Stathis tried to make herself comfortable, glad to be out of even her partial armour. Now the sun had dropped below the horizon, the temperature was dropping fast, and the black sand merged with the sky above. All three moons were out, bright discs surrounded by the lighter smear of stars, crisp and twinkling against the darkness.

Each of the marching groups had formed their own camp, tents formed into circles, with what guards there were all positioned to watch the other tents as much as to keep an eye out for any intruders. Zarazonnia’s camp was in the centre, with wooden walls erected to form a defensive structure, firelight flicking around from inside. Stathis could see her through the temporary gates, snake-tail coiled up beneath her. Watching her eat was somewhat unusual, two of her arms using cutlery, another holding a goblet of wine, large enough to appear normal in her hands, while two of the others were at rest, the last taking notes into a journal. Other captains and commanders were around her, occasional laughter splitting the air. Probably swapping tales of past campaigns, if they were anything like other soldiers she had met.

Janaxia had been provided her own tent, the fabric walls magically pulling themselves upwards, a stone glowing with magic rising upwards to pull it upwards until it was fully erected, expanding outwards from a small chest. It was even carpeted inside, with a small bed and a magical stone that shed light and heat, a metal cover allowing it to be turned to shed more or less as needed.

Stathis shifted on the folding stool she had been given, feeling it creak and sink into the sand. Being out of her armour was a relief, the cooling night air far preferable to the roasting heat of the day. Behind her, from inside the tent, she could hear Janaxia and Sen moving about, and the scent of food. Her stomach rumbled, but she focused on her armour – the sand had crept in through the gaps and it all needed cleaning out, and the straps and buckles checking. It was a laborious task, but needed doing, and it was nice having a simple task to focus on.

And to keep watch – just in case someone, or something, did attack. There was already a scorpion on the ground in front of her, sliced in half by a sword-strike, half-hidden beneath kicked-over sand. Probably not an assassin, but the stinger had been the size of her thumb, and it’s black chitin would have been virtually invisible at night. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any more of the things, or the tent’s magic could keep them away.

She tested the buckles of her vambrace, making sure the sand hadn’t worn them away too much, either the leather or the metal. The gritty stuff seemed effective at scouring into anything it touched – being out in a sandstorm would be brutal, the stuff slicing and cutting through anything it blew against. Anything without protection would get sliced to ribbons! The amount that had made its way into her boots was impressive, the dark grit working itself into the tough leather.

The tent-flap opened behind her, scent of food and Janaxia’s perfume wafting out.

‘It is only simple fare, Stathis.’

Stathis turned around on her chair, feeling it sink deeper into the ground, trying to keep her balance, to see Sen standing behind her. Her clothing was well-made and suited to desert travel, multiple layers to keep her skin out of the sun, with ornaments to show off her position. Or Janaxia’s position, at least. She was holding a metal bowl, a reddish paste with vegetables half-submerged into it.

‘I’ll take whatever you’ve got. I’ve almost certainly had worse! Marching food tends towards the crap end of the scale. You make this yourself?’

‘Yes, Miss Stathis. I was able to use Lady Janaxia’s name to get what I needed from Queen Zarazonnia’s stores.’

Stathis took the bowl and blew on it, smelling the steam – thick and sweet and peppery. ‘Smells good! Thanks.’ She took a spoonful, waiting for it to cool enough to take a bite, hoping it wouldn’t be burningly spicy. The flavour was sweet and surprisingly mellow, easy to eat. ‘You doing OK? Must be nice being carried on Janaxia’s platform.’

‘That is preferable to walking, yes. I travelled out here a few times as a child, but prefer Setha itself, rather than the ash. And finding the paths out here is dangerous, with many ancient hazards.’

‘Any idea what happened? Some curse or something? Doesn’t look particularly natural.’ She stood up, pulling the stool from the sand and putting it on the surface, the thing sinking again as soon as she sat on it.

‘According to legend, it was once a jungle. But there was a war in the heavens, between primordial powers, and my ancestors lost. And so we were banished here, the earth scoured black – nothing can grow in the ash, at least without magical care and attention, or blood.’

Stathis stirred her vegetables again, lifting something from the bowl on her spoon, looking at the lumpenly-cut vegetables. ‘Blood?’

‘Oh yes. Blood shed upon the ash will grant it fertility, at least for a short time. To bring a crop to harvest requires significant and continual sacrifice. Zarazonnia must greatly favour Janaxia to allow such largesse from her own stores.’

