“Drag those frames into one of the caves!” Darryn pointed at a pair of stretching frames with borakin hides drying on them. “And you, lash down that bit of walkway so it doesn’t fly away!”

Rocky and Honorbound leapt into motion, rushing forward into the crowd of tribe members busily preparing for the storm’s approach. Darryn could already feel the change in the wind as it began to whip and lash at their skin, sending sand flying. He pulled his bandanna up over his mouth and nose, blocking out the worst of the granular particles, and pulled his hat low over his eyes. 

There was a snapping sound and a woman jumped back with a yell as a rope came loose from part of the structure and began to whip wildly through the air. Darryn leapt forward, snatching the rope end out of the air and tying it back down. The rope pulled against his efforts, trying to escape again, and the woman had to help hold the structure together while he tied a square lash around the poles. 

“Goracthand!” The woman gave him a grateful nod before running off to perform another task. 

“Captain!” 

Darryn turned to see Mik scrambling down from the structure, his shirt pulled up over his mouth and nose. “Where have you been, kid? We need all the hands we can get down here!” 

“Sorry, I got a bit lost!” Mik squinted against the blasting sand, looking at the chaos around him. “What should I do, boss?”

“Help get the tanning equipment under cover.” Darryn pointed over to a group of people hurriedly gathering up tools and supplies under one edge of the walkway. 

“You got it, sir!” Mik saluted and stumbled off, fighting against the wind. It was really picking up now, and the night was growing blacker by the moment. 

Darryn looked around for anyone else who needed help and spotted the warrior from the night before attempting to organize a few others, gesturing excitedly at the lightning flashing in the approaching storm cloud. 

Richten, Darryn thought. Stormriders. Creatures that could only be found in the heart of storms like these. He’d been on many richten hunts during his years with the tribe. And he knew for a fact this storm was far too strong for such endeavors.

The young man seemed too excited at the prospect of a hunt to realize that, though. The other warriors seemed less excited and kept pointing at the caves, but it looked like the leader was beginning to bully the others into going with him. 

Darryn sighed and began approaching the group. I’d better put a stop to that. 

The lead warrior began passing out spears to the others as Darryn came up behind him. “You don’t want to do that.”

The warrior turned to glare at him. “Stay out of this, outsider. This doesn’t concern you.”

“Listen to me.” Darryn pointed at the approaching storm. “That thing is too strong for you to go richten hunting. I doubt you could even find any flying in the center of that thing. And if you did, the winds would be far too strong for you to actually hit anything.”

“That is because you are a cave-sitting outsider.” The warrior kicked sand at Darryn’s boots. The desert equivalent of spitting on the floor. “You do not have a warrior’s heart!”

“I have a warrior’s instinct.” Darryn maintained eye contact with the warrior. “And my instinct is telling me anyone who goes out in that storm is going to die.”

The other warriors began muttering amongst themselves, and a few of them nodded as if that’s what they had been thinking, too. 

“You know nothing!” the warrior hissed. “You are no warrior! You do not know the ways of the great silver sea. Now, get out of my way, or I will go right through you!”

Darryn folded his arms and remained put, calmly meeting the warrior’s angry gaze. 

The warrior’s eyes glittered and he lowered his spear, preparing to charge. 

“What is going on here?” A voice rang out, and most of the warriors turned to look as Anaka approached. 

“This does not concern you, Great Mother,” the warrior snarled, keeping his eyes on Darryn. 

“I believe it does, Ruke.” Anaka positioned herself where she could look the young man dead in the eye. “It is my responsibility to keep this tribe safe, just as much as it is yours. And these outsiders are our guests. We are to treat them with respect.”

“This cave-sitter hasn’t earned my respect,” Ruke growled. 

“And yet, he has earned mine,” Anaka responded calmly. “Arushkta earned his name many cycles ago, though you may not remember it. And I have shared my cave with his tribe. So when you raise a spear to any of them, you raise a spear to me.” 

Ruke growled and lowered his spear. “Fine. But I will not let this outsider tell me how to hunt.”

“He is correct, Ruke.” Anaka pointed at the storm. “This is not hunting weather. This is a death-storm.”

“Only for those who do not have the blessing of the storm spirit!” 

Lightning flashed, and the wind began to scream around their ears. “The storm spirit who is now screaming at you?” Darryn asked. “It doesn’t sound as though he has blessed you to me.”

Ruke snarled. “Who are you to understand the storm, outsider?” 

“Put the spears in the cave, Ruke,” Anaka said firmly. “There will be other storms.”

Ruke glared at Darryn for a few moments, before kicking the sand again and stomping back to the caves. The other warriors looked at each other, shrugged, and followed him. 

Darryn relaxed and nodded to Anaka. “Many thanks, Great Mother.” 

“It is to you that I owe thanks, Arushkta. Ruke is still young and ready for glory. He does not always think before he acts.” 

“What young warrior does?” Darryn chuckled. 

The sky flashed and the sand began swirling around them. Anaka quickly turned and waved at the rest of the tribe. “Everyone leave what you’re doing and take cover in the main cave system!” 

