19: Desert Cartographers

Vir rummaged through the bedroom for supplies.

“Riyan’s not even giving us ink and paper, so we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way,” said Maiya, casting a grim gaze at the small clay fireplace built into the far wall of the room.

The abode was well insulated owing to being underground, but they both appreciated the coziness of a fire, especially when staying up late into the night, chatting. A rarity these days, given how exhausted they usually were after a hard day of training.

“Probably because he expects us to mess it up & waste it,” Vir replied. He rolled up his sleeves and rummaged around the coals, making his fingertips black with ash. He selected a few suitable pieces of charcoal and dropped them into his rucksack.

“Let’s see…” Maiya said, looking around the room. “Water. We’ll want plenty of water if we’re venturing out into the desert. I’ll fill up our waterskins in the kitchen. D’you think we need blankets?”

“We’re taking Bumpy, right?” Vir asked. Bumpy was the name Maiya had bestowed upon one of Riyan’s two Ash’va’s, for its terrible ride. Despite that, Bumpy was the one she always picked if she had a choice. She’d dubbed the other one ‘Grumpy’. Grumpy didn’t like her very much.

As far as either of them knew, Riyan had never bothered to name the poor beasts.

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea, in case we get lost. But uh, let’s tell Riyan exactly where we’re going? I really don’t want a repeat of last time,” Vir said with a shiver, recalling how much pain he’d caused them both when he’d snuck away.

Maiya nodded vigorously.

With their bags packed and loaded onto Bumpy, they signed out on Riyan’s roster, leaving Neel behind to guard the abode.

“If you are looking for the oasis, you will want to head due south,” their instructor said as they left.

“Do we at least get a compass?” Maiya asked.

Riyan’s shrug said it all: you’re on your own.

“It’s like he wants us to get lost,” Maiya whispered.

Vir thanked Janak that the man failed to hear her.

Maiya yielded the reins to Vir—who was more familiar with Ash’va riding than she was—and sat behind him with her arms wrapped around his waist for stability.

Vir already had a general lay of the land, so he at least knew which direction led west to the coast. From there, he calculated approximately where south was by cross-referencing the position of the sun in the sky.

Bearing set, they headed out.

Minutes after they left, they came across their first landmark—a series of caves embedded into the hills. Vir brought the Ash’va closer for a better look. Some caves were tiny, only a few paces deep. Others looked as if they stretched on forever.

“Wanna go explore some?” Maiya asked with excitement.

“We’d better not,” Vir said, “Riyan warned us about them, remember? Said it was easy to get lost in there.”

“Mmm but still! I wanna find that secret supply stash he keeps in there,” Maiya said, staring into the darkness of the cave. “Not like there’s much else to do around here… Would it have killed him to live a bit closer to a big city?”

Vir nodded. “It’s off the beaten path, that’s for sure. I’m guessing that’s why he picked it in the first place. Wonder how long he’s lived here?”

Maiya tapped her chin. “Hmm. Maybe a few years? Everything feels new-ish, but not brand new, if you know what I mean?”

“Right. Like it feels lived in, but not old. Really wonder who he is, to have access to so much wealth. And that training dome? No normal person has something like that in their house.”

“I know, right? I bet he’s someone super famous,” Maiya said. “Definitely a Sawai noble of some sort.”

Vir urged the Ash’va onward, leaving the caves behind them and continuing south. A half hour’s ride had the sand dunes giving way to the endless plains that he’d visited on his solo outing weeks ago.

“Let’s stop here,” he said, dismounting and retrieving a piece of charcoal from the pannier on Bumpy’s rump.

“So, let’s put Riyan’s home at the very center of the map,” he said, placing the map on the ground and drawing a small dome to represent the house. “It’s surrounded by a desert on all sides, so we can add that. And then we have the caves and the transition to the plains to the south.”

