The Darkness Before the Dawn (Dark Sun: Chronicles of Athas 2)

"It's going to be dark soon, and there's a storm blowing up," Jedra told her. "You ought to at least be afraid of that."

She looked out into the blowing sand, but if it scared her, she didn't show it. When she looked back at Jedra, her expression was hard as stone. "Good-bye," she said, then she stepped through the door and closed it behind her.

Jedra wanted to go after her, to bring her back and make her listen to him, but he knew she wouldn't let him. He thought about mindspeaking an apology to her, but she probably wouldn't listen to that, either. The only thing he could do for her was watch over her psionically, and get ready to go to her rescue if she needed it.

The storm saved him the trouble. His disembodied mind hovering over her every step of the way, he watched her climb out of the canyon, but she had hardly made it up the switchbacks before the wind hit with gale force. Billowing clouds of sand made it nearly impossible to breathe, much less find the trail. Kayan tried it anyway, probably using her psionic vision to see through the blinding sand, but even so she only made it a quarter mile or so beyond the rim of the canyon before she turned around and headed back.

Jedra let her fight her way to the switchbacks again, then when he was sure she was committed to returning he used his newly learned skill to calm the wind immediately around her while she trudged dispiritedly back to Kitarak's stronghold.

He met her at the door.

"Aren't you going to say 'I told you so'?" she asked when he opened it for her.

"How about 'I'm sorry' instead?" He took her pack from her and brushed off the sand that had blown into the seams.

She looked at him incredulously. "You're sorry? For what?"

"For making you mad. And for making you think I was mad at you."

"Oh, now you weren't even mad at me. Tell me another one." She grabbed her pack from him and took it into the library. There wasn't a door to slam, but the rejection was just as intense as if there had been.

Oh, but she was hard to convince. As Jedra stared after her, his apology ignored, he wondered why he even bothered to try. He went back to their bedroom-now his own, he supposed-and lay back on the cushion. The wind howled overhead, whistling through the rocks that camouflaged the house, and Jedra wondered where Kitarak might be. Had he found shelter somewhere, or was he wandering blindly through the storm?

He closed his eyes and let his mind drift outward again. The blowing sand was only a shadow of motion in the psionic vision, easily ignored, so he concentrated on finding the dark whirlwind that signaled an intelligent mind. He searched all around the canyon, spiraling outward until he'd gone a dozen miles, but Kitarak was nowhere to be seen. Jedra tried straight mindsending, but he got no response that way, either.

Finally he got up and walked across the house to the library. Kayan was curled up on the cushion, not reading or sleeping, but just staring at the murky red light beyond the room's single irregular window. Night was not far away.

"What do you want?" she demanded when she heard him behind her.

"I want your help finding Kitarak. He's out in this storm because of us, and I want to make sure he's all right."

She sat up to look at him. "Oh, you do. And how do you propose doing that? By mind-merging?"

He nodded. "Unless you can find him on your own. I tried it and couldn't."

She blinked a couple of times, then said, "So did I."

He stepped into the library and said, "Then let's put aside our troubles for a few minutes and try it together. He may need help." "Not likely," Kayan said. After a moment she added, "But it's possible." She nodded. "All right, sit down and let's try it. But if you-"

Jedra sat down beside her, his legs folded beneath him and his arms at his sides, and closed his eyes. He heard Kayan shift slightly beside him, then suddenly she was there with him. They still weren't a single mind, but it was better than the last time. Kayan's hostility had lost some of its edge, and his own sense of inadequacy had faded somewhat.

Let's go, she said, and they moved out into the storm. Kitarak had taught them how to control their movement better than before; when they imagined themselves as a bird they didn't have to imagine the limitations as well. They could have more eyes than usual, larger wingspan, longer talons-whatever they needed to see or reach what they wanted. As long as they could imagine something, they could have it, so long as one or the other of them had the power to make it happen.

This time, however, they became a two-headed dragon. Their long, snakelike necks coiled back in surprise, and the scaly wings beat frantically just to keep them airborne. Problem was, they didn't beat in time. The dragon careened left and right through the sky while Jedra and Kayan fought for control.

Let me do it! Jedra said frantically as he tried to keep them from crashing into the rock house. He had no idea whether or not they could accidentally crush themselves, but he didn't want to find out the hard way.

How come you have to control everything? Kayan demanded. Why can't I do something for a change? The dragon's wings flapped a couple of times under her control, propelling them up over the canyon rim.

All right, then, you do it, Jedra said, surrendering the wings to her. He concentrated on scanning the ground for signs of Kitarak, but there was n

o evidence of his psionic presence.

He must be blocking us, Jedra said. Let's see if we can spot him visually. They flew the same search pattern Jedra had done alone, but finding a sandy yellow tohr-kreen in the rocky desert was nearly impossible even for two mind-merged psionicists. If they could truly merge, maybe, but not the way they were.

This is pointless, he said after they had covered the entire area for miles around. He obviously doesn't want to be found, so we might as well leave him alone. He'll contact us if he needs help.

You're right, Kayan said.