mermeyeh (mer-me-ye) adjective

a devastating event that causes one to lose the ability to think

***

They were cascading down the rough, hot sand wave. Laku, of course, was the loudest. His head bobbed up and down as the waves came stronger and more frequent. Nascha held on to the horses, searching for Tia and found the woman using Kalesch's wrapped body as a board to keep herself afloat.

She saw it too, the ship. It was magnificent in sunlight, its giant sails stretched as the strong wind impelled it forward. Toward them. Yet there was no time to marvel because they were drowning without water. And if they could not swim out of the way, they'd die.

Nascha was buried from the waist down. Tia was still on top of Kalesch's body. But Laku could barely stretch his neck long enough with each passing wave. Even the horses were doing better than him. "Don't move too much!" she shouted, frustrated and afraid. For someone who boasted about his dancing skills days ago, he could not harmonize with the waves.

"I'm trying!" he shouted back. At least his eyes were closed against the harsh sand wind.

He won't make it, Nascha thought. But this was not where he was supposed to die. But it looks like he's dying. Her heart stopped when his head went under and never emerged, and she shouted, "Kalesch!"

"Get to shore!" Tia shouted.

"What shore!" she shouted back angrily. How could the woman use Kalesch's body like a boat?

"You know what I mean!"

Nascha's mind reeled. She had to let go of the horses and swim away from the path of the approaching ship. Making up her mind, she let go of the horses and scrambled over the abrasive waves to search for Laku. Tia was doing well with Kalesch's body and Nascha thought that if they ever survived this, she would not let the woman near her rayeshka again—both body and soul. And speaking of the soul, it was drowning somewhere.

She had to save Laku. But where was he? "Laku!" she shouted as another wave sent her on top. Before it rolled down, she bent to her hips, balancing herself, surfing the waves. "Laku!"

There was nothing but three horses neighing toward safety; nothing but Tia surfing away over the waves atop a wrapped body.

There's nothing until...

One of the tents knocked her over, and she tumbled, rolling on moving sand. And then she was drowning. She was now one of the millions of sands rolling up and down, up and down. Which way was up? Which way was down? She could not tell.

The worst part was emerging, only to be buried again. If she ever emerged, Nascha was not sure if she could survive the injuries. Her body felt like being lashed and squeezed everywhere. Unlike water, this mass of sand was solid. Loose, but solid. Each tumble tugged at her limbs, each roll twisting her in all places, each rise and fall felt like the desert wanted to eat her, grasping every part of her it could.

But then something wrapped around her. Something more solid. Something more desperate.

Something not sand.

"Get up!" she heard him say. "Nascha, get up!"

Then a pull. A painful one. And she was on the surface again, coughing out sand, choking on it. "Focus!"

She realized Laku was holding her up from behind. "Brace!" he shouted just before the wave rolled down. "Wait... wait," he said, then, "Run!"

They ran as far as they could before another wave took them high.

They braced. They waited. They ran. They stumbled from time to time, but he would pull her up before a fall. They braced, they waited, they ran. Breathlessly, fine sand entering their airways, their hearts drowning with as they went. If this went on, they'd die above or under the desert.

Still, he pulled. They braced, they waited, they ran.

Until it stopped, making them lose their footing and tumble a few more yards away. The waves had paused in a sudden stillness that rang in their ears. Breathless, hand in hand, they stood and looked over their shoulder. The ship had stopped just a few giant hills of sand away. She looked at Laku. No, she thought. It wasn't Laku.

"Obseumtozh," he said, holding her hand tighter. "It's me."

She breathlessly nodded, tearing her eyes off his to stare at the ship again. The sails were down and she could hear people shouting from above. Nascha swallowed in disbelief and awe.

"You carved this?" he asked.

Again, she nodded.

"What is it?"

"The Caravan," she whispered, stealing him a look.

"What do they do?" he asked, eyes narrowed. A warning for her to tell the truth.

Nascha bit her sand-covered lip. "Pirates of the desert."

"Nascha," he said, shaking his head, his tone helpless.

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

He sighed and pulled at her hand, guiding her toward Tia and his wrapped body. "Good thing I'm awake then."

***

Tia's heart hammered hard against her ribcage as she looked up at the ship. She looked behind her, at the dunes the waves had created. From her right, she could see Nascha and Laku approach. Their horses were nearly out of sight, galloping toward the horizon.

They were trapped. They could not even run and hide because there were at least three people looking over the ship right at her. At her feet, Kalesch's body was almost unwrapped, his head poking out. Her own silver tresses were free, flapping against the wind.

"Captain!" someone shouted from aboard the ship. "They're here!"

Tia could feel Nym, but he was too scared to come out. Zaria was still shaken, murmuring questions to herself.

