Endless Adventure

Oasis - Sylvaine 8 (part 2)

The day of the oasis run arrived. A line was drawn in the sand. Weapons clattered in front of the participants. Artika eyed her opponents with wariness. There were four of them. Two of them were her cousins, one a first cousin, Ava and the second one a distant one, Andar. They were just as pale as she was, and their golden hair glinted under the sun. They had washed them and dressed them in new clothes. A slave woman washed Artika’s body while two of Queen Salome’s minions tried to peek. The head soldier thankfully passed by and with one long slice of his weapon, the two were down on the ground. Artika wondered if their blood could feed Grevkin ground just as well as royal blood could.

Two men from the Avis line were also there. They were tall, lean, and muscular. It looked like they had the same idea and did whatever exercises they could in their caves. Artika knew that she had to be on the lookout for those two. One of them was smirking at her, and looking her cousins up and down as if they were nothing to him. He probably thought he was going to have it easy. He took a battle axe as his weapon while his kinsman took a large sword. Artika opted for a bow and arrow. The tips were poisoned, but she still got another small weapon – a dagger. It was one large weapon or two small ones, and she knew that she would not be able to match her opponents’ strengths unless she was going to grapple against Ava. She shouldn’t get too close.

Artika willed herself to focus on the race ahead. She knew it was going to be rough for all of them. They all had barely walked beyond their little prisons and were expected to run fifty miles in two days. On the third day, they should already be battling whoever was left behind among their opponents. Hells, it was possible that they all wouldn’t make it to the end. The thought made her shoulders slump a little. What if? What if all five of them were destined to die and there was no treasure – no freedom to aim for?

Horns and conch shells blared and sounded, announcing the Queen’s arrival. Oh, yes, she would be signaling the beginning of the competition. A race toward our death. Artika felt a little sad, thinking about their ages. Artika and Ava were probably the youngest, at nineteen. One of the Avis men couldn’t be more than twenty-three or so. Most, if not all, of them would die today.

Then, he stepped down from the caravan after the queen. He was a large, muscular man with a youthful face. He had the face of an angel, and his body looked like it was sculpted by the gods. Artika had never had the air in her lungs stolen from her as violently as when he came into view. His body was well-oiled, and he carried a spear in his right fist. His eyes were steely, scanning the five participants. Artika realized he wasn’t just a soldier. He couldn’t have been a prince because the queen had no children. He was an opponent, but a special one.

When the queen pressed herself to the young man, and kissed him on the corner of his lips, bile rose up Artika’s throat. The man was the queen’s lover. How could he? Fury rose from inside of the young woman. This beautiful, pampered man was one of her opponents and he had the advantage of the queen’s favor. He was well-rested, fed, and equipped with, undoubtedly, the deadliest weapon. An eagle rested on his shoulder, making her feel the slight weight of Zurki on hers.

“Behold, the sixth warrior, Garek of the Avis line.”

“Traitor,” one of the Avis men muttered and Artika found herself nodding in agreement.

Soon, the Avis man’s head was on the desert sand, rolling pitifully. Ava shrieked but Artika kept her composure even as the head rolled to her feet. She instead used it as an opportunity to look at Garek and Queen Salome with absolute hate.

“The girl…” the queen said, her voice dripping with venom. Artika gripped her bow tightly with one hand, felt the weight of the dagger on her hip, and shook her shoulders to remind herself of where the quiver of arrows was.

The young man next to the queen whispered, and the latter nodded as if understanding. If he had this much influence on the queen, the rest of them would be dead within three days. Artika trembled with righteous anger. Zurki climbed up to her neck as if to comfort her with its presence.

“We’re going to win, Zurki. I don’t care if I must kill them all. It’s kill or be killed.”

The participants were given little bags with provisions, mostly flat bread and waterskin filled with water. There were figs and dates. Artika shook her head in disbelief, wondering if they would be her last meal spread out in two days.

