Draggah (8 page)

He looked to either side, but couldn
’
t see an end to the massive group of animals.  Still, he didn
’
t want to wait, so after securing Shadow and Star
’
s reins to his saddle, he began veering to his right.  Moving a group of four horses through the massive herd was more difficult than two.  Star and Shadow were exhausted and acted almost like anchors, keeping them at a crawling pace.  It was difficult to hold on to Lexi, as well as the reins of his own horse and the reins of the other three horses all in one hand, but he needed his right hand free to work his whip.  He grew tired quickly.  He had to crack the whip with more frequency now that he was moving in a different direction through the herd.  He couldn
’
t risk letting the horses move too far from his own mount.  If a Tamaka got between them, he could lose all the horses.  Lexi wasn
’
t making things easier on him either.  She was dead weight, and he was forced to hold her tight to keep her from falling off his horse.

It wasn
’
t long before his hand was cramping.  He
’
d been hot riding through the herd, but holding Lexi so close only made it that much more miserable.  Sweat ran down into his eyes and the flies buzzed around them incessantly.  Still, he forced himself to keep moving.  He told himself that the herd couldn
’
t go on forever, and eventually he was right.   It was growing dark when he finally spotted an end to the massive throng of bovines.

“
Look,
”
he said excitedly. 
“
We
’
re almost there.  We
’
re going to make it.
”

Lexi stirred, but didn
’
t answer.  Tiberius kept moving and at the fringes of the herd he was able to move more quickly.  Star and Shadow were at the extremes of their endurance, but they too sensed safety ahead and kept pace with the other horses.  When they were finally out of the herd of Tamakas, Tiberius led them several hundred yards away.  The wide open plain was dark without stars in the sky overhead, and there was no shelter to be found, but Tiberius didn
’
t care.  He stopped the horses and slowly slipped off the saddle.  His whole body ached.  His left hand was stiff and weak.  He pulled Lexi down and helped her stretch out.  They were out of the path of the roving herd of Tamakas, and the grass was a little taller, the turf a little softer where it hadn
’
t been packed down by thousands of heavy hooves.

Tiberius unsaddled the horses in the darkness, but left their bridles on.  The horses were tied to their saddles and given enough rein that they could move around a little and graze.  Tiberius went through the pack that Lexi had taken.  There was food and water, even a couple of blankets.  He spread out a blanket and then dribbled some water into Lexi
’
s mouth.  Her tongue moved, her dry lips working to help her swallow.  Finally, her eyes fluttered open.

“
Hey, there you are,
”
Tiberius said. 
“
You scared me to death.
”

“
What are you doing?
”
she asked in a hoarse voice.

“
Giving you some water.  It
’
s been a long hot day and you need it.
”

“
No,
”
she said, waving a hand as if to swipe away cobwebs. 
“
What are you doing here?
”

“
I came for you, Lexi.  What did you expect me to do?
”

“
I saw you,
”
she said.

“
I know,
”
Tiberius said, his shame abundantly clear. 
“
But I promise you nothing happened.
”

“
Why didn
’
t you come for me?
”
she said, as tears slid from the corners of her eyes.

“
I did, I
’
m here now.
”

“
No,
”
she said. 
“
Last night.  After the duel.  Why?
”

“
I wanted to,
”
Tiberius said. 
“
But Rafe was hurt in the fight and I had to help him.  Then, when the tribe saw what I could do, they brought me all their sick and injured.  I was so exhausted when I finished and they gave me their liquor.  It went to my head and I feel asleep.
”

“
I saw the women,
”
Lexi said. 
“
Some of them are just girls, Ti.
”

“
I know, but I swear to you nothing happened.
”

She looked away.  It was almost impossible to see in the darkness.  To Tiberius, Lexi was nothing more than a black silhouette in his arms, but he could tell she was angry.  Her body was stiff and her head was turned away from him.

“
We
’
ll go back to the tribe,
”
Tiberius said. 
“
You can ask them yourself.  They were Moswanee
’
s harem, but you are the only woman I love.
”

“
How am I supposed to compete with a dozen other women who all want your attention?
”

“
Look,
”
Tiberius said. 
“
All that matters to me is you.  If you don
’
t want to stay with the tribe, then we won
’
t stay.  I
’
ll do whatever it takes to make you happy, I promise.  Just don
’
t leave me again.  I don
’
t know what I would do without you.
”

They were too tired to keep fighting, so after they had some more water, they lay down together and slept.  The next morning came too quickly for Tiberius.  He was stiff and sore.  His back ached from the long day of riding.  His shoulder was stiff from using his whip for hours and he could barely move the fingers of his left hand.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes.  The herd of Tamakas was gone.  He looked in every direction, but there was nothing in sight, just flat, grassy plains as far as Tiberius could see.  He got up and stretched his back.  Then he checked on the horses.  They all looked tired, but Star and Shadow had thick foam in the corners of their mouths.  They needed water, Tiberius knew that much, but he had no idea where to get enough water for the horses.  He had some water, just the small water skin that Lexi had packed, but it was barely enough for the two of them.  In fact, he was planning on going as long as he could without drinking so that Lexi had enough.

