Journey Though the Desert

After breakfast Arina kept her promise and I got to change into my traveling clothes which were white cloth pants, heavy white boots, and a brown short sleeved shirt. Not pretty by any means but were a lot more comfortable than dresses. I couldn't wait to be out of this desert for what may be the last time, and I didn't even care that I would have to ride on an antlion. Antlions were the only way you could cross the desert relatively safely, and I knew it would take the whole day to get to the pastures where I would leave the antlion for my horse drawn carriage. 

As I walked out the palace gate I looked around to see if Stewcan had shown up, more out of obligation than care. Of course he hadn't. I looked up at the Antlion with a carriage strapped, not behind but, onto the back of its shell. The beast was still just as terrifying as the first time I had seen one. It was the color of sand, and it laid on the ground with two of its legs covering its head as if it were trying to hide. 

"Heading to Singkook, '' Ask Parchy the royal antlion driver. He was an old Akatary man with buzzed gray hair, and wore dull clothes. He had a lute on his back and a box of supplies in his hands.

"Where else?" I replied.

"Well we're not going to be able to make it tonight."

"Why not?" I demanded, sounding a little unlady-like. I hoped Bregan hadn't noticed.

"You can't travel in the desert at night"

"We have before, " I protested.

"No we've traveled through the rocky trails at night, we'll be snake food if we try to travel the desert at night"

I wanted to protest more but Parchy had no reason to lie.

"So, what town will we be stopping in for the night?" Arina asked as I climbed into the carriage, and Bregan strapped my trunk to the back of the Antlion.

 "There is no town between here and Singkook, we'll be spending the night in the desert," Parchy said, strapping in the supplies he had been carrying.

Arina stopped mid way up the ladder and said "We'll freeze to death out there."

"That's the least of our worries," Parchy responded in Akarian with an eerily smiley voice. "Now get in, let's get moving."

If I hadn't been so distracted by the prospect of freezing I might have noticed that he just responded to Arina speaking in Fairian.

Arina climbed into the carriage who sat next to me, followed by Bregan who sat opposite of her. The carriage was small, barely enough room for four people. I was glad Parchy would be on top and not crammed in here with us.

"Up Barbados" Parchy called from his seat atop the carriage, and everything shook and rattle as the monstrous bug got up and began to move. Parchy began to strum a melody on his lute as he guided Barbados through the city, through the dunes, and into the Un-sera desert.

Most of the journey through the Un-sera desert was as uneventful as usual. The three sun beat down scorching the sands, the dry winds then blew the sand over hills and into valleys. Not much to look at out here but sand and the occasional cactuses. The only sound was the howling wind and Parchy's lute. But, that all changed once the third sun set, leaving only the greater and lesser suns. That's when it started. A distant rumbling and monstrous crack as if the desert had started moving and pulling itself apart. 

"Well, this is where we'll set camp," Parchy said as Barbados walked into a valley between two large sand dunes.

I started to speak when suddenly the carriage started to violently shake back and forth. I slammed into the wall then Arina then the floor. Arina screamed and Bregan stood up to brace himself on either wall. The luggage clattered on the back of Barbados, and for a horrible second I thought those things I had heard in the desert had found us. But, then everything was calm. One second. Two seconds. Nothing was happening.

"Hey big guy," Parchy voice came in from outside the carriage. "Get out here and help set up camp."

Too stunned to speak by what had just happened I picked myself off the ground, and followed Bregan, who looked like he was ready to fight, outside. It was hard to see with the last suns setting on the horizon and being in this valley. I gave a second for my eyes to adjust and saw Parchy setting up a campfire about twenty feet away.

Still bewildered, I asked "What was that?"

"What was what?" Parchy said, tossing a tent bundle at Bregan who still was looking for something to fight.

"All that shaking," I gasped.

"That was Barbados," He replied like it was obvious "Now is he going to help or is he going to stand there all night?" Parchy continued gesturing at Bregan who, not being able to understand Akatary, was just looking dumbfounded between the tent bundle and the surrounding dunes.

"Pitch that tent Bregan," I said in Fairian, turning around to try and find Barbados. 

That's when I realized the carriage was on the ground and Barbados was nowhere in sight. How did a bug the size of a house just disappear. I was going to ask Parchy when I realized the straps that held the carriage were still taught and I looked down to see that I was standing on Barbados. He had dug himself into the ground and covered himself with sand. 

"Are we being attacked?" Arina asked in a panic, coming out of the carriage looking frazzled.

"No it was Barbados digging into the sand," I said with a sigh.

She looked around for a second before relief washed across her face "A warning would have been nice"

"Well I said this is where we'll make camp" Parchy said in Fairian

Me, Arina, and Bregan all looked at him "You speak Fairian?" I asked in surprise.

"Of course I do, I used to be a traveling trader before I was a royal antlion coachman." 

