Ramii, Hudyn, and Skichip entered Ao’Hanoorat. To avoid detection, Skichip unsealed the Zon’A Gate in the middle of a rocky mountain valley, far from the Goyk settlement.

  Beneath Ao’Hanoorat lay a foundation of green crystal, unstable and easily melted, quick to burn. Among the Grandcrystals, arranged from lowest to highest, Ao’Hanoorat occupied the very bottommost tier. Its sky was entirely obscured by the vast, opaque underside of the Ao’Mahgar Grandcrystal.

  The scouting party equipped themselves with special sets of o’armor, jointly crafted by Ramii and Skichip. Each suit sealed the body from head to foot, with food and water stored within. A carapace was fitted along the back. Even the eye openings of the headpiece were shielded by a transparent membrane. The o’armors also served as camouflage.

  The three set out upon their journey on O’Ky wings, skirting a river of green lava that surged and seethed with savage force. At intervals, eerie fire-heads broke the surface, and glowing, viscous tongues lashed upward. So they kept close to the cliff faces, yet dared not fly too low.

  From the great river they veered into a narrower, more twisting branch, then into others still, as though tracing a network of roots through valleys of blackened stone. Before their eyes, the land’s green tones slowly bled into deep blood-red, while above them the sky remained oppressive and dim, a cold green light pulsing faintly through it.

  ‘Are we actually on the right path?’ Hudyn said. ‘Everything twists like a maze. This place feels familiar, as though we’ve flown through it already. You are sure the route is right, old man?’ He lingered pointedly on the word old.

  ‘Right,’ Skichip said, his voice no more than enough to let Hudyn know he had spoken.

  ‘How much farther to the second mark in the plan?’ asked Ramii.

  ‘Only half a red sky remains,’ said Skichip. ‘After that, a range of green mountains will bar our way. Beyond them lies a desert. Cross it, and the lands of the Goyk begin. I said as much before.’

  ‘Then let’s keep flying until we reach those mountains,’ said Ramii. ‘We can rest once we’re there.’

  Sweat soaked Ramii and Hudyn from head to toe. The dreadful heat of the place drained their strength all too fast, despite the thickness of their armor and the water layer that enveloped their bodies. Long before they reached the green range, Ramii’s sight dimmed, and he drifted toward the lava river below.

  “Watch out!... Fire!” Hudyn shouted, nearly gasping for breath. He too was spent, his flight wavering.

  Skichip lunged forward and hauled Ramii back toward the cliff face. He pointed to a rocky hollow halfway up the mountainside. ‘Go there. You both need rest.’

  They slipped into the crevice. It was cooler inside. Ramii and Hudyn drank water in small mouthfuls, little by little.

  ‘We’ll need a Floramina stronger than O’Ky,’ said Skichip. ‘Greater speed will ease the heat. It will drain our spirit far faster.’

  The drawn look had left Hudyn’s face. He turned toward Skichip. ‘You really are something, old man, aren’t you. Don’t you ever tire?’ A dry chuckle escaped him. ‘Easy now. I’m praising you.’

  They rested a little longer when the cliff began to tremble, the shaking growing stronger with each passing moment.

  ‘Out of here!’ Skichip shouted. ‘A volcano. OrokO’~ makaboni.’

  Great wings unfurled from Skichip’s back. The other two hastily called forth Floraminas of their own, replacing their O’Kys.

  BOOM… BOOM… BOOM…

  A deep, rolling thunder burst again and again, numbing their ears. The mountains split open on every side, followed by violent eruptions of green magma hurled skyward. The three streaked away without a glance back. Showers of sparks flared upward, then arced and rained down close behind them.

  When at last they had put a fair distance between themselves and the volcano, Skichip descended onto a low mountainside. The other two followed.

  ‘By all that’s cursed and crooked,’ Hudyn said, half laughing, half out of breath. ‘In all my life, that’s the first volcano I’ve seen with my own eyes—and the first that’s ever chased me. As a boy, I only heard tales of them.’

  ‘Now…’ Ramii gasped. ‘That route’s gone. Where do we go next, Skichip?’

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  ‘Up into open sky. Head straight for the mountain range. It should spare us the heat and keep us clear of the volcano.’

  Hudyn tipped his chin up, quietly satisfied with the sound of it, until Skichip added, ‘But it won’t spare us the enemy’s eyes. We’ll still have to fly low and circle that mountain.’

  ‘As you say… The Master speaks, and it’s always true,’ Hudyn said. ‘Anywhere’s fine, so long as we keep clear of those volc—’

  The ground beneath them shuddered again. No warning was needed. The three of them took off at once. Only moments later, the mountain behind them tore itself apart, erupting with lava even more violently than before.

  The scouting party had to weave their way around three volcanoes before finally reaching the range of green crystal mountains Skichip had mentioned. Ramii and Hudyn were utterly spent. One slumped down; the other lay sprawled the instant they touched down at the mountain’s base.

  What should have taken half a blue sky ended up taking three times as long. They rested there, then drew rations from their armor and ate, all the while keeping a wary ear tuned for any sign of tremors.

