CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
We ventured down the gently sloped path and the air became thick with the scent of foliage and evaporated water. Bugs scurried away on the leaves and a few large snakes slithered into the undergrowth. My heart beat loudly in my chest as I awaited our imminent demise courtesy of some hideous sand beast.
My imagination was sorely disappointed when, after a few minutes of winding our way through the brush, the path opened and presented us with a lost paradise. The cluttered leaves and sand that speckled the trail transformed into soft grass that stretched out some fifty yards in front of us. A large pool opposite where we stood glistened in the sun and water fowl glided along its otherwise pristine surface.
The only thing not in this beautiful secret was the woman we h
