Chapter Twenty-Seven

Meryl's eyesight was getting worse by the day. Shapes were becoming fuzzy around the edges, like melting ice cream. She was becoming more and more dependent on her sixth sense. She felt weak, crippled, lost. Blind.

Early that morning, Azar rode into camp on a huge, brawny bear of a horse, a giant black breed with a blaze on his forehead. She had snuck down to Hemeget's smoky ruins during the night and stolen him from right under the mages' noses. His name was Káizahur, which meant "skull shatterer" in Akanep. Indeed, this horse looked quite capable of homicide. His eyes flashed, burning brightly in his coal-black face like two stars in the night sky. She said she had broken him herself, and had been riding him since she was ten, which was the year she killed her first Viper. It was a little sad how Scorpions and Vipers considered each other to be a subspecies that was brutish, inferior and dangerous.

Meryl decided to stay behind while the others went to take back Hemeget. She would rather not kill anyone, a sharp contrast to Azar and Ramla, who were itching to put their swords to use.

She wished the others luck, and took the stack of breakfast dishes down to the stream to wash them. When she came back, the lion was still dozing by the fire. She was wary of him, and his shape-shifting abilities unnerved her. He was nice when he was a human, but when he was a lion, it made Meryl jumpy.

Loading her pistol, Meryl trotted down, away from the campsite, then crouched down, crawling silently at ground level, scanning her surroundings. She soon found some scuffmarks on a rock, and not far away, some droppings left by a small animal. Something was living here; something that might be good to eat.

Sitting down cross-legged, leaning up against the smooth rock face, she waited. She was in a small hollow created by several jutting rocks. There was an overhang and a small cave, too small for her to fit into, and a large rock wall rising away skyward. She kept her eyes fixed on the cave.

Sure enough, about five minutes later, two small, beady eyes were staring at her from underneath the dark overhang. There was a small scuffling noise, and a little fuzzy face poked its head out cautiously. It was a bird of some kind, with a little pointed beak and a round feathery body.

It blinked at her and scuttled out, peeping bravely. It was followed closely by three others like it, small baby birds with no fear in their eyes. They looked up at Meryl curiously.

She coaxed one into the palm of her hand. It wriggled and peeped when she scooped it up, but she cupped it in both hands and brought it up to eye level. The little bird froze and stared at her with one beady eye. She smiled.

And then the notion of killing something for food was gone. Meryl knew that she could never harm one of these baby birds. Gently she set the chick down, and it scurried back into the cave, peeping indignantly, closely followed by its siblings.

She bent down to peer into the cave. It smelled slightly of dung and dry grass. There were rustling noises as the birds rearranged themselves, peeking out at her warily.

And sure enough, there were several piles of grass near the back of the cave. In these piles rested several shiny white orbs that gleamed in the thin bands of light that reached into the darkness. Eggs.

Excitement rising, Meryl reached into the cave to grab an egg. She was promptly rebuffed by a small but sharp peck on the back of her hand. Stifling a cry, she quickly withdrew her hand and inspected it. Small pinpricks of blood dotted it; but she brushed this off and stuck her hand back into the cave, determined to get some eggs.

Several minutes and many stinging pecks later, Meryl had gathered ten or so eggs and wrapped them carefully in her cloak. She trod lightly back to the campsite, making sure not to jar her precious cargo. Eggs! She had found food! A sudden sense of pride filled her, but she brushed it away. It wasn't that big of a deal, after all. She didn't even have enough backbone to kill something, anyway…

But, she had to admit to herself, the eggs were a pretty good find.

She kneeled down beside the fire, keeping one wary eye on the dozing lion. Meryl stoked the coals with a stick and it flared to life. She cracked the eggs into a frying pan and set it on the fire; the yolks were slightly tinged green. She hoped it wouldn't affect the taste.

After the eggs were fried, Meryl covered them with a cloth to hold the heat in and set the pan aside. The lion's nose twitched at the aroma of food. He opened one eye.

