Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands 1)

“They put it on another train.” I might as well spit it out. “The weapon is on this one.”

•   •   •

THERE WAS NO time to rig the tunnels, no time to stop the train so we could get on board. That’s what they were counting on. No one talked as we perched on the ridge overlooking the tunnel, waiting for it to come through. At first all I could hear was everyone breathing into the silence, and then breaths mixing with the rattle of rails, and then nothing but the mountain rumbling below our feet as the train raced through the tunnel.

Waiting.

Waiting.

The train burst through in a blast of black smoke.

“Go!”

We half ran, half slid down the mountain and plunged into coal smoke. The black cloud invaded my lungs and my nose, blinded my eyes, so I went sprawling. I was back up and jumping before I had time to feel the sting of the skin stripped from my elbow.

One moment it was stone below my feet, the next it was air. The whole world was suspended.

My feet hit the roof of the train unsteadily and I slid, panic wrapping me up as I fell toward the edge. A hand was around mine, grabbing me. Jin hauled me back up. There was no room to thank him over the deafening noise of the train. I tightened my fingers around his for a moment.

Then we split, his hand tearing out of mine. Shazad and I bolted for the front of the train, Jin, Bahi, and Hala for the back. I didn’t look down, not at the rails rushing below us, not at anything, until we were as close to the front as we could get without climbing into the engine.

I eased myself down first, toward the door that would take us inside, clinging to the outside of the train as it tried to shake me off with every rattling movement, the air howling around my ears.

Shazad landed next to me with the grace of a cat. I checked the pistol on my belt as her hand closed over the handle of her blade.

Terror and excitement battled for my attention. Everything I was feeling was mirrored straight back at me from her eyes. We turned as one.

The door of the carriage burst open under our feet.

Rows of empty seats stared back at us. Dusty glass hurricane lights juddered quietly from the motion of the train. Shazad and I lowered our weapons. One of the windows was shattered, a table overturned.

Wordlessly, we moved forward, my finger on my trigger. My other hand rested on the spare gun on my other side.

We moved through the train together, one empty carriage at a time. Halfway, Shazad gave voice to the fear that had started to grow in my mind. “The others should’ve made it this far by now.”

I flexed my grip around my gun and wished for something to shoot at.

When we wrenched open the next door, a gap an arm’s-length wide stretched before the next carriage. Standing on one side of it, I thought it seemed as wide as the Dev’s Valley.

I couldn’t look down. I wouldn’t look down. Not with the rails rushing by in a blur below. But we had to keep going. We needed to find the weapon before it found us.

“Step back,” I told Shazad, storing my gun away. “I’ll go first.” She didn’t have time to argue; I grabbed the door frame, swung myself backward, and flung my body forward.

The wind whistled in my ears, daring me to fall.

I crashed into the other carriage. The door didn’t give. I stumbled; my arm lashed out. I was grappling through thin air as my heart threatened to drop into my stomach and take my whole body straight into the rails with it.

My hand closed around something solid and metal: a ladder to the left of the door. I heaved myself upright, shaking as I clung to the cold metal bar. All I could see were my hands and the metal. Shazad shouted something I couldn’t hear over the wind.

I turned as far as I could to grab on to her hand. Her fingers were on the edge of my eyesight, stretching for me.

The door clattered open. All I saw was a golden uniform that looked like my death.

But Shazad was faster than death.

She dove across empty space. I caught the flash of a knife in her hand and then red across gold and white. If the soldier cried out before he went under the rails, it was lost in the drone of the train.

I didn’t see him die. All I saw was Shazad landing too hard on her ankle.

Her foot giving out below her.

The wind grabbing her dark hair, tying it around her neck like a noose.

Her eyes catching mine as she fell toward the rails.

twenty-three

For the longest moment of my life, there was nothing but air between my fingers.

Then my hand clamped over Shazad’s wrist. Relief engulfed me as her other arm swung up and her fingers latched onto my arm, like some greater force was drawing us together.

One of Shazad’s feet caught on the narrow ledge, just enough for me to keep hold of her. Her weight battled between my grip and gravity as she tried to pull herself out of the dangerous backward lean that could turn into a fall if either of us loosened our grip.

My fingers shook with the will to not let go. She was shouting something that the wind carried away. “I can’t hear you!” I screamed back.

“More of you?” There was another voice on the air, like something spiraling out of a dark dream. I’d forgotten about the open door and the uniforms behind it, my back exposed to them so they could put a knife through it any second. “We’re practically invaded.”

I knew this voice. Sharp and northern and threatening to put a bullet straight through Tamid’s leg, holding me at gunpoint, speaking to the Gallan general in Fahali.

