Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

"What have you done to me!" Tijari screamed as her whole stiff body trembled. Cracks began to form all over her surface and smoke shot out of the thin lines. "It burns! My God, does it burn!"

"The other vial!" I shouted at Ben, but he was one step ahead of me.

He'd already drawn out the glass given to him by Dakin and tossed the contents over the stone. The water sank into the cracks and doused the smoke. My mouth dropped open as I watched those same cracks seal over. The dirt fell off the rest of the surface like a brown waterfall and in a moment an entirely different statue stood before us. Her body was perfectly clean and lacking in any cracks.

Tijari's eyes rolled around inspecting her body. "You. . .you did it! You purified me!"

I turned to Ben and shrugged. "Second time's a charm?"

He frowned at the empty vial that had held the waters of the ghasl. "So it would seem."

"Wonderful! Fantastic!" she cooed as she wiggled her body. "I feel as young as the day I was carved from the stone and given life!"

"So you'll tell us what we want to know?" I asked her.

Tijari narrowed her eyes at me. "What? Of course not! You were insolent enough to throw impure water at me! For that insult, I will tell you nothing!"

Ben drew out another vial which he kept his hand closely wrapped around and gave it a shake in front of her. "I kept back another stained vial in case you said that. Would you like to experience that again?"

Tijari's mouth fell open. "You wouldn't dare!" Ben grinned and popped the cork. "Wait! Wait a moment!"

Ben paused and met the stone's gaze with his own steely one. "Then you'll tell us what we want to know?"

"Yes, yes! Now put that away!"

Ben tucked the vial back into his jacket and smiled at our business partner. "Then what do you know about the Thaqiba?"

"One of your own came to me some months back wishing to know something of the ruins on the island," Tijari revealed as the stone furrowed her brow. "This client desired to know the origin of black market historical items being traded."

I lifted an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with the Thaqiba?"

Tijari glared at me. "Patience, mortal." The stone cleared its throat and continued. "I couldn't divulge my previous client, but I told this new mortal there was a hidden ruin near the Thaqiba where the treasures had been found."

"The ruins of what?" Ben asked the stone.

Tijari shook her head as much as she could manage. "That I do not know, but I do know that the treasurers were very great. Sculptures and diamonds, and the statues in the shape of serpents."

"Where might we find the entrance to these ruins?" Ben questioned her.

"To the east of the Thaqiba halfway between those towering spires and the hills that hide the ghasl."

A smile slipped onto Ben's lips before he bowed his head to the stone. "Thank you for your information. It's been most helpful."

"Don't stay away too long!" Tijari cooed as Ben took my hand and led me through the basement. "And bring another gift for me! I'm sure I'll have information you would want!"

We slipped past the chute down which we'd entered and up the stairs. The dark shop was a blessing for me as starlight streamed in through the front windows. The heavy silence also meant that I could risk speaking the question that ate at my thoughts.

I looked down at his pocket where he had tucked the third vial. "When did you get some more of the ghasl water?"

Ben grinned as he reached into his jacket and drew out the glass. He popped the cork and tipped the vial so the mouth faced down. Nothing came out. "A little trick to ensure our agreement remained intact."

I snorted as he tucked it back inside his coat. "What would your mother say?"

"That I was just like my father," Ben told me as he peeked out the front door. He inspected the area for a few moments before he nodded at me, and together we slipped out into the night.

A chill had taken hold of the darkness that reminded me only vaguely of the horror I had felt upon touching the water of the ghasl. We drifted through the streets, mindful of the patrols, and traveling further northward toward the desert.

I was glad when we reached the nothingness of the sands and our backs were to the dangers of the soldiers. It was like being back in Validen without my ribbon. Speaking of that, I dearly wished for my useful little trinket as Ben trotted along ahead of me in his own disguise.

We stopped at the edge of the sands and I looked him up and down. "There doesn't happen to be a way to get your look without the curse, is there?"

A faint smile touched his otherwise tense lips as he shook his head. "Would that there was."

I followed his gaze to the desert and the spinning towers of sand far into the depths. "So we fly?"

"We fly, but only part of the way," he told me as he turned and held out his arms to me. "We may be spotted by the magikologist group."

"So you thought the same as I did," I mused as I hopped into his arms and his wings opened behind him.

He nodded. "Who else but they would be interested in black market statues and forgotten ruins?"

Ben leapt into the air and flew far higher than he'd flown before. So high, in fact, that I tightened my grip around his neck before I dared a look down. The city now looked like a toy model, and that was fast disappearing behind us as we headed north to the center of the island.

Being so much closer to the spiraling sands, I could see what Ben meant earlier about their movement. Even in the darkness, they did appear to have slowed in their turning, though they hadn't lost any of their shape. A few campfires dotted the sands not far from the feet, and I could only imagine Maram rubbing her hands together thinking about the next day's victims.

I turned my thoughts away from those darker things to older things. "I wonder what the ruins were that Tijari mentioned. With so many different things, do you think it could be the palace?"

"It isn't likely," Ben mused as he nodded at the hills to our right. "The old palace was located on the western shore of the city."

I shrugged. "Maybe they got washed inland during the flooding."

Ben furrowed his brow. "That's possible. There really is no way to tell how the catastrophe affected the landscape once it buried everything under so much wet sand and water."

I inspected the dark sands beneath us searching for any sign of the magikologists. "You think they have another group out here and one by the eastern road?"

"I wonder that they had any near the eastern road with the palace having been on the western shore," Ben mused.

I lifted an eyebrow. "What are you getting at?"

"That something is amiss and the ruins may be the source of the trouble."

I recalled our spooked qasi and couldn't help but shudder. "There was that shadow around there, too. Our qasi got scared by that thing like it did at the river with the creature."

Ben pursed his lips. "We'll have to keep one eye on the shadows at all times."

We continued our flight over the dark sands and came within a mile of the Thaqiba. Their towering height and steady turn still mesmerized me, so much so that I jumped when Ben tapped my shoulder with his hand.

He nodded at a single light about two miles to the northeast of the sand columns. We swooped in lower and landed in an oasis about a mile from our objective. The fresh scent of plants and a few wild berries surrounded us and soothed some of my frayed nerves. Ben led me through the dense jungle and to the northerly end where we crouched down. The relatively flat desert allowed us to see far off and the faint light he had detected still flickered low in the sand.

"How are we going to get near it without being seen?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "I'm not-"

A low rumble made us both jump, and we whipped our heads around to find ourselves face-to-face with a dakhma. The large creature flicked out its long tongue and its curious dark eyes stared at us. I smiled and reached out where I stroked the fur under its chin. It was surprisingly soft. I couldn't help but laugh as the creature leaned into the touch and its eyes became half-lidded.

"Are you all alone out here?" I whispered as I looked around. The creature's good humor drooped and it let out a mournful cry.

Ben's eyes twinkled as he moved to stand beside the creature and stroke the top of its head. The strange animal seemed to purr. "This may be our way of getting near the light."