Stathis kept staring at the vegetables she had scooped out from the soup. ‘So this was grown by…’

‘Oh, pigs, most likely. Kept and harvested, with their blood used to water the fields. Using people is far too inefficient.’

Stathis made herself take a bite, telling herself that it wasn’t really any worse than eating a sausage. And it would only go to waste if she didn’t eat it. ‘Make sure to eat some yourself as well. So the place was cursed?’

‘To seal us in, it is said. Some ancient foe so terrified of our power that we were exiled here – surrounded by the black ash. It can be travelled over, but it is hard work.’

‘How did you leave? It must have been quite an adventure to end up in Janaxia’s service!’

‘I was in the entourage of Capraxinia, who desired to travel. Our travel across the ash took almost three weeks, before reaching the silt river. And from there, across the ocean. And then the storm came, and broke the ship. I managed to survive, and washed up on shore.’

‘I hope you didn’t lose any friends?’

‘I pray that they were fortunate enough to survive as well. And that Capraxinia sunk to the bottom of the ocean.’ Her smile was fanged and vengeful.

‘Well, let’s hope. How is Janaxia?’

‘A fine mistress.’ She glanced over her shoulder, moving closer to let the flap drop and lowering her voice. ‘Although currently seems a little unsure of herself. The loss of Skotadi seems to have hit her hard. I think she is not used to such things.’

‘I don’t think there’s been many she cares about, no. Even if Skotadi was a little strange, she was too young to get killed like that.’

‘She had great power. But I do not doubt that Lady Janaxia will avenge her, and defeat her siblings as well, to rise to primacy amongst her blood. It is only natural for her to ascend to the headship.’

‘I think she might be quite some way off being able to defeat Poratia by herself, or even with help. But you think she’s doing OK? She’s been a bit evasive whenever I try to talk to her.’

‘She appears resolute. And, perhaps, a little worried, but that is scarcely a surprise. But she appeared keen to eat and keep her strength up.’

‘That’s a good sign.’ A sudden wind blew, warm air snapping and plucking at Stathis’ clothing. ‘You should go in and get some rest, and eat as well. No use standing out here if you don’t have to. Once Janaxia goes to bed I’ll stay on guard, I guess. I’ll wake Janaxia up for second watch.’

Sen ducked back inside, letting Stathis catch a glimpse of Janaxia, currently in a sheer silk gown, looking somewhat more wizardly than normal, sat at a travelling desk with her book open in front of herself, one hand raised, points of darkness above each finger. As long as she wasn’t attempting necromancy to raise up Skotadi! She looked up, her green eyes glinting, before the flap fell back down, hiding her from vision.

Stathis returned to her armour, taking relief in the simple task, before running through a few sword practice exercises. The loose and soft sand was hell to move on, every step sinking or sliding, her ankles quickly straining from the extra effort needed to stay stable and balanced. She could hear the rattles and scrapes of hopefully-mock combat, as other soldiers tested themselves against each other, probably taking part in stupid bets, if they were anything like the soldiers she had known.

A gentle whisper attracted her attention. A soft noise, so slight at first she ignored it, before she heard it again, another whisper of her name. She closed her eyes, letting herself focus, as Hakara’s voice whispered through the dark night.

‘Hakara?’ Her voice was cracked and warped, but it was clearly her.

‘Stathis! I’ve been trying to get hold of you, but…’ The voice was replaced by hissing status, making Stathis wince and slowly move her head from side-to-side, trying to figure out if one place was better than another. ‘Are you still with the army?’

‘Yes. Still don’t know where we’re going, but there’s not even food for a long trip. And it seems quite a lot of men if it’s just to deal with some bandits or monsters – Zarazonnia could probably deal with anything less than a dragon herself. Where are you all? Cormontara still?’

‘No, we left. Brina came with us as well. We’re heading for an old elven ruin – I think I can use some of the magical power there to boost a transportation spell, if I can get a stable fix on you.’

‘I think it might be the ash doing something weird? It drinks blood and gets super-fertile – I saw flowers blossoming out of someone’s blood earlier today.’ She heard another voice, even quieter, and had to focus to recognise it as Brina’s, sounding concerned. ‘Tell her I’m fine, it was some random undead, they weren’t anywhere near me. But there’s nothing here at all, it’s all just black sand. Gets everywhere!’

‘She says that she’s OK. Um, if you could, perhaps you could bring me a sample? It would be interesting to see, if nothing else.’

‘Sure, I can find a jar or something. It’s just sand, nothing being protected. I’m hoping there might be some chance to get back, but I think we might be stuck with them, at least for a while.’

