Verses of the Black Sands

TW: Themes of violence and gore. The following is a work of fiction.

Urla was forced to share the black camel with the murderer Laukey. He said he wanted to keep her close so he could be sure she stayed out of trouble. His reasoning was good enough. Give her a knife and there would be two murderers riding the camel. One living, the other dead.

She couldn’t seem to drop the feeling that she was being mocked, however. The man, so near yet so impossible to kill while his sword was at his hip and his men rode so close, ready to come to his aid should she launch an unexpected attack.

For her, the death of Laukey would be no trouble under the right circumstances. She had been taught to kill without misgiving; she would not have lived to her age if she were incapable of killing men.

They had followed her advice at least, to travel at night. Resting, sheltered under their dark robes while the scorching sun of day sought to drink the life force of those foolish enough to tread beneath it. They travelled in the harsh cold of night, their path lit - if they were fortunate - by the moon.

The ground crackled as Laukey took a step towards her. Urla flinched, but stood her ground.