Why? Sarina's mind cried as she ran after Caspar and Nasir. Why would would this happen. Why are people dying? Why are they trying to kill us?
Her legs burned from exertion but she pushed with all her might, trying to keep up with the men sprinting in front of her. She could see Caspar glancing behind him to make sure she was keeping up, but they couldn't afford to slow down. Hashem was down and he sacrificed himself to give them a head start, but all there was around them were dunes.
Sarina turned to see the progress of their attackers and she almost stumbled when she saw they were nearly upon them.
"Caspar, look." Sarina called.
He turned around and then stopped, looking around him for a place to take cover. There was a large hill just a little to the side of them. He motioned for Nasir and her to follow and he sprinted quickly behind the dune. Sarina jumped behind the sand, trying to stay as low as possible and then listened.
"This way, come I just saw them turn" Sarina heard a man say in a strange accent.
There was more shouting and it sounded closer. Sarina knew there was no hope for them, in just a minute their pursuers would be upon them.
"Remember, do not kill the girl, we will need her. The prince is free game. We may do whatever we like with him" Sarina heard the same voice as before say.
"Why are we handing her over captain? If we take the girl ourselves, we can carry out the plan without any help and rule on our own" said a different voice, even closer.
Sarina jumped when she heard a sharp slap landing on what she assumed was the second man's face.
"Do not doubt the supreme one. They will bring glory to us all, we just need to follow his directions and everything will be as it is supposed to be.
Sarina was confused, what plan? What else could they have in store?
"Sarina" Caspar whispered. "Try to use your magic. They are too close for us to run, but if you can sway them, maybe give them confusion about their direction, we might be able to run still."
Sarina nodded, scared but determined to try and help.
"Remember, magic comes from the source within this desert. Try to feel its power and draw from it" he instructed.
"Okay, I will try" Sarina said.
She closed her eyes, trying to feel for the connection he had mentioned. At first all she saw was blackness and she felt no power. She turned scared, hoping she could do this so they could live. She did not want Caspar or Nasir to die. She took a deep breath, trying to mimic her actions she had done once before when she felt something. Suddenly she saw a small ball of light behind her eyes she focused on it and then thought of what she wanted the men trying to trap them to feel.
She focused on the emotion of confusion. Confused about the direction they were heading.
"Uh Captain?" A man called out. "Are you sure they went this way?"
Sarina and the men listened carefully. The men's footsteps had slowed and no one was shouting anymore. It was actually strangely quiet.
"Well I could have sworn I saw them going this way, but I am not sure anymore" said the captain.
Sarina, encouraged by their uncertainty, decided to build on their confusion with fear. She remembered how it felt to see the sand-shark and tried to imprint that same feeling on them.
"Ah! Did you guys hear that?!" Someone screamed.
"Something is out there, and it's not the girl" said someone else.
Caspar and Nasir stared at Sarina in wonder. Sarina could not even feel their gazes as she was concentrating on distracting the men and running them off.
"If we stay out here, we will die and we won't be able to complete our task if we're dead" said the captain. "Men, move out, I think they went in the opposite direction anyhow."
Sarina stayed completely still, not even wanting to breathe as she listened to the men begin to make their retreat. It wasn't until after a long while of silence did she finally feel herself loosen. When she opened her eyes, the sight of Caspar and Nasir's awed faces filled her vision. She was embarrassed to have them looking at her so intensely so she turned her eyes downward and adjusted her dress.
Caspar seemed to recover the fastest.
"That was incredible Sarina" he said.
Sarina gave him a small smile, feeling a little drained.
Caspar noticed and stood up, giving her his hand to help her up.
"What in all the sand was that" Nasir exclaimed.
"We don't have time to explain right now. We need to use the advantage we were just given before they realize they were manipulated. Come, let's continue" Caspar said.
They ran into the night and didn't stop for as long as they could. The stars became visible after a while and began to mark time for them as they continued to travel farther into the desert. Sarina's body began to ache and even her mind felt like it had received a workout.
Hours passed before the stopped.
"I don't think we have been followed" Nasir said. "We should stop here and rest for a while, the sun is about to come up."
Caspar and Sarina nodded tiredly and they found a large dune and sank down into the sand. Sarina was prepared to just lay there and try to sleep, but the men with her began to dig into the dune. The sand on top moved easily, but as they dug farther, the sand was denser and moist, holding to itself. It was perfect for forming a cave.
Not wanting to be useless, Sarina began digging with them, but as soon as she started, Caspar put his hand on hers.
"You must be tired from using magic, let us dig and you try to rest. It shouldn't take us very long" he said.
Sarina was touched by his concern. No one besides her parents had ever taken such care of her.
"Are you sure" she asked.
He smiled at her nodded before he continued digging.
"Humph, Caspar will you also let me rest brother? My hands are too beautiful for this dirty works and I also am tired" Nasir complained childishly, making Sarina giggle.
Caspar rolled his eyes. "If you don't keep digging I will bury you under this myself" he said gruffly.
Nasir just smiled but continued digging.
Sarina leaned on the sand dune, closing her eyes. She really was tired, and her bones ached. She was proud of herself, though. She had managed to distract the men, allowing them to escape. She remembered their conversation before she had manipulated them.
Why did they want her? How could they even know about her?
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