Sand Red

25

On our third night on the sands, it happened.

We walked forward, me on my own feet that dawn, as the Sun arose in all its splendour. Syenin took first watch that night and it was shortly after I had dozed off in a haze of pain that I was woken by a yell. I was awake and on my feet in seconds, the adrenaline overriding the nebula of pain I was subjected to as I did this. Syenin crashed into a massive shape with his knife miniscule compared to the man. Yul was crouched to my right as though ready to leap and Aida was nowhere to be seen. I allowed myself to be troubled by this for a second, before registering the fight Syenin and now Yul were having with the attacker. I lunged forward. I slipped my knife out from my ankle and was beside them in a flash. The large hunk of a man was dressed for war, with actual armour and a long, sharp and springy sword. He stamped down on Yul's foot with a gigantic boot, and Yul cried out in pain. I took the opportunity to make my excruciating attack as the man fell back a little, pleased by his advance. Syenin stabbed at his side and the man parried, but was too slow to check my knife hurtling towards his stomach. He turned a little, trying to move out of its way as he struggled with Syenin's blade. My knife missed its mark and hit his groin instead, upon which the man simply collapsed. He began to scream worse than the jackals, and Syenin stepped forward to finish him. Yul limped up from behind me and I staggered in a daze because I was in too much pain to even see straight. Syenin slashed at his throat, but he was met by the man's humongous hand, which grasped his teenage wrist in a massive palm and wrestled the knife from his throat. I took a tentative step forward as little red alarm bells went off in my head and fell stupidly. The knife moved slowly, but surely towards Syenin himself. And then Yul was upon our attacker's bulging belly and the battle was over. Syenin fell back, panting and the man struggled to do something, anything to save himself, moaning with the absolute pain, trying to crawl out of the daggers as we watched him try and muster up the courage to pull the first out of his groin. But Yul was not bothered.

'Aida!' he called frantically, as the man began screaming freshly behind. He turned wildly, scanning the horizon for her.

Really, where was she?

He limped towards a dune.

'I'm here,' came a small voice behind me.

I turned to find Aida, come out from behind a dune, holding her hands one upon the other nervously.

Yul turned to see her and the relief was evident on his round features. 'What happened to you?'

She shook her head dismissively. 'I knew him,' she almost whispered. 'Anyway.' She turned to Syenin. 'He didn't hurt you, did he?'

'Yul spoke before Syenin could answer. 'But what happened? Where did you go?'

Aida brought her eyes up to him. 'I hid,' she said loud and clear and I detected a note of angst in her voice. 'Because that is the killer of my father.'

We were soundless. Yul didn't say anything.

'We should go on,' Syenin said hushedly. I doubted any of us felt too much like sleeping. He came up and supported me. We shuffled forward and Aida followed softly. Yul was the only one that didn't move.

'We could have died,' he said and Syenin stopped. Aida proceeded past us and on. 'You can't hide from every childhood demon, bloody hell!' Yul shouted suddenly. 'You can't just walk away! Look at me, I can't walk!' Syenin turned and I turned with him. Yul was balanced unsteadily on a foot. There was pure rage in his eyes.

Aida stopped and she turned. 'I'm sorry,' she said, with tears in her eyes. 'I didn't mean to hide, it just happened. I was afraid and a fool. I'm sorry.'

Yul was silent in the face of this and I could see him trying to work up a mean reply. 'Hey, we have to stick together,' I said. 'Yul, remember when you were so afraid of that nightmare monster with the dripping bloody hair, you couldn't fight Eve in training because she had red hair?'

'I was a child,' he said dismissively. 'And it was not a matter of life and death.'

'What more can I say?' Aida asked.

Yul didn't know what to say to this. 'I have to know you won't do it again,' he said finally.

She lifted her chin. 'I won't.'

Syenin moved his head impatiently in the ensuing silence. 'Let's go, then, shall we?'

'Yes, please,' I said.

'We'll bed down again some ways from here,' Aida added.

Yul moved forward.

'Take the body, goddamnit,' I told him.

'Aye, aye,' he said, speeding back.

We marched through the daylit desert with sleep clawing at our eyes in a most strange fashion. We founda suitable ruin to shelter in and then we slept again till nightfall.