As the air grew colder Damis began to tie his cloak about himself when he remembered the strange woman's gift. He stuffed his own worn cloak in his satchel and pulled out the now wrinkled cloth. He ran his hands over it, the smooth cloth seeming to caress his hand. He shrugged and pulled the cloak over his shoulders.
He continued down the westward road, watching the travelers pass by him going the opposite way towards the city. He stayed on the outskirts of the road, careful not to bump into any of the other travelers, still thinking about the strange woman who had known his name and given him the gifts.
He was abruptly brought out of his reverie when a traveler collided with him straight on. Damis looked around and realized he had strayed towards the center of the road. He looked at the traveler at his feet, a young boy, though not much younger than Damis himself, with muddy brown hair and a fearful expression on his face. Damis reached a hand down to help the boy up, but his hand was refused.
"I am terribly sorry." Damis said, trying to hide the annoyance in his voice. He was sorry, but the boy had refused his help. The boy looked about himself fearfully, his lower lip trembling slightly.
"Who…Who said that?" he stuttered. Damis looked at him startled.
"Val, hurry up! Stop lingering!" a woman's voice called. Val gave one more alarmed look about himself before hurrying to catch up with his mother.
Damis returned to the edge of the road, wondering about what had just occurred. The boy had not seen him, and had run into him. That was understandable, Damis had done that many times as a boy. Yet when Damis offered help the boy had ignored him. And the boy heard his voice, yet was afraid and could not identify who spoke the words.
Damis's mind flashed to the tales his grandmother used to tell him, about gold hidden in caves, and magic items that could give you extra strength and turn you invisible. He smiled to himself when he realized he was now wearing one of those sacred relics.
Sahar slept fitfully, tossing and turning uncomfortably in her sleep. Her dreams were bright and vivid, almost as if she was standing in a room and watching the proceedings. A cloaked figure gently stroked the head of the wolf, who yellows eyes gleamed bright in the dark. A figure lay crumpled at the figure's feet and a laugh echoed through the room. The crumpled woman rose her head, familiar yet so unfamiliar. Her auburn hair was tangled behind her and striking blue eyes burned angrily, yet fearfully at the cloaked woman.
Sahar woke suddenly, wrenching the blanket from beneath her. She breathed in deeply, taking in the warm desert air. The sun had begun to set, sending deep shade of purple and reds across the sky, an image fit for a painting. The woman in her dream had been so familiar. With a sudden realization, Sahar realized the woman resembled Amira. Yet it wasn't Amira. Which meant…?
Sahar shook her head slightly and rubbed her eyes, clearing away the sleep from her vision. Quickly she packed her bags and walked out from her temporary shelter. The air was still, and Sahar looked absentmindedly at the ripple patterns the wind had made in the sand, serene ridges that seemed permanent, yet were so easily destroyed by Sahar's sandaled feet.
A couple rushed by Sahar, eager to return to the city before nightfall. They cast a strange glance at Sahar, who pretended not to see them. The road was now void of all travelers, and Sahar looked out at the seemingly endless road. She sighed, her feet still sore from the travels the night before. She paused for a moment beside the road and for a second thought she had met a resistance. She shook her head and attributed it to her being overtired.
In the distance, away from the road a cloud of dust seemed to be stirring. Sahar looked out alarmed, afraid to be caught in a sandstorm while traveling along. She shook away that notion when she realized the air was perfectly still. Sahar stared out at the cloud of dust that rose from the darkening horizon and something clicked in her mind. Those were horses! Bandits!
She looked about wildly, trying to decide what to do. She glanced up in horror as she realized the cloud of dust was slowing and the pack of horses had come much nearer. For a split second she paused before she began to run.
"Catch her!" A gruff voice shouted out from behind her. Sahar dared not glance back and continued to run until she tripped over a small plant. She scrambled to rise again, hoof beats coming nearer to where she had fallen. A chestnut horse whipped past her and turned abruptly, and stopped. Sahar froze with fear as a burly man with dark eyes and a dark beard dismounted and grabbed her, hoisting her up on the back of the saddle. He remounted and cantered back to where the rest of the bandits had taken shelter underneath one of the large rocks that littered the landscape.
"Got her." he said gruffly. The man who appeared to be the leader nodded. He was tall and thin, with graying hair and sharp features. He lifted a hand and motioned for Sahar's captor to come over. They spoke to each other quietly while before the leader spoke.
"We will continue to ride to the Majnoon." he announced, his gruff voice seemingly out of place with his almost sophisticated looks. A couple whoops went out from the group of bandits who had already reassembled and where mounting their horses. The leader mounted his horse, a pure black Arabian with a coat that shimmer and shined like black obsidian. Slowly he road to the front of the group, waiting patiently. The dark haired man remounted his horse in front of Sahar and turned around slightly.
"Hang on tight." he grinned, revealing several missing and yellowed teeth. With a sudden, fluid motion he kicked his horse that immediately fell into a fast gallop. Sahar lurched forward slightly at the sudden movement, and repulsed she reached my hands around the fat middle of the man whose horse she was riding. He turned his head slightly and leered at her, before turning back and focusing on the path of his horse. Sahar closed my eyes, hoping that when she opened them this would all just be a nightmare.
Damis stood swiftly and watched as the bandits kidnapped an innocent young woman with chestnut brown hair. He watched the dust and puzzled over something that was nagging at his mind. He had seen that woman before. Her expressive green eyes and that long chestnut hair. In a minute Damis knew where he had seen her before. She was one of Amira's dancer friends, someone Damis had seen dancing besides Amira when he had snuck out to watch her.
