Mowab Rider Read online

  While I saw no red eyes across the open, picking out their next target for attack, I did notice another set of eyes. These eyes weren’t flaming red or glowing like a devil’s, but they were equally ferocious and determined.

  Olph, I said. I think we might have someone who does have something of use to offer.

  Who? Where? he asked immediately. Even through the waves of our minds I could sense his impatience at the tales the rebels were weaving for us and our dangled promise of pure sand.

  To your left. In the back. Beyond the last of the dwellings. She’s standing just beyond the shadows of the last of the rebel caves. Do you see her?

  Dolpheus was subtle. It would do us no good to draw attention to the woman who seemed as if she might have something to share but wasn’t coming forward to do it. He arched his back, stretching. Then he twisted in his saddle, first right, then left. His eyes flicked upward for a second. I see her, he said.

  And then the woman, shrouded in dark clothing that allowed her to disappear into the shadows, merged with them. She took a step backward and was gone, somewhere behind the cave dwellings, where we couldn’t follow her progress.

  We have to follow her. Now, I said to Dolpheus, even though I remained still atop my stallion.

  But Dolpheus was on it. He was already telling the rebels amassed around him, “Enough, enough for now. Please.”

  The rebels didn’t want to stop before they’d claimed their reward. They hadn’t earned it fairly, but the rebels weren’t used to playing fair—something I couldn’t entirely blame them for. Others didn’t deal fairly with them either.

  Dolpheus, who hadn’t dismounted and towered over the rebels, put his hands up. “I’ve heard enough for now. I’m going to retreat to confer with my friend, see which of these accounts might lead us to the woman we seek, determine if any of them are deserving of a reward of pure sand.”

  The complaints were immediate and loud. Dolpheus quelled them quickly. “We’ll cause you no harm, but right now, we’re retreating. Thank you for your attention and time.”

  It was more kindness than the rebels usually received from outsiders. They continued to complain but only half-heartedly, and even as we were backing our horses away (without turning our backs to the rebels), they began to return to their homes.

  You turn, I said to Dolpheus.

  He understood right away and turned his horse to face forward, where we’d seen the woman disappear behind the cave dwellings. My stallion continued to walk backward, something he’d never liked, but Dolpheus and I didn’t turn our backs on an enemy. Never. And while the rebels of the Wilds of O weren’t our enemies, they weren’t our friends either.

  My horse breathed hard through his nostrils and shook his head. I ran a hand along his neck. In the light of the Auxle Sun, auburn highlights reflected across his dark coat. “It’s all right, Seafarer,” I said to my horse that had never before seen the sea. But he’d seen plenty of seas of black sand. He was like them, black and sparkling. “I’ll let you turn around in a minute. Just as soon as we’re far enough from these rebels that they can’t try to shoot us in the back with an arrow.”

  Seafarer huffed, but he was a warrior horse. There were things a warrior must do, whether he liked it or not.

  “Just a bit more,” I said.

  “I think we’re safe,” Dolpheus said.

  I chuckled without mirth. “Are we ever really safe as long as we’re in the Wilds?”

  “Or on O?” Dolpheus added, a heavy tone in his voice.

  He’d cared for Ilara too. While she’d been my lover, she’d been his friend. We’d lost her in a blink. He’d lost his father just as fast.

  No one and nothing was fully safe on Origins. We could train and hope. But in the end, that’s all we could do.

  I didn’t answer Dolpheus’ question. Neither of our questions required an answer. We knew we weren’t safe. We weren’t ever safe, and it was that knowledge that had managed to keep us alive for four hundred and thirty-three years.

  We reached the last dwelling, behind which the woman disappeared. Now our danger was as great behind us as it was ahead of us, for I understood better than most men that women were dangerous. Ilara was the woman I loved, but she was also the most dangerous woman I knew. She wielded her beauty, sensuality, and wit as weapons, and she did so with deft skill.

