Corpse Road: A Montague & Strong Detective Novel by Orlando A. Sanchez

Author:Orlando A. Sanchez [Sanchez, Orlando A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bitten Peaches Publishing
Published: 2024-01-28T00:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

We arrived in the center of a desert.

The hot sun blazed down on us as I looked around. Everywhere I looked it was dunes of sand. They went on as far as the eye could see, making an ocean of rust-colored sand extending into the horizon in every direction.

“This doesn’t appear to be the Simum Market,” Monty said. “Or any market at all, for that matter.”

“What makes you say that?” I asked. “The fact that everywhere we look it’s just sand?”

“Well, yes,” Monty said, looking up at the blazing sun. “Where did my uncle teleport us?”

“He teleported us into the Sahara,” I said, wiping my brow as the sun baked my head. “This is just perfect. Where are we? Do you have any idea? Are your mage senses giving you any clues?”

Monty looked around, raising a hand to shade his eyes as he turned in a slow circle. After about ten seconds of a slow rotation, peering into the distance, he faced me again.

“I have no bloody idea,” he said. “This is not our plane, or any plane I recognize. It would appear my uncle made a slight miscalculation.”

I stared at him.

“A slight miscalculation?” I asked. “This is a slight miscalculation?”

“I just said that,” Monty said, peering off into the distance again. “This place does seem quite barren.”

“You needed to turn in a dramatic circle to tell me what I already knew?” I said, raising my voice. “Why would Dex teleport us to Tatooine?”

“This is Kengir, not Tatooine.”

“How do you even know?” I asked, my voice slightly tinged with panic. “You’ve never been to Kengir.”

“My apologies. I hadn’t realized how familiar you were with desert planets,” he said without looking in my direction. “Can you refresh my memory? How many trips have been made to Tatooine?”

“Not even slightly funny,” I said with a growl. “Do you sense any energy signatures? Anything or anyone? Are we the only living beings in this desert?”

“Unlikely.”

Peaches let out a low rumble and growled. He nudged my leg, managing to swipe one of the sausages from my hand while I was distracted, and inhaling it before I could react.

<Hey! No eating the sausages!>

<The old man said they were for the trip. We are on the trip.>

<This is not a trip. This is a nightmare.>

<Sweet men are coming.>

<Sweet men? What does that mean?>

<They smell sweet. They are coming here.>

Off in the distance, I saw a plume of dust rising into the air. The shimmering heat distorted the image, but it appeared to be men on horseback.

“We have company,” I said, making sure I had easy access to Grim Whisper. “Can you sense their energy signatures?”

Monty closed his eyes and focused for a few seconds, before shaking his head.

“I can’t tell,” he said. “This plane…my access to my ability is different on this plane, limited somehow. I can tell they wield energy, but not much more than that. We need to tread carefully.”

“I can’t sense anything either, but it seems Peaches can read them,” I said, patting my hellhound’s ginormous head.

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