R.B.R. BARRETO
..., but she felt deep down a tiny grain of something, perhaps faith, a light that she didn't know where it came from, but that sustained her in the darkest hours of the journey.
When Aisha heard the conversation between Hamad and Kadir, all her hope disappeared. Being sold as a slave or returning to the tribe of her former masters and facing the revolt of the little Sheikh was out of the question. Then came the crazy idea of following the tuareg. She had learned to trust this strange and beautiful warrior who somehow seemed familiar to her, as if she found her own roots in him. But even he had refused to help her. She was alone, more alone than when she had left the tribe. She had gotten used to be alone. But becoming a nuisance bothered her. Now she was no longer invisible and She felt spiteful eyes on her. Eyes that had long been the lights on her path. It hurt her to feel that those lights were just an illusion. The love she felt for the young sheikh was fading like the smoke that came out of the cup where the old witch had read her fortune on the coffee grounds, before her escape. The voice seemed so far away! "Love doesn't always come at the first hour," the old gypsy had said in a riddle that kept coming back to her mind.
Still feverish and half-numbed by the teas the women had given her to drink, she decided to follow her path in another direction. She had nothing to lose. So she slipped away furtively while the men were talking, untied Taiff and, without even thinking about provisions, galloped off towards the rising sun.
She had no time to pray to Allah or any other god. She didn't even know what words she should use to address them. She only had her heart. And he was terrified, suffering and full of fear.
A short time later She noticed a storm forming in the distance. The horizon was dark and there were some swirling clouds. It was when she tried to avoid the strange storm that realized she was being followed. He soon recognized the figure of the Tuareg galloping in her wake with his fabulous clothes fluttering in the wind. He also saw Kadir a little behind. So, his intention to change course was immediately abandoned. She spurred the poor horse, trying to direct it a little more to the right, over the last dune that separated it from a vast plain. That was when she felt Taiff snort, jump and sway to the side as if he wanted to escape from something, from some imminent danger. But there was no more time. With its hind legs sinking into the sand, the poor animal tried to jump, which only accelerated the disaster. Aisha tried to hold on, but the angle the animal took made it slip from its back directly onto the sand. Still holding the reins of the animal, the young woman felt her body sink.
Instinctively she wrapped her face in the burnoose, protecting it from contact with the sand, and before she could try anything else, she felt herself being pulled down in a suction movement driven by the weight of the animal. Holding her breath in a state of true terror and with the sand pressing down on her entire body, the young woman felt herself fainting as she was pulled further and further down. She still felt the weight and suffocation of the sand disappear when she and the animal rolled down a kind of rocky ramp that threw them further down a winding route at indescribable speed. She felt bumps and scratches all over her body at the same time and fainted before reaching stable ground.
— Caillinnnnn!!!!
—Huh?? – Aisha moaned, finally waking up from her long faint. She tried to get up to see where that call was coming from, but an intense pain prevented her from moving, making her moan and press her face between her hands. Little by little, she tried to shake off her inertia and she became aware of where she was. A dark, damp, sloping cavern, lashed by gusts of wind and waves of cold that seemed to come from nowhere. She felt pain all over, coming from the blows. Standing up completely was still impossible. Fortunately, she didn't feel any broken bones. Although she remained still and paid full attention, she no longer heard the voice that had called her during her sleep. She had probably dreamed, but it was strange how that name, Cailin, once again, sounded so familiar to her.
Even in the dark, she managed to identify Taiff's figure. She crawled towards him feeling him carefully and calling his name. The animal was not as lucky as she. He was motionless, probably dead from the fall.
Aisha pressed her face against the animal's body and cried a heartfelt cry that mixed gratitude and guilt.
— Oh, my friend...
Her soul apologized to the soul of her good companion whom she had taken on this crazy journey in a fit of selfishness. If animals could talk, would he have agreed to run away with her? Probably not, she thought. Still, in any case, he had served her bravely. He had been brave all along and had soothed her solitude during the long desert nights, lent her warmth, hid her from the fearsome jhins and other dangers. Finally, he had saved her life, trimming her body during the terrible fall.
— Forgive me, friend!! Forgive me for not being able to give you even a decent rest. — She spoke sadly as she wondered if there were any prayers for the animals and if Paradise would be open to receiving them.
— May the angels of Paradise guide your journey, my friend!
The humidity of the cave and the amount of water she felt running down her body from time to time made her realize that this flow could suddenly increase. Maybe in a few hours, days or months. There was no way to predict. She realized the risk she was running if she stayed there. She caressed Taiff's body once more, feeling the weight of the loneliness in which he left her. She didn't have much time to think; she needed to choose a direction. She examined the way back. The cave seemed bigger than she had initially thought. She tried to decipher the best path to follow and ended up following the direction of the wind.
She dragged herself through the cave for hours on end. Her hands were sore and her knees were bruised, but she do not thought about stopping. She followed the sound of the wind, which felt was getting stronger and stronger and climbed a slope that was not very steep, but slippery, rocky and damp. Along the way, she encountered bats and other small animals that brushed against her body, fleeing as frightened as she was. She kept her eyes closed. She was afraid of these strange beings that she could barely distinguish, and of encountering a jhin from the depths or something similar. She knew that the world of the depths was inhabited by terrible beings and that they often escaped from their retreats, trying to reach the surface through forgotten caves. She had always heard that caves were like portals between worlds. Especially the caves hidden in the depths of the desert. She tried to divert her mind from these thoughts and from the frightening sounds that she heard from time to time. Sometimes she heard voices calling her in a familiar tone, making her even more restless. Demons were deceitful. They coveted the souls of human beings, especially those who had no faith. Aisha had no religion, no deity to whom she could turn, but she sensed deep down a tiny grain of something, perhaps faith, a light that she didn't know where it came from, but that sustained her in the most difficult times.
She was at the end of her strength when she reached a kind of plateau. She felt that the wind that blew throughout her climb came from a void in front of her. She then realized that she was on a huge precipice. Despair and exhaustion took hold of her. She had tried so hard to get nowhere. That cave was probably the home of the winds, and they were angry and cruel. They whispered evil and threats and brought painful memories from the four corners of the world. Remembering the pains of the world is a cruel challenge that can make the soul give up fighting. The young woman was almost at that point. But even so, she tried to get up and look around, searching for another way out. She saw nothing, but she felt the sound of the wind louder, which now brought another kind of sound, like the song of a bird.
The song of the Simorgh, they say, is indescribable. Its high vibration frequency causes in those who hear it a feeling of vertigo very close to trance or fainting. That was how Aisha felt when the sound reverberated in the depths of her brain. As if she were plunging into a dizzying whirlwind. Her head spun as if in the dance of the dervishes. Before fainting completely, she felt herself being carried into the air in a stupendous impulse. She contemplated with terrified glance the deep abyss below her. Her cry of fright was lost in the song of the bird and then only remained darkness and silence.