The Pharaoh's Champion

The Pharaoh woke, warm and snug.

Eyes blinked in the darkness, until his focus was drawn to a pair of slender arms that wrapped tenderly around him. The sounds of the sandstorm above them had vanished, he was amazed they'd managed to doze off at all in the commotion. Then again, his body felt exhausted, not surprising, they had just fought a vicious battle some time earlier

In the calm that settled, his mind begun to piece together a plan. They would get out of the sand and head towards the direction of the palace. Hopefully the sun is up to determine the way West. 

Soft, sleepy noises filled his ears. His lips, still resting on her forehead, pulled into a soft smile at the sides of his mouth. His long fingers stroked her arm, he was relaxed, despite their situation.

 Her body that was pressed in tight against his chest tensed.

 "It's okay, Zahra, the storm is over. Let's get out of this sand."

 Silently, she nodded against his chest.

 Damn, he really didn't want to move.

 They went on three, both pushing his cape up. The grains were heavy and fell in steep piles, threatening to bury them again, as they lifted higher and higher.

Finally, the air hit them.

 "Well, either we survived," he said, bundling the rest of his cape in his arms and brushing the fine sand off his clothes, "or the afterlife is incredibly dusty."

 The morning sun was rising, the temperature was already getting too warm. He rose to his feet, and took in surroundings that made his stomach drop.

 "Everything is different," he said, unable to hide to shock in his voice.

 The Rocky Badlands were gone, and they were left in a sea of endless sand, as far as the eye could see, in every direction.

 A sound that made his heart clench, tickled his ears

 Zahra was sat with her back to him, sobbing in the sand. She shook uncontrollably, forehead resting on her arms crossed over her knees, and cried as quietly as her body would allow.

 The Pharaoh knelt beside her, slipping a comforting arm around her shoulders.

 "Zahra, what's wrong? We've survived, let's head back to the palace, I promise everything will be okay."

 "No," she said in defeat. "Everything is not going to be okay."

 Zahra slowly lifted her head and seemed to hesitate before she moved her golden hair out of her face.

 The breath was knocked from his lungs.

 Zahra's body was covered in scratches and cuts from the brutal sandstorm, just like his own, but her face was marred almost beyond recognition, and it all centred around her eyes. The deep scratches, as if cut by glass, struck through her eyes and down the sides of her head. There were so many, his heart ached, she must have been in so much pain.

 "I can't see you, Pharaoh," she held out a hand and lightly waved aimlessly to find him. "I can't see anything."

 He was seizing the moment, grabbing her hand and pulling her in close. His arms clasped around her back, he held her as if she was the only person in the world.

 For all this time, she had protected him and had been the one to teach him things he never thought possible.

She had made him a better Pharaoh.

She had made him a better man.

She'd saved him, so many times. Now, it was time he saved her.

 "You're going to be okay, Zahra. We're going to get through this… together."

 "Th-thank you," she managed through soft sobs, nuzzling into his shoulder, sending quivers down his body. "For the record, I thought… that joke you made… about the afterlife being dusty, was really… funny."

 They chuckled together, through sniffs of sadness.

As they trudged through the desert, Zahra was starting to miss the flat rocky ground. Your feet sink into grainy sand, making it harder and harder to pick them back out. Each step grew more cruel in the scorching heat. She wished she had a hat, and wished she had her salve for the sunshine even more.

 As if hearing her silent pleas, a cape shielded her head, keeping her close to him as he led them through.

Her feet began to drag. It didn't take long for her thirst to become rabid. She saw nothing but darkness, felt only dryness, and unbearable heat. The only comfort in her life right now was his scent.

The heat was starting to take its toll on him too, she could hear his laboured breathing with every few steps. Then the sand was getting too hot for their feet to touch. Still, they kept going, and her legs felt like lead.

One foot in front of the other, keep walking, she willed herself.

One… two.

One… two.

Suddenly a pain shot up her leg and her knees collapsed on the sand. Through her blindness, she felt his body stiffen.

"Zahra, great Gods, are you okay? Speak to me, Zahra," his words were frantic as he lifted her, his body grunting in the stress of picking up her deadweight body.

Follow the bird…

 Then came a whisper, a voice she didn't recognise. It had a sentimental feel to it, like a child begging to finally be heard.

 "Follow the bird," she said out loud, confused and exhausted, unsure if her words were even audible.

 The Pharaoh's chest rumbled as if he was speaking, but she couldn't hear him, she couldn't hear anything anymore, just the soft sounds of a breeze blowing through her hair.

