Ahmedri insisted that we split into four groups and travel parallel as we moved east to increase our line of vision once we reached the dunes, because that would heighten our chance of seeing water or vegetation, if it were there. He placed one dog at either end, since their superior sense of smell and vision would allow them to range further in either direction without losing touch with us, as well as see and scent far beyond their positions to the north and south. I had acceded to all of his recommendations at once, and bade him divide and dispose us as he would, for why travel with a desert dweller in the desert and ignore their knowledge and skills? Ahmedri accepted leadership smoothly, ordering Darga and Swallow to form the group that would walk farthest to the north of our line, while Analivia was to walk farthest to the south, with Gavyn and Rasial. In between, Dameon, Faraf, Gahltha and I were to form one group while he, Sendari, Dragon and Falada would form the other.

The two days of rest had strengthened my arm, and though it ached from time to time and my chest still hurt when I coughed or exerted myself, the bones had begun to knit. Certainly I felt well enough to walk when the others did.

Crossing the sandy plain was easy but once we reached the dunes, dismounted and separated into our appointed groups, our pace slowed dramatically. The hardest thing was walking over the shifting sands. Ahmedri moved easily, as did Falada, for both had spent their lives in the desert lands, and Dameon and Faraf had spent time enough there, though not together, to have learned how to negotiate the sands. The rest of us floundered.

I tried hard to emulate Dameon’s light, gliding walk, but my feet seemed to sink deep into the sand at every step. I was soon dripping with sweat and cursing under my breath, knowing that the sweating and the exertion would force me to drink more than we could spare. Our lack of progress made me anxious that the rhenling horde would discover us. Ahmedri had prepared the few double-headed torches that remained, just in case, but we all knew they were unlikely to save us if Rasial could not rouse his soul mate’s interest in the fliers if they appeared.

At least the brightness of the moon would keep the creatures at bay until dawn, but I wanted us to be as far away from the graag as possible when the sun set again, and darkness fell.

Once the Blacklands and the Tear of the Moon were lost to sight, all we could see in any direction were pallid dunes that shone bone white where the moonlight touched them, and cast blue-black shadows that seemed to have more substance than the dunes themselves. There was not a breath of wind all that long night we walked, keeping mostly to the undulant ridgelines so that we did not have to labour up and down the steep soft flanks of the dunes. I was forever slithering sideways and having to scramble ignominiously back up to the ridge, clutching at my chest and resisting the urge to accept Gahltha’s offer to carry me.