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Chapter 71 - Long journeys

  After nearly ten weeks* of long and excruciating travel riding upon camel-back, Leo saw the hallmarks of civilization on the far distant horizon. The scouts had called out its relative proximity several hours ago, but even so there was an audible cheer from the pilgrims, as they too could begin to make out its outline. For months he had listened to their growing complaints and grievances, even if he was unable to understand them without assistance. Between the thousands of miles of sandy dunes and the unrelenting heat, many had already grown uncertain on whether they could reach their sacred destination. Only the continuing insistence and efforts of their experienced escorts did they continue to press forward into the heart of the desert.

  Unlike the inexperienced families, the veteran merchants and their laborers worked tirelessly to guide the group across the desert. Whether it be creating the temporary encampments at each stop or distributing the rationed food without any additional assistance from their charges, they took their job as escorts seriously. Not once did he heard them utter a complaint while taking the brunt of their strained emotions. Only his own group and Modibo had the necessary endurance to make it through the day's journey with energy to spare. As such they had taken to assisting the merchants where they could, either with physical labor or assisting with more complicated medical tasks.

  At the beginning of their journey, he had discretely made a bet with some of the laborers about how long it would take for a certain egotistical prat to attempt to flee back home. He had lost a few cowrie shells on the wager, going under the final count by a single day. The other families, driven by religious zeal, would never allow themselves to fail their only chance to reach Mecca. Only Cheikh and his first wife's side of the family lacked the motivation to attempt this in earnest. Back in the previous town he had guessed that it would take about three days for them to try and return home, but it was on the fourth day that his demands first fell on deaf ears. Leo had not properly accounted for the man's stubbornness and pride being as resolute as it was. Modibo had made him aware of his inferiority complex towards his brother, but he had not expected how strong such a desire was.

  Unfortunately, they had already travelled too far and could not spare the resources to send their family of six back home. Now disposed of their usual attendants and barely managing to stave off exhaustion, they opted to remain with the group and not-risk the long journey back alone. Between the endless dunes, with sand that quickly erased any tracks, and the barren landscape devoid of any landmarks, none of them fancied their chances of returning home alive. The brunt of his ire fell on his brother's trusted subordinate, Baru, who simply continued to try and mitigate their family's audible discomfort. While they did travel on the backs of camels, the growing heat was still too much for them while maintaining their stance upon the enormous beasts.

  Modibo, being the entrepreneurial soul that he was, had approached Victoria and Kahina before they had even stepped foot in the desert. He had been let into her secret earlier in the journey and had quickly become her willing accomplice. As she did not need to eat and was heavily fasting for the sake of both himself and Kahina, the calculating merchant had volunteered his own blood on a semi-regular basis in exchange for some of her assigned rations. By using Baru as an intermediary, Modibo had placated his extended family while leaving the social politics to Baru. For weeks he had noticed their outcries become increasingly defeatist, taking the additional handouts with growing acceptance. Leo doubted whether this would persist once they left the barren desert landscape.

  As their caravan grew closer to the town, a herd of strange horse-like creatures rested at the fringes of the desert. Although it was difficult to tell, they were roughly the size of camels with a lean, yet muscular, frame. While their dark brown coats were covered in coarse sand, it was not the most peculiar thing about them. They had a singular long horn protruding from their skull, pointing towards the sky at differing angles**. The thick horns appeared to grow to the size of about three feet, dotted with small openings across its entire length. Many of them had turned to face the caravan, having already noticed their presence before they had even come into view. Content just watching the group, they stayed as they were in the desert sand.

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  Sweeping across the desert, a scorching breeze sent waves of sand from the shifting dunes and into the backs of the fatigued travelers. Many leaned into their camels, trying to remain seated and not fall into the burning ground below. The herd of beasts remained as they were, dust particles harmlessly repelled by their sturdy hide. A few had turned their heads or closed their eyes, as to avoid the fine shards of sand from entering their eyes.

  Then an almost divine sound flowed across the dunes, temporarily causing the caravan to pause. Most had been focusing on finally reaching the town ahead, longing to rest after the months of travel and had only now noticed the herd of wild animals. The collective attention was now focused on the soothing melody that originated from the creatures, the harmonic tune pacifying anyone who heard its captivating hymn. It was most certainly magical in nature, and yet Leo did not feel his usual paranoid instincts that came with anything related to the supernatural. Despite their location and distribution with-in the herd, each beast maintained perfect harmony and pitch in relation to each other. Even the sound from the extremities of the group provided the same mesmerizing tune.

  He had the forethought to look around the caravan, in case there was an ambush waiting outside of their vision. The other laborers, although enjoying the majestic tones, also remained vigilantly focused on their perimeter. A quick glance towards Victoria revealed two heads sticking partially out from under her heavy cloak, both Juliana and Rose could be seen listening to the sound. They too had closed their eyes in appreciation of such a perfect sound. Thankfully, both were only visible at the right angle and had quickly disappeared once the symphony of horns had subsided.

  A few of the travelers and merchants started talking among themselves, likely calculating how many people they could deploy to hunt them while the others proceeded to the town. The horns could probably sell for the price of a small army, based on the avaricious tone many of the men had adopted. If they could find a craftsman skilled enough to refine the already priceless horns into an instrument worthy of a god, then that value would likely increase several fold. Victoria likely had already calculated the cost of such an item and was already trying to urge her camel towards the town, seemingly disinterested in such an endeavor.

  He could not be sure, likely for plausible deniability, but he suspected that he caught a few flashes of holy light from Victoria's hand right-hand. Whatever her true intention was, it was enough to spook the herd before the caravan could try and surround them. As they turned away another wave of hot air washed over the dunes, renewing their reverberating sonnet. However, it no longer was the peaceful and soothing melody of moments prior. Instead, it sent an uncomfortable shiver down his spine. The confidence once held by the merchants quickly faded, as they stowed away their lustful desires for wealth and focused on finishing their long journey.

  -

  For the first time in months Leo finally had a good meal, a comfortable bed and some form of female companionship. Even if the latter stopped before anything more intimate could happen. When he returned to their lodgings Victoria was suspiciously missing. She was likely nearby, doing whatever tasks she needed to before retiring for the night. Since he was not called upon, it was unlikely to be anything that required his presence.

  At around midnight he was disturbed from his sleep, finding his ward carrying several large objects wrapped in cloth. “Find something interesting in the sand?” He asked, head returning to the provided bedding. “I had Juliana and Rose follow up on the herd we saw earlier.” She replied, trying to hide her newly acquired items in with her existing luggage. “While they do not have the same level of intelligence that we have, they are gifted with reasoning beyond what feral animals tend to have. They understood I was warning them of our group's intentions, and it was something that they wished to repay.”

  “I take it those are the repayment.” Leo asked, eyes already closing sensing there was little more to the exchange. “Yes,” Victoria replied similarly lying down to rest. “They could understand that it was their long horns were what was coveted by humans, one of the bucks kindly took me to three of their recently deceased herd. It cautiously allowed my familiars to extract the horns from ones which had recently expired. Something which they were additionally compensated for, I managed to find a supply of carob fruit in town. Which is something they seemed to enjoy.” Given their splendor, he was certain that they had the potential to be living the relative comfort for the foreseeable future. Something which the other members of the caravan could not say the same for.

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