He searched the pockets of his tunic and finally came up with the list of spells that Princess Ariel had given him.  He unrolled the little scroll of parchment and found what he was looking for.

“
Repperi Amnis
,
”
he said.

He felt a tug, almost like someone was pulling on him with an invisible rope.  He could feel the magic moving around him.  He was almost always aware of magic now, but having cast the spell to find water, he was even more aware of the magic moving, almost coaxing him forward.  He quickly saddled the horses.

“
What are you doing?
”
croaked a familiar voice.

Tiberius turned and found Lexi sitting up on the blanket they had slept on.  Her short hair was disheveled and her eyes were puffy, but he thought she looked beautiful.

“
We have to find water or we
’
re going to lose the horses.
”

“
I
’
ll help,
”
Lexi said, getting to her feet and stretching.

“
Does that mean you
’
ve forgiven me?
”
Tiberius asked hopefully.

The look she shot him was fierce. It said that she wasn
’
t taking what happened lightly.  He realized her feelings weren
’
t a joking matter.

“
Sorry,
”
he said. 
“
That was careless of me.  Let
’
s go.
”

They walked the horses.  Tiberius flexed his hand, but the soreness lingered.  He could move it, but it still felt weak.  Lexi sipped water from the skin and they both ate some of the mealy bread that the Hoskali had made. 

“
How do you know where you
’
re going?
”
she asked.

“
Magic,
”
Tiberius told her. 
“
I cast a spell to help us find water.
”

“
So, the magic told you where to go?
”
she inquired skeptically.

“
It
’
s pulling me, almost the same way we
’
re leading the horses.
”

Lexi didn
’
t respond to that.  He could tell she was still angry with him, but he was determined to make it up to her.  He
’
d courted girls in the past and even had secret romances in the palace where he had lived all his life in Avondale.  They were more like games compared to his feelings for Lexi.  She was almost all he could think about.  He wanted to be with her all the time, to see her smile and make her laugh.  He didn
’
t like that she was angry with him, even though he could understand why she was.

“
So,
”
she said, finally breaking the silence,
“
do you know how far from the water we are?
”

“
No,
”
Tiberius said.

“
That
’
s too bad.  We could walk for days and never know if your magic is leading us any closer to water.
”

“
It
’
s working, that
’
s all I can say,
”
Tiberius said.

“
And when we find water, then what?
”
Lexi said. 
“
Do you have another spell to help you find friends?
”

“
No,
”
Tiberius said, refusing to rise to the bait that Lexi was dangling in front of him. 
“
I
’
m not sure what we
’
ll do next.
”

Casting the spell to find water had been easy enough, but the trek to find the water was long and tiresome.  It was hot and Tiberius felt sluggish.  The horses walked with their heads down.  It was late in the day when they finally saw what looked like a clump of bush scrub ahead of them.

“
Do you think that
’
s the water?
”
Lexi asked hopefully.

She had sipped water from the water skin throughout the day and was in better shape than even Tiberius by that point.  Her main concern was for the horses.  She had developed a fondness for them and Tiberius thought it was another part of her that he loved.

“
I hope so,
”
he said.

It took almost an hour to reach the small oasis.  At one point, the horses smelled the water and moved more quickly.  They even raised their heads and neighed a little.

“
That
’
s a good sign, right?
”
Tiberius said.

“
At least there
’
s hope,
”
Lexi agreed.

The oasis was little more than a small spring that fed what looked like little more than a large puddle of water.  A rock had been set on top of the spring, which trickled down a slight incline and into the puddle.  The horses immediately dropped their muzzles into the water and slurped eagerly.

Tiberius went around to the other side of the oasis, which was only about four feet across, and knelt down.  He cupped his hands together and scooped up some of the water.  It was warm, but clean.  He drank it down, then splashed water on his face.

Lexi was gathering some of the sticks from the bush scrub.  There was plenty of them under the bushes or nearby that had died and fallen to litter the ground around the spring.  She formed a little pile and then set about laying out their blanket.  It was late in the day and they all needed rest.