Chapter 10 Lost In The Sahara Storm

Day 6 continues……

[Gallop! Gallop!] My steed and I travelled 13,000-stretch-of-men away from the village of the Snakemen. From the bleak terrain encompassing my advance, the peak of Mt Sakai appeared in my vision far away in the atmospheric perspective. I was getting closer to my destination, nothing could stop my relentless pursuit of home.

A week from now marked the conclusion of my Aigoo tribe’s Warriors Ceremony. If I didn’t make it back by then, the tribe’s elders would no doubt disqualify me from the rivalry. Thus was the reason why I was riding my steed non-stop.

“Yah, Tagon!” [Gallop! Gallop!] As I continued sprinting along the vast plains of Bethlia, some of my stitched wounds re-opened. Blood started seeping out of the thin bandages, subsequent with a sharp stroke of agony. But I kept moving ahead despite the excruciating pain. Thanks to the Wolverine-Bear hide donned on my back, it gave me aid to strengthen my indomitable will.

[Whoosh! Whoosh!] At the same time I was approaching the outer borders of Mt Sakai, a strong gust of wind crashed against my face, almost knocking me from my steed. I held tightly to the reins to steady myself from falling. When I glanced to the angle where the strong wind had just bombarded my body, there was a vehement dust storm rampaging across the vast lands.

“How could such a violent storm remain hidden up till now?” Upheaved trees intertwined with compact dust among other land materials were twirling around in the air whilst being chased by a violent dry storm.

Without realizing it, I was already caught up in the dust anomaly. “Tagon, go!” I tried to outride the monster of gust by abusing the velocity of my steed. But no matter how hard I rode, I couldn’t escape the storm of dust. Eventually, I lost all trace of direction, racing aimlessly to get out of the desert storm.

The air was so dense with dust particles mixed with subatomic spores. I had to close my eye and restrict my breathing because I found it so difficult to breathe. That healer granny was right in her assumptions of the Sahara’s dust tyranny. Probably I should have heeded her warning and seek shelter at her abode. But it was too late for regrets now.

My lungs and breathing capacity was quickly being corroded by starving dust. The terrible dryness seeped into my bloodstream and clogged my veins. It was in that moment of disparity that I remembered the gift which the healer granny had given to me before I departed the village of the Snakemen.

“The Lure of Breath!” I quickly reached for the ophidian scarf wrapped around my neck and covered my face with it. [Whiff!] Shortly after I donned the Lure of Breath, my clogged breathing received a greater boost of clarity, even my lungs were expanded. My fear of suffocation was no longer existent. However, though I could breathe properly now the same could not be said for my steed.

[Neighs! Neighs!] Tagon’s galloping began to gradually slow due to his clouded visibility and the increasing difficulty of breathing. With this accumulative peril, what could I do to alleviate the stress? I racked my brain trying to find a way out of my stormy predicament but nothing useful came to mind, not a damn thing!

[Whoosh! Whoosh!] The dust storm grew more and more violent around me. At one instance, the strong up-draught lifted my horse and me from the ground plus tossed us 200-stretch-of-men away. [Boom! Boom!] We tumbled for a long time over a dune of dust. Unexpectedly, when we started slowing down, the ground caved-in underneath us. We were sucked deep underground against our will. The sudden fall damaged the base of my horse as a result he injured one of his hind legs.

I wasn’t unscathed either. On top of my previous injuries that have reopened, I suffered a dislocated arm joint, also, my left leg was stuck underneath my steed. I struggled while dragging my leg to freedom. After it came loose, I identified a lot of unveiled bruises all over. The bandages previously wrapped around my sore leg were now torn to pieces. The poignant stench of fetid flesh assaulted my nostrils. I had to quickly unmask the ophidian scarf to prevent my olfactory nerves from being overly sensitive.

“Tagon, are you still among the living?” My ill steed snorted in response to my concerned enquiry. I was relieved to find out he was safe, albeit my assuagement was short-lived after recognizing the broken bone sticking out of Tagon’s hind leg. The injury would grow more severe if not tend to quickly. Thus I ignored my own wounds then applied healing aid to Tagon’s broken leg apace.

I disinfected the wound with some medical powder that I pulled from the saddle. Thereafter, I set back the broken leg in proper joining then wrapped it tightly with pieces of cloth I tore from my old garment. I could tell that Tagon was in great pain and needed more treatment to suitable recovery from his injuries. With that wounded leg, it would be veritably difficult for him to move around.

Finished doing all that I could for Tagon’s injuries, I shifted my focus to getting out of the trapped hole. Looking above at the orifice entrance which was 20-stretch-of-men in height, the billowing dust storm was still violently treading its course. There was nothing I could do while that storm was still present, which is why I waited quietly in the hole for it to pass.

My wait lasted for longer than expected. I wasn’t just doing nothing during those several days that passed by. To satiate my growing hunger, I dug through the earth for bugs and worms to feed on. I tried sharing the handful of insects that I had managed to round up with my steed but he refused to eat any. I didn’t know what else to do. There was no grass and certainly no water inside this dry hole. Both of us were dying of hunger and thirst, more so Tagon than I due to him not eating the bugs.

It was in that lonely hole where we came to suffer adversely from the stricken Lure of Starvation. And the damn dust storm above wasn’t clearing away either, no matter how many days I waited it still persisted. Eventually, I lost track of the sun rotations. The many days and night spent underground without food and water drove us to the precipice of death. My horse had lost so much weight it became corpse-like. All of that meaty flesh which he once brandished, vanished entirely. Tagon’s skeleton structure was becoming more and more apparent. My condition wasn’t better off either, I lost so many nutrients, my wounds bled no longer, instead, dust particles poured out of my maimed flesh. At times, I felt as light as a leaf, I had to hold on tightly to a healthy rock to prevent myself from getting swept away by the storm above.

My thoughts processed at a slower pace as the Lure of Starvation sought to separate my soul from my corporeal realm. “I’m so…tired. I…want to rest…” my eye started to close as my body fell flat abreast my wheezing horse. I knew at this moment if my eye was to closed fully then that would have spelt the END for my life’s journey in all caps. I tried desperately to not fall asleep, even so, something in the back of mind was telling me to have some rest.

“Sleep, sleep, and never wake up… Come, I’ll escort you to my chambers downstairs…” When I heard this vivid inviting thought sounded in my mind, I jolted my eye awake and sat up firmly.

“What was that scary voice?” I asked myself. “It sounded so sonorous and impactful. Was it that pale woman trying to invite me to the afterlife?” No! I decided not to succumb to the Lure of Death. The indomitable will flowing through me from the beast’s hide roared around my complex and gave me the energy to stand.

When I stood upright and kept my equilibrium on both feet, I was surprised to find out how thin I had become. “Where are all my chunky muscle mass? How could my bulkiness decrease to such a dystopic level?” I was frightened by my current scraggy appearance. “If I don’t attempt to escape now then I shall see no tomorrow.”

I observed the bleak orifice hovering soundly above my head while trying to find a way out. To my surprise, the dust storm had calmed down almost entirely. “When did this happen? It has been forever since I’ve looked above me.”