Tarek
the desolate

It was dark around him, and nothing but the moonlight to light his way. Just the way it should be, where his ancestors once waltzed beneath Her radiant light. To the outside eye he looked like a burnished statue as he walked, hide dark and melding into the shadow of the forest if not for the white ring around the base of his muzzle, a stark contrast to the deep colour of the hide across him. Around his neck the collar of gold shimmered, and he remembered fondly that moment when he had won it for himself, as he made his name known.

As he steps though, his thoughts drift to the past – back to the home he had been born into. A land of radiant beauty that had shunned their Gods in favour of gold, only to have raiders come and strike at them, he had never been what his family wanted to be and so he was a mere disappointment, and nothing more. His father, his family, were of the Royal bloodline at the time, and he had been second born and therefore had been expected to become a powerful fighter, a conqueror as was his namesake, all to bring their family further glory. He had been given his own crown, but it weighed heavy upon his head. He turned from his family, sharing little desire to be what they wanted him to be.

He remembers watching his sister, his beloved Raniya, as she had been handed off. His sister who he had spent so much time with, whom he adored and who had taught him of other cultures, had been handed off, as she had been only a piece for more glory and supremacy for his family.

He turned from them, just as he turned about now, stepping down the dark path.

There were no others to meet here, no one he wanted to speak to. He remembered how he had made a name for himself and yet his family had been so disillusioned by him and his choice, and he had gone to Uumalah – and he had made himself rich, gathering his own strength as he had crossed the desert landscape.

He had a name for himself and in his revelry he had found her, Ghalia, and he had won the right by spending quite the fortune on her, to take her for the first night. She reminded him of his sister and so he had returned to her then after, only wishing to speak – and it was only pain he felt, guilt for what he had done and pain over the loss of his sister, who had died too young, too young.

Tarek would never forgive them.

In his last moments in Uumalah he had fought like a wild creature – he was trained to be a conqueror, after all – and he had rent Ghalia from her imprisoned life, forcing her to flee and then he too, fled from everything he knew.

He had wound up here, alone and without anything. He lost so much, he had lost all he had cared for but he found he was less bothered by it than he thought he would be. He felt he had gained some kind of liberty by his choices, though that was an irrational thought. He had left in his wake powerful enemies, and so he was looking now, to find somewhere he would not be recognised, he would not be known.

With tentative steps he walks through the forest, feeling the weight of the humid air pressing upon his back. Even in here though his coat was brilliant, and he knew he would draw eyes to him – he always had. It had certainly been quite the benefit for him, in both garnering a large amount of gold and making his name known, as well as other more sordid treats that he had wanted.

And here he would continue walking, until it was all gone and behind him – perhaps forever though he knew that the past always had a way of catching up. He’d do his best to hide from it… but with Raniya flashing through his mind, and Ghalia who was so like his sister, fiery as the desert he had been born into. He walks and his body reflects the hard nature he was accustomed to wearing now…

But his eyes betray him, as they look from here to there, always alert and watching, senses opened wide. Tarek knew that even as far as he had gone now, he still felt it wasn’t far enough.

Not far enough at all.