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“I should go with you,” Choethei said.

“It will not be safe,” I pointed out. “You have no reason to help the emperor of the Southern Imperium.”

“I have reason to protect my homeland.” Choethei turned his glare to me, as though I personally was responsible for attacking it.

“Then come,” I said. “Or don’t. But you will need to make your choice soon.”

I turned away from him to find Commander Rede and discover how long until we left ourselves. The goblins from the other tribes were long past the horizon by the time we were ready to leave. Lady Mutali would stay behind with the remaining slaves as they waited to see if their tribes would come for them, and there were some slaves like Xuetie who had proved themselves unable to break free of the control their masters had on them who would also be staying put at the Pehine estate. Commander Lugotu would guard the last of the traitorous imperials; when we had been gone for several days, Lugotu would let them out of prison and lock them out of the estate.

They would probably die, trying to reach the Imperium, but we would be long gone, and it prevented any of us from having to wet our blades against a helpless enemy. None of the people imprisoned seemed half as intelligent as General Bemishu, and even General Saxu agreed with the plan as it would allow Lugotu to retain control of the estate, providing us with a safe stronghold to retreat to if necessary.

When the sun set, the elephants were ready. Naî grew in size, doubling, then tripling again. Her scales gleamed in the starlight, and the tufts of feathers between them moved in the breeze. She lifted her head up, sniffing the air.

Crouching down, she lowered her back as much as she could to make it easier for the goblins to mount.

Let’s go. I want to return to camp by sunrise. I helped the goblins onto her back, and they barely made a sound as they struggled to stay on, grabbing her crest so tightly that Naî turned her head and snapped at them.

Mounting her myself, I looked out over our men, ready for the march, then down at Tallu.

“I will return once we have a direction,” I called to him.

He nodded, his face bleached pale in the electro lamp one of the servants held up. Naî bent her knees, her wings beating as she launched herself into the air.

She rose on the desert updrafts, and soon Tallu was nothing but a small blink of pale light underneath us. One of the goblins tapped me on the shoulder and pointed toward the east, opposite the last rays of sunset behind us.

It was like traveling into the stars. The ground underneath us was a pale blue, dyed by the shadows and moonlight. It seemed alien in a way that I hadn’t felt since we first arrived at Tavornai.

The sparse greenery—grass and brush with the occasional gnarled tree—disappeared and soon only sand dunes spread out in front of us. Naî dipped lower, skimming along the surface of one. The sand flew out under her, spraying in all directions under the movement of the air.

Up close the sand dune was as large as a mountain, and we reached the peak, cresting it. At the top, Naî pumped her wings hard, sending us higher into the air. Looking down, the sand dune rose and fell, turning into the next one. Up close, it had seemed so massive that it dwarfed even Naî.

But as we looked out over the desert, it was simply one of many. It was no more unique than a single wave crashing against the shore.

We flew on, staying our course toward the east. The tribes moved through the desert. When the goblins had tried to describe it to me, my mind hadn’t quite been able to understand what they meant.

In the north, there were clans that changed location, going from the highlands in the spring to warmer valleys and coastal towns in the winter.

They preferred the nomadic lifestyle. But even they had specific places they always visited. In the winter, they had their home valley, protected from harsh frozen winds by high mountains. In the summer, they knew the fishing and hunting grounds that would give them the most food to store for winter.

The goblin tribes were different. They traveled as they chose, moving around this massive desert that bore no permanent features to help them find their next stop. I had no idea how they even marked their passage. The wind would sweep away their footsteps and any trace of them.

Then I saw light on the ground. The goblin behind me tapped me hard on the shoulder, and I directed Naî toward the glowing blue. She turned, her body sweeping toward it.

It was difficult for Naî to hover, so she flapped her wings hard as soon as we came above the light. I was afraid she would put it out, but then I realized it was magic.

“What is that?” I called over my shoulder.

“A marker,” the goblin said, which explained nothing.

He pointed, and I saw another glowing blue light in the distance, just barely visible atop one of the sand dunes.

Naî followed it, and when she pulled herself high enough that the air was cold on my cheeks, we could see the path of blue. As she swept over the dark desert, I caught sight of a red light in the distance. We continued along the path of blue, and eventually I saw a green one as well.

So, traveling the desert at night, tribes left behind the colored lights.

Eventually, the last light gave way to lanterns and what looked like buildings. We had found one of the desert tribes.

The elephants noticed Naî first, trumpeting and screaming, panicking at the sight of her. I could hear their handlers trying to control them, see them pulling on the ropes and coming closer than I would dare to approach a panicked elephant.