Nascha and Laku arrived and Nascha asked, "What do we do?" But she was not looking at Tia. She was staring at, of all people, Laku, as if the man could come up with a good plan.

"Nothing," Laku said, his eyes serious and seemingly wise. So unlike him, but maybe Tia did not know him well enough. Maybe he could be wise and serious if he had to. "Let's see what they want."

Tia frowned at them, then at their hands. Nascha pulled away from Laku's hold and cleared her throat, smiling at her awkwardly. "It looks like I'm finally seeing the magic you've been talking about," Nascha said.

She followed the woman's gaze. The sand around the ship looked like frozen ocean waves. Her eyes veered higher at the hull of the ship, the gun ports that lined them, and higher at the deck where at least two dozen men were bent over the railing, looking down at them like they were the biggest—or most disappointing—catch of the journey.

Nascha must think Tia knew everything about magic, but she was wrong. This was the first time she had seen this kind of... phenomenon. If this was magic, then someone very powerful was on that ship. It took a lot of heka, blood magic, to move such a vast desert and make it carry a ship that's designed for water. This was no simple heka trick. This was something someone was born with and someone had practiced for years.

Out of nowhere, something flew past them. Or swung past them. It landed on the ground perfectly and straightened to full height.

A man with a black wide-brimmed hat shaped like a ship, a gold feather attached to it. His hair was long and braided and... gold. He wore a black skirt over his breeches and high leather boots. And nothing else because his upper body was naked, covered with gold tattoos and... gold scarf he wrapped around his neck. His earrings (also gold) were round and covered his ears. This man was too flashy, too golden, that Tia was surprised his teeth were white when he smiled.

"My friends!" he greeted, raising one arm (a quarter of which was covered with gold bangles) in welcome while the other (also a quarter covered with a gold band) held on to the rope held by his men on the deck. "I'm Captain Meryus, twin brother of proud Maryus and the gentle and magnificent Maryes. Friend of the desert, lover of maidens, and foe of the rich!"

Tia and Nascha blinked at him. Neither of them knew the names he spoke of, but something in the way he said them hinted they should at least pretend to have an idea.

Meryus' eyes traveled between them before they settled on Laku. Then at the dead body at Tia's feet. His eyes rounded. "Who is that?"

"A friend," Tia said.

"Is he dead?"

"No."

Meryus lifted his hand and twisted his wrist, the one with the bangles. The sand beneath them moved. They stumbled, wide-eyed as Kalesch's body was lifted higher so Meryus could inspect him. "Why is he wrapped?"

No one answered. Then the body was dropped. It rolled and Nascha extended a leg to stop it.

"You lost your horses because of me," Meryus said, looking back at Tia and Nascha. "I apologize. I had an itch and lost control. To pay for your loss, I welcome you aboard the Caravan."

Caravan. Tia had not heard of it. Not even from her brothers who knew many pirates.

Two more men swung from the deck and dropped behind Meryus. They bowed at Tia and Nascha. "We'll escort you, fair ladies."

Nascha stepped closer to Laku. Tia held her ground. Laku stepped forward. "We would rather you replace our camp. We can continue on our journey on our own."

"Nonsense!" Meryus shouted, eyes ablaze with incredulity.

"Our captain doesn't extend hospitality to just anyone," said one of the men. The other brushed his wrap aside to show them his sword.

"We can manage on our own," said Laku.

Something in Meryus' dark blue eyes changed. The laughter wrinkles deepened as his eyes narrowed. "Oh, but we insist," he said in a sinister voice which, by chance or will, sounded too practiced.

"We don't really—" One of the pirates had swung down from the deck, circling wide behind them and kicked Laku in the back of the head. He landed beside his captain before Laku hit the ground.

Nascha gasped and Tia threw her a look of warning as she said to Meryus, "We'll go. If you promise to take us to Mirache."

The smile on his lips returned. "I promise."

She tore her eyes off Nascha and stared down at Kalesch's body and at Laku's unconscious form. Then she looked up at the ship and the men sneering down at them. There was no way to go, no way to run. Growing up on an island, Tia knew enough about ships and pirates. But this ship was different. And these pirates were none she had even heard of.

She had heard stories of others like her, some she had met, others she was friends with. But none of them were as powerful as she. None was more powerful than her. Except this man who could move the desert.

Laku was useless at this point; Kalesch's body a burden; Nascha was too naïve. They could not run away from these men.

So Tia smiled, like how she thought Zaria would. And she stepped closer to Meryus. "Will you protect us throughout the journey?" she asked, blinking, hoping it was enticing enough.

"Of course!" Meryus shouted, laughing with his pirates, as if she had asked for the only thing they knew how to do.

Tia moistened her lips and smiled. Nym had completely shut himself off. Zaria was in a mess of panic. "Then take us aboard your ship, Captain."