  “You can turn now, Seafarer,” I said in soothing tones, trying to calm the horse that would charge into battle without hesitation, but that didn’t like not being able to see where he was going. I didn’t blame him. A soldier’s greatest tool was his senses. He relied on them to guide his actions. And Seafarer was a soldier.

  Seafarer spun in one graceful movement, his body agile and strong. Dolpheus and I steered our horses around the corner. There she was, waiting for us.

  The girl was young, breasts tender and new, but already she was as fierce-looking as many of the rebel warriors we’d encountered over the centuries. A slight trembling of the hand, which held a short sword pointed at our mounts, was all to betray her.

  “Whoa. Take it easy,” Dolpheus started, hands out in front of him. “Be easy. It’s all right.” He sounded just as he did when he was trying to calm a horse.

  “We mean you no harm,” he said. We’d said it already several times since entering the rebel zone, but I supposed when the rebels expected harm from outsiders, it didn’t hurt to repeat it. He said, “We thought you wanted us to follow you. Did we misunderstand?”

  The girl’s bright eyes flitted from Dolpheus to me and then to our horses.

  “Did we?” Dolpheus persisted.

  The girl’s hand began to shake harder, and I took pity on her. It couldn’t be easy to live out here in the Wilds, where the threats came from all directions at all times.

  “Look,” I said. Her eyes met mine, and I witnessed fear I immediately wished I hadn’t seen. “We mean it when we say we won’t hurt you. I promise we won’t.” I made it a point never to make promises I didn’t intend to keep. On O, people valued their word too little. I valued it highly. It was the one thing I had complete control over. The girl saw it in my eyes.

  With a hand that still trembled, she lowered her sword. I noticed a beat-up sheath belted around her waist, but she didn’t sheathe the sword. She stepped to the side, one foot in the shadows, one in the light. “Dismount and leave your horses here.” She tried to make her words an order, but it didn’t work.

  Dolpheus and I’d been through too much to take orders from girls. “We won’t leave our horses,” Dolpheus said, beating me to it. There was no way we’d allow our horses out of sight. Not in the Wilds. Not when the threats came from every direction.

  I didn’t know what this girl wanted to talk to us about, but I wanted to find out. “But we’ll dismount if that makes you feel better.”

  Dolpheus and I’d been training for battle since we were young boys. We’d been riding horses just as long. Even standing next to our horses, we could be in the saddles and riding away in seconds.

  “Then dismount,” the girl said, “and do it quickly. We don’t have much time. They’ll send someone to follow you right away.”

  Of course they would. It’s what I’d do.

  The girl retreated fully into the shadows of the rear of a cave dwelling.

  We probably only had a minute before we were discovered. If I were the rebels, I’d send several people to follow us. One to follow our direct path, turning right after the last dwelling as we had, and at least one more to come at us from the opposite direction, to round the first of their dwellings and watch the rear of their homes from that side.

  Dolpheus and I’d said we were retreating to confer, and we could plausibly be doing that now. The girl could mostly lose herself to the shadows. But I wouldn’t count on the rebels missing much. They were skilled in moving through the shadows. They’d see the girl.

  “Talk fast. What can we do for you?” I said, because this was obviously about what we could do for her. Pe
rhaps there was also something she was willing to do for us, but that was secondary. Oers were best at putting themselves first. For the most part, I wouldn’t blame them, and I especially wouldn’t blame this girl for it.

  “I have information you want.”

  “What kind of information?” Dolpheus asked. “About the woman we’re looking for?”

  “No. But trust me. It’s something you want to know.”

  I wasn’t in the habit of trusting strangers. However, we had little time and I probably would’ve wanted to help this girl regardless of whether or not she had something to trade for our help.

  “Assuming we’re willing to trade for this information, whatever it is,” I said, “what do you want in return?”

  “A favor. Sometime in the future, I’ll ask you to do something for me.”

  Dolpheus said, “Will you tell us what this favor is now?”

  “No. I don’t know it yet. But I know I’ll want your help in the future.”

  “Why our help? You don’t even know who we are,” I said.

