Empires of Faith

Chapter 11: Desert Dreams

Rajab 8, 1663

The sweltering heat was spread like a blanket in the desert. The sky held no clouds; only the shining, yellow lamp burning away any moisture in the dusty, desert air. Slowly trotting along on their horses, Muhammad and Imran travelled through the ruins of past nations, sacked for their treasures and burned to the ground. The two lowered their turban-covered heads and kept going about their business, lest God send a disaster upon them like the peoples of the past.

Their journey was long and gruesome, with no end in sight. Up ahead, along the rocky path there were large mountains scraping at the sky and stretching down the horizon on either side. As the two riders neared their mountainous path, arrows began to fly from both sides. They could see no archers, only dark clouds of arrows raining across the path. They turned their horses around and raced back to the ruins for safety. They knew not who was fighting the war, but they were certainly not a part of it and did not wish to be among its casualties.

Racing through the ruins, the two sought safety behind the mud-brick walls of an old building. "Stay here," Muhammad said to his companion as he dismounted his horse.

"Where are you going?" Imran queried. Muhammad gave no answer. He peaked around the side of the wall and glanced towards the mountains. He still could not see any of the warriors shooting the arrows, but their fighting had not ceased nor was there a decrease in the arrows being fired. Some arrows even began to fly in the direction of the village. Muhammad jumped back behind the wall as an arrow sped straight into the ground near his foot.

Looking across the way to the next place of shelter, Muhammad inhaled deeply and took off running, ducking and dodging arrows along the way. He jumped over fallen palm trees along the path. He climbed up a yellowish stone building and stood on the rooftop, franticly surveying the area. Even from atop the village's highest viewpoint, he could not spot a single archer on either mountain. Still, the arrows continued to fly back and forth.

Spotting another wave of arrows headed his way, Muhammad jumped down from the roof onto the ledge of a building left barely standing. As the lower building began to collapse, Muhammad somersaulted off of the edge and landed on the ground, immediately rolling over to seek cover behind a pile of rubble. Coming to a halt, Muhammad opened his eyes to see the dark hooves of a horse right before him.

Beside the horse stood a woman dressed in a flowing red gown and a large blue cloak thrown over that, topped with a silky blue hijab covering her hair. "Munirah?" Muhammad questioned as he looked upon his wife. "What are you doing here?"

"Never mind that," she replied hopping on her horse. "We need to get out of here!"

"Right; but I need to get Imran first though."

"Hop on," Munirah said, scooting forward so Muhammad could sit on her horse. He held onto her waist as she pulled the reigns of her horse and set off. Galloping through the village, Munirah and Muhammad drew closer to the wall which Imran had been hiding behind. Seeing Muhammad coming back, Imran hopped on to his horse and made ready to depart.

As the horse stopped just behind the wall, Muhammad dropped down to the ground and immediately hopped back on his own brown horse. "We need to get out of here," Imran spoke. "Those arrows are coming after us too now!"

"Lead the way," Muhammad replied. "You know this area better than me!" Imran kicked the side of his horse, and with a fierce neighing sound, the strong, white horse galloped off. Muhammad and Munirah followed suit. As the trio fled the scene and left behind their shelter, more and more arrows came their way. Imran quickly unsheathed a long curved blade he had and began to swing at the arrows that passed him by.