Mage's Blood by David Hair

Author:David Hair
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy
ISBN: 9781780871943
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books
Published: 2012-09-26T14:00:00+00:00

19

Offered Hands

Kesh

The Keshi call their land the forge of civilisation, where impurities are burned away. Life is surely ancient there. The plains are littered with old tombs; the caves are decorated with primitive drawings. The Amteh Faith began here, where the Prophet Aluq-Ahmed had his revelations. Though much of the land is barren, around all water there are throngs of people living on top of each other like ants. There are arguably twice as many people in Kesh alone as in all of Yuros.

ORDO COSTRUO COLLEGIATE, PONTUS

Kesh and Hebusalim, on the continent of Antiopia

Awwal (Martrois) 928

4 months until the Moontide

Kazim had thought that they would travel northwest from Gujati, but instead Jamil sold the horses and took them east at a leisurely pace through a maze of low broken hills where snakes basked on the rocks and jackals yowled. The new moon, a vast crescent, covered a third of the sky for most of the night and part of the morning. Jamil seemed to know all the small waterholes in unexpected places, and Kazim became progressively more nervous over just who the captain was; there was no escaping the fact that they were entirely in his hands now. Haroun had no qualms at putting his life in Jamil’s hands, but Kazim and Jai still exchanged wary glances.

On the third day, with hours still to go until sunset, Jamil made a pleased noise in his throat and pointed to a distinctive pillar of rock, a massive shaft the size of a house, with another as big lying athwart it. ‘Ha! We have arrived,’ he announced, and led them to a sandy space beneath the pillar. To their surprise it was heavily carved and shaped, and a door was set in the stone. As Jamil went in they glimpsed a sizable room within the rock. He emerged with a small gourd in his hands. He unstoppered it, took a deep swallow and winced. ‘Fenni!’ he said, and handed the gourd to Kazim. ‘Sit down, relax. We’ve reached our destination.’

Kazim took the gourd and sipped – chod, the fenni was strong! – and stared truculently at the man. ‘Our destination? Here? I want to go to Hebusalim, not the middle of the Kesh desert. This is not our destination – if it’s yours, you can stay here, but I’m going.’

Jamil grinned infuriatingly, and Kazim bridled, longing to smash that smile off his face. ‘What are we doing here?’ he shouted. ‘Why aren’t we going north? Just who the Hel are you?’

‘Me? I’m the one who pulled your fat out of the fire and babied you across the desert, that’s who.’ He lounged against the stone. ‘I’m the man who can get you to Hebusalim faster than any other, and right now that’s all you need to know.’

Jai put a hand on one shoulder, Haroun grabbed his arm and they pulled Kazim away. They hunched together in the lee of a great rock. At last he growled, ‘Brothers, what are we going to do?’

Haroun patted his shoulder.

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