When Kiathi had mentioned that the desert would be hard to pass through, she hadn't been kidding. It took us well over two weeks to cross a stretch of land that, according to Jasiri, would only take a few days for a group of Thornpaw warriors. While most of us struggled to breathe in the hot air, some of the wizards (cough cough DRAGON) easily acclimated to the unforgiving climate- and proceeded to show off at every possible opportunity. We were all well ready to throw her into a river by the time we reached the one serving as a border between the Savannah and Zamunda.
"I must leave you here," Jasiri informed us stiffly. "I am not permitted to cross into Zamunda; that territory belongs to the zebra tribes. You will likely not find much resistance there; the zebras care nothing for the troubles of the Spiral, and so Morganthe will not have laid such heavy spells upon them. Good luck on your quest, and please, wizards - do not fail us now."
"Thank you for your help, Jasiri," Kestrel replied with a small smile.
"We'll do everything we can to stop Morganthe," Tyler added. The lioness bowed, and without another word she turned and bounded back into the Savannah.
"Alright, let's get going!" Dragon declared, jogging in place. Several of the others grumbled and glared darkly in the Pyromancer's direction as they passed.
"You know, Alex, I'm not usually a violent person..." Kestrel began grumpily, "...but I'm starting to see the joys of beating people upside the head with large sticks." She stuck her tongue out at Dragon and dragged her feet as she headed towards the Zamunda Bridge. I followed the other Necromancer, trying hard to resist the temptation to do just what she'd been debating.
-V-
We crossed into Zamunda just as the sun was setting. The view was breathtaking - it really was - and I had to pause for just a moment, admiring the beauty in the time before its inhabitants would attempt to kill-slash-maim-slash-capture us.
The sun turned the sky a shade of deep amber, and a pale light lingered over Zamunda. The faintest breeze blew through the hilly landscape, and in the distance I could see the Haraka River.
"It's so beautiful," Kestrel breathed, staring at the Zamundan territory with wide eyes. "It reminds me of something…"
I glanced towards her. "Do you remember anything new?"
"I'm not sure…" she shook her head. "My memory's still really fuzzy. I think I remember a sunset somewhere."
"Don't push it; I'm sure you'll remember when you're ready to," I reassured her.
The Necromancer raised one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. "It's just… taking so long. I feel like I should have at least remembered where I used to live by now, but there's nothing there. I remember nothing." I tried to think of something to say to her, but before I got a chance, Tyler tapped me on the shoulder.
"Hey, Alex? There's movement down there. We've gotta go." Without another word to me, he stepped away, glancing almost reassuringly at Kestrel as he did so.
-V-
Thankfully, most of the zebras were asleep when we passed through Zamunda. The few sentries that stood guard were inattentive to their task, rather choosing to nap or chat with another zebra, which made our job of sneaking very, very easy.
As simple a task as it could have been, the other leaders and I chose to continue on rather than try to remove the Beguile spells placed on the zebra leaders and their followers. Morganthe was definitely our top priority, and we couldn't afford to waste even a minute. Dragon insisted that she could "beat 'em before they even get a chance to sound the alarm!" and that she would "get back before anyone noticed her!" but Tyler was having none of it and quickly put the fiery pit fighter in her place. The younger girl settled for grumbling about the unfairness of the situation, although she went quiet whenever Tyler glared at her.
Despite Tse Tse's assumptions that we'd need a boat in order to cross the Haraka River, Cassie quickly found an alternative in the use of her spell cards. She and Eric worked together to weave a Tempest spell, which swept the water in two opposite directions and left a moderately dry path for us to take.
Stone Town rose in front of us just across the river, a massive city of domed roofs and light colored bricks. Had it been daytime, we would have had a very difficult time passing through the city unseen, but we were strangely lucky. The entire town seemed to be asleep- a blanket of silence lay over every house, and even my own footsteps sounded loud in the night.
"Excuse me." The soft voice startled me, and I yanked an athame from my sleeve as I spun to face the speaker. An elephant woman stood before me, hands raised in a gesture of peace. "I mean you no harm, wizard girl. My name is Tala Snakesquisher, and I was told to watch for you."
"By who?" Tyler hissed, tightening his grip on his spear. "Morganthe's lackeys?"
The elephant snorted quietly. "You think those brainless fools would bother with a lowly, possessed merchant?" She chuckled. "No, I was away when the Lady of Shadow arrived and cast her poisonous charms over my people. Although it took much skill, I was able to evade her and retain my free will."
"Alright, so you're working against Morganthe. Someone told us to come here and find you- that you might be able to help us."
"Understandable. I am one of the few free elephants left in Stone Town; not even the little Prince was left free." Tala shook her head in disgust. "What help do you need from me?"
"We need to get to the Drum Jungle," Kestrel spoke up as she fiddled with her mechanical wings.
"The Drum Jungle? That is the very heart of Morganthe's territory. Why would you want to go there?"