The conch shells sounded again. Then, the queen raised her hand. She held a little black flag, which was apt for the occasion. When her hand fell, it was time to run. They ran like crazy. It didn’t take long for the other Avis warrior to jump on the queen’s warrior lover. They grappled on the ground, and Artika knew that one of them would be running after her once the other one was dead.

She ran even though her lungs burned. In the corner of her eye, she saw Andar s***h their cousin Ava with his dagger. There was a strong urge to sob and roll on the sand and just wait for her end to come. After all, she had no family waiting for her. She could just give up, but she wouldn’t. She let her hatred fuel her. She would kill the queen or die trying.

Hours passed. Artika was delirious. She was in the middle of the desert, following the reddish glow everyone said hovered over the oasis. Even as it got dark, the glow remained. The first day was about to end, and she was still alive.

What happened to the queen’s lover warrior? What about Andar? They couldn’t possibly just let her go. The young woman trudged on, her legs weak and sore. Her guard down and almost fainting, she startled when an arm gripped her waist, and a hand clasped her mouth.

“Be quiet,” the deep voice said.

She wriggled and fought, but he was too strong.

“I’m going to take my hand off your mouth, but don’t scream. The Reptilis boy is still somewhere. Your cousin and both of mine are all dead.”

When he took his hand off, she didn’t scream. Instead, she bit him. Hard. His whole body flinched from behind her, but he didn’t make a sound.

“Why didn’t you just kill me?” she asked, turning around to face him. She was well aware that he could easily snap her head, which only reached his bare, well-oiled chest. Artika’s cheeks burned, but the man didn’t seem to notice. Their surroundings were getting darker and darker, as the sun dipped lower into the horizon. There was barely anywhere to hide. Only the darkness and a few, almost skeletal trees could provide some passing help. There were a couple of Joshua trees, but what if Andar thought of hiding behind one?

“Listen. I don’t know if you can remember me, but I am Garek, prince of the Avis. Or, rather, I once was in another life.”

“Now, you’re serving the queen?” Artika asked, not bothering to hide her disgust, her lips curling into a sneer. “Does she like women, too? Would she take someone like me?”

“It’s not a fate you would want for yourself, princess Artika.”

“You know me?”

“It was a long time ago.”

She eyed him thoughtfully, noticing the sharp jawline, the golden avian eyes, and the dark circles around his eyes. Somehow, he managed to make tortured look beautiful.

“Why should I trust you? The Artika from then and now are different. I’m going to assume you’re no longer the Garek of years ago.”

“You’re right. You don’t have to trust me. We don’t have to see each other again after we reach the oasis. We just need to get the treasure. I know what to do with it. It took years of listening in to the queen’s conversations, but I finally know what I’ve been doing wrong.”

“Huh. Okay. I want my freedom. I have no family, but I just want out of here, Garek. If you kill me, I can’t even blame you. I’m also ready to die.”

**

Garek knew that whatever he was planning was dangerous. They could both die. The Reptilis prince was also still somewhere, hiding. He was certain he was still alive after slashing at his female cousin.

“You don’t need to die. There are realms beyond this one. If you can run fifty miles or more in two days, you should be able to walk toward another world after the queen is dead.”

“I hope this isn’t a trap you’re setting up for me, Garek. There would be no fun in trying to trap someone who’s ready to die.”

The Avis prince pondered that. Artika was a beautiful young woman, with long blond hair in braids. Her eyes were green. Upon closer look, they looked almost reptilian. Her lizard nuzzled her neck, and it might be his imagination, but it seemed to glare at him. She wouldn’t fare well in the stone castle. He could imagine the queen giving her away to her guards to use, and even the thought of such a possibility angered him.

“Think what you want. You’re still alive, aren’t you? Let’s go by the Joshua tree to the East. We’ll take turns sleeping. In the morning, we should part ways because Salome is using my own eagle against me. It serves as her eyes. Right now, it’s dark and we can be friends.”

Artika blinked at him and Garek knew that he made a mistake when he called the queen by her first name. It was an intimate thing that the queen demanded of him, and he never had to hide it from her minions. They knew who he was to her.

