Sisters of the Sands

I paced from one side of the chamber to the other. We had thankfully wound our way up to the surface again and were hiding in one of the ruinous buildings. The soldier was still unconscious, sitting propped up against the cobbled, moss-covered wall. Other than the wind, no sound came from the ruined home’s entrance.

We would be much safer now that we were above ground and among the city’s ruins. There was nothing up here but ancient buildings and old, undisturbed corpses. They were either bandits or other nomads that had taken the pilgrimage through here like us. They must have been here long before the necrolisks nested, otherwise they would have been picked clean.

Eno was sitting and staring at the floor, close to tears. ‘I can’t believe he’s gone.’ He wiped his cheeks and shook his head. ‘He... he would want me to be strong. He always said that if we wallowed in sadness...’

I stopped pacing. ‘That we’d be lost to the world,’ I added. I’m sure he felt the same as me and wanted to burst into tears, but now he was trying to be tougher than usual.

He stood and approached. ‘That was the first portal you’ve made since...’

‘I know,’ I said. ‘I know.’

I looked back at our captive. What was I thinking? More soldiers were going to pursue us now. I didn’t even know why I had rescued her; was it because of guilt? I should have just left her to fend for herself. We didn’t owe her anything.

‘What you did was really nice, Sas,’ Eno said as he knelt next to the unconscious soldier and studied her. ’But what if she was the one who shot him?′

Eno had matured so fast. I still had memories of changing his clothes for him, and yet here he was, debating whether or not we should murder this girl.

Deep down it felt like my heart was twisting in place. I wanted to cry, but I needed to stay strong for him. I wanted to hurt this girl, to make her pay. But I also wanted to tell my brother about my childhood memories and that this girl was just like me. He’d probably hate me if he knew who I really was.

I knelt beside him. ‘We’re not killing her... but if we leave her, she probably won’t live long without us. I don’t know what to do with her.’

‘I don’t know either,’ he said, looking down at the soldier’s damaged armour we had removed. He bent down and picked up her leggings. ‘This stuff looks a bit small for you.’

‘We didn’t take them off so I could wear them. Remember what Grandpa said about their tech? Sometimes they put tracking devices in them. Help me throw it all away.’

Eno approached an open window and pelted the leggings towards it. They hit the window’s side and dropped back in the room.

‘Come on, be serious,’ I said with a furrowed brow. ‘This isn’t a game.’

‘I know that!’ he yelled, bending down and picking them up again.

I watched him throw the leggings out properly. The armour could be heard tumbling and smacking into the open sewer tunnel outside, back down into the depths. He turned around and stomped back past me, giving me a hurt look. He picked up more pieces, grabbing more than he could realistically carry in one trip.

‘I’m sorry for yelling,’ I said as I leant down and picked up the soldier’s helmet.

I examined it in both hands. Its transparent faceplate was made of a sturdy plastic, smeared with blood. The whole suit seemed to be made of the same plastic, and its silver colour glistened in the light pouring in through the window.

I walked to the window and hurled the helmet as far as I could, letting out a sigh of relief. That was the last of it. Good. With any luck, they would look for us down there instead.

The soldier had a slash wound along her ribs. The necrolisk had cut right through her armour and white undersuit. Strangely, her wound didn’t seem that bad, just a dark bruise.

A moan, followed by a whimper, suggested that our new prisoner was awakening. What would I even say to her? Sorry, but you’re coming with us now?

The girl was petite. She had much paler skin than my brother and I. Like all her kind, she had probably spent most of her life sheltered in a big steel city, so it was no wonder we were far more tanned. Her shoulder-length auburn hair was longer than my neck-length dark brown locks. I was clearly stronger and taller than she was.

She had two bright blue streaks in her fringe, one hanging on each side of her face. These streaks were a sign of the Female Dominion Military and I think it was for rank. Not that it mattered out here anyway; she could have been their leader for all I cared.

She looked about my age, maybe a bit younger. I wondered if she had once been a child soldier, like I was.

The girl’s hazel eyes fluttered open, widening as she realised where she was. Her arms squirmed around as she felt for her surroundings, but were restrained by the cord I had tied around her wrists.

‘Our prisoner is awake,’ Eno said, rushing back over to her.

‘Stay away from her,’ I warned as I raised my pocket knife. ‘She could still be dangerous.’

‘I know that already,’ Eno snapped, as he stopped in place and looked back at me with his arms folded.

Ignoring my brother, I walked in closer and gestured the knife towards her. ’Don’t try anything... or I will use this.′

She ceased to struggle and locked her shaking eyes with me. ‘Alright, I’m complying. There’s... no need for that.’ She shifted her body weight forward so she could stand up.

‘You shouldn’t get up. You took a pretty nasty... uh,’ Eno said as the girl was able to stand up without trouble. ’Oh...I guess... I guess not. You seem fine now.′

Her eyes searched around the chamber. ‘What have you done with my armour?’

