THE REALM

Chapter Five

I watched as the large dogs congregated in the ruins and picked fights with each other. One dog limped back from a scuffle and an entire pack of the dogs attacked the injured member, consuming it live. It was unnatural and terrifying to behold.

All of a sudden, with a flurry of high-pitched yips and howls, the packs holed up in the ruins of the old city dispersed and ran out into the dunes in every direction. I closed my eyes and silently prayed that I would remain hidden from them.

Surprisingly none of the mongrels seemed to pick up my trail, which left me blessedly undiscovered beneath the sand.

Time went by and my lips moved in a whisper, "Thank you," I said into the darkness of the night.

"You're welcome. Now get some sleep," came the response from within, which, oddly enough, I was getting used to.

My eyes closed as if on command and I drifted off almost instantly into the realm of unconsciousness.

*****

My eyes were gritty with sand and a general lack of moisture. It was a pain to open them, but I forced myself to. It was daylight.

Were the hounds back from their evening jaunt? I sure hoped so!

Feeling stiff and on the lean side, I eased out of the sand and carefully slipped down the side of the dune and began making my way away from the city. When I was out of sight of the forlorn ruins, I made my escape from certain death out to the greater unknown of the windswept plain devoid of larger sand dunes.

I'd escaped death for the moment, but if I didn't get water soon I'd suffer death of a different kind.

"Over here," came the response to my need.

I turned to the southeast, somehow sensing that was the direction of "over here."

It wasn't long, and yet it felt like a long time in coming, until I drew near the still figure of a man staring out over the desert to the south. As I came to a stop the man broke his focus on the southern horizon and gave me the full force of his gaze.

At once I felt completely overwhelmed by this man's presence. Swallowing nervously, I waited to see what would become of me, because against such a man I would be helpless.

The strength of his enigmatically searching gaze gentled and he spoke in an audible voice for the first time, "So Rollan, what brings you to this place of lost dreams?"

I glanced down, thinking about what my answer should be. Something drove me to be honest with this man and in a stuttering voice I said, "I killed a man. A man of Rollanic."

I glanced up then to see what my fate would be. Was this man of one of the Nicationer Nations?

Surely, if he was, he would even now pull free his sword to avenge the death of one of his own.

The large sword stayed by the man's side though and slowly my eyes met the piercing intensity of the man's brown eyed stare that seemed to gaze straight into my soul.

"Why Rollan?" he asked.

I felt the need to cry, but I was so dehydrated that I couldn't even manage the evidence of my grief. "I was protecting my mother, at least I thought I was."

I sank to my knees then in the sand, as the losses of my life piled up to a heaviness beyond my soul's ability to bear. I asked, "Are you going to kill me now?"

Instead of answering the man knelt down and pressed a skin of water to my lips, which I began to drink in great gulps.

"No Rollan," he finally said in answer to my question. "I'm going to give you life."

I stopped drinking for a moment to stare into the man's eyes and I asked, "Why?"
The man's lips parted in a smile that had warmth to it, "It's what I do."

I drank some more, but then made myself stop. It wasn't good to drink too much water too fast and I didn't want to drink all of this man's water. Already I respected him too much to do that. Akin to that thought was that I wanted this man to respect me, even as I wanted to please him.

I offered the skin of water back to him but he shook his head and rose back up to his feet, "Keep it Rollan. The day will be hot and you will need more."

The man made as if to leave and I tottered up to my feet quickly, "Can I come with you?"

The man stared towards the southern horizon once more before again turning and probing me with his gaze. His gaze seemed to measure my inner worth and I could only wonder as to what he saw in me.

"Rollan, the journey before me is by no means an easy one. You are welcome to come, but know that it could lead to your death."

I shrugged, "I would have been dead last night if it weren't for you. My life is yours."

"You pledge your life too easily young friend."

"But I pledge it all the same," I said resolutely.

The man's large hand, that showed the scars of bygone battles, settled over my shoulder and squeezed, "I like your spirit Rollan. Come."

He let go of me and started out toward the south and I hurried to keep up with his long stride, which I could almost match, but my energy was lacking. Seeming to read my mind, his hand dug into a side pouch and held out a handful of dried jerky which I gratefully took from him.

The man's generosity in sharing with me was beyond anything I had ever experienced before by either Kingdomer or Nicationer.

"If I may, what is your name?" I asked hesitantly, around a mouthful of jerky.
"My name is Kurios, but you can call me Kuri," he said.

Silence followed for a few brief moments before I felt the need to share in more depth who I was, "My full name is Rollan Artenor from the Kingdom of Smir…….."

Cutting me off he said, "Your name is no longer Rollan and it would be unwise of you to mention from where you come. Your name is now Benaiah."