Read Online Sands (Sharani Series Book 1) by Kevin L. Nielsen - Free Book Online
Authors: Kevin L. Nielsen
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had been cared for by another person. Why had she?
The most powerful prisons were those whose bars were constructed by the one imprisoned within them. They had made her want to care for the creatures. They had used her own kindness and determination against her. She felt like a milk-besotted babe to have been so easily manipulated.
“I’m such a fool,” she said aloud, clenching her fists and kicking some loose sand over the side of the ledge. Why hadn’t she realized what they were doing to her? They’d expected her to attempt something. They’d expected her to figure them out at some point.
She looked up in a sudden burst of anger, her eyes flashing and fixating on the spot where she had seen the rock move. She could see it even though she was directly beneath it. Her ledge afforded her a slightly angled view of the spot.
“I know you’re up there,” she shouted, her voice carrying and reverberating off the close walls. “I’m done playing your games. I’m done waiting for you to explain. Show yourselves! Kaiden! Khari! I’ve had enough!”
Her voice echoed across the chamber, rolling and reverberating like a wave of rolling sand. The rock she was staring at shifted, and a head poked out over the edge and peered down at her—a head topped with dusty brown hair, a plain face, and grey eyes. And a frown.
“Well, you’re not nearly as stupid as you’ve made Khari believe,” Kaiden said, “but not nearly as smart or as stubborn as you’re going to need to be.”
Part 2 - Roterralar
Chapter 5 - The Smell of Change
Having lived the solitary life, alone with my craft and with the creatures that I love, having another’s presence within my walls is uncomfortable. The girl is always there—always in the way. And her ceaseless chatter gnaws at my mind and steals away what hope I have left. She is a leech, sapping away my strength.
-From the Journals of Elyana
Sheltered in a large stone bowl that mirrored the epic grandeur of the Forbiddence, the Oasis walls stuck up over the sands for dozens of span. The ground within the bowl the Oasis formed was covered in a thick, green grass that cushioned the foot when one walked. For Marvi, who was used to walking on the sandy covered floors of the warren, where each step was really the culmination of two motions—one forward and one slipping back marginally—the springy grass of the Oasis was unnerving.
The Oasis was a blessing, a shelter from the genesauri during the Migration and a sure source of water during the three months when the rains didn’t make the Oasis uninhabitable. If it weren’t for the nine months of rain each year, they could have stayed in the Oasis all year long and never worried about the genesauri again. But the flooding made living there during the Dormancy impossible.
Thankfully, the genesauri slept for that period, which made the Sharani Desert relatively safe.
Marvi doubted that the water oaths would hold up with all the Rahuli clans confined together for as long as they were. In truth, the peace barely held together each year. Fights often broke out between the clans who were sworn blood enemies. Tempers ran high, and fear and warmongering were facts of life. It was only common need that allowed them some respite from the chaos that awaited them on the sands. Fear was the great unifier of all men. Well, that and lust.
Marvi grimaced as she walked along the grass, holding up the hem of her robe so it wouldn’t catch on the grass or get soaked by the thick beads of dew beading along the green strands. There was a muskiness to the air, an odor of dirt and plants and the close proximity of thousands of people and whatever animals they had managed to save that Marvi simply hated. It was a foreign smell found only here in the Oasis, the thick, ugly smell of wet.
Despite her efforts, her robes caught on the rough bark of a tall palm and tore with a loud ripping noise. She swore and dropped the robe altogether. Let it get
The most powerful prisons were those whose bars were constructed by the one imprisoned within them. They had made her want to care for the creatures. They had used her own kindness and determination against her. She felt like a milk-besotted babe to have been so easily manipulated.
“I’m such a fool,” she said aloud, clenching her fists and kicking some loose sand over the side of the ledge. Why hadn’t she realized what they were doing to her? They’d expected her to attempt something. They’d expected her to figure them out at some point.
She looked up in a sudden burst of anger, her eyes flashing and fixating on the spot where she had seen the rock move. She could see it even though she was directly beneath it. Her ledge afforded her a slightly angled view of the spot.
“I know you’re up there,” she shouted, her voice carrying and reverberating off the close walls. “I’m done playing your games. I’m done waiting for you to explain. Show yourselves! Kaiden! Khari! I’ve had enough!”
Her voice echoed across the chamber, rolling and reverberating like a wave of rolling sand. The rock she was staring at shifted, and a head poked out over the edge and peered down at her—a head topped with dusty brown hair, a plain face, and grey eyes. And a frown.
“Well, you’re not nearly as stupid as you’ve made Khari believe,” Kaiden said, “but not nearly as smart or as stubborn as you’re going to need to be.”
Part 2 - Roterralar
Chapter 5 - The Smell of Change
Having lived the solitary life, alone with my craft and with the creatures that I love, having another’s presence within my walls is uncomfortable. The girl is always there—always in the way. And her ceaseless chatter gnaws at my mind and steals away what hope I have left. She is a leech, sapping away my strength.
-From the Journals of Elyana
Sheltered in a large stone bowl that mirrored the epic grandeur of the Forbiddence, the Oasis walls stuck up over the sands for dozens of span. The ground within the bowl the Oasis formed was covered in a thick, green grass that cushioned the foot when one walked. For Marvi, who was used to walking on the sandy covered floors of the warren, where each step was really the culmination of two motions—one forward and one slipping back marginally—the springy grass of the Oasis was unnerving.
The Oasis was a blessing, a shelter from the genesauri during the Migration and a sure source of water during the three months when the rains didn’t make the Oasis uninhabitable. If it weren’t for the nine months of rain each year, they could have stayed in the Oasis all year long and never worried about the genesauri again. But the flooding made living there during the Dormancy impossible.
Thankfully, the genesauri slept for that period, which made the Sharani Desert relatively safe.
Marvi doubted that the water oaths would hold up with all the Rahuli clans confined together for as long as they were. In truth, the peace barely held together each year. Fights often broke out between the clans who were sworn blood enemies. Tempers ran high, and fear and warmongering were facts of life. It was only common need that allowed them some respite from the chaos that awaited them on the sands. Fear was the great unifier of all men. Well, that and lust.
Marvi grimaced as she walked along the grass, holding up the hem of her robe so it wouldn’t catch on the grass or get soaked by the thick beads of dew beading along the green strands. There was a muskiness to the air, an odor of dirt and plants and the close proximity of thousands of people and whatever animals they had managed to save that Marvi simply hated. It was a foreign smell found only here in the Oasis, the thick, ugly smell of wet.
Despite her efforts, her robes caught on the rough bark of a tall palm and tore with a loud ripping noise. She swore and dropped the robe altogether. Let it get
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