Torin looked up from the glow of the cast-off candlelight at the sudden disruption he felt in the night. He had been here at Arn for only three days and yet he had the sense that something was different about tonight, even though the noisy ruckus of the jungle at full swing all around the city was undiminished in volume.
Rubbing at his eyes Torin straightened up in his chair and then quickly rose to walk towards his outside balcony making sure to blow the candle out along the way. In the moonlit darkness he made his way through the rest of his darkened palatial quarters to softly step out into the cool moist air of the night.
There was a sense of vibrating energy in the air and the feel of it caused Torin to silently break out in prayer to his Creator for both help and discernment. An answer came then as suddenly the dark spirit that had infiltrated the compound was exposed as if lit up from within until it fairly glowed in the darkness.
With a hiss of awareness it glanced about quickly and then unerringly its glowing gaze rose in the darkness to stare up at Torin. Nothing was said between the man and the invading spirit, but then suddenly the dark visage of the spirit smiled, showing all of its pointy teeth and with a throaty chuckle it bowed low as if in attendance at a high society ballroom event and began to make its way back the way it had come, until it disappeared into the shadows.
Torin watched several long moments more before turning to leave the balcony. He couldn't avert from being slightly startled at the presence of a man standing just within the room.
Recovering his momentum upon recognizing his brother Mahlon, Torin moved on by him into the room. His fingers found the matches on the table and striking one he relit the candle on the table as Mahlon turned away from the balcony to advance upon the table as well.
Mahlon leaned over the table to study what Torin had embroiled himself for hours on end at gazing upon. "Learning the lay of the land I see." Mahlon commented, as he took in the old maps and tattered remnants of parchment that lay on the table.
Torin wasn't misdirected that easily, but got to the point of the matter, "When I got here three days ago you said you were having problems. Is that thing outside what you meant?"
Mahlon didn't look up, but noncommittally said, "Not sure. It certainly has to be a part of some problem though. I've tried to set a trap for it, but that's been a useless endeavor. I... I don't know what the problem is Torin. I thought I knew what control was, but I feel like it is slipping away somehow. Things just aren't right. Something's off. Never in the previous 11 ½ years that I've been here in our ancestral homeland have I felt as vulnerable as I do now and I don't even know why."
"Some threats go largely unseen until it's too late to do anything about it." Torin commented softly.
Mahlon looked up and Torin read the passion to be seen in his big brother's face as he said forcefully, "I don't want that! I don't like surprises. I'm putting you in charge of this Torin. I want you to find out what's going on. It feels as if our kingdom is about to be swept away by a dark tide of force I can only get glimpses at here and there and yet you've been here just three days and through your prayers I watch that dark shadow of a thing get lit up like a candelabra."
Torin shook his head as he said, "I just prayed Mahlon. I don't have superpowers or anything of the sort."
Mahlon leaving his spot came around the table and put his arm across his brother's shoulders and pulling into him slightly, he said into Torin's ear, "How do you know? God made you different Torin."
Letting go Mahlon turned and began to leave the room as silently as he had come. He called out as if in afterthought, "I certainly think so anyway. You have a way of seeing things that others don't."
Feeling the burden of something needing to be said Torin called out as Mahlon reached the door, "It's been here before. I don't mean recently either. It knows its way around. Actually, I think it's relearning its way around the city, because not everything is the same as it once was since you rebuilt it."
Mahlon had stopped and, turning back, he asked, "How would you know that?"
"I sensed it." Torin responded back with.
Mahlon blinked before asking, "Anything else?"
"It won't be back."
"You sensed that too?"
"No, it told me so." Torin responded back with evenly as he scanned his brother's eyes for any sign of disbelief.
He found none even as Mahlon said with a nod, "Father was right about you."
A moment passed by before Mahlon asked, "Tell me then Torin what do you think is going to happen?"
Torin looked away from his brothers probing gaze to the table strewn all over with maps and assorted fragments of Ar'morian history. "I'm not sure." He admitted before then adding, "But I know it's not good. Ar'mora fell once and we yet to this day have no clear understanding as to why that was other than that it had to do with something of a loss of faith on our forefather's part. A judgment of sorts was enacted against us it would seem. Tell me have you found any place in the ruins with more history of our past than I have gathered here before me?"
"No, I haven't. I can tell you though that whatever happened in the past was a sudden event. All three cities along with the villages were wiped out virtually within a few days of each other and I'm certain that such a thing couldn't have been pulled off by headhunters. As for Lycana it seems it persisted for some time past that, but succumbed to different factors of evil in the end. You've read Tyree's report on it haven't you?"
