Sands of Fate

| 15 |

The desert night was colder than Solasra expected. The chill seeped through her thin clothing, cutting through the adrenaline that had carried her away from the camp. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness, the soft silver glow of the moon casting ghostly shadows over the dunes as they moved quietly through the sand.

Behind her, the families they had convinced to leave trailed in near silence, their footsteps muffled by the shifting sands. Jahan walked beside her, his expression hard and unreadable. The weight of their decision hung between them, thick with the unspoken fear of what lay ahead.

Solasra's heart ached as she thought of her father, still in the camp, refusing to leave. She had hoped-desperately-that he would change his mind, that he would see the danger and come with them. But his words echoed in her mind, cold and cutting: *"You're not my daughter if you abandon us."*

The pain of his rejection gnawed at her, but she pushed it down. There was no room for that now. They had to survive.

Jahan broke the silence first, his voice barely above a whisper. "Do you think they're already close?"

Solasra glanced at him, her breath visible in the cold night air. "I don't know. But we can't take any chances. We need to keep moving."

Jahan's jaw tightened, his eyes flicking toward the horizon. "If they are close, we're not moving fast enough."

Solasra nodded, her thoughts racing. The boy who had warned them-who had been tracking the Juroshan-was still somewhere out there. She hoped he was still covering their tracks, buying them precious time. But every minute they stayed in the open felt like a gamble.

"We need to find shelter," Solasra said quietly, her eyes scanning the endless sea of dunes. "Somewhere we can hide, just until we can figure out where to go."

Jahan nodded, but his expression was tight with frustration. "We should've forced Father to come with us. This... all of this is because he wouldn't listen."

Solasra felt the same knot of frustration twist in her stomach. But their father's decision had been made, and nothing they said would've changed it. "We did what we had to," she said softly. "We can't save everyone."

Jahan didn't respond, his silence heavy with unspoken anger. Solasra understood his pain. The thought of leaving their father behind, abandoning the camp, felt like betrayal. But it was their only chance. And now, they had to survive.