by Joel Stottlemire

Created on: July 06, 2007

The Silver Sands Trilogy Book One Chapter One

The sun was hot on Ricci's skin, so hot that it was like a hot brush brushing down her exposed arms. She kicked her skix, an eight foot long, eight legged lizard like creature, in the ribs and held tight to the reigns as the beast scurried forward down the steep incline.

She was ten days ride out of Ma' Taht last city before the wastes of Tunnin that surrounded her now. In six more days, if her skix didn't die or a sandstorm consume her, she would reach Ba' Matet the only port on the Pocket Sea. She had to get there before Maklet her one time partner and now bitter rival.

It was late afternoon and the sun was just beginning to stretch out over her shoulder. She found herself descending into a broad wash between two unnamed mountains. There were a few scrub brush trees and some lonely clumps of dry grass.

An uneasy feeling filled her belly and she slowed her skix to a slow canter. The wastelands were barren but not uninhabited. Lonely Carpsmen traveled from waterhole to waterhole playing out their sad laments on strange shell horns. Wild dogs could be found from place to place and even more sinister evils were rumored.

"Hold to the foot Armatta." She called to her skix who dutifully stopped and raised a middle leg for her to step down on.

She slid the beast's reigns over it's long flat head and led it gingerly through the sand almost tiptoeing in her soft, leather boots. Her mind was tired from a day in the sun and though she did the Chant of Miniv over and over in her mind, she could get no clear idea of what danger she sensed, only that whatever it was was near.

Abruptly, the sand under the skix erupted and a two foot around black head with two long pincers appeared. Before Ricci could turn or she skix could skitter away, the assailant rose revealing a fat, black body and a host of legs and drove it's pincers into the skix's soft underbelly. The skix bellowed and Ricci cursed, drawing her sword.

The desert spider was focused on the skix and didn't notice the stocky woman approaching from it's side. Still, it's legs provided an effective barrier keeping Ricci from the body and she didn't want to waste her surprise slashing away at legs.

The spider had leapt away from it's lair chasing the fainting skix. Ricci took a moment to slip two crystal, throwing daggers from their sheaths and move so that she could see the spider's giant compound eye.

She took a deep breath and flung one of the daggers with sudden fury. As designed,

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