“And that’s what’s waiting for us in the desert?” Morell asked. Hoxley on the other hand rolled her eyes.

  “Siouxsie!” the faun girl said as she crossed her arms. “Don’t tell them things like that! You’re going to have them scared half to death to where they won’t be able to sleep.”

  “Can you prove what I said isn’t true?” Siouxsie asked her.

  “No, but can you prove what you said is true?”

  “Not really.” Shrugged the witch

  “Then don’t make up things to scare people if you don’t have to.”

  “Sorry.” The witch girl said looking down at her boots. Hoxley looked at the two boys who still looked spooked.

  “There’s no shapeless whispering dark things waiting to snatch people in the desert,” She assured them. “Or at least I’ve never heard of anyone seeing anything like that. Let’s get moving. the edge of the desert by sundown.” Morell looked confused

  “If it’s Everlight Desert, why would it matter what time we get there if the sun is always up?”

  “It’s not always up.” Hoxley corrected him. “The desert somehow grows huge fields of crystals as tall as my legs. When the sun goes down, the crystals glow from having been in the sun all day. I suppose its similar in a way to how our blankets work. But instead of heat, they hold light. Drink your fill and top off your canteens now. Use your canteens sparingly. We’ll need to have as much as possible so we don’t die of thirst.” Everyone did as they were told and refilled their bladders and containers before setting off into the groves that lined the main road.

  It was an easy day of travelling. Passing clouds made sure the sun wasn’t too bright and an even breeze at their backs kept things pleasant as they traversed the wilderness. Sometime around midday, the prince picked up his pace from following to catch up to Hoxley.

  “Would you give me another lesson about swordplay?” he asked.

  “What lessons did I already teach you?”

  “To try and use words to avoid a fight and that running from a fight is always an option.”

  “You did pay attention.” Hoxley smiled a little. “Very well.” She swiveled about to walk backwards but managed to keep the same pace. “Sword at the ready.”

  “Can I watch as well?” Morell asked.

  “Of course.” She said. “Now, fighting as a human is a little different than fighting as a faun like myself but the fundamentals are the same. You’re both lucky to have some armor on you, but finding something to protect your torso along the chest and gut, even if it’s just simple leather armor will help keep you alive. Alright then. Now, you each will fight differently as a sword is different from a mace. A sword slashes and a mace bashes. A mace has the advantage in injuring someone because of the brute force of the strike. A sword injures my making hard contact with the body of an attacker. But since the prince has a shield, he can bash with that as well. Now since you’re both relatively new to fighting we’ll work on defense. When you’re in a fight stand with your knees bent and your body a little lower with your feet apart. Then turn your body slightly away so that your weapon hand is further away.” Both the boys took up positions as she described.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “There you go. Now hold your weapon at the ready. Like so…” Hoxley held her spear from the middle up to demonstrate the angle her imaginary sword set at a diagonal cant. “You’ll likely be attacked first so remember you can always take steps to the rear to stay out of range. Once out of range, return to your ready stance.” The boys nodded they understood. “There are eight angles that attacks can come from: the left, the right, overhead, from underneath and the four angles in between. Staying out of range of the attack is the first move, but once the attacker has committed, they may leave themselves open to attack.”

  “How do you know all of this?” Morell asked.

  “She traveled a long road with a soldier once.” replied the prince. The two boys squared up as they walked but couldn’t fully engage as they were each holding a deadly weapon. Noticing this, Hoxley spied a long limb on a tree with a thickness comparable to her spear. With a weighted swing the lyythium edge of the spear sliced through the branch with little resistance. Everyone in the party looked on in awe as she plucked the limb from the ground and proceeded to slice the limb into two equally sized sticks each as long as a sword or mace. She expertly whittled and trimmed away the excess bark and sprigs one, only to do the same with the other. A moment later she was holding a perfect pair of training instruments.

  “Here.” She pitched one to each of them which they caught. “Practicing with these instead of your real weapons will allow you to train with a little less fear. “You’ll need to have as much of your fear aside when you have to use the real thing. You two can swing at one another later when we’ve stopped, but for now we have to keep pace.” Both the prince and Morell eyed the substitutions with relish.

  “Have you been in many fights?” Morell asked.

  “A few.” she replied. “I don’t like to fight.” She reflected. “But sometimes it’s necessary. Now that I have this spear and not a simple pugil, I believe more of those thinking of becoming thieves will think twice before eyeing my saddlebags a second time.”

  Onward they walked, past swaying trees and rolling fields. On the horizon behind, the strange clouds continued their slow pursuit. Few people were on the roads which suited Hoxley just fine. In her mind, she could envision the cross roads ahead they’d need to pass. The plains and hills would empty themselves out onto a dry plateau bearing a single straight definable passage through the sandy dunes that lay beyond. Hoxley stopped the companions at the last tree line before venturing out onto the open. She watched to the left and to the right for anyone who might see them emerge from cover. The others curiously watched her as she reached into her saddle bags. After digging a moment, she produced a thick shiny brass cylinder with a lens of glass on the end. Her fingers pinched one end and pulled. The cylinder expanded and elongated and she put the smaller end to her eye to scan the horizon.

  “What do you have there?” Morell asked as he moved closer to take a look at the strange device.

  “It’s my spyglass.” She told him. “A stacked series of lenses that allow me to see further than usual.”

  “May I look through it?” he asked

  “If you wish.” She said, handing him the spyglass. Morell took up the lens and panned the horizon in the same manner. “This is fantastic.” He marveled. “I can see things that it would take me an entire day to travel toward.”

  “Let me see.” Said the prince, walking over to stand next to the boy. Morell offered the item and Prince Damron repeated the gesture. “Truly fascinating. One could spend all day looking through it. Wait a minute. I see some people!”

  “Where?” Hoxley asked.

  “Down by the crossroads that lead into the desert.” He pointed. “Wait. Those are my father’s men!”

  “Are you sure?” Morell asked.

  “Yes, I’m positive! There’s four of them, no five! And they’ve got one of them in chains!”

  “Chains?” Siouxsie and Robert said to one another.

  “Wait a minute…” the prince said. “I know that man in chains…it’s Idris!”

  “Idris?” Hoxley asked. “You’ve used that name before.”

  “Yes! Yes! Idris! He’s my manservant! The one in fancy purple robes! He’s practically raised me! It was his job to teach me everything about the world!”

  “Perhaps he’s in chains because they discovered how poorly he did his job.” Robert mumbled under his breath.

  “Stop it, Robert.” Warned Hoxley. “This is no time for a sharp tongue. Your highness? Are you sure this is your man?”

  “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.” He said, drawing his sword.

  “You can’t just walk down there with your weapon out.” Added Morell. “They’ll cut you down or disarm you and put you in chains as well.”

  “I’ve known that man since I was a helpless baby. That man is dear and loyal to me. I’ll not leave him to bondage.”

  “Then we must act.” Said Hoxley as she took her spyglass back and looked at the men. “There’s only five of them but they’re all armed with swords.”

  “What can we do?” asked Siouxsie.

  “We need a distraction so we can gain the element of surprise.” Said Hoxley. “None of those men have a bow or arrows.”

  “Meaning?” asked the prince.