The flopping of her head from exhaustion brought her back to her dim reality.

 "By the Gods, Zahra, you were right there is a bird," he quickly bundled her into his arm, taking care to keep them both shaded from the relentless sun.

 It wasn't long before a familiar smell drifted up her nose.

 "Water!" She was certain, it must be water.

 "Zahra, you're right! I thought the heat was getting to me at first, but that's an Oasis up ahead."

 With a sudden second wind, the pair raced, hand in hand. Zahra moved towards the smell of the water, the Pharaoh no doubt following the sight of the Oasis, helping her dodge sinks in the sand.

 It didn't take long before they got there, with the prospect of shade and water to spur them on.

 The Pharaoh, ever mindful of her sudden condition, helped her wade into the pool of water, far enough so she could sit and feel all the benefits without the water rising too high.

 "Has anything ever felt better?"

 There was no sound, but she could swear she felt the Pharaoh smile to himself in the distance. Then came a shallow splash of a dive.

 She heard the water ripple and the sound of a mouth taking in air.

"It seems okay to drink." He declared.

 Too late… her face was already dunked. Once quenched, she tried to make sense of the world around her, singling out sounds and putting names or actions to them. It was a lot, and her mind ached.

 Soon after the Pharaoh came and sat down beside her, taking her palm and tumbling something into it.

 "There's a date tree across the water, right in front of that temple."

 "A temple?" she repeated sarcastically. "Just cause I'm blind now, doesn't mean you can just make shit up," she tossed a few dates into her mouth. "Everyone knows; there aren't any temples in the Badlands, " she splurged with another mouthful, too hungry to care about basic rule food manners, "unless they're dedicated to Bandit King Bakura, which really wouldn't surprise me."

 His laugh was music to her ears.

 "Yes, you are correct about the Badlands. Truly, I have no idea where in Egypt we are," his feet shuffled in the sand beneath his toes. "After the sandstorm, it was like we came out into a whole other world."

 Swallowing the last of the dates, she attempted to piece anything together. Assassinations? Shadow games? Freak sandstorms that leave you blind?

Yes, her definition of normal was certainly up for review.

"Stranger things have happened," she declared.

 A subtle shift signalled a movement and she felt a hand drift over hers, his fingers found the gaps between hers and she felt all the muscles in her stomach clench.

"Yes, stranger things have happened." He echoed.

 After everything, all the turmoil and pandemonium, there was always one constant she could rely on. Before she had met him, he had such an influence on her life, in the kindness he showed her father when her mother died and more. He was always so unflinching amid her defiance and, sometimes intentional, hurtful comments. The weight of an entire Kingdom rested on his young shoulders. Shoulders she had hoped she would help to strengthen.

 There was shifting in the sand, and for the first time, she was glad she couldn't see his reaction. Now and then, she could hear the faint rustle of cotton and decided that was the sound of him moving. After some time, she got used to the ebbs and flows of sounds, and it got easier to figure out what was close, when he moved and how far. Soon even the sound of the lake she tipped her toes in became as easy to read as a book.

 Wherever they were, it was tranquil.

It gave her a newfound confidence.

 They could have easily died in that desert. In the flood of emotions she felt now they were safe, she remembered the terrible pain of not being able to say goodbye to either of her parents. That was never going to happen again, she vowed it to herself. Everything she had thrown at him, the almost constant training, her hot and cold attitude towards him. It was as though his kindness to her was unconditional. And with this confidence, she felt ready to speak her mind.

 His name fell from her lips, though her voice was hoarse from the dehydration, barely audible. In answer, she could hear footsteps cushioned by the sand edge closer. "I don't know what's going to happen to us now, if we are in another world, or something."

 "Zahra, don't start getting defeated on me now," he interrupted, his voice closer than before.

 She puffed out a laugh. "No, it's not that. I just want you to know, in case we don't make it out of here… that I think I'm-"

Despite the blindness, everything was so clear now for her to see….

A sudden burst of pain seared through her leg.

Her muscles seized, and all she could do was gasp in short sharp bursts of breath. This feeling was akin to the poison from his last assassination attempt. She felt it earlier in the desert, but the adrenaline of finding this oasis had carried her through.

The Pharaoh was frantic around her, she could tell that much as she desperately tried to cling to reality, and not be defeated by this.

Frenziedly she held on, pushing against the sand as if she could crawl away from the agony. Trying to remember everything she knew about dealing with pain, trying to remember to breathe.

It wasn't enough… she wouldn't be strong enough to hold on to this either.