However, after that, he felt so anxious that he didn’t feel like he could actually end up sleeping if he went back into the tent with Katayoun. So he stayed at the edge of the plateau.

About an hour later, there was another shower of meteors, and he saw more movement on the road. Again, nothing turned in their direction.

He thought back to a lesson in which Mystic Rabya had talked about such matters.

“When it comes to Abhorrent sensing melam,” she’d said, “it comes down to the same problem we’ve discussed before. Who knows what I’m referring to?”

A few students raised their hands and Rabya called on Atra-Hasis.

“Our direct knowledge of Abhorrent behavior is lacking.”

“Exactly,” Rabya said. “The last time we faced any real Abhorrent was centuries upon centuries ago. The summoned variety behave differently. Besides, few mages want to waste melam summoning Abhorrent simply to study them. Of course, top military brass has ordered such studies. With limited results. Regardless, long-term behavior is impossible to study or observe. We can’t dissect them because they disappear upon death.” Rabya noticed a raised hand. “Yes, Katayoun?”

“What about vivisection?”

“What section?” Enusat said.

Kat turned to look at him. “Vivisection. It’s like dissection, except the subject’s alive.”

Rabya nodded. “Good question, Kat. Vivisection... has been performed on Abhorrent. That’s one of the ways we do know a bit about their anatomy and internal structure. But whether it's dissection or vivisection, you still have to deal with the problems of melam loss, the short duration of summoning spells, and the like.

“In any case, getting back to how they sense melam, the short story is that we don’t know much. We don’t know how they do it. Do they have an organ that allows them to sense us? Is it related to their connection to melam itself?” She shrugged. “I know, this lecture is providing you a fat lot of nothing in terms of actionable information.

“There are some things we do know. Did anybody read Surviving a Trip to the Nightmare Cove by Anunnaki Ninursag?”

All of the smart kids raised their hands, including Katayoun, Arwia, Kuri, and Ningal. Ningsummunu joined them.

“Arwia, do you remember the description of how Ninursag escaped that desert?”

“I do, Mystic Rabya. But… isn’t that book fictional?”

Rabya cleared her throat. “It’s listed as fiction in the library catalog, but many people believe it to be based on fact. So… the desert section?”

“Right. She managed to avoid at least two mature Abhorrent, simply by moving around them.”

“Exactly. One thing that’s generally agreed upon regardless of the texts you chose to study about Abhorrent, is that there’s a limit to the range at which they can sense melam. That range seems to increase as they grow, but it doesn’t extend to dramatic proportions. You can find a few books that have hard numbers attached to various growth stages of Abhorrent. Some claim that the higher-level juveniles can sense melam from leagues away. Others assign much lower numbers.”

In the middle of thinking back to that class, Xerxes’ eyes drooped, and he woke when his chin suddenly hit his chest.

At that point, he woke Jad to take the next watch.

The following morning he felt tired, but not exhausted.

“There was a huge meteor shower an hour ago,” Dasi said. “There’s been almost constant movement on the road.”

“Fuck,” Kashtiliash said.

They stood on the plateau and looked down. Sure enough, the road looked almost like a line of ants.

“We can’t go back down that way,” Katayoun said. “That much is obvious.”

“It’s fine,” Jad said. “We can go through the mountains. It’ll slow us down a bit, but once we’re on the other side, it’s a straight shot to the Gateway complex.”

“How much is that going to slow us down?” Xerxes wondered aloud.

“Not that much.” Jad sounded irritated. “You want to go back to that clown Gandash? Be my guest!”

“I didn’t say that,” Xerxes said.

“Whatever.” Jad turned and went back to break down his tent.

“I seriously didn’t mean anything like that,” Xerxes said again, keeping his voice down.

“It’s fine,” Kashtiliash said.

Dasi nodded. “Jad’s touchy because this whole thing was his idea and it’s not exactly going as planned. But we all bought into it. As long as we get back to the Gateway, send the message up, and get reinforcements, we’ll be fine. Within a week or two, we’ll be back with Black Jackal, throwing down drinks in Puabi, and all this will be worth it.”

Traveling through the mountains was indeed much slower. That was especially the case given there were no roads to follow. As the morning passed, they backtracked three times after reaching impassable sections of terrain.

The upside was they didn’t see any meteor showers.

The sun beat down, making Xerxes sweat. He felt dusty, and felt like he was constantly smacking away bugs.

Their High Seer speed only helped them in fits and bursts.

By the time evening fell, they had yet to reach the highest elevation point before the mountains dropped back down into the open plains that separated them from the Gateway complex. They camped in an open area next to a very small stream of water.

There were no meteor showers.

Jad seemed to be in a better mood. What was more, they managed to kill a game bird, which they roasted over the fire to form the basis of a delicious dinner. It was a nice break from the monotony of travel food.

Jad even offered to take the first watch.

Safe in the tent with a few bowls of water, Katayoun carefully washed the grime of travel off Xerxes with a washcloth. He switched the water, and did the same for her.

An hour later, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

This is what it will be like every night, he thought. Once we get out of here.