I watched the light for a short time and then laid down to sleep. It was too hot to worry about anything else right now. And if I faced my doom, better to nap and not be cranky.
Not surprisingly, I dreamed about home -- about a city of rainbow colors and delicate towers. A magical shield had kept it hidden for a thousand years, protected both by the magic and by this inhospitable desert. The fair city of Nerian would not be easy for humans to find, unless they had a guide. To them, Nerian was a near-mythical ruin that most didn't believe really existed.
For me, it was home.
I forgot about the dust storm -- right until the first gale crashed over me. Dust filled my mouth, and I surged to my feet, coughing and gagging. I couldn't get a good breath, and I had trouble pulling a cloth from my pocket so I could cover my nose and mouth.
And then I ran into the lion with wings.
As days go, this had not been my best. I looked into the huge golden eyes that blinked and narrowed.
"Odd place to meet you, cousin," a disembodied voice spoke from above the lion's head and mane.
Glowing mane. Magic.
"Cousin," I repeated, testing out the word.
Someone slid off the lion and rushed toward me. I took a step back, confused for reasons I couldn't name. Then the stranger caught my arm just as I fell.
"Kero!"
He shook me, and my head rolled back and forth as though I had no muscles. That finally annoyed me.
"I have a knife in my boot. Kindly pull it out for me so I can slit your throat before you shake me again, Adon."
"There you are!" Adon shouted and missed my wince at the loudness. Then he pulled me into a tight embrace. "What in the name of the stars is going on, Kero!"
"I sent messages. Told the elders. Others looking too hard for the city --"
"You were taking them to the ruins of The City of Sunrise to distract them from Nerian." We both sat down in the shadow of Golden Mane, who shifted slightly to give us more room. I scratched under his chin and won a cheerful sound. "I had a sense of you nearby, and then of a problem. What --"
"Untrustworthy, gold-hungry human."
Adon made a hissing sound of anger and then grabbed me so that he could look at my head. I protested. As usual, that did no good. Adon rarely listened to me.
"That is a dangerous wound," he pronounced. "I will take care of it --"
"Until, sure no humans," I began and then fought for better control. "Leave the outer wound. Painful, but not dangerous, and easier to deal with than suddenly healed."
"You are not going anywhere near the humans again."
I caught his hand and looked into his worried face. "I have to make certain they get somewhere safely. I am their guide, Adon. And I can't abandon them all for the sake of one or two."
Adon fought me for a moment and then nodded. "Guide. You made that a pledge, not just a job description. And now you have to make sure they reach safety, if not the ruins of the City of Sunrise. You do make things difficult, cousin."
"Thank you for finding me."
"I worry every time you leave home."
"You would think that I always have trouble."
"Shall I list the events of the last ten years?"
I moved slightly, intending to stand, but changed my mind. Adon gave me water. The storm grew worse, but my cousin kept us safe. I could feel my own magic returning in small waves of power.
"We should ride Golden Mane back to Nerian," Adon said. "I want someone with better training to check your wound."
"I can't. You know that."
He sighed, barely heard over the sand whispering in the wind. "We should ride Gold for a few miles and go on foot when the storm eases."
"You can't come with me."
"Of course I can. You were left at a cache. I came across you there. Their caravan is the closest help we might find since they ruined the cache."
I wanted to argue. I didn't.
We followed the sand buses.
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