They were silent for the rest of the night, taking turns to watch. They ate very little of their provisions even when their stomachs soured. When the first sliver of light peeked out from the horizon, Garek woke Artika up.

“I’m running now. I need to speed up or the queen will suspect something.”

Artika simply nodded, already on the alert.

“Be careful. As we get closer to the oasis, there will be booby traps. Focus. Let your lizard help you. Never put your foot directly in front of the other.”

**

It was a strange night. Artika couldn’t understand why she trusted the queen’s lover so readily. Perhaps, she was really ready to die.

But she was alive.

The second day began with her realizing that Garek only gave her a couple of hours to keep watch during the night. It meant he barely slept, and he also never harmed her in any way. It was the most restful sleep she’d had in a long time. In the cave, she had to wake up almost every hour just to make sure none of the guards would dare touch her in her sleep.

Artika ran. She knew that Garek had a head start. Even if he wouldn’t hurt her, he was still ahead and could get hold of the treasure before she got there. He claimed he already knew what it was for. What if it was always meant to help the winner escape. He had already been trapped and enslaved by the queen for far too long. So, if he knew how to use the treasure, he would use it.

As noontime approached, her sweat dripped down in rivulets down her face and on her chest. She smelled funky, but it was the least of her problems. She rested for a bit drinking some of her water. The wet slosh on her tongue had to be savored. There was barely any water left.

Then, there was a pull on her shoulder. It was hard. She was about to shout indignantly at whoever it was, expecting Garek manhandling her for appearances. The words died in her mouth as she saw Andar with a dagger he was about to shove into her belly.

“No!” Artika exclaimed, kicking him hard on his belly when she should have aimed for his groin.

It didn’t faze him much. He looked wild and half-mad, his eyes glazed as he continued coming after me. He pushed her down on the ground. Then, his hand was tugging at Artika’s cloth pants.

“What are you doing, Andar?” she asked. Zurki jumped from her shoulder to Andar’s eye.

“If I don’t win, I at least get to have this. f**k off, lizard!” he groaned.

There was a roar from a few feet away, and Artika’s eyes widened at the sight of Garek running toward them with his spear. Andar was too shocked to move, and damn, he wouldn’t get to move again. Garek used the tip of his spear to pull Andar by his tunic. Then, when he was off Artika, Garek pushed the weapon hard into his heart.

Just as Garek was helping Artika up, an eagle screeched overhead them.

“f**k,” he muttered, pulling at his own hair.

“Will you be okay?” she asked.

“Are you okay, princess?” he bounced the question back to her.

‘I am. I have no expectations, prince. I can die now. You, on the other hand, will be giving up your luxurious life.”

He smiled when she called him a prince, but his face became steely when she finished her sentence. They didn’t have time to explore the meaning of that interaction, however.

“Let’s run, Artika!”

They did. They only stopped for a few minutes at a time. Whenever they ate, they also rested a few minutes afterward. They were getting so close. The reddish glow became bigger and bigger. Stronger.

Artika put her right foot forward but slightly further away to the right. She did the same with her left. She remembered what Garek said about avoiding putting one foot in front of the other.

‘Good girl,” Garek whispered. He was behind her at some point, but he started walking ahead. Of course, the game was rigged to make him win. He knew where to jump sideways or a few feet in front of him. This time, though, somebody else followed. Artika shadowed his leaps and hops. She was like following a dance her tutor once helped her with.

‘We’re here,” he declared, watching Artika’s face as she gaped at the oasis.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed, drinking in the little spring surrounded by trees. The sand around the trees seemed to have been deliberately shaped, curving and sloping elegantly.

“We need to run.”

“It’s just as and the night’s barely fallen.”

“Yes. But by this time, the queen knows what I have done, Artika. She knows.”

