A novel by Meredith Skye

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Morrhan and his clan sisters and brothers crossed through the Graench Peak and Burnt Forest Pass. Not daring even to rest, they continued through the night, finally stopping at dawn. By then the storm had begun. Harsh winds began to tear at them and their beasts.

Missa jumped off her yithhe and helped Crysethe down. Morrhan had been riding with Derish all night. Their yithhe looked near exhaustion.

"We have to rest," said Mirrhia. "The animals can't take this pace."

"But what about the home clan—what about the children?" asked Morrhan, sitting down. All he could think of the past 20 hours, was soldiers breaking into the tsirvak and shooting the children. Their dead bodies littered around the floor, left to rot. He stood and paced.

"Crysethe," said Derish. "Help out my eyes."

She ran over to her uncle and peered out at the plains below. Dawn came; the sun would rise soon. And they were still a day and a half away from home.

"Over there?" asked Crysethe.

"Yes, that cloud," said Derish.

She nodded. "Yes, it is a sandstorm. A huge one. And it's headed straight for us."

Everyone looked solemn. They'd hoped they could outrun the sandstorm. Once it hit, they would be stuck here for at least a day, maybe longer. It would make travel impossible.

Morrhan stared at the horizon a moment. Then he put his pack back on and headed for Derish's yithhe. "I'll keep going, perhaps I can outrun it."

He was ready to mount the yithhe but Derish stopped him. "You can't, Morrhan."

"I can. I'll ride hard. We still have hours 'til the storm hits."

"You won't make it," argued Keilah. "It's too late."

"I can try," said Morrhan, but Derish put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"No, not on this yithhe. The beast is spent." Morrhan looked down at the panting animal. "You'll kill it and you'll end up alone in the desert. No, Morrhan stay here."

Derish stared solemnly at Morrhan.

"But ... the troops ... what about our home?"

"I don't know," said Derish. "But there's nothing we can do now. They may have been there already."

Morrhan tried to dispel the image of his family wounded and near death at the hands of General Godwin's marksmen. He closed his eyes.

"You've been through a lot, Morrhan. You've done well," said Derish.

Morrhan shook his head. "But, it may not be enough."

They searched for a firecave for shelter and found one at the base of the next ridge. It wasn't large but it was deep enough to get them out of the sandstorm and had two entrances, in case one got buried. 

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