Shadow's Adversary
Ahira sighed and fingered the small ring she had found abandoned on the sand floor. Eight days searching and she still found naught but traces of her caravan. The violent sandstorms that frequented the desert had washed away all camel tracks from the ever-changing sand. A particularly violent storm was the reason she was wandering alone in the swelter. Well, alone is not true, she thought- her favorite camel Bhetra was the reason she had survived in the storm. At the first sign of danger, Bhetra had bellowed her warnings for the travelers to be wary. Then her legs collapsed beneath her, and she became an internal fortress from the wind. As the other members of the caravan stubbornly struggled against the wind, Ahira simply huddled beside the mammoth camel and waited the onslaught out. That's how I was separated, she thought. That's why I am alone and hope has fled me.
A sudden gust of wind knocked the girl from her mid-day stupor. She straightened and cast a weary glance at the falling sun. Soon the warm air would turn bone cold, and she and Bhetra would be forced to make camp. Again, Ahira sighed and grasped the camel's lead. The pair walked for a few more minutes up the side of a dune. After pegging Bhetra, Ahira began to set up camp.
As the sun at last disappeared and the moon began its graceful ascent, Ahira lay near Bhetra on her straw mat and engulfed herself in blankets. She muttered a muffled prayer that no storm would make prey of her in the night, then began to drift off.
A blinding light snapped her eyes open again. Fumbling to free herself from her entrapment of blankets, she tried to calm Bhetra, who was lolling wildly in attempted escape. A maddeningly powerful voice thundered from the light.
"THIEF! Return your prize or be burned by my power!"
Ahira cried frantically, "I have stolen nothing! I know not of what you speak!"
Again, the voice boomed. "Tell no lies! Unhand my belonging or you shall suffer my wrath!"
Haply, a strong wind began to encircle girl and camel, warding off the terrible light and equally malicious voice. Overcome by shock and fatigue, Ahira sank to the desert floor. Blackness began to consume her mind. As her grip on consciousness weakened, the two forces- light and wind- began to materialize into humanoid forms. Then, she saw nothing.
