My father still preferred a trip to Bandabaze to a journey to Valley. Why? I dont believe the Valley markets are more dangerous than Bandabaze!
By the way, the Guawars do seem wild and scary at first. Especially for those brought up in the noble Djunits families. But I had traveled enough to understand the beauty of these sea people. And I fell in love with the sea! It was then that I decided that, one day, I would sail away on the Guawarian ship to the east To the Edge of the World!
I thought Kay-Samiluf was a noisy city, and no other will surpass it. I was mistaken! The buzz of commercial areas, complemented by music from taverns and street chants, cannot be drowned out, even if you stuff your ears with Ayno-Sufic cotton wool. Your nostrils are always tickled with the sugary smells of fruit and hot spices, which are mixed with the aromas of fried fish and the stink of foul fish. To the rhythm of the Guawarian gulps, tamed beasts tingle from all-around screeching monkeys, small fluffy tics, and huge talking parrots shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow.
In the middle of the city, opposite the Royal Bay, towers the palace of the Governor of Bandabaze. The palace of our izir is a yellow-golden hue like the sandy djunes. On the contrary, the Guawarian Governors one is snow white! A snow white palace, with azure sea and evergreen forests all around.
Thank you, Father! I will never forget that journey! It was the best birthday of my life!
My father and I returned to Kay-Samiluf from the port of Doyno-Kash. And since then, I havent seen him Father went to the Valley. Later he visited the caravan in the Shohan, the capital of the Ito Empire, and the kingdom of Reyro, a Tuasmatus abode. He was going to visit the Vedichian.. Oh, he would have definitely discerned their secrets.
He wrote and wrote about his travels About the fact that he visited the reception of the Emperor himself, that he saw the golems in the Mechanicum (and, by the way, didnt feel any magic) and rode mammoths, the huge shaggy elephants of the north. Meanwhile I dissolved into melancholy in the stuffy walls of my school in Kay-Samiluf. I dreamed that one day, I would go on a new fascinating journey.
My father didnt make an appearance in Kay-Samiluf. At first, this upset mother greatly, and then she became angry with him. Day and night, all she did was berate him. I was sad too, but I didnt reproach my father. I was melancholic, lonely without him, but I knew that if he hadnt returned in so long, it meant he was on the path of a very important discovery. I was eager to graduate from school and join my father as quickly as possible; I could not wait to join the Old Pages Clan myself.
I have an older brother, Khasim Umar Amatt. His full patrimonial name includes the first name of father; mine is from mother Perhaps this is a mistake whilst Im exactly like father in everything, Khasim is a copy of our mother. Home means the world to him!
Khasim is a sand dragon hunter. A fine hunter! Though he is young, he already has a high rank. Khasim is a noble man and a mighty warrior. He has a harsh temper, same as mothers, but I know that he loves me. Now I know.
Hunting dragons is an ancient and honorable craft. It emerged in the time of the first Djunits, and it was the Marawie Sand Lion himself who proclaimed dragon hunting as part of the military doctrine. In ancient times, it was difficult to even call it hunting; rather, it was a struggle for survival. Having arrived in the desert, the settlers faced a great misfortune in the form of these vile, treacherous creatures. And even Marawie fell in battle against the sand dragons. But his people stood firm. Scorpio-anglers and dragons have not attacked the city for a long time. And, thanks to such hunters as Khasim, these creatures are less and less likely to attack commercial caravans. On large paths, at least, they havent been seen in a long time.
I turned eighteen the day after I graduated from high school. On my birthday, I was waiting for a message from my father not such a gift as a trip to Bandabaze, of course, but at least some note. I entered the age of maturity and now I could go anywhere by myself, on any trip. But I wanted to see my father.
The year passed by and there was no news from him.
My birthday was coming to an end, and I was sitting alone in my room, crying. I was more alone than ever. My mum and brother I felt their love, but I couldnt trust them as I trusted my father.
