right,” he said, and he leaned forward for the second kiss of his life.
* * *
Their rest stop lasted a little longer than they’d originally intended, but when they started out again they walked side by side. The ground was too rocky for sand cactus, and besides, it was easier to hold hands that way.
They walked at a steady pace all through the morning, their improved spirits helping even more than anger to keep them going. The harder ground underfoot helped as well. It was difficult to judge how far they’d gone, since they hadn’t paid that much attention to the passing miles, so when they stopped for lunch Jedra said, “Why don’t we link up and check our progress?”
“You just want to mind-merge again,” Kayan said playfully.
“And you don’t?”
“Of course I do, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea. Look what happened last time.”
“Hmm.”
They had stopped by the biggest boulder they could find, but it wasn’t rounded enough to provide much shade with the sun straight overhead. Jedra considered the situation for a moment, then he propped the spear against the rock, took off his robe, and rucked the corners into the holes in the spear haft. Then he stretched the cloth out toward the ground and weighted the bottom corners down with rocks, making a lean-to tent big enough for both of them to fit under.
“All right,” Kayan said when he’d finished. “Let’s link up and see how far we’ve come, but that’s it. No lingering this time.”
“Deal.”
They climbed under the makeshift tent, joined hands, and linked. At once their argument that morning seemed petty and foolish. Compared to the sense of well-being they felt now, their little differences of opinion were insignificant. Who cared who got them into trouble? They were invincible now. Once again they rose on powerful roc wings over the desert, and they immediately wheeled around to the west and flew for Tyr.
It was still a long way off. Even at the pace they’d maintained that morning it would take five days to reach it, but they wouldn’t be able to keep up that pace after they ran out of food and water. They had maybe three days of good marching left, maximum, and the last one would be without food or water.
There’s got to be a better solution than just heading west until we drop, Jedra’s part of their mind suggested.
We’ve been over this before, Kayan’s practical side replied. We knew it was a long way when we decided to go for it. We’ve done better than we thought we’d do; let’s be glad of it and keep going.
Let’s at least look for the oasis on our way back, Jedra thought. We might find it yet, or something else that’ll help.
All right. They turned away from the city and flew eastward again, focusing their psionic senses on anything unusual. Water, food, intelligent minds, even animals that might provide a life-sustaining meal. At first they found nothing, but when they had come about two-thirds of the way back to where their bodies waited they spotted something far to the north. A scintillating beacon of some sort, like sunlight reflected off a rippling surface.
Open water? It couldn’t be, not out here. But it might be something else useful, so they veered northward and with a few powerful wingbeats flew toward it.
A city slid up from behind the horizon, its buildings taller and straighter-sided than anything either of them had ever seen. Even the modest ones were larger than the pyramid under construction at Tyr, and there were dozens even bigger. What they had seen was sunlight reflecting off the flat sides of the buildings.
There can’t be a city here, they thought, but there it stood. The trouble was, in the psionic vision what they saw wasn’t necessarily reality.
What could it be? Jedra asked, and Kayan answered, An ancient ruin? I’ve heard the desert is littered with them.
This doesn’t look very ruined.
Maybe we’re seeing it as it used to be.
They circled around, looking at the buildings from all sides. At their bases grew trees and green grass so thick the dirt couldn’t be seen between the blades. In the middle of one open courtyard a fountain sprayed three jets of water high into the air.
And seated on a bench beside the fountain, a six-limbed, mantislike thri-kreen leaned its head back and watched them with its black, multifaceted eyes.
We’ve found it! Jedra said. This has to be the oasis.
It doesn’t have to be anything, Kayan