Ella felt a great relief; even with the protection of her dress, the heat was uncomfortable. Still, they rode on. After some hours the moon rose, casting a glow over the dunes, shimmering over the sandy ocean. Ella shivered as the night grew cold, feeling her dress adjust to compensate. Looking over at Shani she saw that her friend wasn't coping with the chill as well as Ella was — the elementalist's robe was built to withstand heat, but not cold. The three travellers rode on.

Finally, as Ella was beginning to slump in her saddle and she could feel Afiri tiring underneath her, Jehral called a halt. He had each of them unsaddle and groom their horses with a stiff brush, before watering them a little at a time. They hobbled the horses by twisting the reins around their legs, before sinking to the sand themselves, lying back against a dune while the stars looked down from overhead.