Chapter twelve

Arin felt a warm liquid flow down his throat. Slowly it started to quench the thirst that had completely burned his insides dry. Instinctively he leaned in closer, welcoming it and wanting to attain more.

Over time Arin felt his strained body slowly rejuvenating. The servings of the liquid were quite effective, it brought waves of energy that seeped into his limbs. Before long Arin felt himself regaining conscious.

He concentrated a bit and by expending some effort his eyes fluttered open. Unfortunately the dullness of his senses due to being out of use for some time combined with the sudden exposure to light caused his vision to be totally blurred.

" Uh, where ?! " Slowly details started to appear in Arin's sight. Roughly built dark brown walls surrounded him from all sides, suddenly a strong sense of panic flooded his heart.

" No,no ! "Arin shouted hysterically as scenes from his memories were recalled.

The feeling of surrounded from all sides by an endless darkness, the narrow rocky tunnels that enclosed him suffocatingly. Realization that all hope was lost, there was no escape from the clutches of the earth.

This was a type of mental scar that could badly shake up anyone's nerves. The desert was mostly just open space, for anyone to journey through the deep recesses of the earth with days on end would not come out unchanged.

" Argh.. Air, "Suddenly Arin felt as if a boulder was placed on top of him, he couldn't breathe. Arin had to get out of this place, he needed to stand in the open.

Throwing the bedding on top of him away, Arin tried to stand up. However his legs soon gave in causing him to fall flat on to the ground. Along with him Arin knocked a clay jug that seemed to be placed near him, one of its shards cut into the soft flesh of his legs.

" Aaah " Arin groaned loudly. Although the feeling of panic had momentarily divert his attention, the due pain from exhaustion soon kicked in.

" Whats happening ? " A small figure soon arrived at the doorway, seeing Arin's situation the young boy quickly rushed over and helped Arin back into his bedding. On seeing the blood trickle down from the cut on Arin's leg he stood up.

" Maere ? " Arin grabbed on to the boy's arm, more pieces from his memories were recalled. The companion that was with him in the tunnels, the one who had awakened in the underground structure. ' No' the boy in front of him did not match the one in his memories, " Who ? "

" Hey I'm Feci not Maere or whatever, "The boy named Feci pushed Arin's hand off before he ran out of the house " I'll be back-"

Frustrated at not knowing what situation he was in currently, Arin felt his head assaulted by a headache. Clearly his body and mind were not in harmony.

In another much larger house two men could be seen talking to each other. One of them wore a long brown tunic and cloak, with a white turban on his head.

" Well Sayyidiy Ra'oufi how is the progress ? " The other man wore a set of robes with a string of beads around his right arm. His face showed expectation of some sort.( The term sayyidiy is like sir, more respectful way of address )

" Yomel I am but a doctor, all I can do is give the right treatment " Ra'oufi smiled as he answered the warrior beside him. It was almost about three weeks ago that his older brother Chief Rahai requested him to treat two young strangers that were found.

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" Ah, sorry " Yomel could not hide his disappointment, the duty of taking care of the strangers until they recovered was on his shoulders. He could not wait for the time when they left from his custody. Alas there was nothing he could personally do to hasten their recovery, Yomel could only wait.

" But-" Ra'oufi frowned slightly " the condition of the smaller one is extremely peculiar."

" Ah you mean the one with black streaks all over his body " Although Yomel knew nothing of the intricacies of medicine, even he could tell that sayyidiy Ra'oufi was quite puzzled when it came to that kid's treatment.

" Yes, I've gone through all the scrolls " Ra'oufi sighed dejectedly " there nothing even close to the boy's condition, even the doctors of the Desert capital might not be able to help "

" Well, Sayyidiy Ra'oufi- " Yomel recalled another situation that had him thinking recently " You've studied in the desert capital, right? "

Perhaps he could tell Yomel why Chief Rahai had been so concerned with the Desert capital that day, although Chief Rahai had only muttered it under his breath a few times. The keen senses of a warrior were not to be underestimated.

" That was fifteen years ago, quite some time has passe-" Before Ra'oufi could complete his sentence, Feci dashed into the house.

" Ha, He is , ha, awake " Even though Feci spoke as he panted heavily both the men understood. They excitedly stood up and rushed to Arin's location.

Fortunately when the trio got there, Arin was still awake but seemed to be in a daze. Ra'oufi quickly sat down next to him and extended the tip of his fingers to Arin's wrist.

Seeing the cautious guard Arin had against him, Ra'oufi smiled gently "Its okay I am a doctor. "

His word were effective as Arin relaxed letting Ra'oufi quickly check his condition. After a few procedures Ra'oufi let out a sigh of relief and informed them " Thankfully his body is recovering well from the dehydrated condition, Feci has done a good job of feeding him the herbal mixture I gave. "

" Thank you, Sayyidiy" Feci thanked bashfully. At first he was dejected that when all the children went out to play, he had to tend to the strangers. But now he realized it was worth it, he got to get a compliment from the Sayyidiy. He was going to tell his Father.

" Ahm, where am I " Arin managed to ask the doctor next to him, the last thing he remembered was being in the tunnels.

" Ah yes, you are in the village of Samra," Ra'oufi replied, he knew the importance of calming down a patient. The less anxious they were, the more they would relax and recover." Southern parts of the Shaz-daf."

" I see," Arin relaxed a bit, the southern region was still relatively safer for him, he could reach for help. It was for this reason that when he heard that news concerning magic came from the southern region that Arin left home. His father had allies here.

" But what about Maere ? " Arin asked.

" Ma -ere ? oh you mean the other one ? " Ra'oufi understood " Rest assured he is laying next to you. "

Arin looked over to find a similar bedding like his own next to him, the figure within was completely covered. Reaching over Arin removed the cloth to find Maere. However his appearance was no longer the same. All the flesh on his body was swollen red with countless black streaks that ran on his skin. Even his chest was barely moving to show signs of breathing

" Perhaps you can tell me what exactly happened? " Ra'oufi gently asked from the side. Any detail that could have led to the Maere situation was critical. What he ingested or happened to cut him.

" I don't know, "Arin felt another headache arising, the frustration at not knowing what was going on around you was stressing him out. What happened in the tunnels, why was Maere like this, why couldn't he remember.

" It's okay relax, relax " Ra'oufi realized that while trying to save the other patient he could lose the one he already had. He gestured Feci who brought over a bowl with a light green liquid. Gently he coaxed Arin to drink it and before long he (A) fell asleep.

" Finally some results " Yomel who had stood by quietly spoke up. Perhaps he could avoid the Chief's disappointment by having one out of two recover. For so long his private residence had been used to host these strangers. But before he could leave the house, Ra'oufi stopped him.

" Sayyidiy ? " Yomel inquired.

" I'm afraid this matter is a bit more delicate, " Ra'oufi spoke gravely " I will inform my brother personally lest he upsets the health of the boy called uh...."

At this point they realized that they had forgotten to even ask the name of the boy, and he didn't seemed to be waking up soon.