The desert cooled fast once the sun dropped.
By the time the stars began appearing above the mesas, the heat of the day had already drained away into the dry earth.
Their camp sat beside a shallow wash where a trickle of water still moved through the stones. Cottonwoods grew along the banks, their leaves whispering quietly whenever the wind moved through them.
Oscar finished tying off the horses while Magni stacked wood near the fire pit.
Thor carried the last bundle of mesquite branches over his shoulder and dropped them beside the stones.
"That should do it," he said.
Sif knelt and struck a spark into the dry grass. The fire caught quickly, flames licking upward through the wood.
Within minutes the small campfire burned steady and warm.
Oscar set an iron pot over the flames.
"Beans tonight," he announced.
Thor sat down immediately.
"Excellent."
Sif glanced at him sideways.
"You say that about everything."
Thor shrugged.
"I'm not picky."
Magni stretched his shoulders after the long ride.
"That's because you'll eat anything."
Thor looked offended.
"That is not true."
Magni raised an eyebrow.
"You once ate cactus because someone told you it was a desert apple."
Thor pointed a finger at him.
"That was a misunderstanding."
Freya laughed softly from where she sat against one of the wagon wheels.
The sky above them had turned deep black now, filled with stars that stretched from horizon to horizon.
Desert skies always looked closer than anywhere else.
Shane stood near the edge of the wash studying the map in the lantern light.
They had made good time.
Phoenix would be behind them by tomorrow if the roads held.
Globe sat farther east in rougher country.
And somewhere near there—
reservoirs.
Footprints.
Missing cattle.
Something dragging animals into the water.
He folded the map and walked back toward the fire.
Thor looked up.
"Everything good?"
"For now."
Oscar stirred the pot.
"Roads still clear?"
"So far."
Magni tossed another log onto the fire.
"We'll hit mountains tomorrow."
Freya watched the flames quietly for a moment.
Then she said casually,
"Thor."
He looked up.
"Yes?"
"Idunn is back."
Thor froze.
Sif lifted her head.
Magni blinked.
"Back?" Thor said.
Freya nodded.
"She appeared in an orchard near the Finger Lakes."
Thor leaned forward immediately.
"With the apples?"
"Yes."
Thor let out a slow breath.
"Well."
Magni chuckled.
"That's good timing."
Freya smirked.
"Very good timing."
She pointed at Thor.
"Because now you can stop aging like a runaway wagon."
Thor groaned.
D a
"I was not aging that fast."
Sif gave him a look.
"You absolutely were."
Magni laughed.
"You went from looking thirteen to twenty-something in a few months."
Oscar shook his head from the other side of the fire.
"I'm still trying to get used to that."
Thor spread his hands.
"Reincarnation is complicated."
Freya shrugged.
"Idunn's apples stabilize things."
Sif stirred the fire thoughtfully.
"They keep time from pulling us apart."
Magni nodded slowly.
"And now they're back where they belong."
Thor leaned back, staring up at the stars.
"Good."
He glanced toward Freya.
"So Sanctuary has the apples now?"
Freya nodded.
"Yes."
Shane added quietly from the edge of the firelight,
"Which means one less thing the world can lose."
Thor poked the fire with a stick.
"Hopefully the next ones show up without turning us into teenagers again."
Magni chuckled.
"That would be nice."
Sif looked toward the dark western horizon.
"Unfortunately the world doesn't seem interested in being nice lately."
The fire popped softly.
The earthquake was still on everyone's mind.
Even out here in the desert, far from the coast, the ground had shaken.
Thor glanced toward Shane.
"You still thinking about the quake?"
"Yes."
Oscar stirred the pot slowly.
"That was the biggest shake I've ever felt this far inland."
Freya nodded.
"A Cascadia rupture would do that."
Magni frowned.
"That far away?"
Shane nodded.
"Megathrust earthquakes move entire plates."
Thor looked impressed.
"So the whole continent wobbles."
"Pretty much."
Sif looked out across the dark desert.
"That means refugees."
Oscar nodded grimly.
"Lots of them."
Shane stared into the fire.
"And that's only one problem."
Freya followed his gaze.
"The reservoirs."
"Yes."
Magni leaned forward.
"You still think it's connected?"
Shane shook his head.
"No idea yet."
