Primarch XI's story continues, I apologise for the delay...I hope you enjoy...

Journey through the Desert

Ravenna had seen many things, fought countless different foes, and been in just about every life-and-death situation possible on Baybar. His experiences had hardened him; he was a man who believed in only the strength of a man's arm and will.

From his experience, he had expected such as delicate-looking young man like Hayreddin to be unable to face the hardships of the desert, and had resigned himself to having to look after him during their long journey to Ain.

But Hayreddin had astounded him.

Not only was Hayreddin able to face the harshness of the desert, he endured it better than even the hardiest of the warriors escorting them.

No, endure was too mild a word.

Hayreddin seemed completely unaffected by the desert.

Where the others were laboured in their breathing, panting like exhausted dogs, their faces red from the heat and their shoulders slumped as they rode their camels; Hayreddin rode on, his back straight, his head held high and his disposition as cheerful as ever.

Frankly, Ravenna found it infuriating.

So even as the heat beat down on him so hard that he felt as though he wanted to tear his skin off just so he could escape it, Ravenna remained stoically silent, refusing to show weakness in front of the 'delicate pretty one' as Isan was fond of calling Hayreddin.

It wasn't easy.

"Are you alright, Ravenna?" inquired Hayreddin, looking back at him with such genuine concern that Ravenna wanted to hit him. "You look a little tense."

"Fine," answered Ravenna tersely, forcing his voice to sound as normal as possible.

Hayreddin didn't look convinced, but didn't press the issue.

"The next waterhole is nearby!" Hayreddin called out. "Hang in there, everyone! You're all doing very well! Soon we'll be able to stop for a drink!"

Whether it was Hayreddin's encouragement or the thought of water or a combination of both, everyone, including Ravenna, found themselves straightening up with renewed determination to make it at least to the next waterhole.

After another half hour or so of riding, the waterhole finally came within sight; it was a small oasis, with several towering palm trees and a large pool of clear water. Hayreddin's party gratefully stopped to rest.

Most of the men simply threw themselves face-first into the water, and if he was honest with himself, Ravenna wanted to do the same, but he refused to demean himself, and instead filled his water flask and drank from it.

As he drank, he looked around at the party; they were only ten men, including Ravenna and Hayreddin and one woman. At first, Ravenna had been a little upset that Hayreddin had decided not to travel with a small army as Ravenna had originally suggested, but after three weeks of hard travel through the desert, he had to admit it was a good thing after all; it would have made travelling a lot slower.

Despite the shade provided by the trees, the heat still felt unbearable to Ravenna, and he felt a little light-headed. He cursed his aging body.

"Must be a real blow to your manliness," came Isan's cackling voice.

Ravenna whirled around to scowl at the young woman sitting on a rock beside him. Isan looked as bad as Ravenna felt, but for some bizarre, demented reason Ravenna couldn't even begin to fathom, she was grinning widely at him.

"What are you talking about, girl?" he growled.

"To see delicate Hayreddin handling all this hot weather better than you and all these so-called 'manly men' here," answered Isan, snickering a little.

"I don't know what you're talking about," snapped Ravenna.

"You can't fool me, old man," said Isan, chuckling with amusement. "I can see the heat's getting to you, despite your so-called decades of experience travelling the desert, while Hayreddin's still sitting pretty."

Isan leaned closer, smirking. "That and the fact that all you 'manly men' had your arses handed to you by Hayreddin in the sparring matches."

Ravenna growled. "You know, you should take a look in the water and study your face. You'll see something on it that flaps incessantly, making a lot of noise. That thing's the reason you're still unmarried."

Isan laughed loudly.

During the three weeks of travel, Hayreddin had approached Ravenna and asked him to teach him to fight. At first, Ravenna and the other men had been amused, thinking that such a delicate-looking youth like Hayreddin would surely be unsuited for such a thing. But as Ravenna had underestimated Hayreddin's endurance, so he had also underestimated Hayreddin's potential as a warrior.

