The Dragon Sands Box Set: Books 1 - 3 by C.K. Rieke

Author:C.K. Rieke [Rieke, C.K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crimson Cro Publishing
Published: 2019-02-04T07:00:00+00:00

Part IV

Kôrran’s Last Gift, and the Hunt Begins

Chapter Twenty-One

Howling winds bellowed as they wrapped around clay walls and shot down dark alleys. Nary a soul was heard on the dark cobblestone and sandy streets. Doors and windows were locked tightly. Linens were placed under closed doors to keep unwanted sands outside. The glow of warm candlelight from the inside of dwellings flickered as the blowing winds carried sands from the outlying desert. Voru was feeling the last remnants of a sandstorm as it blew through the city.

Preparations had been made, as they always were, for a sandstorm. The fountains were covered, that was always the first priority. Not one, two, or even three linens were placed on each— but four or five linens were mandated by the queen, and all were wrapped in heavy rope and sometimes iron chains. Next, all were ordered indoors, as there were no soldiers upon the streets, so no security could be ensured. Hence, all doors and windows were locked tightly. Those without homes were left to the mercy of the streets, and the storm. Abandoned dwellings, and even the alleyways themselves became makeshift shelters.

There were whispers up and down the streets though. Whispers of a beautiful woman offering shelter to those in need, those that were less-fortunate in the city. She offered hot food and a soft bed to any in need. These whispers had spread through the city over the last few weeks, and many had sought her out— the tall woman with olive skin and long blond flowing hair. Her eyes were said to be as blue as the clearest water from an untainted sacred source.

This had two effects on the weak and hopeless of Voru before and during the storm— Most considered this woman’s beckoning a trap, and avoided her clear blue eyes, yet some— sought her out, and took her up on her offer. There was a chance they all remained with her because her promise held too wonderful of food and rest, but there was always the chance the opposite was true. In Voru, as in all the three cities of the Arr on the Great Oasi, if something was too good to be true— it was.

As the homeless tucked under piles of refuse in the alleyways, and families tucked their loved ones in tightly to weather out the storm, in the Pyramid of Erodoran, the day and night went on as if the storm were nothing but a gentle breeze. Behind the thick, carefully constructed walls of the pyramid, no sand could enter. Once the windows were closed and locked, the only breath of the storm was felt when the front gate and door was opened. Hence, the door wasn’t opened except in emergencies. That was one thing the Queen Lezeral was insistent about— she hated seeing sand within the castle walls, as she left the pyramid infrequently. Most assumed she despised the desert, so the pyramid was to remain as if no desert existed outside. It was a different world in the interior.

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