Peering in the indicated direction, Ehomba had to admit that the resemblance of the broken ridge of salt to a column of plodding antelope was remarkable.
Evidently Simna was of like mind. “Sure looks real. Like they could take off in all directions if somebody made a loud noise.”
“You’re already making a loud noise.” Crouching low and making himself nearly invisible even in the bright moonlight, the big cat had begun to stalk the wind-sculpted ridge. Realistic they might be, but the salt formations did not move. Ehomba was about to say something when the swordsman put a constraining hand on his arm.
“Leave him alone. All cats need to play. Don’t you think he’s earned a few moments of amusement?”
“Yes, of course. But he is being so serious about it.” Uncertainly, Ehomba watched as Ahlitah continued to stalk the weathered parapet of halite crystals.
Simna shrugged it off. “I’ve never seen a cat that wasn’t serious about its play. He’ll catch up to us when he’s through. Remember, he can cover a mile in the time it would take either one of us to run to that big ridge over there.” He pointed. “See it? The one that looks like the entrance to a castle?”
Reluctantly, the herdsman allowed his attention to be diverted. Something did not feel right. Maybe, he thought, it was him. The heat was beginning to melt their thoughts. Behind them, the litah dropped even closer to the ground, maintaining its hunting posture as it stalked the salt. Try as he would, Ehomba could not see the harm in it.
Ahead and slightly to their right rose a massive hill of achromatic salts that had been eroded by the wind into a fantastic assortment of spires and steeples, turrets and minarets. The gleaming citadel boasted an arched entrance and dark recesses in the salt fortifications that during the day would not have commanded a second glance but which at night passed easily for windows. A breeze sprang up, advancing unimpeded across the dry lake bed. Whipping around the extravagant towers that had been precipitated ages ago out of a viscid solution of sodium chloride and other minerals, it imparted a carnival air to the formation, whistling and trilling through the hollows that had been worn in the salt. At a distance it almost sounded like people laughing and joking.