"I have." Torin commented.
Both men stood there, then as if at a loss for what to say until Mahlon finally managed to force out, "Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out." That said he left the room leaving Torin alone with his thoughts.
Torin stood there a moment in contemplative silence before leaning forward to slam his fist down on the table making the whole thing jump. It was the only outward expression of the mountain of responsibility that his brother had just heaped on top of his shoulders unceremoniously.
He'd been over and across every map and paper on the table at least twice and taking the candle with him he abandoned the room. Making his way down the palatial corridor of the palace, he reached the main stairway and began his descent.
As beautiful as this place was he couldn't get over the feeling of the past few days that this wasn't home for him. Maybe that feeling would come in time. He hoped so anyway.
Making his way through the early morning gloom of just before sunrise he traveled to the spot where the creature of evil had stood. There was very little traceable evidence to be discerned and then with eyes widening he took in an area of flat stone pavement where the individual had first been revealed to him by God.
There was something on the flat timeworn stones. Kneeling down, he picked some of the foreign looking material up to rub it between his fingers.
It was sand. Sand that had been bound up by the invisibility cloak the creature had worn.
The creature hadn't been human and yet it had some features reminiscent of humanity. A hybrid?
Such a thing was possible and as Torin's mind filled with all sorts of ancient history and lore he brought it all to the forefront to help him learn and figure out the puzzle of the problem at hand. An ancient hybrid like creature that came from a place of sand.
Holding the sand up to his nose, he sniffed it, but smelled nothing. It wasn't sand from the river as it lacked the pungent odor of decay of stagnant water gone rancid.
So if not the river, then where? Immediately Torin's mind went to his younger brother's report of a strange desert land situated within the heart of the farthest reaches of the jungle. Could that be the origin of this sand?
Walking forward upon the stone clad patio contemplatively Torin made an abrupt stop as his eyes in the strengthening light took in the clumps of sand situated further on upon the stone flagging. Extinguishing the candle's now unnecessary glow with two fingers Torin with sudden gripping alertness scanned his surroundings in search of a second threat.
Could there have been two of the hybrids? He had sensed only the evil presence of one, but then who did the second evidence of sand belong to?
Amidst that thought came another of why had he left the comfort of his room without taking a weapon along of any kind? As tempted as he was to turn back and fetch a weapon he was impelled to go forward more.
There was more trail to follow than there had been of the other being and Torin felt confident that he was now dealing with just an ordinary man. Making his way through a tight hedge, he caught the lingering essence of a scent separate from that of the hedge.
It was the scent of perfume. He was following a woman and not a man!
On a slight rise, then he saw her. A dark cloaked individual stood poised on an overlook of the city.
Inexplicably drawn to discover the mystery of this strange visitor in the night Torin grew steadily closer, until from about ten feet behind her, she spoke out in a rich voice full of the flavor of a unique culture, giving accent to the way she spoke what must be a secondary language for her, "That is far enough. Any closer and I shall kill you."
Torin reluctantly came to a stop in respect of the voice's wish. Angling around to try to see around the side of the cloak he was taken back by surprise by the sudden mournful sounding tone of her voice that had lost all of its domineering imperialistic edge of moments before, "If you love your people then you will tell them to leave. Even the native villagers as I feel they will not be spared this time as they were before."
"Who are you?" Torin asked loudly as the incredibility of everything she was saying struck him hard.
~~~~~~~
I left his request of me go unanswered as I continued to stare out over a burgeoning city on the move upwards once more after having seen centuries of the absence of daily interaction. Leaving the man's question unanswered only made him impertinent and as he strode forward I lifted my arm and brought the razor sharp edge of the blade of my saber to rest against his throat.
I'd had to partially turn to him in order to do so and I got my first real look at the man who had crashed not only my own cloak, but also that of the black demon known as Horgan.
As a man he was breathtakingly handsome and had a look of open honesty to him that was rare to be seen among the prideful men of my people.
The rumors were true then. The men of Ar'mora that had returned were of a nobler sort then the men of the past.
Knowing the caliber of the man that I held at bay with the edge of my saber I mourned all the more for the loss of a civilization that truly had the appearance of something good about it. The man breathed strongly against the blade of the saber at his throat without fear and I watched him raise his hand towards it.
