THE MONARCH

CHAPTER FOUR

The sun rose bringing with it an eerie silence. The air was thick with tension, birds were absent and insects did not chirp. The winds blew strongly, howling a song of despair as they watched the figures moving on the sand.

The rag-tag group of refugees were silent as their feet shuffled through the sand. They had awoken at dusk the day before to continue their journey as they had been doing for days now. This dawn however brought with it an uneasy feeling that filled them with tension and no one had attempted to break the silence that ensued.

They stopped to take a few gulps of water and rest their feet before the sun brightened and the sand became too hot to sit upon.

Makiya did not sit as the others had, she walked up to Yuram. His posture erect, he folded his arms and breathed deeply. She stood a few paces behind him, her eyes taking in his features. He had lost weight, she noticed, as they all had. His shoulder length hair had streaks of grey she couldn’t remember seeing before, his skin was adorned with grains of sand and his clothes had a few tears in them. Still, he exuded an aura of strength as he stood on the dune watching the horizon.

Finally, she closed the distance between them and stood beside him.

“What is the matter, Yuram?” She asked breaking the silence. He sighed deeply, a frown marring his face.

“I do not know, mâiràm but I have a bad feeling I cannot ignore, yet, I fail to locate its source.” He answered without turning to look at her.

She mirrored his frown turning back to the desert. The desert. It seemed different, felt different. She looked to the sky, the sun! It’s light was dim, at least dimmer than usual. The wind was also stronger than usual but, the strange thing was the silence. Besides the wind, nothing else could be heard, nothing was in sight, not even ants. Strange.

She turned back to Yuram but before she could open her mouth to speak, a shout rang out from behind her. Instinctively, she pulled her sword from its scabbard and turned swiftly at the same time he did. She froze, her eyes widening as she saw the cause for alarm. Her shoulders tensed and her grip tightened painfully on her sword. Yuram was speaking beside her but his voice was muffled over the sounds of her own beating heart in her ears.

She tried to clear her mind however, the massive sandstorm fast approaching was too much for her sleep deprived mind to handle and she began to tremble. A hand on her shoulder brought her back to focus.

“We must find some form of shelter soon, mâiràm. You did not forsake your people when slaughter came for them, do not forsake them now.” He said to her, his face was without expression but his eyes spoke of fire. A strong will that she could always rely on. Whatever the obstacle before her, she would not face it alone, she had Yuram.

With deep breaths, she forced her racing heart to calm and cleared her head. She had never been away from her home during a sandstorm and surely never seen one this massive. However Yuram was a seasoned warrior, he must have experienced this many times.

“What must we do Yuram?” she asked her voice trembling.

“A sandstorm this big may very well kill us all, if we do not find some form of shelter or cover soon, we will perish.”

His face was grim as he answered her. Many souls have been taken by the devil’s breath, those who could not find shelter were killed, suffocated or buried alive by the storm and those who were lucky enough to survive were at the risk of losing their way not knowing North from south and eventually starve to death. As it was, Yuram had been using the stars as a guide but even then he could not be too certain of the direction, he was no navigator .

Suddenly, their future seemed bleak, when only hours before he had been positive they would arrive at an oasis and replenish their supplies.

He could feel the child’s eyes on him, she may have been his liege but she was still a child.  Together they had come this far, he would not fail her now.

He turned to her, determination filling his veins. He would have her live, she must. Whatever was necessary would be done, at all costs.

“There are caves east of where we are, it is not a small distance but it is our only chance. We cannot stay here and brace ourselves, the sands would Suffocate us.” He paused to let his words sink in before he continued.

“Many may not survive the pace we must travel, and many yet may be taken by the storm before we reach but we cannot afford to falter. I will see you back on the throne of your fathers, mâiràm. I will do so or die trying.”

He could see the thoughts running through her head, the turmoil showed on her face. The decision weighed on her. Stay and risk death or run and still risk death. It had to be done. She pressed her lips into a line, she was tempted to simply stay, her feet were sore, she was tired and hungry but, the devil’s breath was no joke. And standing around would accomplish nothing, action needed to be taken.

She looked to the few people around her, the old would not survive, they were barely hanging on as it were and there were children too. Could she condemn them all to death? But, Yuram was right. If there was a chance no matter how small, she must seize it. She turned to the sandstorm, it was far away but even from where she stood she could see it progressing steadily. It reminded her of the desert she was standing in, how it always seemed to mock her. And now here it was, throwing yet another obstacle in her way. No, I will not fall, she thought.

She straightened and with a determined mind, stared into his eyes before she spoke. “Then, what are we waiting for?”

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