  “Oh I know precisely who you are, Lord Tanus, and your Arms Master, Dolpheus.”

  “I see,” I said. “So you believe we’ll hold up our end of the bargain once you give us this information you have?”

  She flicked a glance over her shoulder before asking, “Will you?”

  I looked to Dolpheus. He shrugged. I looked back at her. “I only make promises I intend to keep. Since I don’t know what information you have to offer or what I’ll think it worth, I can’t promise I’ll do whatever favor you ask of me in the future.”

  “Fine,” she snapped. “Then forget it.” She turned on her heel.

  I shot an arm out to stop her. She clenched and yanked her head around to face me, but my touch was gentle. “However, I can promise to do what I think is fair. I can promise to return a favor that is appropriate for the information you give us. I give you my word that I’ll do that.”

  She looked at my hand on her arm. I released her. She looked behind her again, clearly impatient. Someone would spot us soon. Even so, she took her time studying my eyes first and then Dolpheus.’

  “Very well,” she said. “Since we don’t have time to strike a clearer and better bargain, I accept your terms.”

  “Good. What’s this information you have?” I asked.

  “You’re going to be ambushed. In the black fields to the west of the camp. They’re already waiting for you.”

  “How many of them are there?” Dolpheus asked while I angled my body to keep better watch behind us. We’d already realized we were in danger in the Wilds, but we hadn’t suspected an ambush. There should be no reason for it. We didn’t march under the King’s banner anymore.

  The girl fidgeted and wouldn’t meet our eyes. “I’m not sure exactly,” she said. “But I know the plan is to take you down, and sh—I mean, they’re aware of your reputation.”

  “Is that it?” I asked.

  “They’re led by the Mowab Rider.”

  I saw Dolpheus’ eyes widen before he got control of himself.

  “So he’s real? The Mowab Rider?” Dolpheus asked, voicing the awe I experienced as well.

  “Yes, the Mowab Rider’s real. She rides the mowabs like you ride your horses.”

  “The Mowab Rider’s a she?” Dolpheus said.

  The girl didn’t answer. We didn’t have time for awe or repetition, even if both were warranted in this situation. I’d stared down far more mowabs than I wished to. I didn’t want to be anywhere near one. I definitely didn’t want to ride one. I hadn’t thought it possible, and Dolpheus and I had a very different definition of what was impossible than other Oers. But perhaps not different from this woman, who could apparently tame the most untamable of beasts.

  “There’s one more thing I need you to promise me,” the girl continued.

  “Wait, that wasn’t part of the deal,” Dolpheus said. “We already made the deal.”

  I ignored my friend for now. There was something about this girl that I liked. It took guts to do what she was doing. I’d heard enough rumors of Dolpheus and me to understand that we were made out to be the most skilled of warriors. We could overtake this girl and kill her in instants. The short sword she still clutched in her hand wouldn’t impede her death.

  “I have one more piece of information for you,” she said even though I would have agreed to whatever her additional demand was without it.

  “All right,” I said.

  “But first you have to promise me.” She glanced over her shoulder again and took another step farther back into the shadows. “Promise me you won’t kill her. The Mowab Rider.”

  “You want us not to kill a woman who attacks us while riding a mowab?” Dolpheus said, his tone implying the unbelieving really? he didn’t voice.

  “You can’t kill her. Under any circumstances. Promise me.” The girl looked to me, the one who’d been making all the promises.

  I studied her. “Why?”

  “Promise me.”

  “I want to know why,” I insisted.

  She huffed hurriedly. Every one of her movements was agitated and skittish now. She was about to flee.

  I suppressed every urge I had to grab onto her, to keep her here until she could explain.

  “She’s my sister. And if you kill her, I’ll hunt you down and tear you to pieces,” she said.

  I admired loyalty. I wanted to smile, but I didn’t. “All right. I promise we won’t kill her. Unless it’s the only way to save Dolpheus’ life or my own.”

  “No deal then. I won’t tell you the rest, and she’ll hunt you down and kill you.”

