Chapter 3
Ibrahim opened his eyes in a dark box reeking of urine. A ray of light seeped in through a tiny hole drilled into the cover of the lid. Hands and feet numbed from the fetters. He did not know how long he had been out or where he was. Distinct howling of the Tamarisk reverberating from outside the box jolted him. Memories came flooding, and his heart throbbed. Macabre images of his slaughtered tribesmen flashed through his mind and he wept. They were good people, murdered for nothing, just for political gain. He lamented and wished he had died with them, instead of being abducted on a journey to nowhere.
Suddenly, he noticed the Ark was not on his wrist and his heart sank. The Ark was very dangerous in the wrong hands, especially in the hands of the Tamarisk who were backward. What if they try to operate it? He panicked the more and struggled to sit up. But he bruised his head and neck, which only increased his pain and agony. He shut his eyes and tried to clear his mind, breathing slowly. With time, he could disassociate from his trouble and attained a reposeful state. His chest rose and fell in a peaceful crescendo.
Suddenly, the door of the box was yanked open, and Ibrahim opened his eyes with a start. Cold air rushed into the box, refreshing his drenched body. He was glad for the perfect timing except for the Tamarisk. As if the Tamarisk could read the displeasure on Ibrahim's face, the Tamarisk hurled him out of the box and he landed with his face on the bare ground. Bashing his left eye and his head hummed with a million lights, but he refused to give the Tamarisks the pleasure of crying that he desired. Then they kicked his behind and ordered him to rise to his feet. Ibrahim struggled with his fettered limbs, sweat drenching his body, heart racing to lift his body off the body. But the Tamarisk kicked him again, and Ibrahim crashed on the ground. The Tamarisk cackled at the pitiful sight. After much joy in humiliating Ibrahim, they helped him to his feet and guided him through a bush path leading to the heart of the forest. Where a bivouac of Tamarisks assembled, with many cows that Ibrahim had ever seen in his life before.
The Tamarisk hoisted him against a tree in the far corner and ordered him not to do anything silly, before leaving him alone. Ibrahim was terrified. His eyes darted from one Tamarisk to the other. Ibrahim did not know what to expect, neither had he seen Mubarak and that also worried him too. He craned his neck and scanned the place for the Ark but it was nowhere in sight; He lowered his head in utter sadness. How did he come to this place of darkness? He pondered. This was not how he had expected the entire event to play out. His clan divided and probably at the brink of annihilation, because of him, and a sudden compunction swept over him. Leila might be correct when she joked about the backwardness of his people. For a split second, he wondered what had become of her. She looked like a gracious lady, one he would have loved to see again. Before he could have the pleasure of fantasizing of Leila, his mind drifted once more to his brother and his deep-sated animosity towards him over the years. Apart from being their father's favorite, which had caused so much brouhaha, he believed there was something more, something dark and evil that he couldn't place his finger on. Pain overwhelmed him. He wished he could turn back the hands to a time when he was born so he could choose a more appropriate and loving brother.
"Hello brother, miss me?" Mubarak said.
Ibrahim raised his face to look at Mubarak. Now dressed in full black regalia, just like the rest of the Tamarisk.
"You should be happy that you are with us!"
Mubarak beamed and sat down beside him, with his legs crossed.
"We are at the threshold of changing history… we are going to collect from the South what they stole from us! This is our right! And the right of our children!"
"Nay, my brother, there are better ways to go about this aside from war and strife!" Ibrahim implored.
Mubarak smiled and brought out a small bag, and when he opened it, the Ark gleamed. Ibrahim's heart skipped, fearing what Mubarak might do next.
"Like this? Like disappearing and appearing like stupid cowards who are afraid to confront their shadow?" he asked in disgust.
Ibrahim trembled in fear, and perspiration broke out on his face.
"No, we stopped being cowards the day our father died!" Mubarak growled.
"A new chapter awaits us, the herdsmen," Mubarak continued his harangue with his chest heaving. "Are you going to ride with us into this glorious future?" he asked.
Anger consumed Ibrahim, tongue twisted, unable to speak for a moment. No suitable words were enough to quantify his pain. He desired so much to tear away from his shackle and deal Mubarak with the same blow of sorrow that he had inflicted on him, even if it meant dying through him.
"You will burn for this"
Mubarak smiled and shook his head. Then he rose, with his hand tightened around the Ark.
