The scorching sun beamed vividly down upon the dandy dunes making them extremely hot on this particular day. Stretching for miles and miles, was nothing but sand. There were no trace of the living nor the desert crawlers lurking underneath the camouflage sand.
"It's so hot right now!" the voice of a man cut through the eerie desert.
In the far distance, transversing the hot sands came a silhouette of a man. He had nothing with him. Aside from the large cloak, he wore that did little to nothing, to protect him from the unforgiving heat. His slumped shoulders showed the signs of fatigue and dehydration.
Abrax stared at the road ahead, he wasn't close to reaching the great city of Akbar. Abrax was on a mission, a lifelong mission he had sought after from the moment he had heard about the exploits of the creators of the universe. He could sit for days upon end, fantasizing about them and how they, managed to perfect such a feat.
This journey of his was inspired by many who had sought after this but inevitably vanished. Abrax's tan skin dripped with sweat as he continued to pull his body forward, his mouth was dry and his lungs were sore from inhaling that much oxygen while trying to keep his throat saturated with his spit.
Abrax felt the strength in his knees leave him, he fell face forward into the hot sand and laid there unmoving. A thick cerise liquid oozed from his body, staining the golden granules pure crimson. His fingers twitched trying to gather his strength but it was simply futile as he felt the darkness creep upon him, his vision darkening as he haphazardly took shallow breaths.
'I guess this is how far I go.'
He thought to himself, suddenly reminiscing of the past and reflecting on how he had lived thus far. But all those mattered not to him as his current predicament brought him closer to his desire yet he was unsatisfied. He felt that it was a bit too easy for him to elevate up the ladder like that.
With no energy left to keep himself awake, Abrax passed out but before he did. He caught sight of a carriage wheel stopping by his side. And he could faintly make out the voices of the people talking to one another.
"Argh!" Abrax stirred awake. He opened his eyes, revealing his obsidian ocular to get a look at where he was. He could've sworn that he was close to passing to the other side but he could feel pain, and that didn't make sense. How could the corporeal body experience pain?
"Oh, you are awake."
Abrax was startled by the silk vocals that heralded over the room. He turned his eyes to the door and saw a beautiful, young lady holding a tray with what he presumed to be medicine — Abrax was instantly on guard, and he tried to get up only to flinch as pain shot through his abdomen.
The woman at the door shook her head. "If I were you, I wouldn't be moving around that much. The wound you received was deep, it's a miracle that you managed to survive that long with that kind of wound."
Abrax paid no attention to her and looked at his abdomen which was bandaged. The white fabric was becoming crimson, due to the fact he had opened up the wound when he tried to get up.
Abrax returned his eyes to the woman and kept a straight face. "Who are you? Why did you help me? Where am I?"
"For starters my name is Femi..." Femi introduced herself as she strode to the bedside and placed the tray of medicine on the headboard. She took the chair next to the bed and propped herself down, as she took the medicinal herbs and started grinding them to powder.
"Why did I save you? It's simple really. I saw your future, I know that you have been given a blessing. Well, it's more like a curse. Now on to why I helped you, I wish that you help me." Femi replied, her eyes dropping their gleam as she said the last part.
Abrax was put on the edge. For her to suddenly look that way, even though he knew nothing about her. Abrax was in her gratitude, and he was willing to help her out. "So what is it that you want me to help you with?"
Femi looked from her lap and glanced at the wounded Abrax. "You see, the people of this city have been oppressed for as long as I know, the pharaoh of this land is a cruel man and he extols from the citizens leaving them with nothing to help themselves... I need your help to dethrone him."
Abrax was dumbfounded. Him defeating a Pharaoh? That's absurd. He was not going to go against one of the most powerful figures in history for some noble act.
Femi saw his look, and she quickly intercepted him before he could make a counterstatement. "Please I beg you. It's not going to be an overnight quest, that I know but please!"
Femi's eyes sparkled with tears as she begged! Abrax didn't know if she was acting or not but he felt an instinctual feeling to help her. He didn't want to see her cry which even to him was odd.
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Fine, I'll help you. You didn't answer my last question. Where am I?"
"Oh right, you are in my shop. You see I'm the healer of this city. If you are wondering, you see in Masha, a small city just a few kilometers north of Akbar." Femi said as she finished grinding the herbs.
She took the cup of water next to Abrax and dipped the green powder in it turning the water green. She grabbed the cup and handed it to Abrax. "Here, but be careful it's still hot."
Abrax took the cup and nodded, he chucked the liquid down his throat and cringed at the bitterness of the drink but didn't complain. She did that for him, it would be rude for him to complain.
After drinking the medicine, Abrax laid back on the bed and looked at the ceiling. "How do you propose I begin this? Don't mistake my intentions, I'm just doing this to pay off my debt to you nothing more. I still don't trust you."
Femi shook her head not bothered in the slightest about what Abrax had just said. "It's understandable. Just rest up it's time I close the shop."
Femi stood up and left the room. Leaving Abrax to pounder in his thoughts.
'Dethrone a pharaoh huh. At my current level, I won't achieve that. I'll be killed even before I attempt to make a movie on the pharaoh, much less severe his head.'
He decided not to continue thinking about what was going to happen and allowed his body to rest. He was tired, and it seemed like the medicine she gave him made him more drowsy than he was. Abrax closed his eyes and soon enough sleep got to him.