When blood is spilled for the first time… the road is never the same again.
The farther east they traveled, the more everything changed.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBoiEGeoPc
The land hardened in color, turning to a deep, dark red. The sky rose higher dry, cloudless watching from above without mercy. Even the air carried an ancient scent, the smell of sands that had been stepped on only to receive a final trace.
They spoke little.
Najjar walked at the front, his back straight despite the weight of exhaustion.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9aT7IgJVzj
Behind him, Aram kept the role of the servant as agreed, yet his senses moved faster than everyone else.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzh61zmttas
Nabalian read the ground.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCi31lg1S7Y
Solan watched the heights.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jYXOll95w
Karem watched the empty spaces.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3UiaXwBSql
And Seham… watched the men themselves.
At dawn, as a nearly level stretch of land opened before them, Nabalian felt that something was wrong.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqfZcQ1jLFN
The ground made no natural sound.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMGekh3HxU
The sand… was too solid.
He slowed, then said in a low voice heard only by those who knew him well:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMk6kc243z
“We’re not alone.”
Moments later, they emerged.
Seven men stepped out from behind the rocks.
Their clothes were filthy, their beards long, their eyes narrow gleaming like wolves that had found prey. Short swords, light spears, and laughter filled with certainty that they were the strongest here.
One of them clearly the leader shouted:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlG9c7pSZz
“Hand over what you carry… or be buried right here!”
Najjar stepped forward, planted his spear in the ground, and replied calmly but firmly:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCBKcB9oam7
“We are not a caravan.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnb5isv6fPr
And we will bury only those who come closer.”
The leader laughed mockingly.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18iZi6WZ0e
“Big words… from few men.”
They were given no more time.
Nabalian moved first.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXUylqA0juv
He did not wait for a signal.
He raised his bow, drew the string, and released.
The arrow tore through the air like a short scream and buried itself in the man’s left shoulder. He fell, screaming, blood staining the sand.
The leader roared:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWw4uwnfinI
“Attack!”
The plain exploded into motion.
Solan moved like a shadow.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5ii9fNsFY
He threw a thin rope that wrapped around the legs of two men at once. They crashed to the ground. Before they could rise, he leapt over them and struck one with the knotted rope across the jaw. The man collapsed unconscious.
Karem never drew his sword.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhDkvKo3Dt
He pulled out a small vial and hurled it beneath the feet of two men charging him.
A sudden flare erupted, throwing them into confusion. In the same breath, he drove his spear into one man’s chest, then kicked the other’s knee sideways. The second fell without a sound.
As for Seham…
She was unseen.
She moved among them touching, pulling, striking, vanishing.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcH61BKkdR
She ripped a dagger from one man’s belt, drove it into his thigh, then slipped behind him, opening a path straight toward Aram.
Only then did Aram move.
He did not use speed.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXR5J5wFl1H
He used force.
One blow shattered a man’s nose and dropped him to the ground like an empty sack.
On the far side, Najjar faced the leader.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8zJ8SJo0q
Spears crossed high, then low. A feint to the right, a turn to the left.
Despite old fatigue, Najjar found an opening and thrust toward the man’s chest.
But the leader twisted away at the last instant.
He fled into the rocks with two others.
It ended quickly… and brutally.
Two bodies lay still.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEe8aHGN5oZ
Two men would not rise again.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSj7dH3s4zz
A third crawled across the sand, his leg bleeding from Nabalian’s arrow.
Aram ran to him, grabbed his shoulder, and slammed him to the ground.
The man raised his hands, gasping.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVa0raUGPOE
“No don’t kill me!”
Nabalian said coldly:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2m08enivng
“You showed no mercy. Why should we?”
The man cried out:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡexN9x8Tra1
“I’m not one of them!98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZc6Snp7Vx
I left my tribe seeking adventure. I don’t lack coin only luck, for I followed the wrong men!”
They studied him.
His clothes were better.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUr802nFz8
His bearing was different.
Aram locked eyes with him for a long moment.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB1yNfvawzr
His judgment did not fail.
He said quietly:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuiiWyYzTzR
“We’ve given you a chance. Go.”
But the man did not move.
Instead, he said at once:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWow7CgbiA
“My adventure begins with you.”
Aram asked,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2Bio4IPI1
“And how do you know that?”
The man smiled despite the pain.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rRTAe8Sp2
“Because anyone who travels east with so few men no trade, no banners98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcCzfWjjrI
is either fleeing a fate… or forging one.”
He pulled out a square piece of carved wood, etched with fine ridges.
“A cave key.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG76UJgx2kI
Gold, silver, blades my family’s inheritance.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ462213jnyM
Take what you need… and let me travel with you.”
Nabalian’s hand froze.
All eyes turned to Aram.
He asked quietly:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRI1EmGeIS
“And who guarantees you won’t lead us to ruin?”
The answer came without hesitation:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡktme21BOb1
“Because I need you… as much as you need me.”
Najjar stepped forward.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5iQEGXBTp
“Your name?”
“Tavar.”
A short silence followed.
Then Aram said:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPuFitl6ML
“You will lead us to the cave.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUT8Fl3FlM3
And if you deceive us… you will not think long about death.”
Tavar nodded sharply.
The next day…98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjd4OeRWuQm
they followed him.
Seven now.
Men from different roads,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn3pIQQ7d3M
with different blood,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6OXSCXPec
but bound by a single shadow
The shadow of a man98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWuIi3dMssk
who was once a tribal leader,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgnQsXRR5J
and who would become98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPF1OKt7UtZ
the leader of an army.
and then Add to home screen.