Free Azra of the Burning Sands (Genesis Project) by Arlin Fehr Page A

can to keep from being seen. Surprise will be our greatest weapon.’
    John marshalled the men and started them up the rocky climb a sheltered cliff above the cave. He then walked up to Azra.
    ‘We’ll be waiting for you,’ he called.
    ‘I’ll be back when the sun again sets.’
    ‘And if you aren’t?’
    Azra was quiet for a moment, the wind tugging at his robes and face covering. ‘If I’m not back by tomorrow night,’ he finally said, ‘march back to the city and prepare to assist the King in his attack on the fortress.’
    John nodded, placed a hand on Azra’s shoulder and said, ‘You’ll be fine.’
    Azra smiled behind his covering, but the inflection still coloured his voice, as he said, ‘Thank you, John.’
    John removed his hand and turned to climb up the rocks with the rest of his men. Azra turned away from them and closed his eyes. He began to focus his Mahgic around himself and pictured a spot in his mind. He had never been to the fortress before, and it was dangerous to try and teleport yourself somewhere you had never been, but he had been to a small rock island that jutted out above the deserts from which one could see the towers of the fortress.
    Picturing the exact spot among the rocks he wanted to appear at, he released his Mahgic energies and vanished in a whirlwind of blue flames.
    *
    ZHARIN FORTRESS – DUNGEONS – BAZRA DESERT
    Kia lay on the dirty stone floor, a grimy ball of cloth for a pillow, and she looked absently out the small barred window in the metal door to her cell.
    Being brought here had been harrowing. The Raiders had wanted to have their way with her, but the Sorcerer Shakla had decreed that forbidden. Anyone who would try to harm her or do her ill would be put to death as soon as it was discovered. He had said that Azra would not be useful if any harm had come to Kia.
    In darkness of her cell, the Princess could hear the faint hiss of the snake that the Sorcerer had somehow made her guard and protector. The black serpent was coiled in the far corner, watching her with red eyes.
    Footsteps broke the gloom.
    Someone was standing outside the door.
    ‘Get up,’ a voice said.
    She didn’t move.
    ‘Get up, your Uncle has come.’
    A glimmer of hope moved Kia to her feet. The snake uncoiled itself and slithered closer to her. The door opened and light entered the room. The guard looked warily at the snake. He beckoned her to follow.
    Kia walked slowly out of the cell. Two other guards waited in the hallway. They all walked down it in silence. The occasional moaning from the other cells reminded Kia that she was not the only prisoner.
    I wonder if any of them are captives from Jarridon, she thought to her shelf.
    When they reached the end of the passageway, one of Kia’s escorts banged on a large, iron, door. They waited as a locking bolt was slid open. The door swung outward, and another Raider watched them as they walked out into the rest of the fortress.
    They walked through more and more passageways, which seemed to be branching outward from the centre of the fortress like a wagon wheel – which would force any would be attackers to split their forces, if they ever managed to make it to the hub.
    They arrived in a large vaulted room. Its top was intersected by large stone archways, though the age of the fortress showed in some of the crumbling masonry. Pillars larger than any of the trees back at the capital stretched up to hold up the criss-crossing arches. Kia let out a breath, in awe of the size of this fortress. It was much larger than even her Father’s own palace. She would venture to guess that it was larger than any of the current kingdoms palaces.
    I wonder who could have built this? she thought to herself.
    Then she spotted her Uncle.
    Azra was standing in chains between two of the Raiders, with the Sorcerer Shakla standing to one side, watching Kia.
    Azra looked up at Kia and smiled.
    Kia smiled back, but began to feel uneasy.
    ‘Azssra... Asss promisssed no