MIT's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

By dawn the storm had died. MIT and Ratchet stood on a high dune and looked south at nothing but sand. His half of the map ended at his boots. The rest of the way lived only in Ratchet's head, and he had no way to know if her memory was real. If she was bluffing, one wrong turn would leave them both dead in the open. "Point," MIT said. He held out his torn map. "Show me where mine ends and yours begins. If the lines match, I'll trust the rest." Ratchet's red eye flickered. She reached for the map, then stopped. "I don't draw. I walk. You'll see it works when we're there." "Then I don't walk." MIT rolled the map and pushed it back in his coat. "I won't die on a promise." Before she could answer, the sand between them heaved. A worm burst upward, long and segmented, its mouth wide with dripping teeth. It spat. Acid hissed past MIT's ear and ate a black hole in the dune. He rolled and drew his katana. Ratchet moved without a plan they'd shared. She sprinted left, drawing the worm's head with her metal legs. "The old citadel," she shouted. "Turret corners, a tower, water in the middle. Run for it and I'll meet you!" She cut hard around a rise and vanished behind it. MIT hacked at the worm's neck, then ran the way she'd pointed. He topped the rise and stopped cold. Below stood a citadel of stone and mud, four turreted corners, a tall center tower, a small pool of clear water at its heart. Exactly as she'd said. She had never seen this side of the dune from where they'd stood. The worm dove and surfaced again near the walls. MIT reached the pool and Ratchet dropped beside him, panting. "Believe me now?" she said. He did. No one describes a place they've never held in their head. "I believe you," he said. "Now help me kill this thing." They fought it back to the tower. The worm coiled, then froze. A green light cut through its side. A short, broad figure stepped from the tower door, red beard to his chest, a glowing sword in one fist. He drove the blade deep and the worm collapsed. The stranger wiped the blade and looked them over. "Two travelers with half a map each, I'd wager." He tapped a rolled scroll at his belt. "I'm Boulderhauf. I came through a door that shouldn't exist. And I carry the true second half of your map." MIT looked at Ratchet. Her memory had proven real. But it wasn't the whole road after all. The paper in the dwarf's belt claimed to be the piece she'd sworn lived only in her head.