Khasim entered the room. He asked why I was crying. I stayed quiet. After all, it was so obvious! He was silent for a long time. Then asked one more question, What can I do for you? I dont want you to cry
What can you do for me, brother " I replied with a sigh.
He stood above me, very still for a long time, which irritated me. I wanted to snap at him, scream. Im glad I restrained myself. Now I can imagine what inner conflict he was going through!
Get ready! he finally told me. It was an order. We are leaving at dawn!
Where to? I was a little taken aback.
Ill show you how they hunt sand dragons
Oh, Khasim! How could I ever have expected such a thing from him? I jumped off my bed, rushed to him, and hugged him tightly. Throughout my eighteen years, I had never been close to my brother. And he, as it turns out, had always understood me. For some reason, he hadnt shown it. Is it that stiffness is a sign of noble families?
It turned out that Khasim wasnt a total copy of our mother after all. Fathers adventurism flowed in his veins, even though it manifested in a very peculiar way.
And not a word to mother! Khasim added. But it was needless, I understood everything perfectly myself.
When, in childhood, my brother made comments like, Do not go there!, Stop fidgeting!, Be modest!, Speak quietly! I was very annoyed. I did the exact opposite just to spite him. But that day, I listened to every single word of his.
He left me on the furthest barchan. Two tall warriors were assigned by him to protect me. What if a lonely dragon flew in our direction?
My brother divided his troop into three groups: left flank, center, and right flank. Naturally, he himself stood in the center. Behind him stood archers and spear throwers. These were the tactics of fighting monsters used for centuries, I knew that from history lessons.
Khasim led the soldiers to a sandy hill, where he expected a dragons lair. The soldiers carefully moved their feet along the sandy surface, almost gliding.
At any time, the flock could break out from under the ground, and then the solid surface would turn into a deadly funnel. That was how Marawie sunk into oblivion, having fallen through the quicksand into the dragons cave, and that is how hundreds of thousands of soldiers ended their lives
A long spear whistled through the air and buried itself in the hillside. The sand began to fall off the slopes at once and soon a hole of the size of a human formed in the hill. Khasim was not mistaken it was a lair!
Literally in the same moment, a scary head appeared out of the black hole, and then an ugly dragons body. A small spear dart, thrown by a warrior from the rear rows, pierced the dragon in the mouth. The first one had been dealt with!
Khasim suddenly gave the command to retreat, pointing his hand back. Again, the experienced commander predicted the situation. The hill quickly began to sink into the depths of the desert, the sand began to pour into the empty space, and new dragons came out from the smaller sandy mounds.
The first to close the formation were the warriors of the left flank. They shielded themselves, pointing forward long spears, and pressing the monsters back.
I could already count forty dragons in the pack.
First, they looked puzzled, but then, all of a sudden, in a wave, they rushed toward the soldiers. All three groups were attacked. The warriors covered their heads with shields and sat on one knee.
I knew that my brother was waiting, luring the dragons into a trap, trying to convince them of their own victory. But I stood still, on top of the barchan, dumb with fear. It was only in that moment that I understood what a great danger my brother had been exposing himself to all these years. For a night, a brother with whom I had never been able to find a Common Language, became so close and dear to me.
Two of my guards continued to stand quietly, all this time remaining unperturbed, as though watching an auction in a square, and not a deadly battle.
Suddenly, Khasim and two loyal fighters broke out of formation. With a sharp twist, they rolled under a flock of dragons hovering over the troop and rushed towards the biggest. This one was almost black in color, while the rest ranged in shades from muddy-green to the color of beige sand. The leader, I realized. One fighter clung to the tail of the dragon, the second pulled on a clawed rear paw. At that moment, Khasim jumped as high as he could, and struck the shell of the leader with the tip of his sword. After a wild yelp, it collapsed into the sand. My brother jumped to him and severed his head with one swift stroke.