Commander Naguib’s laugh swirled on the wind. o;They put it on another train.” I might as well spit it out. “The weapon is on this one.”

•   •   •

THERE WAS NO time to rig the tunnels, no time to stop the train so we could get on board. That’s what they were counting on. No one talked as we perched on the ridge overlooking the tunnel, waiting for it to come through. At first all I could hear was everyone breathing into the silence, and then breaths mixing with the rattle of rails, and then nothing but the mountain rumbling below our feet as the train raced through the tunnel.

Waiting.

Waiting.

The train burst through in a blast of black smoke.

“Go!”

We half ran, half slid down the mountain and plunged into coal smoke. The black cloud invaded my lungs and my nose, blinded my eyes, so I went sprawling. I was back up and jumping before I had time to feel the sting of the skin stripped from my elbow.

One moment it was stone below my feet, the next it was air. The whole world was suspended.

My feet hit the roof of the train unsteadily and I slid, panic wrapping me up as I fell toward the edge. A hand was around mine, grabbing me. Jin hauled me back up. There was no room to thank him over the deafening noise of the train. I tightened my fingers around his for a moment.

Then we split, his hand tearing out of mine. Shazad and I bolted for the front of the train, Jin, Bahi, and Hala for the back. I didn’t look down, not at the rails rushing below us, not at anything, until we were as close to the front as we could get without climbing into the engine.

I eased myself down first, toward the door that would take us inside, clinging to the outside of the train as it tried to shake me off with every rattling movement, the air howling around my ears.

Shazad landed next to me with the grace of a cat. I checked the pistol on my belt as her hand closed over the handle of her blade.

Terror and excitement battled for my attention. Everything I was feeling was mirrored straight back at me from her eyes. We turned as one.

The door of the carriage burst open under our feet.

Rows of empty seats stared back at us. Dusty glass hurricane lights juddered quietly from the motion of the train. Shazad and I lowered our weapons. One of the windows was shattered, a table overturned.

Wordlessly, we moved forward, my finger on my trigger. My other hand rested on the spare gun on my other side.

We moved through the train together, one empty carriage at a time. Halfway, Shazad gave voice to the fear that had started to grow in my mind. “The others should’ve made it this far by now.”

I flexed my grip around my gun and wished for something to shoot at.

When we wrenched open the next door, a gap an arm’s-length wide stretched before the next carriage. Standing on one side of it, I thought it seemed as wide as the Dev’s Valley.

I couldn’t look down. I wouldn’t look down. Not with the rails rushing by in a blur below. But we had to keep going. We needed to find the weapon before it found us.

“Step back,” I told Shazad, storing my gun away. “I’ll go first.” She didn’t have time to argue; I grabbed the door frame, swung myself backward, and flung my body forward.

The wind whistled in my ears, daring me to fall.

I crashed into the other carriage. The door didn’t give. I stumbled; my arm lashed out. I was grappling through thin air as my heart threatened to drop into my stomach and take my whole body straight into the rails with it.

My hand closed around something solid and metal: a ladder to the left of the door. I heaved myself upright, shaking as I clung to the cold metal bar. All I could see were my hands and the metal. Shazad shouted something I couldn’t hear over the wind.

I turned as far as I could to grab on to her hand. Her fingers were on the edge of my eyesight, stretching for me.

The door clattered open. All I saw was a golden uniform that looked like my death.

But Shazad was faster than death.

She dove across empty space. I caught the flash of a knife in her hand and then red across gold and white. If the soldier cried out before he went under the rails, it was lost in the drone of the train.

I didn’t see him die. All I saw was Shazad landing too hard on her ankle.

Her foot giving out below her.

The wind grabbing her dark hair, tying it around her neck like a noose.

Her eyes catching mine as she fell toward the rails.

twenty-three

For the longest moment of my life, there was nothing but air between my fingers.

Then my hand clamped over Shazad’s wrist. Relief engulfed me as her other arm swung up and her fingers latched onto my arm, like some greater force was drawing us together.

One of Shazad’s feet caught on the narrow ledge, just enough for me to keep hold of her. Her weight battled between my grip and gravity as she tried to pull herself out of the dangerous backward lean that could turn into a fall if either of us loosened our grip.

My fingers shook with the will to not let go. She was shouting something that the wind carried away. “I can’t hear you!” I screamed back.

“More of you?” There was another voice on the air, like something spiraling out of a dark dream. I’d forgotten about the open door and the uniforms behind it, my back exposed to them so they could put a knife through it any second. “We’re practically invaded.”

I knew this voice. Sharp and northern and threatening to put a bullet straight through Tamid’s leg, holding me at gunpoint, speaking to the Gallan general in Fahali.

Commander Naguib’s laugh swirled on the wind.