"You are damn so predictable," he roared.
Ibrahim froze.
"No, please don't," Ibrahim cried.
But it was rather too late, as Mubarak slammed the Ark onto the ground. The screen shattered and made a sibilant sound. Almost at once, the sky darkened, flashes of lightning rending the sky, followed by violent claps of thunder.
"What is happening?" Mubarak asked fearfully.
A terrible gust of wind blew, breaking the trees.
"Give it back," Ibrahim begged.
Mubarak drew back, utterly shaken. Ibrahim got on all four and crawled towards the Ark. But before he could get to the Ark, there was a strange bang! The place became illuminated for a brief second, and the moment it whizzed out, they were all gone except for their temporary encampment and their vehicles.
* * *
Ibrahim wrapped his shaky hands around the Ark, excited to have it back. But when he would look around, they were in a different world. The firmament was gloomy red hued, with two large suns hanging in the sky; one on the east and the other on the west. Both were lusterless, no brightness exuded from them. A large expanse of brassy desert sand, with a spattering of cactaceous plants. Arid air sent chills down his spine as he struggled to sit up, heart racing in fear. The Tamarisks were more dazed than Ibrahim. Their faces were frozen to death, cows straddled on the sand in the middle of nowhere. Eyes shriveled in their sockets, totally incognizant of where they were. They had never been this confused in their entire lives.
After the moment of repudiation passed, they cringed in terror, and called upon their god, and this time, their god was utterly silent! The Tamarisks were desperate for a solution, and they knew what they had to do. What they had always done when they found themselves in a difficult situation. They would sacrifice the sinful person in their midst, maybe Allah would be gracious towards them. Suddenly, they all assembled and aimed their guns at Ibrahim.
"You don't deserve to live with this injustice you have perpetrated against us!" Mubarak roared.
"Please, the machine is faulty, but if you let me fix it, I can take us away from here!" Ibrahim answered, shuddering in fear.
The Tamarisks would hear no nonsensical explanation from him. They persuaded and nudged Mubarak to pull the first trigger and squelch the life of his infidel brother. As Mubarak raised his gun to Ibrahim's forehead, his finger trembled as if he had never used a firearm before. His eyes locked with Ibrahim, the only person who had made him lose his father's love and for once, he couldn't bring himself to kill him.
"No!" Mubarak shouted.
His voice reverberated through the barren wasteland.
"Ibrahim, if you can fix it, then it's not yet time for you to die"
Mubarak said with a sneer, and relief washed over Ibrahim. The moment Mubarak lowered his gun, his Tamarisk comrades did the same, grumbling amidst themselves. Then Mubarak helped Ibrahim to his feet and opened his shackles.
"Thank you," Ibrahim whispered in a trembling voice.
"You better know what you are doing," Mubarak scowled.
No sooner had Mubarak turned his back than the ground rumbled. The Tamarisks became agitated; the cows mooed. Mubarak paused and looked back at his brother.
"What was that?" Mubarak asked fearfully.
Ibrahim shrugged with his heart pounding. The earth quaked with a mighty force that the ground tore open. Knocking Ibrahim and some cows into the dark gulf. Quickly Mubarak dived and caught his ankle before he disappeared.
"Hold on!" he said in a faltering voice.
Mubarak pulled Ibrahim, who thought he was dead. But the next tremor threw Mubarak off balance, and Ibrahim slipped off his grip, and fell into the chasm. There wasn't much time for Mubarak to mourn for Ibrahim than to run backwards with his Tamarisk comrades as more of the ground continued to rend open.
Suddenly, the seismic activity stopped, and the Tamarisks thought their nightmare was over. An army of tiny bizarre looking creatures flew out of the broken abyss, darkening the sky. They were frightening to behold with faces of a rotten hag with long monstrous proboscis, and they made a horrible screeching sound as they flew. The Tamarisks were confounded; they knew these were no ordinary creatures. Immediately, the creatures swooped down on the Tamarisks and their cows. At one sting with their proboscis, their victims dropped dead almost at once with skin turning white. Mubarak and the others opened fire on the creatures, but the more they fired, the more they flew out of the abyss. The Tamarisks understood how useless their guns were in their turbulent circumstances, and they gave up firing and ran. The creatures pursued them with full force and stung without mercy.
