A Legend Time Forgot

Chapter 1

"Buy your dates! Cheap as they get!"

"Get your China right here, finest in the world!"

Merchants from everywhere stopped to sell their goods at the oasis bazaar, the only one that existed along the desert path. It was a colorful place, despite being in the desert. Buildings were made from different colored clay and various kinds of stone. Thousands of people milled around the booths as they browsed, making it difficult to maneuver through the streets without knocking into someone. It was a pickpocket's paradise.

"Ah, sir, this beautiful robe would look marvelous on you! Only fifty gold pieces!"

"No thank you, what I have is enough."

The middle-aged woman bowed her head slightly with a smile toward the golden eyed man. Politely, he returned the gesture before continuing through the bustling bazaar. He gazed around until his eyes landed on a woman glaring at him from the shadow of a doorway. She was short, even for a woman, but her beauty was incomparable. Her brown hair was cropped mid-length, slightly above her shoulders, but her eyes were what stunned him. They were a haunting ice blue color that he'd never seen before, verging between an almost see through white to a stunning aqua.

He glanced above her and realized she was standing in the doorway of an inn, exactly what he was looking for. Shifting his gaze back to the doorway, the mysterious woman had vanished. There was something different about her, something unique about her that wouldn't be in your typical human.

He scanned the surroundings of the inn as he stepped through the archway. Moroccan rugs of various patterns and colors hung on the walls; adding a nice touch of color to the lobby. A wooden desk with intricate carvings stood to the left of the entry way, where a handsome man in expensive maroon robes sat behind with the ledger. To the right of the entry way a bar took up the entire wall, but it could barely be seen above the crowd hovering around it. They were a rowdy bunch, laughing over their drinks, but the woman was not among them. Yet, that didn't surprise him, she hadn't seemed like the social type.

Keeping his face covered, he walked to the left and stopped in front of the man behind the desk.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'd like a room here for a night." He placed his knapsack on the table.

The maroon robed man frowned at the action, "Do you even have enough to stay here?"

He reached into his knapsack and pulled out a medium sized pouch, dumping the contents on the table.

Confounded, the man grumbled and counted out the money for a night's worth stay. "Very well sir, you're accounted for, I'm going to need a name though."

"Anbay."

He nodded as he wrote the name in the ledger, but paused as he peered into Anbay's golden hues when handing him his room key. He narrowed his eyes, why did that name sound so familiar to him? Furthermore, why did he keep his face covered? Could he be a fugitive?

Anbay snatched the key from his hand and continued on through the lobby to his room, ignoring the maroon robed man's suspicious gaze.

As Anbay disappeared around a corner, the man grinned greedily, revealing a few golden teeth. It was about time for him to get his boys, and get to work.

"Oh boys!!!" The rowdy bunch at the bar turned to him. "I need you to go hunting for any piece of information you can find on a golden eyed man called Anbay. We may have hit another jackpot."

The men grinned as they exchanged glances and reached behind the bar counter for their weapons. Tucking their weapons away into their clothing, they headed out the door and disappeared into the hoard of people in the bazaar.

He smirked to himself as the last of his boys merged into the crowd. His own cleverness astounded him; no one in this oasis town would ever expect a criminal to hunt for other criminals. Much less, run an inn. Sometimes he couldn't believe how stupid the people living here were; it was as if they never noticed when someone went missing. They'd just move on and ignore it; and that suited him just fine.

A silhouette leaning against the doorway of the inn caught his eye.

"Well, I see you've located your next victim," a smooth voice laced with venom spat at him.

"Ah, Nahla, how good of you to come. Here for a job?"

The silhouette pushed away from the wall and walked into the lobby, turning the walls a blue color from the reflection off her robes. "Not a chance, I put that life behind me. You lost me when you became like this."

"Then why did you stay all those years?"

"It was because I had hope for you. That after those few jobs you would go back to the way you were. But now, I can see that I was wrong, you'll never change."

He grinned sadistically, "Oh really? You think I didn't notice you directing that man's attention to this place? Were you not doing that for me?"

"No I wasn't, I was doing it for my own reasons, but I came now to even the playing field and give you a warning. Although I know you won't listen."

Her ice blues eyes glared into his, "You have no idea who he is, and if you go through with your plan you're going to get burned. Fatin, leave him alone and nothing will change, but if you don't your wild days will be over."

Fatin laughed, "My dear Nahla, you brought him to me! So why would I leave him alone?"

A small mischievous smile graced her lips, "I knew you would say that. Don't be surprised when it doesn't turn out the way you want it too."

She turned to leave looking back over her shoulder sadly at him. "I did wait for as long as I could, but you're getting out of hand and someone has to stop you. I'm sorry that it turned out this way, and I did love you... once."

She continued through the door and vanished into the crowd. Fatin gazing after with a soft expression; somewhere deep down he knew, that it would be the last time he was going to see her.

Yes... Good bye, Nahla.