Korahna would also slow them down. He could not imagine her making the journey on foot. She would have to ride.
Probably the priestess would, as well. For all the training the villichi priestesses received, they were still human, and walking for days in the searing heat of the Stony Barrens would be beyond even their considerable capabilities. So that meant the kank would be burdened with at least two riders, if the elfling chose to go on foot. And their kank had been a food producer, not a soldier. It would not move as quickly as their own mounts.
How much of a head start could they possibly have? Five hours, maybe six? Certainly no more than that. They could be caught. At some point, they would have to stop and rest. As Torian carefully watched the ground ahead of him, he saw the occasional signs of the kank’s passage. Small stones dislodged from depressions in the ground, scratches upon larger stones made by the kank’s claws. He was grateful that his father had insisted on his training, and had not raised him as a pampered nobleman. His father had believed that training in the warrior’s art built character. His father had been right. A lesser man would have given up rather than risk pursuing his quarry into the barrens. Undoubtedly, that was precisely what the elfling was counting on. Well, thought Torian, he was due for a very unpleasant surprise.
As the sun started to sink on the horizon, Sorak decided to call a brief halt. The kank needed to be fed and they could use some nourishment, as well. Ryana joked exhausted and Korahna looked utterly done in. He helped them both down from the back of the giant beetle, and they practically collapsed with their backs against a large boulder. He passed the water skin to them and cautioned them to drink but sparingly, then watched to make sure they did not succumb to the temptation to drink in large gulps.
“Well, at least it is no longer quite so hot,” Ryana said with a wan smile.
Sorak used his knife blade to pry loose one of the honey globules from the kank’s abdomen and brought it over to them. He pierced the membrane with the point of his knife and gave it to Korahna. She squeezed out a little, then passed it to Ryana and leaned back against the boulder, her eyes closed. Sorak hated to have to tell them, but it was best not to delay the unpleasant news any longer.
“At least it will be cooler for the remainder of the night’s journey,” he said.
Korahna opened her eyes. “We are going on? You mean we are not stopping for the night?”
“We will only rest here for a short while,” Sorak replied. “The sooner we proceed on our way, the sooner we will reach the mountains.”
“You believe that we are being followed,” said Ryana flatly.
Sorak nodded. “Yes. And I believe that Torian will drive his mercenaries all night in an attempt to catch us. We cannot allow him to make up the time we have gained.”
“But you do not know for a fact that Torian is on our trail,” Korahna protested.
“No, I do not,” Sorak admitted. “But we cannot afford to assume that he is not. Either way, traveling at night will be easier for the absence of the scorching heat.”
“Also more dangerous,” Ryana said.
“Perhaps,” said Sorak, “but making camp here would not be any safer. We have nothing with which to build a fire. The night predators can attack us here as easily as while we are moving.”
“Are you not tired?” Korahna asked him, with wonder. “We have suffered from the heat, but at least we have been riding, while you have walked all day.”
“I am an elfling,” Sorak said, taking his seat across from them on the rocky ground. He stretched out his legs and flexed them. “I do not tire as easily as do humans. Nevertheless, the day’s journey has not been without its effect. It is good to sit, if only for a short while.”
Though he was capable of resting while the Ranger or one of the others came to the fore and took over, it was still the same body that made the exertions. And his elfling body, superbly conditioned though it was, did not possess infinite reserves of energy.
“How many more days’ journey do you think lie ahead of us?” Korahna asked.
Sorak merely shrugged. “I do not know. Distances appear deceptive in the desert. It could be three or four more days, if we make good progress, or it could be a week or more. I can see the mountains in the distance, but I cannot tell for sure how far away they are.”
Ryana made some quick mental calculations. “If it is more than three or four more days, we will run out of water,” she said flatly.
“We have the kank honey,” Sorak said. “We can add it to the water to extend our supply.”
“Kank honey is sweet,” Ryana said. “It will only increase our thirst.”
“Not if we add it in small amounts,” said Sorak.
“Even so,” Ryana said, “we have enough to last at most five or six days.”
“All the more reason to travel at night and make the crossing as speedily as possible,” said Sorak.
“Torian will be facing the same problems,” said Korahna. “Surely, he will turn back.”
“I do not think he is the sort to give up on a task once he has set his mind to it,” said Sorak. “He will probably be carrying more water, and his men will be mounted on soldier kanks, which can travel more quickly than our own beast.”
“So then you think he has a chance to catch us?” said Ryana.
“It would depend on when he started his pursuit, and whether or not he realized which way we had gone. And it would depend on the skill of his trackers.”
“Torian is a skilled tracker, himself,” Korahna said. “He often boasted of it. His father raised him as a warrior. He claims to have studied with the finest weapons master in Gulg. I saw him train one morning. He was easily able to best Lord Ankhor’s finest swordsmen.”
“Well, that’s certainly encouraging news,” said Ryana dryly.
“It is all my fault,” Korahna said. “Had I not come with you, there would have been no need for you to come this way, or fear pursuit.”
“We would have come this way regardless,” Sorak said. “And the journey would have been no easier to bear for your absence.”
“But why?” Korahna asked. “You could have taken the southern route, and without me along, you could have gone your way unmolested.”
“No,” said Sorak, “this is the way that we were meant to come.”
“Meant to come?” Korahna said, looking at him without comprehension. “Why? For what reason?”
“This was the way shown us by a spell,” said Sorak. “A spell released by the burning of a scroll that we obtained from the Veiled Alliance in Tyr.”
“The burning of a scroll?” said Korahna, sitting up suddenly and leaning forward. “And was there a specific time and place at which you were to burn it?”
Sorak frowned. “Yes. But how did you know that?”
“Because that is how the Veiled Alliance receives communications from the Sage,” Korahna said excitedly. “I have never seen such a scroll myself, but I have heard that these scrolls appear by magic to certain individuals, and that they are useless unless burned in a certain place and at a certain time. And that knowledge is said to come in dreams or visions perceived within a crystal. Bui it is said that only the secret masters of the Veiled Alliance ever see such scrolls. I had never known whether to believe such tales or not, until today. Why did you not tell me you were members of the Veiled Alliance? Was it that you did not trust the daughter of a defiler king?”
“No, it was because we are not members of the Veiled Alliance,” Sorak replied. “We had performed a service for them back in Tyr, and they had given us the scroll to aid us in our quest.”
“What quest?”
“To find the Sage,” said Sorak.
Korahna simply stared at him—“But no one has ever found the Sage!”