‘There’s been lots of undead raids and attacks. I think they’ve been raised up and then just left, so they’re attacking anything nearby. It’s causing chaos – getting between towns and villages without guards is hard. Most rulers are having to use their soldiers to guard all the trade routes and main roads, to bring the harvests in, without being able to defeat whatever’s causing it all.’

‘Sounds like Janaxia’s mother, or one of her family then. Low-cost undead raids sounds her sort of thing. Has anyone sent their forces down through Saltstone?’

‘Brina says that Duke… Carvereringleton? Led some soldiers down there. And hasn’t been seen since.’

‘Probably dead . Or undead. Well, that makes sense. If she’s relying on wizards and undead, she won’t need much of a supply chain, especially if they’re blinking about between strongholds or something. That’s going to make it hard to organise any sort of counterattack though, if everyone has to scatter themselves across large areas. What about the Iristari?’

‘The Winged Guard have been deployed, they’ve been keeping things as clear as they can. And the reserves have been called up.’

‘Setting up those retirement communities across the country was helpful, I guess. Lots of ex-soldiers close at hand. And if they catch any necromancers then they’ll solve the problem fairly permanently. So how long until you get to that elven place? What is it, that creepy old fortress to the south-west of Cormontara?’

‘Brynwiloch. Yes, Parth says there’s some warding magic there, but that it is a deterrent, rather than anything too fatal. She did mention something about ghosts, but I think she was joking? Although I hope Semari won’t go poking around too much.’

‘OK, that sounds sensible. Just try and keep out of the way. How’s Pajaran doing?’

‘Get your ass back here and take charge! You’re the noble, this is what you should be doing, I don’t get paid enough for this!’ Despite the crackling background noise, Pajaran’s voice was strident enough to be clearly heard.

‘I’ll try! At least I’m properly alive now. Try and stay safe, all of you. And watch out for Janaxia’s siblings, as some of them are pretty powerful. Or whatever undead or whatever they’ve got helping them. Has Parth said anything else?’ She strained her ears, but if Parth did say anything, it was inaudible, if she was even there.

‘I don’t think so? Nothing helpful, at least. I’ve seen her talking to a few other elves, but they always keep silent until we leave.’

‘That sounds very much like her. Keep an eye out, just in case she does something she thinks is funny. Or decides to steal from some other group of elves! Do you know how often you’ll be able to contact me?’

‘No. At least not unless you get closer, or somewhere without the magical interference. Are there any issues with Janaxia?’

‘Still broken up about Skotadi. She’s definitely pissed off with her mother, which is probably a good thing. As long as she doesn’t try and take her solo.’

‘Poratia is a mage of the highest order, she would be a challenge to fight against, even with planning. An unplanned encounter would likely be highly fatal.’

‘I don’t think she’s likely to go racing off on her own, she’s not gone crazy. She’s determined, but not mad for vengeance.’

The tent-flap moved, the edge fringed with dark magic. The insides of the tent were lit with a low red haze, a glowing stone emitting a glow that tried, and failed, to emulate firelight. Sen had made herself comfortable under a blanket, her head on her knees as she snoozed. Janaxia was on an actual bed, although it was only a light frame with a thin mattress, her nails tapping against her magical book. She looked up at Stathis, her hair-lash shedding enough extra light for her to read be, a sheet draped over her body.

She spoke without looking up. ‘It would be rather easier to guard me from inside the tent? In case of an attacker of a more ethereal or ghostly form, then it would be advantageous if you were to be close by. Did I hear you talking to someone? You shouldn’t allow yourself to be distracted – what if I were to come to harm?’

‘I think you’ll be fine, at least when awake. I’ll stand watch, and then you can take second watch.’

‘I was rather hoping to get a full night’s sleep? It’s bad for the complexion to have to force oneself awake.’

‘Tough. I’m not staying up all night and then marching somewhere, I need sleep as well. What are you reading? You don’t normally look at it.’

‘Hmmm? This? Well, it seemed wise, given the calibre of our opponents to study and try to improve myself.’

‘What’s it saying?’ Stathis glanced at the text, her eyes watering from even that quick look.

‘Arcane techniques. Scarcely the sort of thing you would understand.’

‘OK. Just, uh… don’t get too distracted. And make sure to rest!’

‘Hmmm, yes. It is interesting, but I think I will now sleep.’ She gestured, and a pillow rose up through the air, floating towards her. ‘Do try not to make too much noise.’ Janaxia snapped the book shut, then rolled over, after fluffing the pillow.

Stathis looked over at Sen, who already seemed to be asleep, before settling herself into a comfortable position for the night.