When silence speaks, you know that something older than you has awakened.
The desert had always been silent,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwnaaqVNS7
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,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnt9CtJxKX
for sounds there do not die…98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HQIfmtdhF
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 sound98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr77yXclKDW
rising from the depths of the desert,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrk33j4OH2G
striking the walls of the surrounding mountains,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡosMb2CfMRx
then returning to them doubled,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡip7pihnIQZ
as though the earth itself were breathing…98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwE3UZpPRI8
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,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBaTJsgwZYO
“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,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8dsL4PX5HH
“No… this is the sound of men.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUnyEjs6tW
But not ordinary men.”
The men exchanged glances.
Tafar spoke with unease he could not hide,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsm1na80n5E
“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.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaz4w7w446
“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.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6LDGYUwkw
A cry unlike human voice,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJe0D7Vr2kG
unlike animal,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkSxcuPLHE
unlike wind.
It carried meaning.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YyO6e3PBt
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:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD4JJKsWZaJ
“I know this sound…98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ID5bpKYYu
It is calling.”
Aram stepped closer.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHAlyC3NeJx
“Who?”
Orgus answered,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTk696Z7S9
“Oshan…98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdGjGQIJnX
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,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnwcjDP4LCD
“I ask your permission, Aram…98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwKFm12NAp
Someone is coming to us now98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡauYaRvyZqx
and he cannot be stopped.”
Bodies stiffened.
Who would dare approach their camp this night?98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLpFAp4dOTZ
And who could make horses tremble before appearing?
Suddenly
The fire went out for a heartbeat, then flared back to life,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUPdAoiPeE
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.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSkP9qebhk0
Eyes that did not see…98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwK1bSqj3FK
or saw what humans were never meant to see.
Yet stranger still was what accompanied him.
Three hyenas.
Calm.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0tAu4vhjA
Tame in a way that inspired dread.
They circled him as guards… or offspring.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJllE36KyV
Their eyes never left the men.
The man stopped near the well and slowly raised his hand.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAvaw7BSXO
With the motion came the scent of wet clay98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBRNz1rimH
the scent of coming rain,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vjUd7mNsj
though the sky was clear.
Aram spoke, his voice taut:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlLswneRx6M
“Who are you?”
But the largest hyena released a low sound98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX2Yb4C7132
not a true growl,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptPWvAAqi4
but an attempt at speech.
Orgus said with a certainty unlike anything they had known from him:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzK6FcKng0f
“He is Oshan.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9AdrQzHPC
He knows me… and I know him.”
Oshan sat by the fire.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTAh4WCtifT
The three hyenas arranged themselves around him in circles,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9nRYgZRYML
as if forming a throne of living protection.
Oshan extended his hand toward Aram.
He was asking to take his hand.
Aram hesitated98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjteYl5nQY
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.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIpUPPDWed
He saw the blood of his tribe soaking into the sand.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xcW9KNGHv
He saw the mysterious man standing atop mountain peaks.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYJ33ZALwp
He saw a long road ending at a vast door beneath the earth.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5dBBh4q2Bd
He saw blood that would be spilled
Not his own,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdoVjnwZab3
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:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEP0lyO8HGa
“You are surrounded by an ending and a beginning.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlgf9vwWqD8
What you lost will not return98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVuqL2QnwiU
until you reach the place you were created for.”
Tafar stepped forward hesitantly.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vVDF9AHM1
“Read me as well.”
He offered his hand.
Oshan held it only for a brief moment98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDHL2GABAO
then released it abruptly.
Tafar staggered back two steps.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPSzpk1lTv0
His face was pale.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVGfXvnIAe
His hand trembled.
Siham asked in fear,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGk0R5QBMQ5
“What did you see?”
He did not answer.
But Aram understood.
Oshan had seen Tafar’s death98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwiyK9tx4kk
drawing near.
The strange man sat among them, ate from their provisions without fear,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MZgvE6KZH
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.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZXwFqlgoW
• A long glass prism, shimmering with colors that appeared only when touched by wind.
Oshan said,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFyAESr25E
“Without these… you will not return.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZcpCkx8oBi
And I… will be waiting for you.”
He released a soft whistle.
The three hyenas stepped forward,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrDl9O7wDvK
and together they walked into the darkness,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYk9nnvytyl
until his voice faded,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdIO7wfFmV
then even his footprints vanished98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa4ADjoq6g5
as if the earth itself had never been touched.
The men remained in long silence,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUAOTVTwLIl
each weighing what he had seen and heard.
But the quietest among them was Tafar
Because he alone now knew98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncI9x1f0wK
that his journey98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM6DVjKIKlX
would end98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6avfAmfFn
before the caravan ever reached Saba.
The complete version of ARAM – HEIR OF SABA is now available on Amazon.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5SXNmoxsX
If you want to support the story, check it out there.
98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlae8RbQpl
and then Add to home screen.