There was fear in his voice that chilled Artika to the bone. She watched his face, the anxious dip of his eyebrows making him look younger than he first seemed. After all, he was nothing more but a child compared to Queen Salome, who had been ruling for decades. Artika’s heart ached for him, the different kind of suffering he must have had. For that moment, she let herself touch her face. Everything she touched made him feel even more real – the stubble on his jaw, the slope of his knows, and the velvety feel of his eyelids as he let her touch those too as he closed his eyes.

Trust.

He was conveying trust.

When he opened his eyes, they kissed. It was surprising and brief, but it made everything so much better even for a short while.

“I knew I had to see it for myself,” a melodious voice interrupted their moment.

Instead of explaining things, Garek pulled Artika’s wrist. His hand did the talking. Run! Just like when they dodged the booby traps, Artika followed him, trusted his steps, and placed her life in his hands. Behind them, orcs rumbled with battle axes, maces, and flails.

“Jump!” he ordered, and she jumped with him into the spring.

The cool water meeting her hot skin was the most that she felt after a long time, except for his kiss, of course.

They swam. Muscle memory worked even after all those years. She was eight years old when Salome’s army left Thurved for Grevkin, the land of the Avis and Reptilis lines, changing her life forever. She was a little girl wading in water when she had to be pulled out to bow down to the invaders.

Garek dove deeper, taking a glowing ball from underneath. As soon as he secured it, he rose and she followed.

“It’s a ball of orc blood. Isn’t it, Queen Salome?” he asked. “I had it four times before, and you kept on taking it. You said that it would save some people if I stayed with you instead of using it. Through the ten years you were here in Grevkin, nobody really escaped. You killed them all or took them as lovers.”

Artika watched as he held the ball in his hands. It glowed red.

“What do I do?” she asked.

“Use your bow to pierce it. When it bursts, she loses control over the orc army. She had to bury one in each oasis because even orc blood is often thirsty like the monsters they are from. Once the oasis dries, she has to move on to another kingdom.”

“You will do no such thing, princess! Give the ball to me and you’ll be the winner. Forget Garek. He is now dismissed as my consort.”

“No!” Artika said, even as her hand trembled. She poised her arrow and stretched the bow. She would have still be thinking about whether she would do it or not if not for Zurki biting her neck. The arrow flew, trembling in the air.

Then, it happened.

It pierced through the flesh-like ball, its poison tearing it open. Blood burst out from it, and with it, there was chaos.

“All we need to do is to get out of here,” Garek said as the orcs descended on their queen.

“What about the people of Grevkin?”

“We will run for them. They’re only minutes away.”

So, they did. Before nightfall on the third day, Grevkin rose back from the dead. The orcs and human minions of Queen Salome were bled and burned near the oasis. The ground shook with pleasure at the offering. Trees bloomed, but it would still take years for Grevkin to truly recover.

“We’ll need to help each other out!” Garek reminded his people, after he narrated his plan of action. Their plan of action.

“Long live, King Garek!” the people shouted.

“No. No more kings and queens. We’ll be working together,” he gently admonished.

To Artika, he offered his hand, and she took it. She knew what he was giving her, and she was willing to take it. She was willing to help him heal while they heal Grevkin together.

“Do you still want to leave Grevkin? Are you still prepared to die, Artika?” he asked gently.

“No,” she replied thoughtfully, looking up at his hopeful face. “I have you now.”

“You’re right,” he said, as he kissed her again. It was his way of giving promises.

Find more by Sylvaine 8

Dreame:

The Royal Witch

The Royal Flower

The Royal Wolf and Hades’ Daughter

Judgment in Glass

Dance of the Mermaids

Scent of a Rogue

Wealth

Mistress of Blood and Fur

Ama.zon:

Firebird

Lullaby

Tourniquet

A Kingdom of the Senses

Fairy Tale Junction

Figure Eight

Pre-Orders/Coming Soon to a*****n:

Sea Myths (August)

Goalkeeper (September)

Beyond Lynx Hall (October)

Gold Digger (November)

Patreon/Inkitt Subscription:

Marionette

The Ninth Door

Splinters