"..and all that remained of King Pherat's gardens and palace is this oasis you see now about us."

The splendidly dressed young man in the crimson robes stared across the fire at his guide. "You can't be serious, Amjid! You expect me to believe in such drivel? The One turned a whole nation into a desert? A myth! A tale to frighten children!"

"I merely tell the tale the way it was told to me, Honored Sethas. Of course, a man of learning such as yourself can readily discern the absurdity of the story. I but sought a way to idly pass the time before sleep. Would you like to see where Pherat is supposed to be buried in the sand? It's a few yards out from the trees."

"Do I look like a simpleton, Amjid? I am no bumpkin that needs to gape at the local legendary sites. I am the newest apprentice to Galinus, and you needn't entertain me along the way to D`eshkar."

The guide had enough manners to nod slightly in apology before he stood. "Of course, Honored Sethas. I've brought many apprentices across the desert for Master Galinus and most seemed to enjoy the stories. Clearly they were not as advanced in their studies as yourself, and I meant you no offense. Now if you'll excuse me, I must speak with my cousins about the preparations for tomorrow morning.” He bowed and moved away from the fire.

Sethas rose himself and walked the short distance to his tent. Hard to believe one of the great mages of D`eshkar would have such a vulgar fellow in his employ. But perhaps the rogue was the best of a bad lot . At any rate, they were only two days out of D`eshkar and the apprentice decided he could endure until then.

Arranging his robes around himself in a dignified manner, Sethas lay down and drifted off to sleep.

**********

"Gods, no! What will I tell my aunt?"

The anguished cry boomed out across the oasis and brought Sethas plunging most indecorously out of his tent. A few feet away, by the remains of last night's campfire, Amjid crouched on the ground, rocking back and forth in grief. He'd smeared ashes on his face and hair, and his shirt was torn as a sign of the death of a kinsman.

"Amjid, what has happened?"

"Aieeeee, my cousins! They are gone, devoured!"

Sethas looked about him nervously. "Devoured? You mean, eaten, both of them?"

"Yes! I asked them to ready our pack animals at dawn, but when they did not return to tell me it was done, I went looking for them. I was in time to see Laraz, or what was left of him, be dragged under the sand by- oh gods, it was horrid, he was already dead!" He shook his head in disbelief. "How can I tell Aunt Zanta?"

"Something ate them?" Sethas couldn't seem to get his mind around that fact. "What sort of beast could eat two grown men?"

The guide rose slowly. "When the One pronounced the Spell of Sand, some of the beasts in the palace garden were…changed. The fish in the fountain became sharks, able to live beneath the sands as easily as they had in water. They usually are seen in pairs, the only warning before they attack being the fins breaking through the sand. This is all my fault. I should have been more careful. We lost an apprentice to them here three years ago, but there's been no sign of the sand sharks since, so I didn't think to warn Laraz and Mirt to watch for them." He cursed softly.

"What can we do? Will they come for us here? Can we get help?" Sethas' voice rose as he spoke, and he tried to get it under control as he realized he was making a spectacle of himself. "Is there no other way to D`eshkar?"

"No. We either go on, or go back to join a larger group of travelers.” Amjid began disassembling the tents. "And of the two, I think Master Galinus would want us to go on and reach the city as soon as possible. We have but one chance, and I'll tell you what that is while we break camp."

An hour later, the two men sat on their horses at the edge of the oasis, each grasping the lead reins of a packhorse in their free hand. Amjid stared off ahead of them in fierce concentration. "We have just one chance, and it requires speed and bravery. When the fins breaks the surface of the sand, we must watch for an opening, and then ride through it as fast as we can. The sharks will swim in a crossing pattern. When the fins are the furthest away in opposite directions from each other, we ride, and hope to be through it before they sense us. Watch for the fins!"

Sure enough, a few minutes later, two triangular shapes appeared over the edge of a nearby dune, traveling back and forth in front of the travelers. The fins intersected in the center of the dune, then moved off in opposite directions, and Amjid spurred his horse. "Now!"

But when he looked over his shoulder, Sethas was spurring his horse in the opposite direction, crimson robes flapping in the wind as he rode furiously back the way they had come.

********

"He ran?"

"Yes, Master. As fast as his horse could carry him." Amjid took a sip of wine and looked across the table at Galinus. He'd known the mage for over twenty years now, and Galinus still looked the same as when they'd first met.

"Sand sharks, you say?"

"Oh most assuredly, Master, huge, fiercesome things. Well, the fins at least." The younger man nodded solemnly, then smiled as Galinus laughed.

"Where did you ever get sand sharks?"

Amjid grinned, then pointed over to another table, where the very much alive Laraz and Mirt were regaling their fellows with the same tale. "Cousins!"

The pair nodded, then reached down by their chairs for the helmets by their feet. Galinus howled and wiped tears from his eyes as he saw the tall "fins" atop their heads. "You didn't!"

"Actually, no, they did. I just told them which dune to run along behind when we rode out. They did most of the work."

"Next time you be a sand shark." Laraz pulled the helmet off once more. "It's damn hot running around over the sand in this thing."

Galinus turned back to face Amjid. "You've performed your duty admirably once more. Sethas seems to have been a pompous fool, and I've no time to waste on such a student. Ah, Amjid! If only you had been given the talents to go along with that wit of yours; what a mage you would have become."

"I like to think I serve a useful purpose doing what I do for you, Lord."

"You do. But one day, one of my prospective apprentices will be smart enough and powerful enough to see through the ruse and strike at you and your kin. What then, Amjid?"

The rogue smiled as he lifted his cup once more. "Well, then, m'lord, I suppose you might say we'll be fin-ished."


05/2002