Juran stood still on the sand dune while his eyes scanned every inch of the desert stretched around him. The sun was rapidly sliding towards the western horizon. Its amber glow lit up the tanned faces of men and women in the caravan which was coming from behind the dune and threw long slanting shadows behind them. The metallic bells and trinkets adorning the camels sparkled like diamonds in the glow of the setting sun.
Suddenly, Juran's eyes fell on a strange object. From the place where he stood, it looked like the carcass of a huge black bird lying folded in a shallow depression on the sandy ground. Juran squinted his eyes and tried to focus. But it was so far away that even his trained eyes failed to detect the exact identity of this strange object.
Juran looked at the setting sun. Hardly an hour of daylight was left. He shook his head. It was not enough to reach the Gate of the Sun before sunset. The Gate would be closed right at sunset, so he was going to be forced to spend the night with his people on the freezing desert, anyway! 'Why not have a look at this one at hand?' He thought as he got down and went to the other side of the dune to find his camel resting there. The huge animal was sitting on the still hot sand, munching some fodder with its eyes closed. But the sound of its owner's footsteps alerted him. It opened its eyes and looked at its owner.
Juran scratched the animal gently below its throat and got up on the seat at its back. The camel tilted forward and backward and erected itself in a somewhat funny manner. Juran drove it towards the place where he had seen the strange object.
As they came closer to the object, Juran realized that it was not a carcass but a man clothed in black and lying face down in the sandy depression. Was the man alive or dead? Juran could not confirm from his seat at the camel's back. So he stopped the camel, alighted from it and got down into the depression to check on the man lying in it. To his surprise, the man was alive.
Juran slowly turned the man and found himself looking at a young face with sharp yet delicate features. Under well defined brows and long eyelashes his large eyes were closed in peaceful sleep. Juran quickly searched through his ragged clothes but could not find anything which would give any hint of the man's identity. What he found instead surprised him. It was a pistol with two bullets in its magazine.
Juran took out the bullets and put the empty pistol back inside the man's pocket. He stared at the sleeping face of this stranger who seemed to have sprouted suddenly from the desert below him. There was no sign of another caravan passing from this place in two or three days.
Then where did this man come from? With his exotic features and his strange clothes he could never be a citizen of Anakra. Who was he, then?
What made Juran more curious was the firearm on him. Firearms were rare and expensive in Anakra and only a few privileged people could afford them. Juran was one of them. But he did not prefer to carry them. In the world where he belonged firearms could protect him from another human, perhaps, but they were completely useless against the fierce creatures of darkness whom he had to face quite often.
There was no apparent sign of any serious injury on the man's body. Juran heaved a sigh of relief and took out a small leather pouch from his pocket. He sprinkled a few drops of a clear fragrant liquid from it on his palm and rubbed them gently into the man's smooth forehead. As the faint smell mingled in the air, the man slowly opened his eyes.
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Ethan had long been trudging through darkness. A man was walking in front of him, leading him through the pitch black darkness only by the faint murmur of his voice. Ethan could neither see the man nor could he make out what he was saying, but he knew instinctively that he must follow this man. Suddenly, the man stopped and spoke in a clear voice, "Go ahead, Ethan! Change it the way you want."
As he spoke, the darkness around them started to crackle and faint streaks of light appeared everywhere. Soon it was bright light in front of Ethan's eyes and he could see a smudged face near his own. Slowly his vision cleared and he could see a young man kneeling by his side and looking at him with a pair of bright warm eyes. As he struggled to raise himself up on an elbow, a pair of strong arms embraced his shoulders and helped him to sit up. There was something oddly reassuring in this man's touch. Still, Ethan was too shocked to utter a word or to move his limbs on his own.
Juran understood what the man in front of him was going through. "I am Juran." He said. "What is your name?"
"...Ethan." As he spoke, Ethan's voice felt strange to his own ears. He still could not clearly remember who he was or where he had come from. But a vague memory lurked around the edge of his mind from where the name 'Ethan Black' popped up. Was it even his own name? Ethan was not sure. 'But this will do for now.' He thought.
"Where are you from?" Juran asked.
"Can't remember..." Ethan said apologetically."Juran, can you tell me what this place is?" He asked.
"This is the land of Anakra and right now we are in the desert outside the City of Sun, the capital of Anakra." Juran explained slowly. "I am going there with my caravan. But the sun is setting and soon the gates of the city will be closed for the night. So we are going to camp here tonight."
Ethan remained silent for some time. Then he raised his head and looked at the sky. "What shall I do now?" He asked himself.
Juran was looking at him intently. "Stay with us till we reach the city. Perhaps your memory will return by then?" He said.
Ethan nodded slowly with a grateful smile. Juran had probably saved his life and he could not find enough words to express his gratitude. He dragged himself to his feet and realized that though he felt a bit dizzy he could manage to walk. Seeing that, Juran climbed out of the depression and dragged Ethan out of it. The two of them stood there waiting for the caravan which had rounded the dune and was approaching them slowly.
All on a sudden the ground beneath them started to shake violently. Before they could think anything, both Juran and Ethan were thrown on the ground. The silent desert had instantly turned into a heaving and roaring sea which tossed around screaming humans and animals alike. Amid the chaos, in front of Ethan's awestruck eyes, a part of the desert heaved and shifted into a monstrous shape which faintly resembled a gigantic snake. But this snake sparkled in the light of the setting sun and breathed fire! The ground had stopped shaking and Ethan stood there, staring spellbound at the glowing monster.
Juran had already recovered himself and was now preparing to attack the monster. In his hand had appeared a long spear which also glowed in sunlight. The monster swooped at Juran, but before he could make a move with his spear, a white light glimmered in the sky and slashed open the monster's face from its right eye to the side of its jaw.
The monster let out a deafening roar and thrashed its gigantic tail. A horseman had appeared on its right side. Ethan could not take his eyes off the man riding the huge black horse. The sword in his hand shimmered and glowed. In an instant, it slashed open the other eye of the monster.
As soon as the horseman had appeared, Juran had retreated. He was now standing by Ethan's side and staring at the warring man and monster in front of them. His men had already scampered away behind the dune.
The injured monster now thrashed in rage and stirred the desert into a blinding sandstorm. The horseman was flung on the ground and the monster swooped on him. Juran hurled his spear at the monster. The glistening spear embedded itself into the monster's throat, but failed to impede its advance.
As Ethan struggled on his feet, his right hand instinctively dug into his pocket and fished out the pistol. He tried to fire at the monster but the pistol only coughed a clicking sound. His eyes fell on Juran who was shaking his head. Ethan could see the despair in his wild eyes. He felt an oddly familiar surge of fire running through his blood. Without thinking anything, he gripped the pistol and the next moment he hurled it at the raging monster.
The two other men stared in shock and disbelief. The ordinary pistol glowed like a charmed weapon and struck the monster at lightening speed. Immediately, the monster began to melt away. In front of three pairs of awestruck eyes its huge sparkling body crumbled and melted into thin air.
The horseman stood up from the ground and looked at Ethan who still stood there looking dazed. A curious light played in his eyes as he sheathed his sword with a Clang! 'Well, what do we have here? A Forger!' He said in a spiteful voice.
