Her stiff muscles protested when she pushed to her feet. Jayden stood next to her, brushing sand from his cloak.
Scanning the desert, she found the deacons’ tracks. However, the baby hadn’t made any more noise. Had the infant died already?
“We need a plan,” Jayden said. “We can’t just rush in there. Let’s take a look first.” He shrugged off his cloak.
Like Shyla, he wore the red tunic and pants that the monks donned when they were on the surface. Hanif had given them a number of used and worn sets. She copied Jayden. They folded the sun cloaks and then buried them under the sand. Without the protective material, the heat grew uncomfortable despite the early angle. Sweat collected along her brow.
Instead of following the tracks, Jayden led them to the southeast, looping around so they would approach the worship site from another direction. When they neared it, they crouched low, keeping a larger dune between them and the Arch Deacons.
Shyla spotted two monks lying in the sand nearby. And they no doubt noticed her as well. The monks or acolytes—hard to tell since their clothing, veils, and turbans blended in with the colors of the desert—appeared to be within direct sight of the worship site and probably the Arch Deacons. Either the Arch Deacons had chosen to ignore them or they hadn’t seen them.
She tugged on Jayden’s arm and pointed the monks out to him.
“Why are they here?” he asked, whispering in her ear.
Good question. Normally the parents of sun-kissed babies abandoned them in the desert well away from the public paths. In rare cases, some were given to the deacons to leave on the surface. “I think they’re waiting for the Arch Deacons to return to the city so they can rescue the baby.”
Jayden huffed. “So it’s a waiting game? See who’ll stay out here the longest without getting cooked?”
If the baby was unprotected from the sun, it would die well before the killing heat. “The monks are technically not allowed to interfere.”
“So it’s up to us?”
“Yes.”
“We need to take a peek,” Jayden said.
“How?” She gestured to their surroundings. “They’ll see us and we can’t influence them.” Shyla stared at the monks. An idea formed.
“I’ll go through the dune,” Jayden said. “I’ll just push the sand this way so they don’t notice.”
That would take him a fair amount of energy and time. “No. I’ve another plan.”
“And…?”
“If it doesn’t work, we’ll go with yours.” She crept to the edge of the dune, closing the distance between her and the hidden monks. Waving her hands, she hoped to catch their full attention and not just a glance. Lowering her mental shield, she prepared to act. The monk closest to her shifted his gaze and she made eye contact. Perfect! She picked up on his emotions and thoughts.
What did Shyla and her companion think they were doing? If they tried to get the child, they’d have to fight four Arch Deacons without his and Lota’s help. Hanif would kill them both if they were seen aiding an abandoned child. At least Hanif’s information that a sun-kissed had been born recently proved accurate. Appalled and disgusted, he hoped the Arch Deacons would leave soon, but the scorching sand demons seemed determined to wait until the poor child died. He also worried they’d been warned about the monks attempting to rescue the sun-kissed since the four deacons faced four different directions. And they each kept a hand on the hilt of their swords as if expecting an attack.
A scary thought hit Shyla. What if the baby was bait? What if this was a hideous attempt to get the Invisible Swords to come out of hiding? She returned to Jayden and told him what she’d learned and her fears.
“How would they know you were watching on this particular sun jump?” Jayden asked, questioning her theory.
“I don’t know. Maybe they thought we had spies in the city. Hanif had known this might happen and sent the monks. Unless…” No, that was too terrible.
“Unless what?”
“Unless they’ve been doing this every sun jump since we attacked them at the old headquarters.”
Jayden’s horror matched her own. “That was five sun jumps ago.”
Her next thought was equally ghastly. Did they bring the child back to the city when their trap didn’t work only to take the poor thing back out the next sun jump? This had to stop. Now.
“Even if they’re expecting us, we can’t walk away,” she said.
“Agreed. But unless the monks fight—”
“They won’t.”
“Then it’s two against four and they’ll see us coming.” Jayden rubbed his hands together. “I’m okay with that.”
Was she? They couldn’t influence or manipulate the Arch Deacons, but they could move the sand. Perhaps a cloud to hide them or— “What an idiot!”
“I hope you’re not talking about me.”
“No.” She rushed to explain her plan. “Do you think it’ll work?”
“If it doesn’t we can always fall back on plan B.”
“Fists and feet?”
“And knives.” Jayden pulled his from his belt and brandished it. “Might as well put on a show.”
Shyla added learn-how-to-fight-with-a-knife to her list of things to do. Going up against two Arch Deacons without a weapon was a daunting prospect. She hoped her crazy scheme worked.
As she and Jayden crested the dune, Shyla didn’t need to read the hidden monks’ thoughts. No doubt they were questioning her intelligence.
The Arch Deacons spotted them immediately. The four formed a line between them and the baby on the sand. They drew their weapons—short swords, sharp and slightly curved. Jayden’s knife looked like a child’s toy in comparison.
“Ah, the Blessed One was correct that you wouldn’t be able to resist,” said an Arch Deacon. He stood on the far left and had to be the leader. “Come with us, Sun-kissed, and your companion can take the baby and go.”
“That’s a decent offer. What do you think?” Jayden asked her.
“I think the Arch Deacon is a son of a sand demon and should be left on the surface to die.” She stared at the man but concentrated on his feet.
“Ouch.” Jayden pressed his free hand to his chest. He turned to the Arch Deacon. “The truth hurts, doesn’t it?”
“Enough of this,” the man said, then to his companions, “Don’t kill the sun-kissed.”
The Arch Deacons stepped forward. Or, rather, they tried. The sand underneath them no longer supported their weight. Shyla increased her will, creating a deeper hole under the leader. Jayden focused on the other three.
Amid cries of disbelief and fear, the quartet sank up to their chests—a comical sight. Their arms remained on the surface and they struggled to break free. Jayden used the sand to yank the swords from their hands. The weapons disappeared into a dune. Then the grains trapped the men’s arms.
Not wasting time, Shyla crouched in front of the leader. She yanked the torque from his throat, then met his terrified gaze.
“You should be scared,” she said. Not bothering to question him, she probed the depths of his mind.
As she’d feared, they’d been setting this trap for the last couple sun jumps. They thought they’d be safe from her magic with the torques.