In the early morning light, just as the sun cleared the horizon, Eirik and Ruefin sat at the crumbling riverbank and watched the water flowing by. The edges of the original channel showed how the remaining flow was less than half its original size. It might have been deep enough for fish once upon a time, but now it was far too shallow. The land to each side had suffered too. Marks left by agriculture and old irrigation channels recorded the shrinkage of the watercourse. The trees and shrubs survived by virtue of their deeper roots, but the grain and vines were on borrowed time. A few more years and the Yeshmari would no longer be able to survive here.

  “So what do you think?” Ruefin asked, brushing dust from his loose shirt. “Is this the punishment of an angry monkey-god or just a change in the weather?”

  “I don’t know,” Eirik replied, “but if what Hataya was saying about the timing is true, I think there’s more to this than a group of nomads dropping their old traditions. They would have to have stopped the offerings first, before the water began to subside for that to be case. Cause, then effect.”

  Ruefin grunted and rubbed his shoulder, his gaze drifting to the east.

  “What about the Umriah? Could some ascendant warlord cause something like this? I can’t see it, myself.”

  “Me neither. I suppose they could build dams and canals to redirect the water, but that would take serious manpower. Your army can either conquer new lands or maintain what you already have, not both at the same time.” Eirik shrugged and took a sip from his canteen. “Who know? Maybe it’s an angry ape after all.”

  Ruefin chuckled and helped himself to Eirik’s canteen, but his arm froze as he lifted it to his lips.

  “Look!” He pointed across the river.

  Eirik looked, blinked, then looked again. A cluster of sparkling pinpoints swirled above a clump of withered shrubs. Almost invisible in the brightening light, the cluster danced around the plants and gradually sank lower.

  “Sand Sprites again.” Eirik leaned forward, shading his eyes with his hand.

  As he squinted across the water, the lights twisted into a shining ball and darted behind the dry foliage. A moment later he heard a popping sound and saw a shower of sparks spread into the air and dissipate in the breeze.

  “That’s odd,” Ruefin said, raising an eyebrow at Eirik.

  “So’s that,” Eirik replied, staring at the spot the sprites had vacated.

  From behind the shrubs, a dog appeared. Tall and lean, its short black coat gleamed in the sun and its amber eyes burned like the desert sands.

  “What the fuck?” Ruefin rubbed his eyes as the dog walked to the water’s edge to drink. “Where did he come from?”

  “Another gift from the Sand Sprites?” Eirik replied.

  The dog raised its head and regarded them with a curious gaze before trotting through the water towards them. It paused to inspect them more closely, then turned away and loped towards the village with its long, thin tail held high above its back.

  “I’ve seen some weird shit in my life,” Ruefin said, getting up to watch the dog leave, “but dogs appearing out of thin air is a new one on me.

  “Let’s head back.”

  Eirik had a strange feeling about the dog. The way it had looked at them felt different to the suspicious glare of the village dogs. He’d felt studied, judged almost, by an intelligence that easily matched his own.

  When they reached the outskirts of the village, they found the dog lying in the dust not far from the entrance. Its triangular ears were cocked forward and its attention fixed on the gathering in front of the Custodian’s hut.

  Following its gaze, Eirik saw Jabari and Hataya standing at the doorway and, as he and Ruefin drew closer, he heard the raised voices. Once again, he’d couldn’t understand what they were saying, but this time he was able to make an educated guess.

  Abruptly the dog stood up and announced its presence with a sharp bark before stalking towards the assembly. A few people noticed and began nudging one another and whispering. The crowd fell silent and opened a path for the creature, hanging back in a mix of fear and reverence. Jabari and Hataya stood stock still as the animal approached, the former wide-eyed in shock, and the latter smiling in welcome.

  Eirik and Ruefin moved closer, keen to understand but wary of intruding. They watched, intrigued, as the scene unfolded.

  The black dog walked through the crowd, its attention never leaving the Custodian and the Greenwalker. It paused between them as if acknowledging both, before turning and standing at Hataya’s side. It barked three times, the sound somehow louder than it should have been, then sat down facing Jabari with its head held high.

  The Custodian’s shoulders slumped and the anger faded from his face. He held out his hands to Hataya and nodded slowly. She took his hands in hers and held them tightly, an earnest smile on her face. Words passed between them and they bowed to one another.

  “Today is getting stranger by the minute,” Ruefin said as they ventured back into the village. “If that dog starts to speak I won’t be a bit surprised.”

  “I think it did and that’s why Jabari backed down,” Eirik replied, giving the crowd a wide berth on the way back to Hataya’s hut. “The Court of the Winds sent a messenger to take the Greenwalker’s side, and now the whole village knows it. Let’s make ourselves scarce for a bit.”

  They barely had time to sit down before Hataya followed them in. Unsurprised to see them, she immediately brought out the flask and poured cups of fiery spirit.

  “We have the Custodian’s approval,” she said, head held high in triumph, “and the rest of the village came around in the end.”

  The curtain rippled and the black dog entered, its eyes bright in the shaded interior. Hataya patted the bed and the dog jumped up and make itself comfortable, paws hanging over the side.

