"That's not natural."
"I think Fara'Nae tampers with them a little bit," Tarrin chuckled. "That, or five thousand years in the desert has bred some very handy abilities into them."
When they were camped or resting or waiting out the midday heat, they would talk. Allia would tell him stories of the desert and her tribe, what it was like being the daughter of a clan-chief, and she would often describe animals and plants to them. Allia was alot more experienced than Denai had been, and she knew things about the desert that Denai hadn't. It made hearing about animals they already knew just as interesting, because Allia could tell them much more about them. Sarraya also had a turn, but she concentrated on expanding the very hasty lessons that she and Triana had given him. Every day during the noon break and after they made camp, she and him would practice Druidic spells, or he would sit and listen to her as she explained things to him in greater detail. Sarraya was actually a pretty good teacher when it came to Druidic magic, at least if one overlooked her endless badgering and the childish delight she took in berating him when he made a mistake, and Tarrin learned a great deal from her.
Tarrin noticed that Allia seemed to be missing Allyn, but she also wouldn't let that show. He knew her well enough to know that it was bothering her, but he wouldn't say anything about it. She was very happy to be home, even if it wasn't with her intended, and he was going to let her enjoy that happiness rather than try to console her for the missing company of a loved one.
The fifth day on their journey to the Cloud Spire turned out to be quite a bit more exciting than the others. Not long after setting out that morning, they came over a blind ridge and stumbled directly into a rearing kajat. It was a huge one, nearly twenty five spans high, and with a massive, gaping mouth filled with browned and pitted teeth. The wily predator had carefully and wisely selected that spot, knowing that the ridge hid it from anything coming over, and the winds would keep its scent away from its prey until it was too late. Tarrin wasn't really that surprised, since he kept his eyes open and expected trouble at all times, so he reacted smoothly and calmly to its attack. It lunged at them, jaws snapping, and Selani and Were-cat split to either side of it, not even breaking stride as those jaws cracked shut in the air that separated them. The kajat seemed momentarily confused by this, unsure of which direction to turn, then decided on turning towards Tarrin. He picked up into a sprint and angled in along the side of its body; he'd had some experience at this, and he knew that kajats didn't turn very quickly. By staying close to it, he would stay out reach of its teeth and its tail, both formidable weapons.
But the creature roared in pain and turned in the other direction quickly. Tarrin saw Allia right beside its other leg, and she'd stuck it with her sword to get its attention. Then, to his surprise, she ran right under it and between those huge, pumping legs, legs that shook the ground when they set onto the sandy soil, darting aside quickly as one of those tree-trunk sized legs shifted towards her as the monstrous beast made its turn. She angled up and came right by him, motioning with her hand for him to follow, and he did so quickly. The turning animal's tail passed harmlessly over them, and it bellowed in frustration when it made its turn and saw its meal already running away. Tarrin felt the earth shake as the massive predator gave chase, actually catching up with them for a moment or two but it could not keep up with them. It trailed further and further behind, then finally gave up and slowed to a walk.
Allia was laughing in delight as they slowed to a walk, seeing the kajat well behind them and already turning to return to its ambush site. "That was exhilerating," she said in a bubbly manner, sheathing her shortsword after cleaning it.
"That was a pretty dangerous stunt, Allia," Sarraya accused.
"It's an old trick for getting away from them," she told the Faerie lightly. " Kajat are fast runners, but their size makes them ungainly when trying to maneuver. The closer you stay to its flanks, the safer you are. You get away from one by making it commit to turning in one direction, then running away in the other by going underneath it. By the time it turns around again and starts chasing you, you have enough of a lead to escape."
"I've used similar tactics on them, Sarraya," Tarrin reminded her. "Remember?"
"I remember," the Faerie laughed. "I'm sure the kajat does too."
"That one certainly picked a good spot," Tarrin said in appreciation. "I never smelled a whiff of it until it was trying to bite my head off."
"He is mature and wise, deshida. That's why he's so big. That one has alot of experience, so he knows where the best ambush sites lay." She looked around. "I'm a bit hungry. We should stop for a meal."
