Karyn opened her eyes. It was still dark. Why was she awake?
Lifting her head from her sandy pillow, Karyn squinted at the surrounding shadows. Something was off. Then, she heard it. A low rumble from deep beneath the ground slowly grew louder.
"You felt it, too," Fazalune's voice spoke from nearby. "It would seem that a migration is passing very close to here. Fortunately, they will bypass us by a good distance, but we're in for a restless night."
"What are they?"
"Moonchilder. Enormous creatures even the sandworms won't dare to attack. They must be making their way west to the Sea of Salts to breed."
By now, the rumbling had become quite loud, and the sands vibrated around the two scorpion women. Still, the noise level rose.
"You said they were passing us by," said Karyn, trying not to sound too nervous. "Um, how close are they going to come?"
Fazalune sat silent for a few seconds, calculating the intensity of the vibrations. "Close enough for us to see them, I'd wager, but far enough to pose no threat." Quickly, she stood up and shook off any clinging sand. "Come outside. We won't be getting any more sleep for another three hours at least. And it's really quite a spectacle."
Karyn sighed and followed her out of the tent. Finding a good spot, Fazalune once more dug herself another nest and, by the light of the moon now dominating the vast sky, guided her guest through the motions of making her own.
Once a serviceable depression had been made, Karyn settled down to rest and wait. At first, things remained uneventful. The rumbling had reached deafening heights, yet nothing else had changed.
"There!" Fazalune shouted over the din and pointed. On the far end of the horizon, Karyn could make out an odd glimmering, like moonlight reflecting off a stream. Slowly, it stretched longer, and the glimmer became a steady undulating river. After a while, Karyn realized that she was seeing a long line of separate shapes moving across the landscape a few miles away.
Despite the incredible distance, she could see their bone white humped backs diving and bobbing back up like orcas traveling through water. Considering that each back was the size of a small mountain, she could only imagine how much lay beneath the surface. "They're huge!"
"Yes," Fazalune agreed. "The ancient peoples believed they were actual pieces of the moon, separated from their parent and trying to make their way back home. It probably helped that they only come above ground during the night. Really, as large as they may be, they are very sensitive to the sun."
Karyn gazed at the line which now reached across most of the horizon with no end to be seen. "Do they have to go in single file?"
The other scorpion woman nodded. "They're blind, like most inhabitants of the deep earth, and they must follow each other to make sure they stay together. The leader is the oldest member who has had a lifetime to memorize all the hundreds of routes they travel every season. It's why some like to say that moonchilder never forget."
"It's amazing how many there are!" Karyn breathed. "And you said this will go on for another three hours?"
"More or less, if it's a large herd."
Karyn watched the parade of moonchilder for a while. The creatures kept up a breakneck pace, reaching the far end of the horizon before the first hour had even finished, and still they came. For Karyn, it was a beautiful sight to see. This world, frightening and alien as it may be, seemed to get more fascinating by the day. She could only wonder what the Lady could be like. "Fazalune?"
The scorpion woman didn't answer. She had fallen asleep.
"So much for having a restless night," Karyn muttered to herself. She had to admit, if she plugged her ears, the vibration felt rather soothing. Wriggling deeper into her nest, she let her eyes droop shut.
When the morning came, both women found themselves well-rested, if a little chilly from having slept under the stars. The moonchilder had long since passed, leaving a huge trench bordered by two parallel dunes on either side.
"Will we have to go over that?"
"Yes. I hope you're ready for a climb. On the bright side, their passage should have frightened most of the sandworms away from the area, at least until the evening. That means we mustn't waste that time if we can help it. Come and help me pack up the shelter."
