Sisters of the Sands

Six cycles later

Bound for the ruins of Teersau

I smashed my closed fists down onto Eno’s high guard like a hammer. His incorrect blocking technique started to give way. Every time I hit, he shifted back in the sand closer to the river.

I was too strong for him. My sixteen cycles compared to his ten made a big difference to our sparring; while he had hardly any muscle-tone, I was the strongest I had ever been.

‘Keep that guard up, Eno!’ Aberym shouted with a cracked voice. ‘Fight back, come on!’

Eno’s grandfather stood farther up the riverbank, getting angrier at my success and his grandson’s lack of progress. He never tried to inspire confidence in me, only his realgrandchild.

Eno lowered his arms and groaned in pain, so I backed away.

I mirrored his stance and raised my arms as if sparring an invisible opponent. ‘Try to angle them. Like this, see?’

His face twisted. ‘I’m doing it like that. You’re hitting me too hard!’

‘Both of you stop!’ Aberym called as he trudged down the bank. His long, airy robes dragged a path through the sand.

He glanced at both ends of the river-canyon, as well as the cliffs above, probably to make sure no one was watching us. Then he gently patted Eno’s shoulder. ‘Go refill your bottle and take a swim.’

Eno exhaled and loosened his posture. He leant down to pick up his leather-covered canteen out of the sand, before traipsing down the embankment.

Now that Eno was out of earshot, Aberym shot a loathsome look at me. ‘This is your fault. You lack control... restraint.’

I folded my arms and furrowed my brow. ’I’m sparring with him like you sparred against me when I was his age. He won’t learn anything if I don’t attack with intent. You taught me that.′

He gritted his teeth. ‘If I say you’re going too hard on him, then that’s exactly what you’re doing!’

I shook my head, rolled my eyes, and smirked, before following in Eno’s tracks.

‘And where do you think you’re going?’ he asked, and I stopped mid-stride. ‘I didn’t say you were finished.’

I glanced over my shoulder and gestured to the water where Eno had now jubilantly submerged himself. ‘Can’t I get a drink first?’

‘No,’ he replied, approaching me from behind. ‘You’re training isn’t over. Close your eyes.’

I sighed loudly. ‘Not this again, you know I can’t open portals anymore.’

‘Close them!’

I complied, standing in place. Aberym drew closer. The wind whistled along the canyon walls, and Eno splashed in the water behind me.

‘I want you to remember what happened to Eno’s parents,’ Aberym began.

I peeked at him and sneered. ’They were my parents, too.′

‘Enough!’ He glanced back at Eno and made sure he wasn’t paying attention before continuing, ’I want you to picture them in your mind. Where they died. How...they died.′

My lips trembled. ‘This is a waste of time.’

‘Hold out your hands,’ he said. I shook my head. After a brief pause, he latched onto my wrist and yanked it up higher. ‘You could have saved them if you had opened a portal.’

I shook my head. ‘No, they ran off before I...’

Aberym began to slowly encircle me. ‘You knew how to make portals by then, you must have made at least five that day alone. But you froze in the moment it mattered most.’

‘You can’t put this on me,’ I replied.

‘Strain your wrists. Open a portal, now!’

I stood motionless and strained, but nothing came. I couldn’t even remember what it felt like to open a portal. ‘I can’t do it.’ A kick to the back of my knee forced me to kneel in the sand.

‘The necrolisks are coming,’ he said in my ear. ‘Get up and save them!’

I had enough. I shot up, opened my eyes, and gave a scathing glare. A single tear rolled down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away.

I brushed past him, knocking his shoulder, before stomping back up the embankment and into the cave where we were keeping our gear.

‘You can’t walk away every time you fail,’ Aberym called out, his words echoing through the canyon. ‘If you do, your failures will follow you to the ends of this world.’

‘Are you awake, Sas?’ I heard a faint whisper say.

I rolled on our fur rug to face Eno, who was sitting up. The midnight blue sky outlined his silhouette. The cave’s mouth sheltered us.

