The Enchantments: Book 2 - The Key of Gandar

Chapter 29: Gandar

The difference between the north Atlantic and the ancient desert is about seventy degrees. Usually, when one travels from one point to the other they have a little bit of time to get used to the difference in temperature. But when one changes from one extreme to another in a matter of seconds the change is drastic and harsh.

Simeneon felt the scorching heat hit her like a furnace, instantly she felt the dizziness swarm over her like a cloak. She should have remembered the feeling, but the way Fin had disappeared over the railing made her even worse. Grabbing her head she fell to the ground as waves of nausea welled inside.

Dust eddies wafted by as she sat unmoving upon the scorching sand. She knew she was in trouble when thundering on the ground caught her attention and turned weakly to stare unbelievably at six giant horses galloping at her at top speed. She screamed as the rumbling increased in intensity and before she knew it they were upon her. She caught flashes of something silver as she hid her head under her arms and waited for the inevitable.

But nothing came to pass.

Simeneon popped her head up as the dust cleared revealing a small man lying unmoving upon the ground a few yards from her. The busy market place of her last search stood unchanged from her search for the Key of Doultof. She got wearily to her feet making her way over to the unconscious man, hoping that she had not just witnessed a murder as the men on horses raced through the marketplace.

"Are you alright mister?" She said anxiously.

There was no response but she did notice a few older women rushing over from their tents just a few yards away.

"Did you see what those animals did?" yelled a plump looking woman with a hard weathered face.

"The Emperors guards wouldn't do anything like that on purpose." The other taller lady with a friendly face commented.

The plump-faced woman tugged on the tattered robe of the man and pulled him over. "No wonder they never saw him." She said sarcastically as she looked towards the other woman, "It's old Resol Gandar!"

"Allah forbids, he was probably feeling along the ground again."

"Come on you old fool," she slapped him gently across his rugged face, his long gray beard filling with dust and debris from the sandy ground. "Get up and go home!"

Simeneon watched as the old man slowly came to his senses and realizing where he was he got away quickly, his legs pushing him away from the prying eyes of the old woman. He pulled himself into an alley and stood breathing heavily against the shadowed wall. Simeneon moved across from him and stared at the tough leathery face of another of the Emperor's Magic Council.

"So what have you got to show me?" She said bluntly, even though she knew he couldn't hear her.

The old man looked around nervously then trotted farther into the alleyway away from the hustle of the marketplace. Simeneon sighed and followed him back into the unknown of the alley.

Gandar came out at another part of the city into what Simeneon could only describe as slums. Cloth lines were scattered from one side of the streets to another and washing dried gently in the blistering heat of the afternoon. He rushed down one side of the street trying desperately to stay in the shadows. At one point he stopped in another alley and looked around nervously thinking maybe someone was following him.

"I wouldn't be too concerned about being followed, my nervous little friend," Simeneon said as she leaned against a brick wall, the heat finally beginning to take its toll on her.