"Let's just say that we're looking for a way to stop her," Tyler informed the merchant.
I nodded. "I wish that we could tell you more, Tala, but we've got to keep our mission as secret as we can, just in case the information … leaks out, somehow."
"That is sensible. Now, there are two ways to enter the Jungle- by the toll bridge, or by river. The bridge is not an option, for obvious reasons. You will have to travel by boat- and unfortunately, I do not own a boat. However, I do know of someone who does, and he may be willing to bring you to the Drum Jungle."
I weighed our options. With proper cloaking spells, there was a way we could sneak over the bridge, but Tala was right- it was too risky. "Okay. Who is this person?"
"His name is Hannibal Onetusk. I will take you to him in the morning- right now you are tired and should rest. There is room for you in my shop's basement; you can stay there, and I will bring you to Hannibal just before dawn. Come."
-V-
Tala, it seemed, ran a massive trade business that was constantly shipping things into and out of Zafaria. Her shop wasn't large, but the storeroom beneath it was massive. My friends and I were able to spread out comfortably, and while most fell asleep quickly, I remained awake for a long time. Tyler and Kestrel were talking to one another in hushed tones a short distance away. I couldn't help but overhear their whispered conversation as I lay on the floor.
"There are days when I can't stand it," Kestrel was saying. "I don't know who I am. I don't remember my family, any friends I might have had… nothing."
"Surprisingly, I kinda know how you feel," the Archmage replied. "There are days when I'm trying to remember a detail about Chris and I can't seem to picture it. Sometimes I even have trouble remembering his face." He laughed bitterly. "Kind of ironic, you know, since we looked almost exactly the same. There were differences, though, if you knew where to look."
"It sounds like you and your brother were close," Kestrel said to him.
"We were. I mean, we had our fights, just like everyone else, but people always commented on how we were inseparable. You never saw one of us without the other - we even considered taking the same Secondary School for a while, but Chris figured that we'd do better in duels if we had a wider range of spells to use. He was right, of course."
"Mmm. I wonder if I had any brothers or sisters," she said thoughtfully. "That would be cool, to one day meet someone and suddenly remember them."
"Like Sabrina and Adrian, you mean?"
"Kind of, but they didn't really know each other. I would have known my siblings pretty well, since I was seventeen when Moira took me." I could almost hear the frown in her voice. "At least, I think I was seventeen… I can't remember."
A/N: It's been way too long- BUT NOW I HAVE RETURNED. XD *Does happy dance*
It only took me … like … six months to write this chapter. 's all good. O_o But hey- now it's done, and I may or may not have an easier time with chapter 31 :D I suppose I should apologize, though … I write out the plot for this story in chunks of ten chapters, and this particular section is REALLY dry and REALLY kinda boring. I'm doing my very bestest to make it more interesting, but I don't feel like it's made a ton of a difference. By chapter 32 we will be right back into the thick of the crazy, angsty plot-ness, though, and things shall get more interesting- particularly once we hit chapter 37-ish, because that's around where I'll end Zafaria, and of course, after Zafaria comes … AVALON! XD I know you're all excited for it :P (Although I doubt anyone's as excited for it as I am … since, you know, I've been flipping out about it for months now xD)
Chapter 28 focus characters: Chase, Steven and Austen (I didn't do as well as I'd hoped, since most of you mentioned Chase and Erica, so now I know- I must work harder on my resolution for coming chapters! Thanks to everyone who commented on that :D)
Le review replies (and these are for chapters 28 and 30, by the way)
BuBuWinter: Le welcomes :3
And once again, I find that I must rewrite (not that I'm complaining- I'd rather have it perfect xD Also- undetailed is definitely a word.)
Heehee xD I shall have to P.M. you something that isn't quite spoiler-ish but is pushing what I'd like to put in le chapter …
Yeah, that kinda makes sense- is sorta like what I'm doing with le resolution, then? Just focus on the very-characterized characters and a few minor ones? (I'd say that I'd try characterizing them all at once, or putting more than just 3 in each chapter, but I feel like I'd get overloaded again and that would be bAd.
BECAUSE I MUST- FOR SCIENCE! (Completely necessary MySims Kingdom reference there … xD)
scarletfireblaze: Yes, it has been started officially, as of chapter 28. :) Like I said above, though, I didn't do as well as I'd been hoping to, so it might not have been obvious that I was focusing on specific characters.
I'm sorry it's been such a long wait for this chapter … I promise to at least try and do better with le updating now that summer has arrived :D
Alex Rider: That's an interesting idea; I'll have to keep it in mind for when I write the third installment in le saga :) :)
Guest: (For your review on chapter 7): Well, in case you can't tell, I'm kinda swamped with O.C.s at le moment … if you'd like, I can try to fit him in somewhere as a minor character with a 1-3 chapter appearance, or something to that effect … I dunno. I don't want to say NO, persay, but I don't want to keep your character from getting the attention he should have in a story. :/