I looked over to Aberym to make sure he was still asleep. He wasn’t snoring, but his eyes were closed.

I sat up too, and watched the dark river outside the cave. ‘What’s the matter?’ I whispered back. ‘Can’t sleep again? Should we move our rug outside?’

Eno focused into the dark cave. He had always hated confined spaces ever since he was young, hence why we weren’t camped deeper in. He shook his head. ‘No, it’s not that. I don’t think Grandpa wanted to make you feel bad today. Whatever he said, I’m sure he’s just... trying to help.’

Help? All these cycles, Aberym had downright resented me for losing my abilities. But I didn’t want to make that Eno’s problem.

‘Don’t worry about it, okay? It’s going to be over soon. When we reach the forest, he’ll see how great everything is there, and... maybe we can just...’

Eno shrugged. ‘Live a normal life?’

I smiled back and nodded. ‘Yeah, a normal life.’

He yawned and laid back onto the rug. ‘I’d... like that.’ He quickly drifted off again.

I leant over and draped his sheet over him again.

Now awake and reminded of my woes, my mind continued to loop through my doubts and guilt. The dark river’s flow seemed to slow.

Outside the Teersau ruins

‘We’ve made it, look,’ Aberym said the next afternoon, pointing to the hazy vision on the bright horizon. ‘The ruins of Teersau. We have completed our great pilgrimage.’

I plodded up the next dune, pulling Eno up it by the hand. The ruins were flanked on all sides by craggy, dry hills. There was no green to be seen anywhere.

‘So that’s the promised land? Another endless stretch of desert? Where’s the lush trees, the wide rivers and lakes, and the “bountiful wildlife to feast on” you told us about?’

He shook his head. ’The city is on the border of this land. We’re in Metus now, as promised. Beyond the hills is the final stretch, and then... a great forest, with a network of many rivers and lakes.′

I rolled my eyes. ‘How far is it?’

‘The next river is two days away.’

Eno moaned. ‘I don’t have enough in my canteen for that!’

Aberym pointed up at the sky. ‘Right there, another L line, see? We’re on the right track.’

In the distance was a line of white in the otherwise blue sky. It had a distinct curve about it. Seeing one was considered good luck, although I never understood why. Like a few others I had seen in my lifetime, it hung there, motionless, like a tear in the sky.

Aberym chuckled. ‘If your sister could open portals, we could make the trip by nightfall.’

I ignored him as I strode down the next dune. ‘And let me guess,’ I called back, ‘when we get to this paradise, we’re going to spend all our time searching for more settlements, right?’ I stopped and looked between them.

Aberym stopped too. ’Sacet, your power, when you finally get it working again, will save this world.′

I exhaled. ′Uh-huh, I thought you’d say that.′

Eno walked past him, avoiding eye contact. When he reached me, we both continued down the dune, focusing on where we stepped.

‘Kids,’ Aberym called, and we stopped once more. ‘When we find a good place to rest, a settlement with food, water and shade, how about we stay longer than usual? You both deserve a rest.’

Eno rolled his eyes. ‘Longer than usual, so what... two days instead of one?’

Aberym attempted a smile. ‘How about a week?’

I nodded slowly. ‘Okay, you promise?’

‘I promise,’ he replied as he reached us.

Eno looked positively ecstatic. ‘Maybe there’ll be other kids?’ He smiled at me. ‘Other kids!’

I smiled back. ‘Maybe some my age for once, too.’

Eno wore a mischievous smirk. ‘Yeah, I bet you’re hoping for all of them to be boys, huh?’

‘Shut it!’ I tried snatching at him but he ran down the dune ahead of me.

‘Well,’ Aberym began, pointing to the ruins in the distance, ‘let’s get there first.’

Eno led our trio with a spring in his step, reinvigorated by the potential of other kids to meet. Aberym and I trailed behind. When our eyes met, I didn’t feel my usual hate for him. Was he capable of inspiring me after all?