Maiya watched as he worked. “You’re actually pretty good at this,” she said, sounding both irked and impressed at the same time. “Ah! Let’s add the coast to the west. Riyan said the coastline runs north-south, and that you’d run into the port city of Saran if you kept going north.”

“Okay. I think the coast was about a half hour’s ride to the west? So about the same distance as the plains, then.”

That came as a bit of a surprise to Vir. The ride to the coast had felt like it had been far longer. But everything was new to him back then, and he hadn’t really paid much attention to his surroundings.

“And you said we’d eventually run into the Godshollow if we keep going south?” Maiya asked.

Vir frowned. “Not quite. I’d gone southwest, which means the plains wrap around the desert, maybe in a circle. And I didn’t get anywhere close to the Godshollow. Just that the terrain where I was at felt similar to the land around the forest. And I think we’d hit the northern border of the forest, rather than the eastern border next to Brij,” he said, scribbling in the rough outline of the forest and their village.

Riyan had mentioned that his home was several hours from the Godshollow, so Vir tried to show that on the map. He also knew that the Godshollow extended all the way to the Viridian Coast to the west, which had been Rudvik’s initial destination, so he drew that in as well.

“Wow, this is really coming together, huh?” Maiya said. “Not bad for a few minutes of effort.”

She was right. They’d solidified their picture of the surroundings, but of course, there were still several empty spots.

“We know nothing about what lies east or north of Riyan’s place, but I guess we can look for that later. How about we go find this oasis you saw?”

Maiya looked around. “Hmm…. You said you’d ended up southwest of Riyan’s place before, right? And I saw the oasis in the distance on my left when we came to search for you. So that means it should be around here…”

“Actually, I think we’ve gone too far,” Vir replied, shaking his head, “We’re already at the edge of the desert.”

“Oh, right. Okay, let’s backtrack then.”

Vir stowed the map before mounting Bumpy. This time, he turned them around and headed slightly northwest.

But even after another half hour of searching, they weren’t any closer to finding the elusive oasis.

“I think we should call it for today,” Vir said. “We need to get back in time for our afternoon lessons.”

Maiya remained silent, hoping that she’d lay eyes on the oasis. But things were never so convenient. Searching for something so small in such a large desert was bound to be an arduous task. They’d have to try again some other ti—

“Found it!” Maiya announced, pointing to the right. Vir squinted, and sure enough, saw trees through the haze of the desert heat.

“Hiya!” He turned Bumpy toward the patch of green in the ocean of sand and ordered him to speed up.

The ‘oasis’ was on the smaller side. It took Bumpy only ten minutes to circle the entire thing. Tall coconut trees ringed the area, while small shrubs covered the ground all the way to the pond at its center. Small animals darted here and there, scurrying away as they approached.

“Weird for a pond to be all the way out here, don’t you think?” Maiya said.

“Actually, I wonder if this pond is fed by the same source that gives us water at Riyan’s place?”

“Could be! Doubt there’s much in the way of water sources in this area,” Maiya said, jumping off Bumpy. “I think this is a perfect spot for lunch, don’t you?”

She retrieved a picnic cloth and a banana leaf that had been folded around a package.

“Lunch!” she said, holding it up. “Nothing special. Just some sandwiches I threw together, but it should fill us up.”

“Thanks Maiya!” Vir replied. He’d been thinking of quickly wolfing something down once they got back. This was so much better.

Vir picked a spot near the pond under the shade of a coconut tree and stomped around for a few minutes to flatten the location. Maiya then placed the cloth, securing its corners with some pebbles.

“Not an unpleasant view,” Vir said as he kicked off his shoes and sat down beside Maiya, marveling at the amazing scenery.

He opened up his banana leaf and munched on his lunch, the leaf doubling as a convenient plate. The tomatoes, kale, cucumbers, capers, peppers, and salt all exploded with taste, making for a delightfully refreshing meal. All procured from Riyan’s pantry.

