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We hurried back to the wagon and climbed aboard. In a few minutes we found ourselves sliding across the sand after the bobbing qasi. The woman appeared to be headed for a large oasis of trees and high brush. She guided her qasi down an opening in the bushes and disappeared from view.
Ben parked the wagon on the edge of the oasis and tied the reins to one of the trees. Our qasi gladly took a spot in the shade and began to munch on the foliage. Ben stepped up to the mouth of the beaten path and peered down its long length. The foliage was so high that it created a tunnel effect that cast deep shadows over the path. The trail also meandered enough that, as I sidled up to Ben’s side, I lost sight of the path after about ten yards.
“So you think this is a good idea?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “No, but I’m curious to know what this woman might be able to tell us about that Kneeling Stone ritual.”
I snorted. “Well, we could ask the snake woman really nicely, but I think all we’d get is a hiss.”
“Or a place on the Stone,” Ben pointed out. I recalled the experiences of the last two people and couldn’t help but shudder. Ben slipped his hand around mine and gave it a squeeze. “I won’t let that happen.”
I smiled up at him. “Just don’t go doing anything stupidly brave to do it, okay?”
He looked down the path. “This looks like a good example of stupid bravery. We could very well be walking into some sort of trap.”
I thought back to the woman and her interference in the ceremony, and I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I mean, she did stop the ceremony, even if it was too late.” I knitted my eyebrows together as I again peered into the darkness. “Unless she’s just a nice cannibal. . .”
“What does that mean? Cannibal?”
“It, um, means someone who likes the taste of human flesh.”
“Ah, I see. We call them ghouls.”
My face drooped. “You mean you have them in this world, too?”
“Very rarely,” he assured me.
I wasn’t assured.
“They don’t happen to like dry, sandy places, do they?” I asked him.
He flashed me a mischievous smile as he strode down the path, taking me with him. “Let’s see.”
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
We ventureddown the gently sloped path and the air became thick with the scent of foliage and evaporated water. Bugs scurried away on the leaves and a few large snakes slithered into the undergrowth. My heart beat loudly in my chest as I awaited our imminent demise courtesy of some hideous sand beast.
My imagination was sorely disappointed when, after a few minutes of winding our way through the brush, the path opened and presented us with a lost paradise. The cluttered leaves and sand that speckled the trail transformed into soft grass that stretched out some fifty yards in front of us. A large pool opposite where we stood glistened in the sun and water fowl glided along its otherwise pristine surface.
The only thing not in this beautiful secret was the woman we had followed. She and all her passengers were vanished. Only her qasi remained, and the beast was tied to a nearby tree where it happily munched on some grass.
I stepped up to Ben’s side and turned my head to and fro. “Um, am I missing something?”
“We both are,” Ben agreed as he folded his arms over his chest and inspected the area. “It appears our prey has hidden herself away.”
“That’s a fine thing to call an old woman.”
I jumped and even Ben was a little startled by the sudden voice which emanated from our left. We whipped our heads about to face that direction and discovered the old woman standing there. Or rather, the old woman’s head.
My wild imagination jumped back into action as thoughts of talking disembodied apparitions danced around in my head. Thankfully, the old woman lifted up one hand and beckoned to us. “Stop gaping and get over here.”
I looked to Ben who smiled and shrugged. Together we ventured over to the woman and her spot near the edge of the foliage. As we neared her position, I discovered she stood on a flight of worn stone steps that led down into a carved tunnel some five feet wide.
We stopped at the top of the stairs and Ben lifted an eyebrow. “These are the ruins of Matlae, aren’t they?”
The old woman scoffed at him. “Of course it is, you fool, now come in beforeherspies catch us.”
She scurried down the steps and we followed. The woman waited for us at the bottom where she held her hand in front of one of the large stone blocks. I could see the way was lit with torches that hung from the walls and the tunnel had several offshoots that gave the corridor a feeling of endlessness.