Then suddenly there was a bright flash of color, and Asim was sitting up, looking eagerly at the pan full of eggs.

Meryl glanced at him nervously, unsure of what to do. She unconsciously set her hand on the gun holster.

"I won't even come near you, so you can put that away," Asim said pointedly. Meryl blushed furiously, ducking so that her hair covered her face. She heard Asim sigh and shift his position. "So now that you know I'm a lion," he recited in a bored voice, "you're afraid of me."

Turning bright red, she didn't reply. She could feel Asim's steady gaze burning into her. "I- I- I'm sorry," she stammered, "I just… never met anyone who could t-turn into a lion before…"

"Rest assured, miss, that despite my lion-like qualities, which include fangs and eyes that glow in the dark, I really am quite nice."

Meryl smiled in spite of herself. Asim was so whimsical. "I know you are," she told him. He grinned at her. Her heart skipped a beat. Control yourself, she told herself sternly. "So, would you like some eggs?" she asked.

Asim nodded fervently. "Yes, please."

She dished up two eggs on each plate and handed one to him. The eggs were devoured in ten seconds flat. "Mmmm," Asim said appreciatively through a full mouth. He swallowed and said, "Where did you find these?"

"A little ways away, in a small canyon," replied Meryl, cutting her eggs up into smaller pieces. "I found some scratch marks on a rock, and a small cave. There were these little birds, baby chicks, and they were the cutest things ever. I reached in and got some eggs, but the birds managed to give me a few good pecks." She showed him the cuts on her hands.

Asim raised his eyebrows, and without warning he took her hands in his. Meryl's breath caught in her throat. He inspected the cuts, and after a moment's thought, several red-orange sparks flew from his fingertips, dancing around the cuts, and sinking into the skin. And then it was whole; the scabs and the redness disappeared with no trace of ever being there. There was a funny tingling sensation. Meryl gasped as she saw the peck-marks vanish right before her eyes. She noticed how firm and warm Asim's hands were.

"There," said Asim approvingly. "That's better." He let go of her hands. Meryl felt another blush rising to her cheeks.

"Th-thank you," she stammered, "but how did you do that?"

"Healing magic," explained Asim. "I'm the special one in the family."

"So your sisters have different kinds of magic?" asked Meryl. I think I'm getting the hang of this conversation thing. Her hands still felt warm from when Asim had been holding them.

Asim nodded. "Samira can see into people's pasts and futures, though personally I think that's nosy. Ramla can navigate the Shadow Realm, which I think is slightly unnerving. Their powers aren't as everyday as mine are, so I use mine more." He smiled at her. "Your hands feeling okay now?" Meryl nodded, ducking down to hide another blush, and began to eat her eggs.

They ate in silence, listening to the peaceful morning stillness of the desert around them. Then there was a sudden flurry of scuffling and footsteps, and Suzuko and Mokuba came tumbling over the cliff. Suzuko took one look at the food and began to screech distraughtly. "Eggs?" she screamed. "You is eating eggs! How sick and disgusting!" She was about to throw herself at the plate of eggs, but Mokuba grabbed her and held her back.

"So the sparrow brat returns," said Asim, amused. "Tell me, where were you two?"

"We were—seeing the others—off—" Mokuba grunted, struggling to keep Suzuko restrained. "They're probably at Hemeget by now." His brow furrowed in silent worry.

Asim rose to his feet and swiftly stepped forward, grabbing Suzuko by the back of her shirt and lifting her into the air so they were eye level. "You leave my food alone, and I'll leave you alone. Got it?"

She froze in midair, eyes wide. "Yes, sir."

"I'm glad that's understood." He set her back on the ground, and his dark mood was shed as soon as it had come. He sat back down beside the fire and gestured for Suzuko and Mokuba to do the same. Suzuko would not touch the eggs; she ate some dried provisions from the camel's packs instead.

Together they sat around the fire, waiting; fear was stirring in their hearts. For not far away, a great battle was about to begin.