Watching Vir devour her sandwiches made a smug smile creep up on Maiya’s face. “So,” she said, “this is working out pretty well for us, huh? I mean, no one likes being constantly sore, but I can feel myself growing stronger by the day, y’know?”

“Same,” her friend replied between mouthfuls. “My endurance still sucks, but staying with Riyan was the right call. I can’t wait to get to some of the more advanced stuff he’s gonna teach us.”

“Only question is when he’s gonna ask us for those favors. Seems like it’ll be awhile, though. I can’t imagine we’d be of any use to him as we are now.”

“Right,” Vir replied. “I think our infiltration skills will be important for whatever he has planned, and he hasn’t even started teaching that to us.”

“But it’s not like we’re gonna go through with whatever he wants, yeah?” Maiya asked. The concern was evident in her voice.

Vir’s reply was immediate. “No way. We should start making preparations. Maybe we can make a cache of our own with food and water—basic provisions. Those caves we passed would be perfect for that.”

“Yeah. Then we could leave whenever we wanted to,” Maiya said, speaking her thoughts out loud. “The more he teaches us, the better I feel about taking our chances, if it ever comes to that. I wanna visit home. My parents must be worried sick about me. And… I miss them. A lot.”

“I do too, Maiya. In another few months, we won’t even need Riyan anymore. Then we can leave.”

“Just hope he gets around to teaching me magic soon,” Maiya said, twiddling her toes in the sand. “I’d be a lot more useful if I could cast fireballs.”

Vir smirked but remained silent. He could picture her horror when she discovered she’d be an ice mage. Fate had such a cruel sense of irony.

He broke out the map after he’d finished eating and added the oasis, putting it due south of Riyan’s home. Now, all that remained was to chart out the east and the north, and they’d have a pretty clear picture of the area.

“Let’s head back,” he said once he’d finished. “Wouldn’t want to miss our second round of torture now, would we?”

“Oh no. Anything but that!” Maiya said, placing the back of her hand on her forehead.

The truth was that Vir actually couldn’t wait to return to his training. Every moment spent in that sandy dome felt like it inched him closer to understanding some fundamental secret about his own body. He couldn’t shake the feeling that the prana inside him was powerful. He yearned for the day he could see it in action.

Vir touched the eight pronged tattoo on his chest.

If only I could unlock it somehow…

Jus then, something caught his attention. It took him a moment to realize what it was, but when he did, he looked up at the coconut tree that shaded them from the heat of the desert sun. Its powerful shadow seemed darker than usual, and Vir was thankful for it… But there was something else there, too.

In… its shadow?

Vir suddenly stood up, startling Maiya.

“What’s up, Vir?”

“I’m going for a jog.”

“Uh, what?” Maiya asked, but Vir was already gone, leaving his friend staring after him like he’d gone crazy.

Maybe he had gone crazy, but he had to be sure.

With the temperature being what it was, a single lap around the small pond was enough to get his blood pumping—and in so doing, his prana vision intensified. He was now immensely thankful for the very heat he’d complained about moments earlier.

Vir returned to Maiya, drenched in sweat. He peered at the shadow of the coconut tree.

He hadn’t imagined it! There really was something there. Something ‘gray’, moving ever-so-slightly. Unlike the other prana affinities that coursed through their respective elements, this affinity barely budged at all, which was why he’d never noticed. That, and it was the same color as the shadow itself.

Shadow affinity prana!?

Vir instinctively looked at the prana in his arm. But no, this was not the same. This was clearly different. Another new affinity.

He’d now discovered three affinities that weren’t supposed to exist. Rather than exciting him, he started to doubt the validity of his thesis.

Were these truly new, undiscovered affinities?

Or was something else going on? Vir only wished he had the answers.

“Sooo, uhh… Feel like telling me why you randomly took a jog around the pond? In a desert? Under the sun?” Maiya asked.

“I… really wish I could,” came his deflated response.