When blood is spilled for the first time… the road is never the same again.
The farther east they traveled, the more everything changed.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjaXEwfS4GC
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnwqQ10wlvf
Behind him, Aram kept the role of the servant as agreed, yet his senses moved faster than everyone else.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqg76u3xnhM
Nabalian read the ground.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4VlE4tjVa
Solan watched the heights.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6els3lYjRj
Karem watched the empty spaces.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Wy6lp9AIL
And Seham… watched the men themselves.
At dawn, as a nearly level stretch of land opened before them, Nabalian felt that something was wrong.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kf2TXmUUo
The ground made no natural sound.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6KXYOQ4MP
The sand… was too solid.
He slowed, then said in a low voice heard only by those who knew him well:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFu01uGyTg
“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:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8RC6p93ze
“Hand over what you carry… or be buried right here!”
Najjar stepped forward, planted his spear in the ground, and replied calmly but firmly:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjs2t4qAkl
“We are not a caravan.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVx85EphaH6
And we will bury only those who come closer.”
The leader laughed mockingly.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTNDLtKa4mJ
“Big words… from few men.”
They were given no more time.
Nabalian moved first.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDzrpW8yFxz
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:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87gdnr3DCm
“Attack!”
The plain exploded into motion.
Solan moved like a shadow.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cdUG0ZSkl
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRomOs3GD1
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MZIbu7HTV
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWIe4BRn6C
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdJMrSkQ1m
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0BASAUPDG
Two men would not rise again.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDtBVwoDSHW
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4bQKiSdwoc
“No don’t kill me!”
Nabalian said coldly:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT7n2IyTZKk
“You showed no mercy. Why should we?”
The man cried out:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WkTI5zIku
“I’m not one of them!34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEZ8aCXCzxu
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrSzN6dK0U
His bearing was different.
Aram locked eyes with him for a long moment.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0hiFAz1o4
His judgment did not fail.
He said quietly:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDGkSOLlB0
“We’ve given you a chance. Go.”
But the man did not move.
Instead, he said at once:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjC6aKlNFxZ
“My adventure begins with you.”
Aram asked,34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrj1XJ7XeA
“And how do you know that?”
The man smiled despite the pain.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbahUnDbYpB
“Because anyone who travels east with so few men no trade, no banners34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeD8ESrBH7G
is either fleeing a fate… or forging one.”
He pulled out a square piece of carved wood, etched with fine ridges.
“A cave key.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiCBaziZaY8
Gold, silver, blades my family’s inheritance.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySbAE0N38M
Take what you need… and let me travel with you.”
Nabalian’s hand froze.
All eyes turned to Aram.
He asked quietly:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWY7vPZlKVj
“And who guarantees you won’t lead us to ruin?”
The answer came without hesitation:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQd247NyxG
“Because I need you… as much as you need me.”
Najjar stepped forward.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVPoTApDJ12
“Your name?”
“Tavar.”
A short silence followed.
Then Aram said:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkP9t4oTOzB
“You will lead us to the cave.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfEDlifbe8N
And if you deceive us… you will not think long about death.”
Tavar nodded sharply.
The next day…34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLN981nwWZ
they followed him.
Seven now.
Men from different roads,34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpmUdvqJOT
with different blood,34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxo8e7YGHbH
but bound by a single shadow
The shadow of a man34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvLiYnBfi6A
who was once a tribal leader,34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0KUAtVsxS
and who would become34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDPizjLNaM
the leader of an army.
and then Add to home screen.