Sands of Time (Complete)

Chapter 2:....A Miracle

As soon as Aadila was about to say good-bye to her guests, she noticed their faces were in shock and replied with a confused look. Before she could question their looks, a pair of strong hands grabbed her from behind and yelled, "Stay where you are or the girl will not get hurt!" Too scared to try and see the face of the man holding her, she could only look to her worried mother, who had tears streaming down her face as her eldest daughter is being held hostage. As Aadila looked over to her father and his friend, she saw pure hate and anger, an expression she never noticed in her father before, so it only made her more scared. Panning over to her siblings and the wife of her father's friend, there was fear, confusion, shock and frustration in their faces. She didn't't realize that her father and the man behind her had been talking back and forth, trying to make a resolve. She was brought back out of her observations when she heard the man say, "This town will burn! There is nothing that can stop us from destroying the people who made our lives miserable!" 

"Maybe we can make a deal. Please, don't hurt my daughter!"

"None of you will leave this village alive! Anubis will greet you all very soon, but your daughter will have some time still, for my master has had his eyes on her for some time." The man said with a evil laugh at the end.

"Aadila! No, please don't take my daughter, please! I beg you!" Her mother screamed, causing her to violently cough. 

Suddenly, there was screaming from outside, along with a bright light. Aadila had a good view of what it was from where she was being held. Fire. It looked as though Sekhmet had sided with the evil men, helping them bring down their happy lives. What had we done? The screams were horrifying, sounding as though there were people being burned alive. Aadila started to feel herself being dragged away from her family, back out the back door, then she remembered something. The dagger! Father had given me the dagger. If only I remember how to use it properly without getting hurt. Aadila slowly reached for the small dagger hidden in her clothing, quickly praying to Ma'at for strength. Only seconds took place, but she had only realized what she had done until after the fact. The dirty looking man was on his stomach, face in the dirt, blood coming from underneath him. He was already turning pale and Aadila knew what she had done. Running back to her family with tears in her eyes, she saw that her mother was crying harder than before, making it even more difficult to breath. Her brothers were comforting her, trying to get her to calm down and her father was standing at the front entrance, starring at the destruction occurring outside. His back was facing her and the man her father called Adofo was with him, is hand rubbing his back as he said things she couldn't hear clearly. Little did Aadila know, for the first time in a long time, her father was crying over the separation of him and his eldest daughter. 

"Aadila!" Her name was screamed by her twin brother, who ran over and embraced her in a breath taking hug. She couldn't help taking her eyes off of her mother, who was still having trouble breathing. Her face was becoming paler by the second and slowly her lips looked as though they had been bruised. Aadila didn't realize that everyone was looking at her.

"Mother, you need to calm down! Slow your breathing!" Aadila yelled, knowing something was wrong. She had never seen her mother have this reaction before. Aadila pushed her brother off of her and ran to her mother, who was falling unconscious. "Mother, please stay awake! Ramses, go get the healer!" Ramses sped off quickly and Aadila's father came and sat beside her, holding his loving wife's head in his lap. "Isis, please, help my mother. We can't leave her here to die." Aadila was going to the last resort. She knew that there was little chance for the goddess to finally answer her prayers of her mother fully healing. She was pulled out of her prayer when her father started shaking his wife and she wasn't responding.

Just then the healer came with Ramses, pushing them all out of the way. It felt as if it wasn't even ten seconds later when he sighed and turned around, looking at all of them with an empathetical look. "I'm sorry. Her heart not longer beats. She is meeting Osiris in the afterlife. We must hurry if we want to leave the village alive. The fire has almost blocked off every exit." Aadila couldn't move, as though time had froze. It can't be. This has to be a mistake. She can't be gone. She is just resting. Yes, the has to be it. 

Aadila was in such a daze, she didn't realize her father had carried her to the back and put her on a horse with himself and Masika. Dakaria and Ramses had another horse, while Adofo, his wife and child were on another. They rode quickly to where the healer had told them there was still an exit available. Aadila's father noticed many people running in the direction they were heading, but his eyes kept focusing on the flames, engulfing homes and people as they rode past. The screams became more and more deafening, the cries for help harder to ignore, the cries for loved one heartbreaking. This was worse than the fighting him and Adofo had done in the last battle. Innocent people were dying, not corrupt men. Children, not men who had lived longer than they should have. He looked down to his eldest daughter and she seemed to just be going through the movements of what was going on around her. She was unaware of what was happening and her eyes were fixed to the ground moving beneath them. 

The fire was becoming less intense as they continued onto the opening. It was clear in sight. There was no men blocking their way, just people running toward it. The three horses past them and was the first to make it through safely. As Aadila's father turned around to get one last look of his village, he noticed that the exit was engulfed in flames. Some of the men must had realized that people were moving to escape through it, and closed it off just after the three horses had made it. They would be the only survivors. Hundreds of others meeting their death before their time. It broke his heart knowing that his wife was among those people. Turning the horse in the direction that the others had gone, he caught up to discuss with Adofo what they should do next. After all, he was the strategist behind all army operations, he had to know what they could possibly do.

Before Aadila's father could get a word in to question the man he simply said, "The only option is to get to the palace. The Pharaoh will be able to help you out with rebuilding a home for your family and we can return to ours." With a nod, they headed to the path they believed would take them to the palace. Normally, they would have left from the opposite end of the village, heading North-East. The path they were taking would hopefully take them the same way, but neither of them had taken it before, so their destiny was unclear. 

However, that occurred three days ago. Wandering the desert, Aadila knew they were lost, possibly going in circles in the vast land. Adofo and her father had hope that they would all make it out alive. She wanted to believe that as well, but the death of her mother was still haunting her, her siblings were becoming weaker and weaker as the days went on and the heat was something you couldn't dismiss either. She was extremely worried of the young child in the arms of its mother on the other horse. It had been extremely quiet every since the sun had risen, which Aadila was guessing had been a few hours ago. She was going to suggest to stop and rest, but she knew that that would only make the journey worse. There was no shade in sight, the heat was getting worse and Aadila realized she was hallucinating. 

She saw two men seated on horses on top of the hill in the west. They didn't look lost, in fact, it looked as though they were standing guard of something. 

"Father, do you see that?" She asked weakly. She didn't realize how bad her health had really become. 

"See what sweetheart?" This being the first time Aadila had spoken since they left their village, the worried father was smiling internally due to the unfortunate situation they were in.  

"Over there, on the hill. It appears there are two men on horses. I must be seeing things." 

"No, Aadila." Adofo cut in. "They are the Pharaoh's men! Come on, follow me." Quickly, all three horses made their way towards the men and excitement engulfed the faces of the adults. "Over here! It's Adofo and Captain Tarik! We need assistance!" 

It seemed as though no time had passed before they were being rushed toward the palace. Aadila was in the protection of her father, her sister on one of the soldiers horses and her older brother on the other. Crowds of people were parting in the streets when she heard someone yelled, "Move aside! Make way!" She couldn't see her twin but assumed he was steering the horse himself. She felt herself getting weaker and weaker then suddenly, everything went black. 

Light came into her eyes again when she felt her body being taken off the horses and a breeze against her skin as she was in her father's arms, being guided by a women. The other's were guided in as well, each following a specific person. Aadila saw a group of people in a great hall as they quickly ran through it. She made out that they were dressed in very expensive linens. There was one women and 6 men, one looking as though he was more important than the others because he had a large purple robe with gold details while the others wore all white. Before she lost consciousness again, she noticed a small boy standing behind the important man, with white, red and black hair, covered in gold and frightened amethyst eyes.