When silence speaks, you know that something older than you has awakened.
The desert had always been silent,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBKl9fouIVx
but the silence of that night was different heavy, suffocating, as if it carried a secret that did not wish to be spoken, only felt.
After long days of travel, and after surviving the maw of the shifting sands, Aram’s group reached an ancient well set within a depression surrounded by dark, jagged hills a place Orgus knew well, known among the people of the desert as the Valley of Echoes.
A place sought only in necessity,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHCuQdGNifr
for sounds there do not die…91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGcOuyG14l
they return.
They needed water, and a short rest to steady their breath. Yet fatigue alone was not what weighed on their hearts there was that subtle, persistent sense that something followed them, watching from a distance not measured in footsteps.
As night fell, tents were raised near the well, and a small fire was lit shy, restrained, as though hiding itself from the desert cold.
The moon hung half-formed and pale, suspended in the sky like a tired eye. The wind, unnaturally, was still.
Then the sounds began.
Not a single cry, but strange waves of sound91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa2MYGW7IVh
rising from the depths of the desert,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg2KfrqQcrG
striking the walls of the surrounding mountains,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCOTt0ynhMo
then returning to them doubled,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3WbUUysRt
as though the earth itself were breathing…91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMtr76YCRmI
as though silence were testing them with a voice that refused easy understanding.
Nibalion slowly tightened his grip on his bow and said in a low voice,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTF46APVjc
“This is the sound of an animal… but not one I know.”
Rayhan stepped closer, scattered a little sand between his fingers, listened to the way it fell, then said,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsWnit31GR
“No… this is the sound of men.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNqIIKHvzgQ
But not ordinary men.”
The men exchanged glances.
Tafar spoke with unease he could not hide,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2AVCfDCmI
“It could be the Sand Men… or that mysterious man.”
But Orgus said nothing.
He sat by the fire, closed his eyes, and listened as though to an old memory one he both knew and feared.
Then came the sign.
The horses suddenly grew restless. They whinnied sharply, struck the ground with their hooves, stepping back in panic, as if something unseen were drawing near.
Samer clenched the hilt of his sword.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVmKrjLbmk
“This is no ordinary enemy… horses don’t fear like this.”
Before anyone could move
A long cry rose from the heart of the desert.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQBXyZGqZ9S
A cry unlike human voice,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHaS2sE9KG
unlike animal,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ97LMQXam1y
unlike wind.
It carried meaning.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPruK8iit7H
It carried a summons.
But no one understood it.
Except one man.
Orgus opened his eyes slowly and said in a hushed voice, as though uttering a forbidden name:91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5677bC9kM
“I know this sound…91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRmuZqTXeNa
It is calling.”
Aram stepped closer.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiEsT1SsJB
“Who?”
Orgus answered,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGRnGsXNkBQ
“Oshan…91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9rkSESFera
The man of wind and water.”
No one understood, yet the silence that followed the name spoke louder than explanation.
With a strange calm, Orgus said,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRvylN8SgU
“I ask your permission, Aram…91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZzRdlM4qUE
Someone is coming to us now91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEthXrjsiFd
and he cannot be stopped.”
Bodies stiffened.
Who would dare approach their camp this night?91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJsDIARw9t
And who could make horses tremble before appearing?
Suddenly
The fire went out for a heartbeat, then flared back to life,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0coOZvuPMB
as if a wind had passed through it without stirring anything else.
A man appeared at the edge of the light.
He was tall, slender, moving as if his joints swam through air rather than touched the ground.
His eyes
Eyes entirely blue, without pupil or iris.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxaHUBEmTOn
Eyes that did not see…91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLVezizRM5
or saw what humans were never meant to see.
Yet stranger still was what accompanied him.
Three hyenas.
Calm.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOjQq11WgMB
Tame in a way that inspired dread.
They circled him as guards… or offspring.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt92EIW7D6T
Their eyes never left the men.
The man stopped near the well and slowly raised his hand.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrs87gB4RyT
With the motion came the scent of wet clay91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0hDsHd9y5
the scent of coming rain,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipZpjq8Z1T
though the sky was clear.
Aram spoke, his voice taut:91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbZr8Edyd45
“Who are you?”
But the largest hyena released a low sound91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WoLBmZQyb
not a true growl,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsozwUoNCZt
but an attempt at speech.
Orgus said with a certainty unlike anything they had known from him:91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZn6IIfSIR
“He is Oshan.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡElQSfmMV20
He knows me… and I know him.”
Oshan sat by the fire.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZ13HuBI5t
The three hyenas arranged themselves around him in circles,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSsQpn4mMre
as if forming a throne of living protection.
Oshan extended his hand toward Aram.
He was asking to take his hand.
Aram hesitated91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBPlwEHEWtH
yet something in the man’s eyes compelled him to yield.
The moment their hands touched
Visions poured in.
Aram saw his wife the day she told him she was with child.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlMqnORvIq
He saw the blood of his tribe soaking into the sand.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1E3PhcGkbs
He saw the mysterious man standing atop mountain peaks.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMbNni37DR
He saw a long road ending at a vast door beneath the earth.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDtqBB3ASW
He saw blood that would be spilled
Not his own,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡai6zj5VVLj
but the blood of one of his men.
Aram tore his hand away.
His heart thundered in his chest.
Oshan spoke in a voice like wind moving through caves:91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQTCSjmsPq
“You are surrounded by an ending and a beginning.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiENoIFhsfD
What you lost will not return91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIXAmDoDyv
until you reach the place you were created for.”
Tafar stepped forward hesitantly.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3A1HwOTtcR
“Read me as well.”
He offered his hand.
Oshan held it only for a brief moment91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXEq9qUT287
then released it abruptly.
Tafar staggered back two steps.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3JTpfn37S
His face was pale.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDVigIkycE
His hand trembled.
Siham asked in fear,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAesreWdKJV
“What did you see?”
He did not answer.
But Aram understood.
Oshan had seen Tafar’s death91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNc4FmipYuA
drawing near.
The strange man sat among them, ate from their provisions without fear,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5DJ9rewEaW
as though he had been one of them for years.
Before he left, he placed two things before Aram:
• Four dark stone rods, like charcoal, yet glowing with a faint inner light.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLTWJaePT1
• A long glass prism, shimmering with colors that appeared only when touched by wind.
Oshan said,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡylPcLsmCbm
“Without these… you will not return.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhkESyDcK3e
And I… will be waiting for you.”
He released a soft whistle.
The three hyenas stepped forward,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvy8kmfVfma
and together they walked into the darkness,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxX0vY1Ljuh
until his voice faded,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKlbpwYVpqk
then even his footprints vanished91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZn5lcZFxX
as if the earth itself had never been touched.
The men remained in long silence,91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oEEWOW14u
each weighing what he had seen and heard.
But the quietest among them was Tafar
Because he alone now knew91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD9jj9NzVXf
that his journey91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9cz3iuk5ox
would end91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtmNnyrwZp
before the caravan ever reached Saba.
The complete version of ARAM – HEIR OF SABA is now available on Amazon.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQ7DdH4pX0
If you want to support the story, check it out there.
91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeF366B3G9m
and then Add to home screen.