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  “Do you want to introduce us to your friend? We saw him appear in a shower of Sand Sprites down by the river. I guess he turned up just in time.” Eirik gazed at the hound. It held his gaze.

  “His name is Yadiru,” Hataya replied, offering the dog a date, “and he is an emissary. The Court of the Winds wanted to ensure we make this journey with the Yeshmari’s blessing.”

  The emissary Yadiru sniffed the date and took it from her open palm. All the while his attention never deviated from Eirik.

  “So when do we leave?” Ruefin asked, shifting in his seat.

  Eirik wasn’t surprised by his friend’s enthusiasm. After a week of enforced inactivity it was no surprise that the big man was getting restive.

  “In four days time,”

  “That sounds very particular,” Eirik said, sipping his drink carefully, “why four days?”

  “The waxing moon will be three-quarters full and will allow us to travel at night without carrying a light. It will be quicker and safer to travel under the cover of darkness.”

  “Where exactly are we going?” Eirik pulled out the map and a stub of charcoal.

  Hataya thought for a moment before placing a circle in a densely forested mountain region to the southeast.

  “Are we following the river? It looks like it goes all the way to the shrine itself.”

  “Well of course it does! How else do you think Tsumqui brings the water?” Hataya looked at Eirik as if he’d asked something ridiculous. “And yes, we’ll follow the river as far as we can.”

  “If water is getting scarce, that’s where the trouble will be. I’ll bet any number of unscrupulous bandits will be taking advantage,” Ruefin said, his big hands balled into fists.

  “You’re right. We may have to make some detours. I’ll keep my eyes open and we should be alright.” Eirik’s mind returned to the incident at the water-hole. It would have been much worse if they’d rushed in blind.

  “I’ll wager my weight in dates that you’re an excellent scout.”

  Hataya’s voice bore an implication Eirik didn’t understand and he couldn’t keep the furrow from his brow. He glanced over and found both her and Yadiru studying him intently. He didn’t quite know how to answer and the silence was becoming awkward until Ruefin replied in his usual bluff manner.

  “Ha! You’ll not find a better pair of eyes anywhere in Fenoria,” he said, slapping Eirik’s shoulder. “He’s saved more lives on patrol that I can count. No-one will be getting the drop on us, you mark my words!”

  The tension broke and Eirik chuckled under his breath, slowly shaking his head.

  “My friend exaggerates for effect, of course, but I’ll admit that not much gets past me.”

  “As I thought. It’s settled, then. We’ll prepare our supplies and leave at sunset on the fourth day.”

  Having both a plan and a deadline was familiar territory for Eirik and he moved into preparation mode with the practiced ease of a seasoned soldier. The mornings were still spent helping the farmers, but his afternoons were spent in the shade of the trees sorting through his kit.

  It never ceased to amaze him how sand could pass through any number of layers and lodge itself where it was least welcome. T had become a permanent feature between his toes and in his hair, and a deeply irritating visitor in the darkest regions of his underwear. Now he found himself applying a small brush of bound grass to the straps and buckles of his armour and cursing all the while. The steel cuirass had spent a long while wrapped in cloth strapped to a camel, and he was starting to think it would have stayed cleaner if he’d sucked up the heat and just worn it instead.

  “I hate sand,” Ruefim remarked as he busily worked through his own kit. “Especially when it gets right in your arse-crack. Chafes like hell on a camel.”

  “Well, you’d best be sure to wash your crack before we go because I’d guess we’ve got at least two weeks in the saddle between here and the shrine. And that’s assuming there’s no drama along the way.” He finished picking sand out of the buckles and began applying a coat of wax to the leather straps.

  “I think I’m going to dress for drama this time,” Ruefin said, putting his cuirass aside and starting on his greaves. “Don’t want to get sliced and diced again.”

  “Yeah, we might as well travel armoured seeing as we’re travelling at night. Travel robes should keep the chill out well enough.”

  They worked together in silence for a while, cleaning, polishing, and making repairs. The military routine came so easily and, for a while, the strangeness of the situation no longer mattered. They were simply soldiers preparing for a mission in an unknown land.

  “What do you think about Hataya?” Ruefin asked as he packed away his spare stockings now blessedly sand-free.

  “I think there’s more to her than we’ve seen so far. It’s normal for tribal healers to command respect, the these people look at her with something more than just respect.”

  “Well, I hope she knows to stay out of the way in a fight or she’s going to be a bloody liability. I’ve never been much for babysitting.”

  “You babysat me for a good couple of years,” Eirik said, laughing as he reached for his canteen.

  “Bah, that wasn’t babysitting. You just needed a few pointers now and again. There was never a time when you couldn’t look after yourself,” Ruefin replied, a smile showing through his untidy beard.

  “Somehow I think that woman is more than capable of handling herself. Besides, she's got others watching over her as well. You saw how that dog gravitated towards her the same as I did.”

  “Yeah. Weird. Don’t like the thought of strange gods watching everything we do. Gives me the creeps,” Ruefin shuddered theatrically.

  “It’s no different to our gods back home. We’ll just get on with it and let the gods do as they please. Business as usual, really.” Eirik shrugged and began sharpening his axes. He wanted to be sure he could take care of business himself.