It is difficult to convey into words what happened next, as wild confusion arose in the pack. The soldiers began spearing the dragons with their lances. The creatures didnt even try to rise higher into the air, as though they had immediately agreed to the carnage. Their dead carcasses kept falling and falling. The fighters only had to dodge them.
In a few minutes the flight of dragons was killed off
I ran from the barchan, stumbling over the motionless sand waves, my feet tangling. I wanted to hug my brother as quickly as possible.
Never again did I ask him to take me on a hunt. I longed for adventure, but that day I realized I could not stand and watch someone dear fight between life and death. I just couldnt. Perhaps my mother still thinks that hunting for sand dragons is just a hunt, akin to hunting a deer or antelope Let her continue to think so! She does not need to know the truth!
Since then, Ive become different quieter, calmer. How the life of a little girl could be changed by one sleepless night in the desert!
Khasim got married and moved to Ayno-Suf with his family. Now he teaches young fighters and rarely goes hunting himself.
In the meantime, I turned twenty-four. Mum began incessantly talking about how I should have a husband and a family. I listened to her calmly, protesting silently
And, suddenly, a letter! From father!
My father spent several years with the Vedichs and was now returning with a heap of discoveries, he wrote.
Mum was angry. She already resigned herself to the fact that father was not around; considered him not as someone deceased, but gone forever. She learned to live without him. I understood that she was so angry only because she loved him I also loved him madly, but it was a different kind of love, without demanding anything in return. I was jumping with happiness! The separation, which had lasted thirteen years, was about to end.
My father wrote from the Valley. He had to run several errands within his clan. This meant that in two months he should be in Kay-Samiluf and if he boarded a ship through Doyno-Kash, then it would be even sooner!
A happy month of waiting had passed. I already imagined how I would join the Old Pages Clan, how I would again begin to travel with my father, being not a burden to him, but an astronomer! Again, I would see Bandabaze and Nanol-Mo. I might visit Reyro and the prairies of Chekatta. And finally, I would see the Valley with the Ancestral Stone.
On one truly dreary, rainy day, an envoy from the north arrived to Kay-Samiluf. The man was incredibly weak from the long road, but even more so he was frightened.
The Valley is deserted! He declared.
What do you mean deserted? Completely? The questions poured in.
Completely was the answer.
Whether it happened in an instant or in a week, no one knew. The fact is that the newly arrived caravanners found no one in the Valley. Empty houses, untouched belongings, markets full of goods, shops, and taverns everything stood completely abandoned. The people disappeared!
In Kay-Samiluf, the council of the Academy and the izirs of free cities was held. It was decided to send numerous caravans to settle the Valley again. I told my mother that the Academy appointed me as an astronomer in a large caravan and that I couldnt refuse. I lied, its easier for a woman astronomer to join a Guawarian naval crew. In the desert, a woman astronomer, especially such a young one, isnt welcome!
But there was no way for me not go to the Valley. I knew that if I just sat in Kay-Samiluf and waited for news from my father or about my father, Id go mad. Besides, its hard for me to write about this, but a premonition arose in my chest that he would not be coming back. For thirteen years, I knew he was somewhere on the road, on his eternal search. But suddenly I felt that he was no longer its hard to explain.
My intuition had never let me down before; it is why I was so anxious.
I met with Khasim and asked him to return to Kay-Samiluf with his whole family to look after our mother. He is a man, so duty called on him to help his people. Going to the Valley was both an adventure and a life gamble, and Khasim treasured his home. Adventures, as I wrote before, were somewhat different in his understanding. War with the dragons was his duty. I, on the other hand, eagerly awaited this hour. Everyone should get what one aspires to. Khasim understood me. We parted very emotionally as I promised to write him regularly; to him and mother. To mum what was necessary to say, to him only the truth.
Ill keep my promise.
Mum, if you ever read my diary, then please forgive me. Ive always despised lies. And even more so I think that it is lowly lying to such a dear person. But telling you the truth would have made you suffer And I didnt want that.