Hayreddin was a natural. He seemed to absorb every technique and skill that Ravenna taught him and mastered them overnight. During the sparring, Hayreddin had been able to hold his own against Ravenna in the first week, and he had bested Ravenna by the second week. By the third week, he had completed surpassed Ravenna and every other warrior in the travelling party. Ravenna was the only one who could last longer than a minute against Hayreddin before being beaten.

It was as Isan had said, a blow to his pride.

Cursing under his breath, Ravenna splashed his face with water in attempt to cool himself. It helped a little, but his head still felt a little light.

"Ravenna?"

Ravenna turned and saw Hayreddin holding a wooden sword in one hand, offering another one with the other.

"Would you do me the honour?" asked Hayreddin with a smile.

Though he had surpassed Ravenna and the other warriors, Hayreddin still sparred with them, especially Ravenna, so that he could keep learning something new each time. Had it been anyone else, it would have seemed patronising, but with Hayreddin, it had been an honest compliment that had made everyone's hearts swell with pride. Even Ravenna was not completely immune to it.

Now though, with his body battered and his light-headedness, Ravenna knew that there was no way he could last a minute against Hayreddin. But stubborn pride made him nod and take the sword. In his peripheral view, he could see Isan shaking her head with both amusement and exasperation.

Sure enough, it hadn't been five seconds into the bout when Ravenna found himself flat on his back with his chest stinging from where Hayreddin had struck him.

"Ravenna!" cried Hayreddin, rushing forward to Ravenna's side. "I'm so sorry! But...what?"

Isan and the other warriors who had been watching moved to Ravenna's side. Isan felt Ravenna's forehead and nodded.

"The heat's got to the stubborn old goat," she said. "He'll need to rest in the shade and drink lots of water."

Hayreddin nodded. "Alright, we'll rest here for the night..."

"No need."

Everyone looked down at Ravenna, who struggled up into a sitting position. "I can still go for today."

When no one reacted to his words, Ravenna snarled weakly. "What are you all standing around for? Go get ready! We'll move out in ten!"

"Ravenna, you old bastard," snapped Isan. "You're not going anywhere in this condition! Now be good and go sit under a tree and rest..."

"Hold your tongue, woman," growled Ravenna. "I'm not some delicate flower. I can go on. If we move out now, we can get to the next waterhole by nightfall..."

"You're right, Ravenna," said Hayreddin quietly. "But I think the men might be too tired to go on...and in truth, so am I."

Everyone turned to Hayreddin with a look a disbelief; if anything, he was the only one in the party who did not look remotely tired. Hayreddin shot them a charming smile.

"I did my best to keep up with all of you for the last three weeks," continued Hayreddin, lowering his head as though ashamed. "But I think I'm at my limit now...I'm so sorry to hold everyone up like this...but if it's not too much to ask, could we rest here for the night?"

As mentioned with his fighting prowess before, if it had come from anyone else, it may have been considered a patronising insult, but with Hayreddin, it sounded so sincere that all of them readily agreed with him. Even Ravenna agreed despite knowing that Hayreddin was bluffing for his sake.

Isan poked Hayreddin in the ribs. "Sweet talker."

Hayreddin smiled at her innocently.

XI XI XI

When night came, the temperature of the desert plummeted from murderously hot to murderously cold. The party huddled around fires and wrapped themselves up in woollen blankets to keep warm.

Ravenna wrapped his own blanket more snugly as he settled down against a tree, his camel seated beside him, keeping him adequately warm. He looked up to the night sky, where the stars shone brightly.

Ravenna had not been in Nuba when Hayreddin had arrived, but he had heard the stories of how the boy had fallen from the heavens like a blessing as most of the people of Nuba had declared. However, he knew among the older inhabitants, especially the bad-tempered, seaweed smoking spirit-speaker Beduin, had seen Hayreddin as a curse.

In a way, Ravenna understood where they were coming from. In the village of his birth, with the bandit raids, the sandstorms and the long periods of drought, resources had been scarce even at the best of times. Infants born during the drought season had often been killed so that they would not have to suffer the droughts that would eventually kill them anyway. Infants who were deformed to such a degree that they would not be able to contribute to the community had also been killed, as were the crippled and the old. Very few lived past their forties.

