Shazad was on her feet, already giving orders as I kept the air raging around us, pulling the chaos into order.

‘Amani! We have to go!’ Shazad screamed over the roaring of sand, reaching for me.

‘I can cover your escape!’ I called back. ‘Get everyone else out!’

‘Not without you.’ Shazad shook her head. Her dark hair was already coming free from its braid, whipping into her face frantically. Behind her I could see people desperately saddling horses, some clambering onto the backs of the twins in the forms of giant Rocs.

‘Yes, without me!’ I screamed back. I wanted to tell her that I’d be fine. But Demdji promises weren’t safe to make. ‘Get everyone else to safety. Get Ahmed to safety. They need you with them, and you need me here.’

Shazad hesitated a moment. My friend was fighting it. But our general knew I was right. Half the camp would die without some kind of cover. And right now I was the only cover we had.

Shazad half turned. She glanced over her shoulder to where Ahmed was trying to calm the panic enough to get people away, then back to me. ‘If you don’t follow behind’ – she dropped down in front of me, clasping my shoulder for just a moment – ‘you’d better believe I’ll come after you.’

And then she was gone. I turned everything I had in me outwards. I emptied myself into the desert, a perfect cyclone shielding the edges of the camp, cutting our people’s escape off from the soldiers’ sight.

I didn’t know how long I held it. As long as I could, before my arms started to shake. I was distantly aware of the chaos around me. Of supplies being loaded, of horses being led to the entrance of the camp, of Izz and Maz shooting into the air under a hail of gunfire. Of shouting, far away.

But all I really knew was the desert. I was wholly part of the sandstorm until I thought I might scatter to dust and whip away with it. I was losing control. It wasn’t just my arms. My whole body was trembling with the effort. The sand was whipping through my hair instead of towards the enemy. I needed to let go. And if I had any shot of getting out, I needed to do it now.

I pushed myself to my feet. My legs buckled hard below me. Arms around my waist caught me before I could hit the ground.

‘I’ve got you,’ Jin said in my ear. ‘Let go; I’ve got you.’

A horse was rearing and kicking, panicking as the storm started to close in around us as my control wavered. ‘Why … are you … still here?’ I gasped out. ‘Shazad—’

My head was swimming with the effort of keeping a grip on the sand. If I let go, the sand would race in and bury this place, drowning anyone who hadn’t made it out yet. ‘She’s got most everyone else out.’ The solidness of Jin’s body was the only thing propping me up now.

‘Not you.’

‘Like hell I’d leave you behind to get yourself killed.’ His voice was low and sure in my ear as his body curled around mine. Protecting me as he urged the horse forward. He pushed me into the saddle, swinging himself up behind me. A gun went off nearby, too close for comfort. ‘Amani. Let go. I’ve got you, I promise. Trust me.’

So I let go.

Chapter 11

We rode like we were trying to beat the sunset to the horizon. The army was behind us. We had to get far enough into the mountains to outstrip them.

I slipped out of consciousness somewhere around leaving camp and slept away the few hours of darkness we had left. When I woke up, leaning against Jin, a new dawn was on us and we had an army in pursuit. The last of my power went into raising the desert behind us, creating as much of a shield as I could between the soldiers and our little party.

Jin and I weren’t alone. About a dozen stragglers from camp who hadn’t managed to get out with the twins or Shazad’s first wave of riders were with us. Some of them were riding double on the last of our horses. I couldn’t make out their faces as we raced across the burning sands. And I didn’t know who had gotten away with Ahmed and Shazad or if whoever was with us could ride well enough to keep up. They didn’t really have a choice right now.

My arm was a constant shooting pain up my side that got worse every time I checked behind. It took everything in me to keep it up and keep the pain from shattering my focus.

Finally I couldn’t hold on any longer, and neither could the horses. If we hadn’t outrun them by now, we would have to stand and fight. I dropped the shield behind us. Jin seemed to feel the tension flee my body. He wheeled the panting beast around, gun drawn, checking behind us for pursuers. My vision blurred from the sheer relief of not using my power any more. I shielded my eyes against the last of the desert sun. We were all perfectly still as we scanned the horizon for any sign of movement. But there was nothing behind us but open sand. We’d lost them.

‘We can pitch camp here,’ Jin commanded, his voice reverberating through his chest, into my back. He was hoarse with thirst.

‘We’re not safe,’ I started to argue.

‘We’re never safe,’ Jin said, so only I heard.

‘We’ve got no cover, and the horses—’

‘The horses aren’t going to make it any farther without a rest and we can’t outrun them on foot,’ Jin said in my ear. ‘And we can’t outrun them without you, either. We’ll post a watch, move again if there’s even a cloud of dust on the horizon.’

He slipped off our horse and started giving orders to pitch tents and go through the supplies people had grabbed as we evacuated. He uncapped something at his side and took a swig before passing it to me.