As the Tamarisks ran, they saw it was a dead end! There was no way out of their nightmare, for between them was a chasm and a forest on the other side. The Tamarisks knew they could not stop, they just had to keep moving. So they plunged headlong across the chasm, and into the thicket. The creatures made a high-pitched shriek and retroceded into their terrible abyss as if the thicket were a forbidden zone.
Deep within the dark thicket, strong boughs with awkward crooks blocked any ray of light, and the ground was black, like the eye of a beast, a result of solidification of tar and sand. In this place, Tamarisks found a temporary succor from the fiendish creatures. Mubarak counted the Tamarisks, and they were only twelve left! All their cattle gone. His heart sank. With Ibrahim gone, their journey back home was bleak. Remorse washed over him. He wished he hadn't brought his brother along. He wished he had killed him on the same day he unveiled the Ark. He exhaled an icy sigh and smote his chest. This was a very terrible turn of event, all because of Ibrahim! At his behest, the Tamarisks walked ahead. But the high-boughed, entwined hedges hindered their path. Mubarak had no choice but to order that they go under the branches. Mubarak couldn't bear to be trapped in this strange place. At least they stood a better chance of fighting whatever was out there in the open.
As they trundled, waddling in the black sand, somehow they saw a dim light emanating from the other side and they became overcome with joy. With renewed strength, they forged on until they burst out into a beautiful oasis. A place full of lush vegetation teeming with life. Picturesque sunset glistened over the lake. White shell sand melted under their feet and their eyes grew in wonderment at the beautiful place. This was more like it, they said amidst themselves as they bowed and praised Allah. Then the men had a quick wash and built a fire. But Mubarak found himself unable to relax. His mind kept drifting to Ibrahim and the Ark, and how without it they wouldn't be able to get back home. He wondered what would happen next, or what was beneath the ground or even in the beautiful lake? Just like the demonic creatures. And he trembled lightly. His mind went to the great Sheik and wondered if they had heard the news of their disappearance and what they were doing to rescue them. He heaved a sigh, for it was useless to hope. What could the Sheik possibly do to bring them back in this situation? He quizzed. Probably it was a way that Allah was punishing him for killing his father, and he buried his head in his hand and moaned in remorse.
In no time at all, the Tamarisk laid down and went to sleep. But sleep seemed to elude Mubarak as he tossed and turned in deep thought. He could not understand why he felt that way. Suddenly, he saw a shiny creature behind a tree. Quickly, Mubarak jumped to his feet and cocked his gun. In like manner, other Tamarisks sprang up and clutched their guns. Their eyes darted around frightfully, with their hearts throbbing. Uncanny feeling permeated the air. They wondered what was lurking behind the trees. Mubarak and the Tamarisks formed a circle, with their trigger fingers on alert.
Then a Halycon, a giant being of over eight or nine feet tall with the head of a jackal, stepped out of the trees. Clad in a golden protective armor which shimmered even in the dark. The Tamarisk stared at this divine being in terror, anticipating his next move. After a long, awful pause, the Halycon took a step forward, and the Tamarisks opened fire, shooting aimlessly. When they stopped firing, they noticed this entity was untouched, no bullet hole or injury. Panic gripped the Tamarisk herdsmen!
In that moment, an army of the Halycones materialized and surrounded them with luminous transparent shields. Then the Halycon that was shot at walked towards them and the Tamarisks lost all their guts, became jittery and cried dishonorably. He looked straight into each of their left eyes and immediately downloaded a bio data about them.
"You are far away from home," the Halycon hummed.
The Tamarisks exchanged a worrisome look; they did not know the right word to say in that moment.
"We are from Earth…" Mubarak grumbled.
The Halycon stared at them for a while, processing what Mubarak had said, and without another word, he pressed a button on his wrist. Out of nowhere, a giant orbed flying machine appeared. This was more than the Tamarisks could endure, and they prayed with one voice for Allah to deliver them from their nightmare.
"Follow me!"
The Halycon ordered and stepped inside the aircraft. The Tamarisks joined the Halycon, and the orbed vehicle rose into the sky and disappeared. In an instantaneous manner, the rest of the Halycones pressed a button on their hands and the place became lighted with many of the orbed machines and disappeared into the sky. No sooner had they gone than the luscious island transmogrified into a bleakish landscape.