She must be looking for Amira as well! Damis was almost overjoyed at that prospect. He wouldn't be alone. He must try to rescue the girl. Then he had another thought. Unless she was running because she had something to do with Amira's disappearance. Unlikely, but still… Damis thought for a moment, before deciding that it didn't matter. If she was the cause of Amira's kidnapping he could turn her in. If she wasn't, then she could help him find Amira.
Damis began running in the direction that the bandits had gone, hoping that it was not far. He peeled off the cloak as to enable him to move better. He silently berated himself for not thinking to take a horse with him. He was in luck however. Soon he saw a crowd of darkness that appeared to be waiting and he realized that it was the bandits.
They were standing in front of a large cliff outcropping, looking up a slight slope at a tall thin man who had dismounted his horse. Damis could just make out the chestnut haired girl sitting behind one of the larger bandits. He donned the cloak for protection before creeping any closer to where the bandits stood. Slowly he crept around the crowd and positioned himself by where the leader was standing, closer to the cliff's rock face. Despite being disguised by the cloak, he pressed himself against the rock to avoid being brushed against.
The leader said a few words to the group in front of him. A loud whooping ensued and Damis edged slightly closer to try and understand what was being said.
"Bring the girl forward!" the leader cried out in his gruff voice. The bandit lifted the girl from his horse and carried her to the leader's feet where he set her down before returning to his horse. The leader grinned savagely at her for a moment before turning around and facing the rock face.
"Fiddat Rabanni!" The leader boomed loudly. The earth began to shake and Damis pressed closer against the rock as large pieces of debris began falling from the sky. A great rumbling was heard and then everything stopped as quickly as it began. Damis leaned over to try and view what had happened. In front of the leader, where there was solid rock as a great gaping hole of blackness, an entrance into a cave.
The leader leered at the girl. "There are dragons guarding this cave. Perhaps we should offer them a sacrifice." The girl glared up at him and then spat at his feet. The bandits roared with laughter and the leader looked at the girl with a glint in his eye. "No, we will save you for a different kind of sacrifice." he grinned, putting his face close to the girls. She met his gaze, glaring at him defiantly. "IN!" he cried, and tossed something into the cave. A roar was heard and then the bandits filed in.
Quickly Damis leaped from his place against the rocks and ran inside right behind the leader, who entered last, dragging the girl. He turned to see the great door rumble and close behind him, the only light now from the few lamps that had been lit within the cave.
"Wait here." the leader barked at the girl and threw her down next to a large wooden chest. He flashed a dagger and smiled knowingly. The girl just stared at him, a fire in her eye. Then he followed the rest of his men deeper into the cave.
Damis looked about before throwing off the cape. The girl stared at him and sputtered. He knelt down besides her.
"Shhhh!" he whispered. "I'm here to help you. I am Damis, a servant at the palace."
The girl looked at him suspiciously. "Why would you want to help me?" she said, her eyes glittering.
"Because I think we both are trying to do the same thing." Damis whispered back. She looked at him, the surprise in her eyes obvious to Damis's searching gaze.
She looked away for a second then looked back, her gaze searching his face. "Okay…I am Sahar. One of Amira's friends." Damis nodded in acceptance. Sahar looked at the cloak he was still holding in his hands. "What is that?" she asked.
Damis looked down. "There are some things I need to tell you." He sat down besides her and explained about the old woman, her advice and the two gifts. Sahar just nodded acceptingly. Damis had just finished explaining when several voices caused him to look up suddenly.
"The bandits!" he hissed. "There are coming back. Quick, we have to hide." Damis started to pull Sahar behind some other chests. She shook her head.
"Just you go. They will suspect something if I go." Damis looked at her for a moment then nodded in understanding. He ducked behind a nearby wooden chest just as the bandits came into view.
"Well, I see out little prize has strayed off." a voice jeered at Sahar. It was not the leader, but a different man with skin darkened by the sun and coal black eyes.
"Leave her alone Leil. She is mine." the tall leader came up behind. Leil nodded and back away obediently.
"Yes Nabil." The leader ignored Leil's comment and looked at Sahar, who glared back angrily.
"Perhaps we will wait for the dragon to get you, and then we will see. How does that sound?" Nabil murmured in Sahar's ear. She glared at him and raised a hand as though to slap him. "I wouldn't." he said calmly and then ushered the remainder of his men out of the cave. For a brief moment light illuminated the cave, then all went dark.
"Sahar?" Damis whispered into the darkness. Sahar looked in the direction from which she heard the voice. "Is their really a dragon in this cave?"
A ground shaking roar interrupted their conversation. Sahar looked up quickly and was face to face with a gold plated dragon head.
The plot thickens and a some what evil cliff! Mwahahahaha!
So I decided to update this weekend(double!I have had alot of time on my hands. ;-)), despite the fact that their is no way in the world I could compete with J.K. Rowling. Hope you like the story and that it is moving well enough etc. let me know what you think!
My Reviewers:
Metaphorical: hope you like these chapters. I finished the hp book already. what do you think of it?
Glitterpoison: You have been promoted to first mate! Of course I am hiding something, but you are pretty good at guessing. hope you know what I mean after this chapter.
Audra Laudarque: glad u like it, but u are mistaken about the magic. whats a fairy tale with no magic?
Areida Rivers: thanks for the advice about Fassad, your very right. I will keep that in mind.
cokefizz-and-chocolate: thank you, I hope i am not overdoing the details.
Five reviewers! a record for one chapter! okay lets beat the record, so all you have to do is review!