Darryn followed Anaka back towards the caves, where Rocoram, Honor, and Mik were all waiting for him near the cave entrance. 

“What that about?” Rocky asked.

Darryn shrugged it off. “Just a kid looking for his chance to prove himself.” 

“By running off in a storm?” Mik looked confused. And also a lot redder than Darryn remembered. 

He narrowed his eyes. “What happened to you?”

Mik looked mildly abashed. “Oh...nothing, really. Just a bit sunburned…”

Well. No wonder the kid had been missing when they woke up. “You went out before sundown, didn’t you?”

Mik just looked at the ground and shuffled his feet awkwardly. 

Darryn shook his head. “We’ll talk about that later. Right now we need to get under cover.”

“But the young warrior.” Honor followed Darryn into the cave. “Why was he angry?”

“He wanted to go hunting.” Darryn walked through the smaller entry cave into the large room beyond. There were several fires burning and people were walking between them, talking to each other and searching for friends. Several of the women were busy distributing bowls of stew to the crowd. 

“Why would you go hunting in this storm?” Mik asked. “You couldn’t see anything out there!”

“Richten live in storms like these.” Darryn squeezed past several tribesmen, searching for a fire with open seats. “Large winged creatures, with fearsome claws and teeth. Stormriders, they call them. It is considered a great honor to bring one down.”

“You mean they really go out in storms like this to hunt?” Honor asked.

“Not storms like this one.” Darryn finally found an open fire and sat down. “Much smaller storms. No one should go out in a storm like this. You’d be lost almost as soon as you stepped outside. And then if the storm didn’t kill you, the suns would.”

“Is good you and Painted Woman stop him.” Rocky said. “But he not seem to see it same way.” He pointed across the room where Ruke could be seen glaring daggers at Darryn. 

“He’s young and headstrong,” Darryn shrugged. “He’ll grow out of it. Besides. No one likes to be told what to do by someone they consider less knowledgeable than them.”

There was a crash of thunder that could be heard even over the noise of the various conversations happening at once. “Well, I sure wouldn’t want to be out in this!” Mik declared. “How long do storms like this typically last?”

“It depends. Could be one night, could be a week.” Darryn put a few more bits of moss on the fire. “I never saw one, but I heard stories of storms that lasted a whole month.” 

“A month?” Honor sat back and stared at him. “What will happen to Jaxon? Or even Eralis? They are still in the caves farther up the cliff.” 

“There are passageways running up the cliff from the cave system.” Darryn pointed towards the openings in the back of the cavern. “The tribe doesn’t like to use them unless they have to. The walkways are much easier. But we can use them to get back to Anaka’s cave.”

Mik accepted a bowl of stew from one of the women. “Thanks! Hey, speaking of Eralis, should we take something up for him to eat?”

“Or a guard?” Honor put in.

“He can starve a while for all I care,” Darryn growled. “And as for a guard, well, where is he going to go? Even if he could get himself free, the storm is too strong for him to get very far. And I don’t think he would try to go out in this. He should be fine by himself for a while.”

Eralis was not enjoying the sounds the storm was making outside the cave, nor did he like the way it was making the hide covering move as if there was someone trying to get in. He tried to ignore it and focus on wriggling his way over to a bit of rock protruding from the wall on the other side of the cave. The fire had burned down and the storm was making it all but impossible to see. The only bit of light he got came from the frequent lightning flashes, making the whole situation seem incredibly tense, causing his heart to beat faster. 

He groaned in pain as his leg throbbed with every movement, sending flashes of  pain throughout his body. It was a long, slow, painful process, but the longer the storm went on the more determined he became. He was not going to be sitting around in some cave for who knows how long, while these scavs decided what they were going to do with him. 

Finally he managed to work his way over to the other wall, hook his wrists over the protrusion and begin rubbing the ropes against the rock. He tried to ignore the now shrieking wind and other strange noises coming from outside the cave. Were there strange creatures out there growling at the cave? He tried to tell himself it was all his imagination. 

After another long period of time, the ropes snapped. Eralis pushed himself up into a sitting position and began untying his ankles. He rubbed his limbs, trying to work the feeling back into his hands and feet, trying to decide on his next move. Was it worth going out into the storm? Maybe, if he could find a light. It wasn’t that hard to get back to the ship. All he had to do was follow the cliff until he found the canyon. He didn’t need to see the whole area for that. 

Eralis pushed himself up onto his feet, using the wall as a ladder. His leg throbbed and threatened to buckle, but he managed to keep himself up. He took one careful step towards the cave entrance. Then another. It was slow at first, but he began to figure out just how much pressure he could put on his wounded leg. He could do this. 

All I need is a way off this planet. And he had a couple options where that was concerned. 

He took a deep breath as he reached the entrance. This was going to be unpleasant. He opened the flap and immediately staggered back as the wind and sand scoured his face. The hide dropped over the entrance and he took a moment to catch his breath. 

Eralis took off his jacket and tied it around the lower half of his face. Hopefully that would keep out most of the sand. He took another breath and plunged into the storm.