Ravenna knew had Hayreddin arrived in a place like his village, they would have not only killed him, but they would have burned down their own village and scorched the earth to remove such all traces of a 'curse' before moving on to a different location.

Ravenna shook his head, superstition was a dangerous thing.

But he wondered at times if Hayreddin could have changed them. Hayreddin had a gift for moving people, whether it was with a gentle smile or a kind word, he moved the hearts of the people around him. Ravenna knew the main reason the older, more superstitious inhabitants had remained opposed to Hayreddin mostly because they kept their distance from him, cursing him from afar.

If only they opened their minds and hearts just a little...

Ravenna scowled to himself; he had become more idealistic since he settled in Nuba, no doubt due to Hayreddin's influence.

"Ah, that hideous scowl on your face, you must be feeling much better, you stubborn old goat," came Isan's cackling voice.

Ravenna turned his scowl towards the pretty young woman. He had always thought her as one of the prettiest, nay, most beautiful young women he had ever met, though he found it slightly disturbing that he still found her beauty paling in comparison to Hayreddin's.

The only problem was her mouth; always flapping, always gabbing, making endless noises like a bleating goat.

Isan sat down beside him, offering him a basket of dried fruit. He nodded his thanks and took some.

"Hayreddin eaten, yet?" he asked as he munched on the fruit.

"Yes, yes," answered Isan. She smirked at him. "It's touching; the amount of concern you show for him."

Ravenna snorted. "Well, he's the whole reason we're doing this in the first place. We need him to talk to both Ain and the desert tribes into peace, remember?"

"Excuses, excuses," retorted Isan, her eyes twinkling.

"Where is he, anyway?" asked Ravenna, ignoring her teasing.

Isan looked around before pointing over at a sand dune overlooking the waterhole. Hayreddin stood at the top of it, looking out at the desert. He had wrapped himself in a blanket which flapped around him like a cape, and his long hair billowed out behind him in the night wind.

Even from a distance, his sheer awe-inspiring presence could be felt.

"Magnificent, isn't he?" Isan commented, sighing dreamily. "If only all men were like that..."

"If all men were like that, we'd have no need for women," answered Ravenna, snorting with amusement when Isan punched him on the shoulder in response.

"There's nothing wrong with a man being pretty," replied Isan before grinning wickedly. "Besides, he's manlier than the lot of you. He hasn't collapsed under the heat, and he's not the one who landed flat on his arse five minutes into a sparring match."

Ravenna cursed under his breath as Isan giggled.

XI XI XI

Even from the distance, Hayreddin could hear Isan and Ravenna's conversation. He shook his head with amusement before turning his gaze up to the stars. His face turned solemn.

He had often heard from his parents and the villagers about how he 'fell' from the heavens...from the stars. When he had been younger, he had thought it was some sort of metaphor. But when he realised it had been literal, he wondered if there were others like him. Had they also fallen elsewhere on Baybar?

Were they like him?

Hayreddin had always been acutely aware of how people reacted to his presence. Many of them reacted with awe, like with many of Nuba's inhabitants or with fear and repulsion like Beduin and some of the more superstitious bunch. Either way, it had always served to make him more aware of how different he was.

At times, he found it lonely.

Which was why he treasured his parents, Ravenna and Isan so much. Rather than making him feel as though he was on a pedestal or something repulsive, they made him feel as though he belonged. It kept the loneliness at bay.

Still, every time he looked to the stars, he still wondered if there were others like him, if they fell from the stars too, if they had their own families and friends.

As Hayreddin stared up at the night sky, taking in the shining stars, a vision flashed in his mind.

A being enshrouded in golden light, staring down at him with eyes that blazed like the sun.

Hayreddin shook his head violently, trying to clear his mind.

His nightmares and visions were always of the same being...or man...but something far beyond that rudimentary word.

"Who are you?" whispered Hayreddin.