  “I won’t make any promise that prevents me from protecting Dolpheus or myself. But I promise you that if there’s any other way, any other way at all, we’ll spare the Mowab Rider’s life.”

  I didn’t hear anything, but the girl clearly did. One moment she was there, the next the shadows swallowed her up.

  I thought she wouldn’t tell us the rest but then her whispered words reached us from the shadows. “They hide the mowabs beneath the sand. Look to the sand.”

  And then I was sure she was gone.

  Less than ten seconds later, a man rounded the corner farthest from us and immediately averted his eyes when he saw us spot him. I felt more than saw another person turn the corner behind us.

  There’s someone behind us too, I mind spoke to Dolpheus.

  I know, he said to me. Then, for our invisible audience, “All right. I think we’ve talked enough. Let’s go check out some of these stories to see if they’re worth a reward.”

  “Let’s do it,” I said, mounting Seafarer.

  A few moments later, Dolpheus and I led our horses past the dwelling that offered cover for our meeting with the girl. There was no one there.

  We pointed our horses east, away from the settlement and toward the ambush.

  We didn’t return to the group of rebels to continue our pretense. Every single one of them had hinged on the dark marks on Ilara’s wrists—the ones she didn’t possess—and so every one of them had been lying to us. There were potentially other rebels we hadn’t asked about Ilara yet, but chances were slim that they’d have anything of use to offer.

  More lies, more rumors, more whispered nothings. That’s all we’d encountered since Dolpheus and I set off on this quest to find Ilara, to prove that my gut could accurately sense the woman alive when everyone, even her father the King, swore she was dead.

  Do you think the girl was telling the truth? Dolpheus spoke through my mind. Even though we couldn’t see anyone around us as we set off in the opposite direction from which we’d come, the rebels had survived in this inhospitable region for a long time for a reason. They were smart and wily. Of all the places on O, I worried about our safety the most in the Wilds. The people that inhabited it displayed many of the same traits as the animals that occupied the parched land with them.

  In the Wilds, the land, its weather, its animals, and its people w
ere all significant threats. And now we had an ambush to worry about.

  I do think the girl was telling the truth. Don’t you? I said.

  Aye. Which means we have an ambush to look forward to.

  With a mowab rider! I said.

  That’s nuts, man. A mowab? How could anyone ever ride one of those nasty beasts? They’d kill you before they’d let you get close enough to touch them. How in the fuck could somebody manage to ride one?

  I have no fucking idea. I know I’d never try to ride one of those hell beasts.

  What do you think a woman who can actually ride a mowab looks like? Dolpheus said.

  I imagine she’s a beast of a woman, right?

  Aye. She’s gotta be. To ride one of those things? She’s gonna be big and hairy, probably.

  I laughed. And she’s going to be trying to kill us.

  Well, nothing new about that. They should have a gathering for all the people who want to kill us.

  Aye, maybe my father could lead it. It was my attempt at a joke, but my friend knew it was only halfhearted. My father might not be trying to kill me—at least, not that I knew of—but I doubted he’d care if I died. He was the reason we were out here baking to a crisp in the Wilds. He was the one to order the assassination of the woman I loved. The fact that he didn’t know I loved her didn’t do much to ameliorate the situation. He wouldn’t have cared even if he’d known.

  Dolpheus changed the subject. Why do you think this particular she-beast mowab rider and her crew want to kill us? What do they have against us?

  I was wondering the same thing. It must go back to our time fighting for the King. That was the only time we killed people that might not have necessarily deserved it.

  An irony that was one of the main reasons why Dolpheus and I left the army. Every kill we’d made while in the army was justified—a means to an end, a sacrifice for a worthy and noble cause, namely, whatever particular cause the King was championing just then, spinning to his people as something that was for their greater good. But none of the men and women we’d killed in the name of the King had ever done anything to us, beyond defending themselves from the threat we posed under our standard. These were the deaths that haunted us. The ones that theoretically shouldn’t. The ones that we’d dealt simply because the man or woman fought on the wrong side of a dubious right.