  ‘We still have a great desert ahead of us,’ Skichip said. ‘In your current state, neither of you would survive the crossing. You will sleep here for a while. I will keep watch over the volcanoes. Rest without worry.’

  ‘Oh, Master…” said Hudyn, taken aback. ‘Listen to that. All warm and concerned.’ His eyes glistened as he blinked at Skichip. ‘Is that really you? Don’t frighten me like this.’

  ‘You’re the one who’s frightening me,’ Ramii snapped. ‘Be serious for once. You could lose your life here without a moment’s warning.’

  ‘Easy, runt. Don’t lecture me. If I feared death, I wouldn’t be here with you. For now, I’m only following my Master’s lead. Aren’t I, Master Skichip?’

  ‘You’d do better to hold your tongues. Save your strength and get some rest,’ Skichip said, his eyes already closed as he stood motionless.

  ‘Oh… so our Master isn’t all that lofty after all. He’s just dozing there on his feet.’ Hudyn sighed.

  Skichip let the two of them sleep for quite some time before waking them. After that, they flew up along the steep mountainside. When the three reached the summit, a murky, ash-gray scene spread out before them. The wind howled fiercely and drove sheets of hot black sand. Beyond that, all that could be seen were massive rock formations hanging down from the sky, their shapes unsteady in a sickly, flickering light.

  ‘We can’t fly across that land,’ Skichip said loudly, forcing his voice through the gale. ‘We go on foot. Stay low.’

  Three shadowy figures trudged through the desert. Sometimes they advanced in a straight line; sometimes they zigzagged as the wind grew too strong. Ramii and Hudyn clung close behind Skichip; nothing lay ahead but his back. Ramii found himself thinking there must be some kind of compass in an ownan’s head, letting them keep their course without maps or landmarks, like migrating birds.

  The air was cooler, but the ground below radiated searing heat. In some places there was sand; in others, jagged shards of crystal littered the surface. Their feet burned. Beneath them, the armor at their soles flared in brief flashes, smoke peeling away. Every so often they were forced to halt, set their carapaces down, stand upon them, and wrap their feet in an additional layer of protection.

  The wind rose steadily. The three had to move close together. They bent even lower, each gripping both hands around the shell on the back of the one ahead. At last the wind grew so powerful that it shoved them off course.

  ‘The sandstorm has come,’ Skichip said. The noise had grown so immense that he spoke through the art of omi’Oa. ‘We halt here. I will invoke the orokO’. Stand close, the two of you.’

  He lowered himself first, then added, ‘Sit.’

  A rounded dome rose from Yooni seeds, enclosing the three. Beneath its rim, roots spread outward and drove deep into the earth.

  ‘It’s cramped,’ said Hudyn. ‘Even so, it’s better than being out there. This time I see it, Skichip. You made the dome small and round so the storm couldn’t carry it off, didn’t you?’

  Skichip nodded, though within the dark dome nothing could be seen.

  ‘How long will the sandstorm last?’ asked Ramii.

  ‘I can’t say,’ Skichip replied. ‘It may pass soon. Or it may last one sky. Perhaps two.’

  ‘That long…’ Ramii murmured. ‘Without you, I don’t think I could have crossed a land like this. Voznugaid wasn’t wrong to try to stop me.’

  ‘And you, and me, and Skichip coming here isn’t wrong either,’ Hudyn said loudly. The dome made his voice boom all the more. ‘Once you decide to go, you go. If you’re not harming anyone, there’s no right or wrong to it.’

  ‘Right. All I’d be doing is getting you and Skichip killed. Hardly harming anyone else,’ Ramii said dryly, his tone still serious.

  ‘Hudyn is right, Ramii,’ said Skichip.

  ‘Storms and volcanoes!’ Hudyn exclaimed. ‘The first time Master actually sides with me.’

  ‘Er...’ He slung an arm around Skichip’s shoulders—and was promptly brushed aside.

  ‘Sleep through the storm,’ Skichip said. ‘No more talking.’

  ‘Skichip the tyrant is back…’ Hudyn slipped in one last remark, then clamped his big mouth shut and closed his eyes.

  So they sat still, crouched inside the lightless dome. More than a ga’a passed, and the storm died down. They set out again on foot. The wind remained strong, yet now it favored them, running with their course. Overhead, the sky slowly shifted toward blue, a shade clearer than it had been.

  ‘Enemies! Enemies!’ Hudyn barked. ‘An ambush!’

  A few dark shapes nearby heaved themselves up from the sand.

  ‘That’s not it,’ Skichip said calmly.

  ‘Is that so?’ Hudyn said, drawn closer by curiosity.

  ‘Back. Now!’ Skichip shouted, sharp enough to make Hudyn start.

  ‘Go on, if you wish them to feed,’ Skichip added coldly, seeing that Hudyn had stopped short.

  What Hudyn had seen were ashspawn, the rare yet widespread species of Ao’Hanoorat. They were insensate, with almost no intelligence, living on volcanic ash and the bodies of their own kind, dead or still alive. Their survival in this brutal land lay in their special carapace. When sandstorms came, they curled into tight coils, hid within rock hollows, or tunneled beneath the sand.

  ~~~