For a few moments, the Adherent did not stir. She sat cross-legged, palms outstretched in the centre of her caravan, the light from flickering candles dancing upon her face. She opened her eyes, one a faded green upon a blood shot white, the other a jaundiced yellow upon yellow and glanced across at the female.
"Good. Tell the others to prepare as best they can."
The female nodded and flicked back behind the curtain. The Adherent curled her hair around her fingers near the nape of her neck. Long and black, dyed deliberately to hide her white albino hair. It won't be long, she thought, before hiding would no longer be needed.
* * *
It was shortly before daybreak when the caravan came to a halt. The Adherent dismounted her caravan and strode across to the rock formation before them. An arch that swept from one side of the valley to the other. Taryn Al Sayal flanked alongside her.
"Now", she muttered in her leader's direction, "we find out if the scholars have sent us on a fool's errand or not."
"The scholars are wise, Taryn, but they can only work with the information they have."
"It would have been wise not to anger the Yiazzis, her help could have been invaluable."
"You know the Morloch better than I. She lived up to her reputation."
Taryn nodded with a proud smile before moving to the arch, running her fingers along the undulating rock face. "It matches the description found in the old book...". She stooped down and looked at the creases in the rock. "Created by intelligence, not nature. I recognise the handiwork. Old but definitely Desertborn...."
"There should be a cave ahead. I shall go alone Taryn."
"That would not be wise!"
The Adherent lifted her hand to calm her acolyte. "Have faith. Praise Musaii."
Taryn returned the refrain through clenched teeth.
The air within the cavern was stilted and dry. She had expected darkness yet found the cave walls reflected a luminance from further within. Glass in the walls from heated sand.
She trod carefully. With hundreds of miles of worm sand behind her, it would be unwise to throw care to the wind now.
The Inspirtu Jadeists, like the Messiah herself, had spent most of their lives beneath ground, figuratively and literally. Like a desert orchid, they had risen from the ground and blossomed in the air before the jackboot of the Concordat had fallen upon them. The Inspirtu had left with the majority of the Desert Born, centuries ago. It was required reading for all Inspirtu children and she remembered Cadiz's calming cadence as he narrated the story to her on her sick bed. A young woman but a child in the ways of the desert.
She clambered over a small rock face and fell a few feet into a new chamber. The air felt different. Fresher. Light flickered from a tunnel beyond. With caution and no small amount of curiosity, she walked to the light.
The sand coloured rock began to give way to a grey stone. The air changed, the still dry air giving way to a refreshing breeze. A fragrance tickled her nose. She came to a round staircase descending further into the ground. She caught her breath, realising she had forgone breathing. Slowly she took each step, further and further into the ground.
And then she saw it.
***
She trod carefully. With hundreds of miles of worm sand behind her, it would be unwise to throw care to the wind now.
The Inspirtu Jadeists, like the Messiah herself, had spent most of their lives beneath ground, figuratively and literally. Like a desert orchid, they had risen from the ground and blossomed in the air before the jackboot of the Concordat had fallen upon them. The Inspirtu had left with the majority of the Desert Born, centuries ago. It was required reading for all Inspirtu children and she remembered Cadiz's calming cadence as he narrated the story to her on her sick bed. A young woman but a child in the ways of the desert.
She clambered over a small rock face and fell a few feet into a new chamber. The air felt different. Fresher. Light flickered from a tunnel beyond. With caution and no small amount of curiosity, she walked to the light.
The sand coloured rock began to give way to a grey stone. The air changed, the still dry air giving way to a refreshing breeze. A fragrance tickled her nose. She came to a round staircase descending further into the ground. She caught her breath, realising she had forgone breathing. Slowly she took each step, further and further into the ground.
And then she saw it.
*****
Taryn grew concerned. It had been several hours since the tribal leader had descended into the cavern. She cursed herself and howled abuse at the follower that had offered her his coat. She paced to and fro, impatiently. And then, as she glanced to the rock formation three hundred meters south, she saw the familiar cloaked figure striding towards her. As she neared, she saw a glint in the Adherent's eye.
"Adherent?"
"Do we have the route here stored in cartography?"
"Yes?"
"Collapse the cavern entrance and destroy these rock formations. Do it discreetly, as though by nature herself. Do it now."
"Adherent?"
"Do we have the route here stored in cartography?"
"Yes?"
"Collapse the cavern entrance and destroy these rock formations. Do it discreetly, as though by nature herself. Do it now."
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