literature

Gifted pt. 4

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Dawn broke, and Naji and Hadia remained vigilant over Tariq. Four harem girls sat a few paces to their right, weeping silently, mourning the death of the fifth. Tariq raised his head to look upon Hadia's worried face.


    "You saved my life, brave one", he croaked. "You surely have some fire in you. When my time here ends, at least it will have ended happily."


    She shook her head as a tremble entered her voice. "Your journey cannot end here. You have led us this far and fought many perils. I know you can survive this one."


    "With you beside me, perhaps I will." His lips curled into a feeble smile as he held her hand over his chest, closing his eyes in contentment.


    Jabbar paced back and forth, surveying the damage. Bones and meat of half-eaten quadrupeds littered the sand, as did discarded blankets, flasks, and tattered swathes of silk. The men were all missing, gone to who-knows-where, and all the animals had either been eaten or had run away, taking much of the bronze and silver with them. The sky was cloudless, and the sand stretched for miles in every direction, with not a mountain or oasis to be seen. It was clear to what remained of the caravan: they were going to die.


Jabbar shook his head, muttering bitter curses under his breath. Suddenly, he rounded on Naji and exclaimed, "This is all your fault, boy! If it wasn't for your stupid Gift, we wouldn't be in this mess! Now somehow you've attracted all this misfortune and we aren't even close to any canyon! We will perish because of you!"


"Leave him alone."


Naji thought the words were Hadia's, but found that another harem girl had stood up for him. Her eyes still glistened with tears as she fought to steady her voice. "None of this is the boy's doing. None of us could have ever guessed these things would happen. But they have, and there's no point in blaming anyone."


Jabbar squinted his eyes and focused them as if he thought they would drill holes in her skull. He started forward and raised the back of his hand to strike. "Speak out of turn again, whore, and I swear I'll-"


His hand froze in mid-air. Everyone looked to see what had captured his attention. A thin, distorted form shimmered on the horizon, and whatever it was, it was moving closer. As they watched, the rippling figure's features came into view. A tall, tan-skinned man in richly-dyed robes strode toward the company, his face half covered by a black beard streaked with grey. At last, he halted before them, with a smile in his dark eyes that was appropriately somber, yet pleased.


"Welcome, Naji", he addressed the boy. "It is good to see you here after all this time." He bowed. "I am the mystical expert you seek."


Naji rose and went to stand face-to-face with him. "Sir, will you please heal my friend? He is badly hurt and I'm afraid-"


The sorcerer held up a hand to silence him. "Patience, boy- all in good time. Rest assured he will be healed. My true purpose here concerns you."


Naji briefly stared at the ground and looked up again. "Do I really possess the key to an earthly paradise?"


"You do, but not the kind he's after." The man jerked a thumb at Jabbar. "No, Naji, your Gift lies in what you felt when you blinded the Sandwalker, something no ordinary man could have achieved. There is a strong sort of magic there, which will be cultivated with time." He knelt at Naji's eye level. "But the magic cannot work unless its bearer houses the purest wisdom, selflessness, courage, and love. And those qualities in you will someday create a paradise for all men. …Well, those who are worth the trouble, anyway." The man grinned and gave Naji a sly wink before rising to tend to Tariq's wound.


Jabbar crouched and panted through clenched teeth, looking something like a rabid animal. "You mean to tell me that we traveled all this way and lost all of that wealth for a Gift as intangible as this?!" He could no longer contain his rage. Swiping his sword from its scabbard, he charged at the sorcerer, intending to plunge the blade into his back. But the man whirled around and grasped the blade in one hand, turning it to a fine black powder. He then spun once more and threw the powder into Jabbar's eyes.


The rest of the party looked on in horror as one arm, one leg, and half a face melted from Jabbar's body, along with all his embroidered robes. His single, panicked eye flitted about his new, true form. "Y-you fool! You mad conjuror! What have you done?! What have you done to me?!"


The sorcerer shrugged. "I did nothing, really." His steely eyes locked Jabbar in their damning gaze. "You were always half a man."


At once, a ring of shadowy silhouettes that resembled Jabbar's new state sprang up from the sand and slowly pulled him down, flailing and screaming, into the earth. So Naji had not imagined the first night's vision, after all.


After brushing the powder off his hands, the man explained, "He will live. But he will become as they are: faceless specters doomed to wander the desert for eternity. But now we must see to returning all of you home."


After closing Tariq's wound and giving Hadia the medicine it would require for the next few months, the sorcerer drew a circle in the sand around the group with his staff (writing out an extra spell or two around the edge for good measure). He instructed them to join hands and let their minds fly them back to where they wanted to be. "And Naji", he added, "I expect great things from you." He smiled and waved them on their way. Naji smiled back, closed his eyes, and immediately found himself in the main room of Tariq's house, with Tariq and Hadia by his side.



……………………………….....



Months passed, and with the help of Naji and Hadia, Tariq regained his former strength. He married Hadia, and the two of them assumed responsibility as Naji's guardians, making sure he would never have to beg or sleep in the streets again. Hadia taught the boy to read, and he devoured many subjects from astronomy to mathematics. But mythology would always be his favorite.


Tariq had been freed from servitude, and so it went with the harem. Its members now possessed the choice to live their lives however they pleased. In fact, the girl that had spoken on Naji's behalf in the desert married Jabbar's ex-manservant, and together they would spend many happy years in the luxurious home. Naji was pleased for them, though he would take humble surroundings with the ones he loved over an empty palace in the blink of an eye.


The boy would become a man, and rumors of his wisdom would lead many city folk to seek his counsel over the years, with satisfying results. His adventures as a trader in faraway lands would provide him with great wealth, but he would give the bulk of it away to charitable causes. Mastering his skills in magic would always be top priority.


There would also come a day when he would stand on his veranda and gaze pensively at the desert spread before him, nearly glowing in the fading sunlight. He would never forget the Sandwalker or the woman it killed, and would sometimes wonder if his magic was powerful enough to avenge her death. It would seem there was only one way to find out…    

The stirring (I hope) conclusion (?) to Gifted. Thanks for reading! You might see drawings of these characters in the future-? We'll see.

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