CHAPTER TWO—THE SECOND VANGUARD
“High vizier!” called Gohar, “come and look at this!”
“Ugh!” Ali growled as he turned and glanced up at the man on the ridge. He turned to his brother. How Razul managed to stay as pretty as he did, Ali would never know.
He shrugged. “What?”
“Nothing!” Ali said frustratedly, and glanced down at the stupid mushrooms they had gathered and put atop of sheet of canvas. “Come on.”
“Why are you in such a bad moon, man?”
“I am not in a bad mood.”
“Right.”
If truth be told, he was in fact in a bad mood, but he would never admit so much to his fop of an older half-brother, who, even in this accursed envrionemtn, somehow managed not to be bothered by any of it.
They had weathered monster attacks repeatedly, lost men, were eaten half to death by swarms of bugs that only bothered them when they swooped down upon them in a hungry rush to feed and without warning, and now the army was running out of food and fresh water.
He wanted to slap the side of his leg. What will be next? An attack by the Florencians? Gods forbid they know where we are!
Luckily, he doubted they had many spied in Darshuun, being so different of skin and language, spying would be an incredibly difficult thing to do, though it was still possible. There were plenty of traitors in the empire, least of which the demihumans.
Damned demihumans! They are not Abassir men.
Scratching his head, he thought that he better be careful with that line of thinking. The sultana was in fact, a demihuman, married to the previous sultan’s brother, giving her the highest claim in the land since there had been no other blood heirs.
Ali trudged up the sandy beach and over the where he came to the ledge. There was an overhang of thick vines with leaves as juicy as a meaty hand. He touched the leaf, wondering if it could be eaten.
“Probably poisonous,” Razul said with complete confidence as he nodded his head.
“And how would you know?”
“I can sense a negative aura.”
“What? No you can’t!”
“You think I cannot, brother?”
Ali felt almost outraged at the prospect. “I know you most certainly cannot.”
“Ha! Then it eat and die—see if I care, high vizier.”
“Oh shut up!” Ali snapped, and the Scorpions who had accompanied them on this vanguard expedition looked up at them.
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Ali took pause, realizing he was making a bad impression on the men. He glanced away from his bother and grabbed ahold of the vines, grunting as he hauled himself up.
He made short work of it—a think that might take a Scorpion far longer to accomplish and with much greater effort, for Ali was indeed a mid-tier adventurer. Razul lowered his hand as Ali nearly crested the top.
Normally, he might smack his smug brother’s hand away after he had beat him to the top. The fop had summersaulted up there—but the men were watching.
Having paused for only a moment, he took Raz’s hand and the top-tier adventurer with his iridescent mother-of-pearl fish-fin blade hanging over his belt hauled him up without even grunting in the slightest.
Ali caught sight of Gohar. He was young to be a rank captain, beardless, and quite boyish in his mannerisms. Someone must have seen something in this lad, or we’re desperate for men.
He glanced back at Ali as he stopped pushing against the palm tree.
“Gohar,” Ali said, his tone reprimanding, though slightly resigned. “I told you not to call me ‘high vizier’. It is fine to simply call me by my name.”
Ghoar nodded. “Yes, Master Ali.”
Ali sighed and he said nothing as Raz smirked beside him. “So… what is it you have found, eh?”
“Turtle nuts,” said Ghoar happily. “Thousands of them.”
Raz turned, put a hand to his chin. He had grown somewhat of a mustache and a small tuft of hair under his chin. “I do not think they be in the thousands, Captain.”
“No?” he asked.
“It is many, though,” said Ali with a nod. “It is a good find.” He turned his head. HASHEM!”
“Ah!” Raz exclaimed. “You scared me—what is this screaming about?”
“He cannot hear me.”
“Then go to the ridge and call down to the fool.”
“Hashem!” Ali called again.
After a time the vines twitched and moved as their requisitions officer climbhed up. Ali signed and lowered his hand to help him up. He was breathing heavily when he finally got to his feet.
“Commander?” asked Hashem.
“We have found turlenuts,” said Ali.
“Very good, sir,” he said. “Marking it down now.”
Ali put his hands on his hips, feeling like he needed a nice long rest. Once he got back to Darshuun, he was going to take Hafza and spend the next several months simply relaxing. He nodded with a satisfied smile on his face.
“What are you smirking at?” asked Razul.
“Oh,” Ali said, looking at him. “Nothing.”
“Come on,” prodded Raz as he nudged Ali with his forearm. “Tell me, man.”
“I just think I will relax and spend some time with my wife.”
“Maybe start breeding, eh?”
Ali snorted. “Gods, man—what?”
Raz laughed. “Here.” He handed Ali a cracked turtlenut, then he drank his half down.
Ali tipped his head back and drank the sweet liquid. His eyes twitched then and he blinked several times before he opened them wide. “Whoa!”
“What?” asked Razul.
“I—“ Ali began, and he touched his cheek with two fingers and blinked some more. “I can see in the dark!” He looked at the turtlenut with astonishment.
Razul looked at his with skepticism. “What are you talking about?” He swiped his finger in the bottom, then licked the juice off of it. “You are playing games.”
“I swear I am not.”
“Master Ali!” cried Gohar. “I can… I can—“
“See in the dark!” Ali shouted. “You too?”
“Yes!” said Gohar with a nod. “I cannot believe this. Turtlenuts do not have magical properties… He hiccupped. “Do they?”
“I feel funny,” said Ali, realizing his world was starting to twist and turn a bit.
“What?!” Raz complained. “This is not fair. Give me another one.”
“Wait!” Hashem cried. “Stop—do not drink the juice.”
Razul turned to him. “What, why not?”
“Yes,” said Ali with a laugh, “why not, man?”
“Do you not see?” said Hashem as he gestured to Ali—wow, he looked strange… “There is something happened with their minds.”
“Nonsense!” Razul stressed, and down another half of a broken turtlenut. He waited for a moment.
“Well?” asked Ali.
“I think… No nothing,” he said. “No wait! Yes! I can see—I can see in the dark. Oh—“ He moved as if he were starting to lose his balance. Then he laughed. “This is better than strong wine!”
“You must stop!” Hashem pleaded. “Please—“
Razul took him by the shoulder, “Have some you fool!”
“No! Nonono!”
“That’s a lad!” Raz hiccupped. “These turtlenuts are most strange, yes?”