When silence speaks, you know that something older than you has awakened.
The desert had always been silent,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9B7PVZ8e0W
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,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVGS8vOEbQ
for sounds there do not die…103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjP4tdOBnj
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 sound103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3s67cokope
rising from the depths of the desert,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZjZSKggh5W
striking the walls of the surrounding mountains,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSLhfbbZZzT
then returning to them doubled,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVl4chx9vZ
as though the earth itself were breathing…103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI2DyxpuGi3
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,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSSOvYddn3
“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,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJlYi5rrtV
“No… this is the sound of men.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCezY24Wxfh
But not ordinary men.”
The men exchanged glances.
Tafar spoke with unease he could not hide,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMpWyePKct4
“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.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOgpSctk0Fb
“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.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIO3Ikfhp5y
A cry unlike human voice,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFu3S3CUE3
unlike animal,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGY9Z1C5SF0
unlike wind.
It carried meaning.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrB1Pf6UWV8
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:103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7rdpDcs1vR
“I know this sound…103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmX0I5Ef8pG
It is calling.”
Aram stepped closer.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9xa3y1t2yt
“Who?”
Orgus answered,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigiePVyanx
“Oshan…103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3SElvsdEZ
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,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxrNLp8lK4x
“I ask your permission, Aram…103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1LoBhj1lDe
Someone is coming to us now103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZ1qWhWZHh
and he cannot be stopped.”
Bodies stiffened.
Who would dare approach their camp this night?103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0J2v4YIoq
And who could make horses tremble before appearing?
Suddenly
The fire went out for a heartbeat, then flared back to life,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCtAfFkLq0j
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.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrVitZQqpv
Eyes that did not see…103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYnXsG5WgP
or saw what humans were never meant to see.
Yet stranger still was what accompanied him.
Three hyenas.
Calm.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL6PM5Z1AKS
Tame in a way that inspired dread.
They circled him as guards… or offspring.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ONACVlruF
Their eyes never left the men.
The man stopped near the well and slowly raised his hand.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrFV08Te3g
With the motion came the scent of wet clay103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5ELBXpO9w
the scent of coming rain,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSookeQZeqs
though the sky was clear.
Aram spoke, his voice taut:103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRkRB5DUWb
“Who are you?”
But the largest hyena released a low sound103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡomLAMTPabp
not a true growl,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmXNF4vwm4
but an attempt at speech.
Orgus said with a certainty unlike anything they had known from him:103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxYEaYy504
“He is Oshan.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjeNz2ikVK
He knows me… and I know him.”
Oshan sat by the fire.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMDqXVhP8Q
The three hyenas arranged themselves around him in circles,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCn9mp6Q27
as if forming a throne of living protection.
Oshan extended his hand toward Aram.
He was asking to take his hand.
Aram hesitated103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEoRoAqLsi4
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.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdViulMjm2T
He saw the blood of his tribe soaking into the sand.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kwvZB4SN2
He saw the mysterious man standing atop mountain peaks.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhXUnxtBYt
He saw a long road ending at a vast door beneath the earth.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Xq71TlgMZ
He saw blood that would be spilled
Not his own,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRE3e0xvxZ
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:103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgDvMBCrl3
“You are surrounded by an ending and a beginning.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2Rxhv7AH0
What you lost will not return103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUzQi5MrFB
until you reach the place you were created for.”
Tafar stepped forward hesitantly.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgoMT2iRfHV
“Read me as well.”
He offered his hand.
Oshan held it only for a brief moment103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFKAqFoBpF
then released it abruptly.
Tafar staggered back two steps.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYCS4Ibg79
His face was pale.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqulucfXh3
His hand trembled.
Siham asked in fear,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTX2ZIkB5NR
“What did you see?”
He did not answer.
But Aram understood.
Oshan had seen Tafar’s death103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOHLXUk0re
drawing near.
The strange man sat among them, ate from their provisions without fear,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtryAYusyZi
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.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYUBux7ued
• A long glass prism, shimmering with colors that appeared only when touched by wind.
Oshan said,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr8bVxs0BS2
“Without these… you will not return.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ2Yie4YVLq
And I… will be waiting for you.”
He released a soft whistle.
The three hyenas stepped forward,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAx9DB4CaH
and together they walked into the darkness,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHMEj2Oz5c
until his voice faded,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZkmgUah8cF
then even his footprints vanished103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcdMrsDFgg2
as if the earth itself had never been touched.
The men remained in long silence,103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwROWqx0tiG
each weighing what he had seen and heard.
But the quietest among them was Tafar
Because he alone now knew103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkaaI28CtUT
that his journey103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIlf4nxvZy
would end103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIIsIf5ooy
before the caravan ever reached Saba.
The complete version of ARAM – HEIR OF SABA is now available on Amazon.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuY5LqPxr6q
If you want to support the story, check it out there.
103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRJgiwo5FU
and then Add to home screen.