They all nodded and he leapt off, turning round to face her, his face as pale as it could ever be, his usual demeanour was gone.
“Dasha” he said “I'm so sorry, for you and all your friends.”
“It's okay” she said “We're fine now but Sailem, we've got to do and we've got Baruto's warthog here what should we do with it? Daygon seems to be attached to him.”
“Leave that to me” he said looking around him, the Red Gate was quite empty now, only a half dozen carriages remained and most of the soldiers had left to the opposite side of the city where the army was fast approaching.
“We'll have him pull your carriage” said Sailem “Used to be these majestic beasts used to pull carriages across these lands, once upon a time and some still do in the the mountains to the north. They're faster than any zebra or horse too. Let me handle this, you guys just stay in the carriage.”
She nodded “Thanks Sailem.”
He looked at her with a serious expression and he ran up to Wulf, grabbed it's reins, pulling it towards the front of the carriage.
She got back inside and she closed shut the door behind her, pulling the bolt, locking it from the inside so the door wouldn't swing open unexpectedly as they were travelling yet now they were in darkness, except for the circle holes that run along the edge of the ceiling and the wall of the carriage, streaming light inside.
She felt the carriage slightly rise then fall when they heard a yell from the drivers compartment and the carriage started bolting, so fast at first that most of them were unprepared for it and held onto the carriage walls as the carriage shook violently, the sounds of shouts, yells and chaos of the city was already drawing further away until it stayed at a constant speed.
They sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, dealing with everything they had gone through and now what was happening back at Lemekia.
Their home.
She wondered if she'd ever be able to call it that again. She wondered is she'd ever see Akello again.
'No' she thought to herself 'I can't think like that, he'll be okay, we'll all be okay.'
She looked up at Wexell after what seemed hours of looking down at her feet, slumped with knees high up in the corner, deep in thought, Dakar fast asleep, his head bobbing up and down, Manny looking down at his hands and Isa, sat beside Daygon, watching over him as he slept.
She must have dozed off for the carriage had came to an abrupt halt which woke her up from a dream she couldn't remember. She looked around them groggily as Dakar rubbed his eyes and Wexell let out a yawn.
“We must have arrived at the campsite” she said as she stretched her arms and she leaned over, pulling the bolt and pushing open the door.
As she stood up to her feet, she pushed her hair back out of her face and stumbled out of the carriage, hopping down onto the earth as the sleepiness she felt left her, the full moon basking down on her.
“Wait a minute.”
They were in the middle of the desert, surrounded by giant rocks that stuck out from the earth, at the top of a sand dune yet there was no sign of any other carriage in sight.
She could feel her heart in her throat as she ran around the carriage and looking all about her, her worst fear was a damning reality.
They were the only carriage as far as her eyes could see, they were alone in the middle of Gods knew where.
The carriage driver's compartment door opened and she span round.
“What the hell is going on? Where have you taken us? Why aren't we at the campsite?” she yelled as the driver stepped out the carriage and faced her, only for her to be at a loss for words.
“S...Sailem?” she said as she felt the cold of the desert bite into her skin as she looked at the man stand before her, his cloak blowing in the wind.
END OF BOOK ONE
ChiarOscuro Book One - Episode Three - A Snake Eating Its Own Tail Page 4