"There's a fairly big one back there a ways," Sarraya grinned, pointing back at the kajat.
"That would be wasteful," Allia said condescendingly. "Besides, we don't kill kajats. They prey on the inu, and that keeps their numbers in check. Inu are more dangerous to us than the kajats are."
"The inu are the second most dangerous thing out here," Tarrin agreed calmly.
"What's the most dangerous?" Sarraya asked.
"Them," Tarrin said, pointing at Allia.
Sarraya laughed, and Allia gave Tarrin a bright smile.
That turned out to be the only adventure that was in store for them that day. They camped before sunset and built a large fire, as they were moving into regions of the desert where Sandmen prowled, and Sarraya Conjured for them quite a feast. All four moons would rise early that night, and the White Moon and Red Moon both were all but full, which cast bright light down over the desert. The white and red light mingled with the sand and rock and scrub, casting strange shadows over the plain and giving the scrub an eerie blackish color.
"Strange night," Sarraya mused, looking out past the firelight. "Not often that Domammon and Vala are full and in the sky at the same time."
"Things are probably going to be a bit strange up there until Gods' Day," he told her, then explained what was going to happen.
"A conjunction, eh?" Sarraya said, looking up. "Now that you mention it, the moons have been tightening up in their tracks, and the Twin Moons have been hiding behind each other more than usual.
"Well, there are the missing ones," Allia noted, pointing to the northeast, where the Twin Moons were just starting to rise. They were in their waning phase, and Duva was partially hidden behind Kava.
"Domammon and Vala are going to wane and wax one more time before the conjunction," Tarrin noted. "The Twin moons are going to wax, wane, then wax again."
They both nodded in agreement. They both were familiar with the lunar cycles. Domammon and Vala had lunar cycles that were fairly close to one another; Vala's lunar cycle renewed itself every twenty days, two days shorter than Domammon's twenty-two. They matched phases about every fifteen months, as their cycles converged to give them the exact same phase on that one night. The Twin Moons' lunar cycle was only fourteen days long, for not only were they always very close to one another, their phases were also always exactly the same. Right now they were about half full and in the waxing phase of their cycle. They would come full, go new, then come full again in about two months. And their full phase would correspond with the full phases of Domammon and Vala. That did happen about every two years, called the Lantern Night for the amount of light the four full moons and the Skybands cast onto the land, but only once in about every thousand did the four moons line up in a conjunction.
There were other unsual nights. When Vala was full and alone in the sky, the red light over the land it cast gave that kind of night the name Blood Night, and it was basicly seen as an unlucky night by most. The Twin Moons often partially concealed one another, but sometimes one moon would be hidden completely behind the other. That was called Child's Night, named so because the hidden moon was said to be playing a child's game of hide and seek. And on some very rare occasions, one moon would pass behind another, and that gave them the order that most people associated with them. Domammon, the largest, was always behind the other three. Vala was in front of Domammon, but behind the Twin Moons. And the Twin Moons were always in front of the two larger ones, but traded often in which moon was in front of the other between themselves. The moons would eclipse one another, and certain eclipses were said to have certain meanings. When Vala eclipsed Domammon, it was supposedly a night for finding a husband or wife, and that was why it was called the Lovers' Clip, so named because a vast majority of the time, Vala only partially eclipsed Domammon, clipping its edge for a few hours. When Vala was eclipsed by the Twin Moons when they were both fully visible, it was said to be a night for embarking on new ideas. This was why it was called Denthar's Brood, named after the Younger god of knowledge. When only one of the Twin Moons eclipsed the edge of Domammon, it was called the Dagger Night, was it was rumored that such an eclipse incited men to acts of violence. In Aldreth, it was a custom for everyone to meet on the Green and tie all the men's hands behind their backs on Dagger Night, a social ceremony that the women always enjoyed, for it had evolved into a kind of festival of food, drink, music, and dancing. On that night the women supplanted all the normal tasks of the men, and after their hands were rebound in front of them, the men served all the food and did all the cleaning afterwards, and had to do it all with their hands bound together. Needless to say, the men of Aldreth were never too happy to see a Dagger Night come around.