Thor cracked his knuckles.
"Well if something is dragging cattle into the water I'd like to meet it."
Sif gave him a look.
"You always want to meet the dangerous thing."
Thor grinned.
"It's usually interesting."
Freya raised an eyebrow.
"That's one word for it."
The wind moved gently across the desert, stirring the cottonwood leaves along the wash.
For a few minutes the only sound was the fire.
Then Shane stood.
"We leave at first light."
Oscar nodded.
"Phoenix tomorrow."
"Then Globe."
Freya looked toward the dark mountains rising far to the south.
"And whatever is waiting in those reservoirs."
The fire burned low as the night deepened.
For a few minutes the fire crackled quietly.
The desert wind moved through the cottonwoods along the wash, their leaves whispering softly in the dark.
Oscar finally ladled beans into tin bowls and passed them around.
Thor accepted his immediately.
"Now this," he said, "is civilization."
Sif rolled her eyes.
"You say that every time someone hands you food."
Thor shrugged.
"That's because it keeps being true."
Magni sat cross-legged beside the fire, blowing across his spoon before taking a bite.
"Better than trail rations."
Oscar nodded.
"Way better."
Shane leaned back against one of the wagon wheels, watching the firelight dance across the dry ground.
For a moment the world felt strangely quiet.
No alarms.
No battles.
Just travelers sharing a meal under a desert sky.
Freya studied him across the flames.
"You're thinking again."
Shane smirked slightly.
"Dangerous habit."
Thor pointed his spoon at him.
"You've said that before."
"Because it's still accurate."
Magni chuckled.
"What's on your mind?"
Shane looked toward the southern horizon.
"Those reports."
"The cattle?"
"Yes."
Sif set her bowl down.
"That part bothers me."
Thor nodded.
"Same."
Oscar looked up.
"Why?"
Sif gestured toward the darkness beyond the wash.
"Predators don't usually drag animals into water unless they live there."
Magni added,
"And nothing big enough to pull a cow under should be living in a desert reservoir."
Freya poked the fire with a stick.
"Unless it wasn't always a desert."
Oscar frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Shane answered.
"Those reservoirs connect to river systems."
"Salt River. Verde River."
He drew a rough line in the dust with a stick.
"Water moves farther than people think."
Magni studied the lines.
"You're thinking something traveled."
"Maybe."
Thor leaned forward slightly.
"You think it's the same thing Roberts ran into?"
The fire popped loudly.
Freya glanced up.
"Saul sent the report?"
Shane nodded.
"Earlier today."
Oscar blinked.
"What report?"
Shane looked at him.
"Military patrol got torn apart near a river."
The group went quiet.
Magni set his bowl down slowly.
"Torn apart how?"
"Not gunfire."
"Something hit them."
Sif frowned.
"And came out of the water."
Thor's grin faded.
"Well that's unpleasant."
Oscar rubbed the back of his neck.
"That thing you described earlier…"
"The whiskers?"
Shane nodded.
"Yeah."
Magni stared into the fire.
"That sounds like a catfish."
Thor looked up.
"A really big catfish."
Freya shook her head slowly.
"No."
"Something worse."
The wind shifted across the wash.
In the darkness beyond the firelight a coyote barked somewhere in the hills.
Oscar sighed.
"Well."
"That explains why you wanted to move fast."
Shane nodded.
"If something is spreading through water systems…"
"…we want to get ahead of it."
Thor cracked his knuckles.
"I vote we find it."
Sif gave him a look.
"You always vote for that."
Thor grinned.
"That's because I'm usually right."
Freya leaned back against the wagon wheel again.
"Tomorrow we reach Phoenix."
"Then we turn east."
Oscar nodded.
"Globe."
Shane looked out toward the dark mountains rising faintly against the stars.
"Yeah."
"Globe."
The fire burned lower as the night deepened.
One by one the group settled into bedrolls while Magni took the first watch.
The desert grew quiet.
Cold.
Still.
High above them the stars stretched across the sky like scattered silver dust.
And far to the south—
beyond the mountains—
the dark surface of a reservoir rippled quietly in the night.
Something large moved beneath the water.
Slow.
Patient.
Waiting.
⸻
"If you enjoyed Shane's journey, please drop a Power Stone! It helps the Common Sense Party grow."