Chapter 66 Desert City

Gia slept for the next day and a half, waking midday on the second day since she was rescued, and looked out, hoping to see wastes, but instead, sand still spread as far as the eye could see.

"Why are we still in the desert?" she asked, panicked. "There's all sorts of horrible monsters here!"

"When we escaped the giant snake and worms, we got turned around. We've tried to figure out where we were based on the stars, like we used to when we were here last, but I didn't recognize any of them," explained Sudar apologetically. Brin is too upset over losing his elephant to offer much help, and Kei doesn't remember the stars from up here well enough to offer much help. Sadly, Geth was the expert at finding the perfect way through the desert."

"He didn't do too well this time," muttered Gia, remembering the snake that had eaten him.

"No, I'm not sure, but I think he fell to the madness that the orcs are always warning us of. I've had lots of time to think over it, and he was showing all the classic signs. Do you mind telling me what he said, if anything, to you while you were with him?" asked Sudar.

"He was going to take me to some city, before he did anything. He never said what, but I didn't really want to ask," she said, shuddering at the memory.

Vonn wrapped his arms around her and held her to him until the shivering stopped. She took a breath to get herself under control and gave him a smile in appreciation.

"I'm glad he didn't do anything worse," said Carla, glancing at Tom as if they had discussed something, and Gia nodded.

"I was so worried he had killed all of you, so you couldn't follow and try to get me back, but he said that was one of the rules of being a trader, was that you didn't kill anyone."

Sudar gave a laugh and said, "That was a rule we came up with when we first decided to be traders. It was mostly to keep him in line because he was always a little outside the laws, no matter where we went. I don't think we've talked about those rules since we first made them. Good thing we did!"

"Do you think you could tell us a little more about this madness you've mentioned?" asked Tom, frowning down at the sculpture he was currently working on. There were plenty beside him, and Gia knew that he carved faster when he was stressed or upset.

"It makes you fixate on one thing until you die. The example given to us was of an orc that hunted the sand bugs on the edge of the desert. He became fixated on hunting enough for his family, because they ate them, but he never stopped hunting, even when there were hundreds back home. No one could get through to him that he needed to stop, and eventually a sand worm ate him."

"But, how could he survive without water?" asked Mikey.

"I think he must have been drinking…" began Sudar, but Gia jumped in.

"His family was probably taking him water, if they were trying to convince him to stop hunting, or he was getting more water when he returned with the bugs he had already hunted," she said.

Mikey nodded and turned back to his pet. Sprout didn't seem to like the desert and refused to come out of the pouch.

"Well, will you look at that!" exclaimed Sudar after a few moments had passed. "That's the city we found before!"

Gia turned, with everyone else, to see a huge city carved of stone, sticking up out of the desert. The sun was starting to set behind it, making it look lit up from within.

"Does anything live there?" asked Gia after a moment of silence.

"There were these snake people who lived there the last time we came. They were really friendly, but told us they weren't interested in trade. There was plenty of leftover stuff from the people that had lived there before, that they were using. We didn't stay long because Kei was king of freaked out by them. I think it was because one of the girls had asked him if he wanted to help her lay eggs."

"Seriously?" asked Mikey, as the adults all shook their heads in disbelief and amazement.

"We never know what another race will think when we meet them," said Carla to Mikey, calming him down as the excitement in his eyes started to make him fidget and move around.

"Will I be able to get down and move around?" he asked, as the city drew closer.

"I certainly hope so," said Tom. "I could use a break from being in this elephant for a bit. I don't know how you could accept this as a lifestyle."

"I love it. I'm never in one place for more than a day or two, I don't have to worry about crops or animals, or making people upset because of what I choose to do. Plus, I never know what adventures I might find myself in," laughed Sudar.

As they drew closer, Sudar pointed out an approaching sand worm, and they sped the elephants up to get to the city before it reached them. Gia hated it. She was sure it was going to fall any moment with the way the sand was causing it to slide around so bad. But they reached the city and the worm turned away, not willing to mess with the people in the city.

As they climbed from the elephant, after a moment of looking around, a snake man, carrying a large sword appeared out from behind one of the buildings. He looked like a giant snake, with the chest and arms of a man. His belly was almost the same color as the sand, but his back was a vivid green. Gia was surprised to see that color in the middle of the desert.

"Welcome, human traders. We remember you from your last visit. Why are there only two of your beasts?" asked the snake man, not having a lisp like the giant snake had.

"One of us had become stricken with the madness the orcs sometimes get when they enter your desert, and tried to come here on his own. We ran into giant snakes and sand worms trying to catch up with him, but he died and we lost the other two elephants," explained Sudar, walking out to greet the snake.

"It is a dangerous time for you to be here," said the snake after a moment of thought. "Our young are hatching, and they don't always recognize friend from foe. It may be alright if you avoid them, but if they see you, they may try to attack you since you are not one of us."

"We only wish to refill our water and restock our food stores so that we might be able to continue trying to get out of the desert," said Brin, approaching from the other elephant.

Kei was staying by his elephant, checking for damage from the run, and keeping an eye on the desert just outside the city gates.

"Those things can be arranged," the snake man nodded, motioning them to follow him into the building closest to the gates. "You can rest here, while we bring you what you ask for. I would let you wander through the city, as you had the last time you were here, but our young make it too dangerous for you."

"Thank you," said Tom, Vonn, and Sudar, all at the same time, causing them to chuckle.

Gia looked around the room she found herself in, and saw with a sigh that there was no furniture of any kind. Not having legs, these snake people must not need to sit.

"I will fetch some of the furs from the elephant for us to rest on," said Sudar, heading back to the elephant.

"I'll go with you," said Vonn.

"Mikey, stay close," said Carla, but he had already darted into the next room.

"I'll get him," sighed Gia, moving to follow after him.

Stepping into the next room, she looked around, and saw him hunched down talking to someone in a back corner.

"You're so pretty! Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you."

"Who are you talking to?" asked Gia, as terror suddenly raced through her. Had he found a baby snake person already?!

Whatever the small green figure was, it was definitely not a snake baby. Gia drew closer, hunching down as well, so she wouldn't tower over the tiny figure.

"It's a baby goblin," said Mikey. "He said that he was lost and trying to hide from the snakes, so they don't eat him."

"Goblin?" asked Gia, "I've never heard of them before. Where is your family?"

"I.. I lost," whimpered the tiny green figure, looking up at her with big red eyes that were filled with tears. "I climbed in crack to escape brothers. Brothers mean. Try hurt Og and eat Og, but Og hide. Climb up crack and get chased by snakes. Snakes eat Og too. Og scared!"

The tiny figure was probably the same size as Sprout, Mikey's Limcheez, but with long spindly legs and arms. Gia looked around to see if she could find the crack the creature was talking about, but didn't see one anywhere. How far had it been chased, and could the snake be one of the babies they were supposed to avoid? Gia shuddered. She was tired of snakes.