I couldn't permit that. With a flick of the wrist I nicked him on the hand and then sweeping the tip of the saber up I drew blood down the length of his strong jaw with a drag of my razor-sharp blade across it.
He blinked with surprise, but made no effort to move backward and so reluctantly I gave ground and backed away from him. I needed space for the travel charm to work and there was something about this man's spirit and the honesty of his gaze that confused and seemed to weaken my purpose that with rising alarm the need to escape now pressed heavily upon me.
Giving voice once more I said, "Take my words to heart. Get everyone out of here! You can't stop what's coming. You're only one man and when they come they will have all the power of the gods at their command and just as before Ar'mora will fall."
Of all things, then he smiled and a little incredulously I took in the whiteness of his teeth and full lips as he asked, "What's your name?"
"What?" I asked, feeling as if I'd heard him amiss.
"You heard me. Now how about it." He pressed with still smiling as a deep red bead of blood dripped from off his chin to the ground.
Perhaps I had misjudged this man. He was clearly not very bright that much was clear.
Shaking my head as seemingly my warning to this man went unheeded I engaged the charm and the whirling light of its effervescent power surrounded me. I glanced once more to him only to see his smile gone, with it now replaced with a look of pity even as he said, "You really shouldn't be having anything to do with such dark enchantments as they only bring nothing but the loss of the soul."
Feeling overwhelmed by his censure somehow I lashed out with, "And what would you know of it white man? You know nothing of true power!"
He smiled sadly and then with an amazing swiftness he was before me and the lightly tanned skin of his strong hand reached completely unimpeded through the charm's shield to take a grip upon my cloak. A grip that promised to not let go and in stunned surprise, I heard him ask once more, "What is your name? I asked nicely and I expect an answer."
His face was resolute and unused to being addressed by a white man in such a forceful fashion I said, "Colana."
He shook his head and said, "That's a lie." Surprisingly then he let go and stepped back.
He gestured broadly and said, "Go if you must, but know this, I'll see you again. That's a promise."
Shaking my head in consternation, I pressed the charm components together and was immediately gone from the rebirthing grounds of an ancient city to once more be standing within the hallway of the grand palace just outside my living quarters. The guards to either side of my door blinked, but made no other move in regards to my sudden appearance.
I made for my chambers even as one stepped forward to open the door. The other guard spoke, "Your father the king left word that he expects you to be in attendance at the council of war tonight."
"Did my father leave a reason as to why I should be there?" I queried.
"He did not Princess Haquara."
I nodded and moved on into the rooms beyond. Why did father wish for my presence at a council of war?
Making my way through the lavish surroundings of a powerful king's only daughter, I stepped out onto my balcony and stared out over the magnitude of my people's attainment through the centuries. Truly, we hadn't built all of it ourselves.
Without the slaves of Ar'mora that we had kept in hard-pressed bondage for years without end over half of these structures wouldn't even exist. The enslavement of Ar'mora had been the catalyst for my people's greatness and now with the return of the descendants of the escaped exiles of the past, there came before the Empire of my fathers a pressing issue that had to be dealt with.
What would happen if the slaves that outnumbered my people better than two to one suddenly discovered that Ar'mora existed once more? That was the question before all the Sand People to consider and for my father the answer was simple.
The presence of a resurgent Ar'mora was not to be tolerated and the answer to the problem was to wipe Ar'mora and all those who gave them shelter off the face of the earth in order to avert the prophecy that had been given centuries earlier. A prophecy that told of a future abasement of my people and the loss of the life that was afforded through the use of slaves doing all the work.
For my father such a thing wasn't to be tolerated. I on the other hand, saw things differently.
I had no wish to benefit from the actions of a slave forced to live its life out in backbreaking bondage to a people who had taken the initiative to attack a culture that had threatened to outpace their own. Vanity, all was vanity.
There was no need for over half the buildings before me as they served as little else but for ceremonial function and as a testament of my peoples prideful achievements. The attainments of pride were everywhere to be seen, but what good was pride without honor?
Just this morning I had seen another kind of city far different than this. A city not nearly so grand as what lay before me stretched out endlessly in the sand, but it had been a city of homes and bright futures, whereas all that stretched out before me right now was posed in coldness, with a soulless lack of caring for what the cost to achieve all this had come at.
I was not alone among my people with such sentiments, but within my father's high court I was. I'd done all I could to warn Ar'mora. Their blood was on their heads now if they chose not to act upon my warning.