"Why did you never tell us,"

"We never talked this much."

He was right, we never did talk much. Feeling a little embarrassed I went and sat next to the campfire with Arina not far behind. Bregan and Parchy continue to silently set up camp. No one said a word until the camp was set up and Parchy was cooking over the fire.

"You guys hear those quake-snakes earlier," Parchy said in Fairian, roasting some vegetables over the fire. "Those suckers are why we can't travel at night."

"Where are they during the day?" Bregan asked.

"Underground, too hot for them during the day."

"How big are they?" Arina asked.

"About 15 feet long and about a foot around," 

"That's it? They sounded way bigger," Bregan said.

"Only because they were all coming out of the ground at once," Parchy explained "altho if you're looking for bigger legend it has it that a giant snake lives in the north west near the ocean. I've heard some people say it's big enough to swallow antlions whole."

"Well then I'm glad were in the south" Arina said

"Why can't we travel at night, some snakes aren't a big deal." Bregan boasted.

"A few snakes aren't a big deal" Parchy agreed "But they aren't called quack-snakes for nothing. They borrow beneath the sand and travel in such huge swarms they make the desert look as if it is moving."

"What if they come here?" I ask, terrified by the idea of waking up in a sea of wriggling, writhing snakes. 

"They won't," Parchy assured me "Four humans for a thousand snakes is barely a nibble for each. They would only come after use if they knew Barbados was here."

I looked over to the carriage. I could barely tell Barbados was there. If I didn't know better I would think it was nothing more than a little shack in the middle of the desert.

"I think it's done," Parchy said, putting the vegetables on a plate for each of us. "Best you get to sleep soon as you're done, we move as soon as all the suns rise."

The constant threat of being swarmed by snakes didn't make falling asleep easy, and as far as ground to sleep on goes I give the sand in the Un-Sera desert a 7 out of 10. Not as soft as you would hope, and you will never get all the sand out of your clothes. However, it is dry, and with enough furs it is not too cold either. Me and Arina slept in one tent while Parchy and Bregan took the other. Arina was right about freezing to death. As the fire slowly dwindled the cold started to creep in. Luckily, Parchy had prepared fur blankets for each of us. 

"I guess this is why they have furs in the dessert," I thought to myself, as I finally managed to drift to sleep.

"Princess?" Arina said, shaking me awake.

I pulled my head up from the pillow and stared bleary eyed past Arina out of the tent. My body was stiff all over and my neck hurt when I sat up. It must have been early as there was barely any light.

"Parchy says we leave as soon as the greater and lesser suns raise." Arina stated.

"Right." I said tightly, rubbing my eyes.

"And there is breakfast when you are ready."

That woke me up. Last night's meal hadn't been very filling, so I was starving. The food was still meager at best, but not having to run to a mirror for makeup, dresses, and hair first thing in the morning was a nice change of pace. Though Arina still insisted that she brush my hair after breakfast, which I didn't mind.

The second half of our journey through the desert was as uneventful as the first. After Parchy got Barbados out of the sand he went on top and began strumming his lute. Meanwhile, the rest of us packed into the tiny carriage. I did get to see the Rocky Trails which I had never seen before as it was always too dark when we would travel through here. It was a nice place, large gravel mounds with spots of green in between. The trails took us high into the Farian hills, which were oddly named as this was still most in Akatary territory. Slump Trees could be seen far and wide with their diagonal trunks and their umbrella shaped heads. Supposedly their trunks moved following either the greater or third sun, but I have never watched them long enough to see for myself.

"That would be nice" I thought to myself. If I could just sit and watch the trees turn. No wedding to worry about, no traveling, no etiquette lessons, and definitely no Bregan. Just me, Arina, and even Parchy could come, and we would just sit and watch the tree move. It sounded so peaceful, and relaxing. But, it would never happen. I never got a moment to myself. It was always etiquette, wedding, or studying. The closest I ever got was when Deiren would let me choose what subjects to study. I alway choose plants, geography, and magic.

Deiren was a scholar from a commoner family that had no second name. He was a short 5' 7" man with short salt and pepper hair with a matching pyramid mustache. He only came to the palace every 2 weeks to check on my studies, and was always excited to talk about whatever new thing he had learned. He was a great teacher and was never too proud to admit he didn't know. He was actually my brother, Frederick the 23rds, tutor. 

Think I'm joking. No, we actually have 23 Fredricks in our line. It is customary that each first born son is named Fredrick. My personal favorite is Fredrick the 20th, my great grandmother. Her mother died giving birth so her father raised her as his heir. I looked up to her and so often wished that my father let me pursue more scholarly lessons. Luckily, Deiren was happy to guide me whenever he came to the palace. If he wasn't busy with my brother, or talking to Garon, commander of the royal guard, for his research on common military diseases.

I was so spaced out I did not notice we had arrived until Barbados came to a stop and Patchy called down "Here we are."