283 SC, five days earlier, Starseekers Gathering, in the Great Desert
The late afternoon sun was baking the desert air, quickly evaporating the sweat that stuck Mikel’s coarse tunic to his broad back as he worked. Hemp rope handles creaked against heavy wooden crates as he and another teamster loaded the new cargo into the back [...]
283 SC, The northern migration three days east of Stoneburners Gathering, in the Great Desert
Arrows continued to whistle past overhead intermittently, but Mikel was out the line of fire as long as he stayed beneath the wagon. Of course, keeping him under the wagon was the archers’ objective. It would make the ground force’s job [...]
283 SC, fifteen days earlier, Mystic Springs in the Fertile Plains
The stars glowered sullenly overhead. Theirs was the only light cast in the long, conspiratorial hours between moonset and sunrise. Mikel avoided even their faint glimmer as he waited in the shadows outside a run down hostel in a run down quarter of the otherwise [...]
283 SC, The northern migration three days east of Stoneburners Gathering, in the Great Desert
Mikel’s breath whistled between his clenched teeth, as he tried not to choke on swirling sand and road grit. He crouched between the wheels of his wagon, listening to the receding hiss of angry sand lizards fleeing the scene. Cautiously, he [...]
It’s been nearly thirty ‘turns since the Great Desert conflict stopped the unfettered expansion of the Fertile Plains. The power hungry Merchant Guild, in almost open defiance of Council rule, has pushed new trade routes through the desert to the major Gatherings and on to remote Guardian Village. But unvanquished enemies sleep uneasily. Ever afraid [...]
