Unbound: Slave to the Desert Sands

A Journey Begins

    Kaia was awakened by the splitting pain in her head, like someone was repeatedly hitting her over the head with a hammer. She groaned, what a horrid dream, she thought. She just wanted to drift back into sleep, anything to get rid of the pain behind her temple. Her body rocked side to side, the movement was unpleasant and her already aching head knocked against something hard. Her eyes snapped open and she looked around at a scene that she didn't understand. She was lying on her side, surrounded by wooden crates and barrels. Everything around her seemed to be moving, rocking back and forth unevenly. Suddenly everything that had happened came back to her. She had been caught! But where was she? Clearly she was in a cart of some sort, she could hear the wheels rattle and the steady sound of hooves as the horses pulled it. To her horror she realized her hands were bound with terribly course rope that burned and scratched with any movement. The rope was connected to a similar rope around her throat. She could feel the tender skin there already rubbed raw from how she had moved while sleeping. She lifted her head, attempting to ignore the ache in her temple. There was nobody in the cart, which had a rough canvas top that had rips and horrible dark stains on one corner that looked suspiciously like blood. Her dress was dry now, but what had once been a beautiful white linen with green embroidering, was now stained a dark red. Grimold's blood. Kaia took a deep breath, steadying herself, the last thing she needed to do right now was to let the panic bubbling up in her take over. 

    There was a small tear in the canvas near her shoulder, she twisted uncomfortably to try to peer out of it. She stifled a scream at what she saw. A long line of people followed the cart she was in, men and women, even some children, were being marched two by two in formation. Each of them, she noticed wore the same rope shackles as she wore, as well as the rope around the neck. Every so often she could see the black form of a Razaak warrior walking beside the procession. Several of them were riding on horseback along the line. She noticed with interest, in spite of herself, that they rode without saddles, and used a simpler bridle than she had ever seen. The horses were large and wild looking. 

    They were in the forest and appeared to be climbing. The cart was slanted at an angle where Kaia was looking down at at the march following her. The sun was setting. Was I really out for an entire day? There was a commotion as a woman stumbled in the line. She cried out as she fell, and Kaia realized that she was tied to the person next to her when he got dragged down as well. The couple behind them tried quickly to stop short before falling on top of their backs. Yells sounded from the distance and two Razaaks rode up on horses, one on each side of the line. They screamed at the fallen couple, words that Kaia could not make out from the distance and she was sure the Creesan pair could not understand, but the message was clear. Get up, or else. The pair tried quickly to get to their feet but it appeared not to be fast enough for the riders, they pulled short whips from their belts and lashed at the bound man and woman. Once, twice, three lashes and they pulled up in perfect syncronization, returning their weapons to their belts. The couple howled in pain but kept their feet and quickly caught up to the people in front of them, not daring to look at their assailants. Kaia watched in horror as tears streamed down the face of the woman who had stumbled. The man simply looked at his feet, seemingly numb with fear. 

    A shoot sounded in the distance coming from far in front of the cart that Kaia rode in. She froze, realizing that the procession must extend far beyond in both directions. The cart slowed and eventually stopped. Kaia shrank back away from the canvas sides, trying to slide behind one of the wooden crates. There was a lot of movement and shouting from all directions, Kaia struggled to wrap her head around what was happening, her temple throbbed in pain. Suddenly an opening to the canvas side was thrown open Kaia looked into the eyes of a Razaak warrior. The eyes were the only thing she could see, for the rest of his head was still shrouded with black cloth. His eyes were black pits, and they glittered devilishly as he reached out and grabbed her forearm. Kaia shrank back but it was no use. He pulled her out of the cart as though she were a child and she quickly tried to get her footing on the ground as he set her down next to the cart. For the first time Kaia realized how tall the Razaaks were. She had not noticed last night but the man towered over her. Kaia was unusually tall compared to most Creesans, and could often see clear over the heads of fully grown men. This man was the tallest she had ever seen, and from the looks of it the rest of the Razaaks were similar in stature. The Razaak turned and started walking toward the front of the cart, dragging Kaia in tow. She grimaced as the coarse rope around her neck burned. Kaia was shocked to see white tents had been constructed all along the road ahead of the cart, and the Razaaks were moving with swift precision, starting campfires and setting up camps. Some were riding horses, just as wild looking as the ones she had seen earlier off into the trees. Kaia could hear shouting back near the procession of prisoners. They're setting up camp, maybe I can escape while they sleep, Kaia thought desperately. 

    "Zahir!" Kaia jumped, when the man towing her along shouted. One of the Razaaks in black who had been watching the setting of camp from horseback turned to look at them. The cloth wrapped around his head had been pulled down, revealing his face. Kaia was shocked how handsome he was. His skin was dark and golden, like a perfectly baked sweet bun from Miss Buckets oven. His hair was black as hers and oiled back into a neat knot. His facial hair was well kept cut short except for a point at his chin. His eyes curved down slightly in the inner corners and were black as the man's who held her arm. The man named Zahir observed Kaia and her companion expressionless for a moment before smoothing dismounting his steed. He turned to face them a cold smile playing on his lips.

    "What do we have here, Aseem?" Zahir asked in Razaaki. His voice was deep and authoritative. Aseem bowed slightly and then stood straight, dragging Kaia to do the same. Obviously this man was his superior. He looked at her still with that cold smile, playing with the tuft of beard on his chin. Kaia looked down and realized with a wave of dread that Zahir had a bloody bandage wrapped around his two middle fingers. She had bitten and mutilated someone important. He clearly remembered her. She was going to die.