I glanced at the window behind us and then back at her. ‘I threw it down there.’

‘I did, too,’ Eno said, folding his arms again and eyeing her with a smug expression. ‘Now you’re easy to stab.’

‘My weapon as well?’ she asked with raised eyebrows.

‘Gone,’ I replied. ‘Your friends won’t find you if that’s what you’re thinking.’

‘What? Then what exactly are you planning on doing with me?’ she said with a grimace.

I sneered. ’I suppose thanking us for saving your life is out of the question.′

She looked down at her feet, as if embarrassed. ’I... uh...you? How? Why would you save me?′

‘I was thinking we could use you as a hostage,’ I said before a look of repulsion spread over her face. ‘If our enemies came too close, I could threaten to kill you,’ I added as I crossed my arms defensively like my brother.

‘That makes perfect sense. You nomads are all the same,’ she said as she twisted her arms, trying to break free. ’You can forget about a heartfelt thank you, especially since it was you who led me into that nest in the first place.′

I strode up to her and got in her face. ‘So what should we have done instead? Turned around and asked you nicely to stop? You were the ones chasing us, remember?’

’I was trying to save you.′

‘We didn’t ask to be saved, least of all by you.’

She shook her head in disbelief. ‘Well, none of this matters anyway.’ She glanced at the doorway as if expecting to see someone. ‘My friends are looking for me right now and they will get the drop on you when you least suspect it.’

I gritted my teeth. ‘So you’re saying we should just kill you instead?’

‘Enough,’ Eno interrupted. ‘There are necrolisks still around. Are we keeping her or not?’

I locked eyes with him. ‘You’re right,’ I said, sighing. ‘You’ll draw too much attention if you wear that undersuit and nothing else.’ I picked up an old robe from the dusty floor and threw it at our prisoner’s feet. ‘Put this on.’

She eyed me with contempt. ‘And if I refuse?’

I gripped my knife tighter. ’Then you die here. Your friends might find you, but it’ll be too late by then. Those necrolisks will eventually find us in their territory if we stay. You want to live? Then we need to get out of this city and find somewhere safe in the desert before dark. We need food and water, especially water.′

She bit her lip, mulling over the facts. With her hands still bound, she picked up the shabby clothing and managed to drape it over herself. Her conspicuous Dominion clothing covered, she almost looked like one of us, if it hadn’t been for the blue streaks in her fringe.

‘Alright, let’s go,’ I said as I gestured towards the door with my knife.

She hesitated, but slowly made her way to the exit. ′Eck! It’s all mouldy,′ she said, breaking her tough façade as she inspected the disgusting garment. ‘Is this yours?’

‘No. Ask Eno, he found it,’ I replied.

‘It’s his,’ he said, pointing towards one of the desiccated corpses in the corner of the chamber.

The girl’s eyes widened and she squealed. Was this really what passed for a Female Dominion soldier?

We must have been close to escaping the city. The hot desert wind blew through the stone passage. With my knife pointed towards our captive, I directed her to head left at the next fork.

‘We must be getting close now,’ I said as the passageway guided us into another large, ruined chamber.

Eno ran off ahead down a different passage and out of sight, before running back and stopping in front of us. ‘Nope, not that one,’ he said, darting away again.

‘Eno, stop running off,’ I called. ‘There might still be necrolisks around, remember?’

He stopped in his tracks, before rushing back over and huddling by my side.

’So... in the sewer back there, why did you really jump in after us?′ I asked the soldier as we walked down the corridor. ‘I doubt it was because you wanted to rescue us.’

‘I didn’t lie about that,’ she snapped back. ‘But it... it is our job to track down you people. And we figured you had something to hide. Do you both have special powers? Are you acolytes? That old man killed himself to stop us getting to you. That was insan–’

I slammed her against the wall. ’Do NOT speak about him like you know anything!′

‘Whoa, easy...’ she said, looking down at the knife pressed against her neck. The blade trembled in my hands.

Up until today, I’d hated no one more than Aberym. But now he was gone, I felt a strange sense of loyalty.

Eno shoved her in the side. ‘He was protecting us because we’re his family, something you monsters don’t get.’

I lowered the knife, turned to the side and tried to compose myself again. ‘You have no right.’

She huffed and straightened her robes. ‘We only fired on you because we thought you were a bandit group we’ve been tracking. When we saw you running we switched tactics so we could take all of you alive. If it’s any consolation, he almost killed a couple of my friends. How about that?’

‘Almost isn’t good enough,’ Eno replied.

‘Look, I’m sorry, okay?’ she said with a shrug. ‘I didn’t want that. I’m guessing he was important to you?’

‘He was our gr–grandfather,’ I stammered as I cried. ‘We’ve travelled everywhere together. He was all we had left.’

Eno’s jaw quivered as he teared up.

I exchanged a look with Eno and waved my hand at her dismissively. ‘We don’t buy your apology.’

Eno wiped his tears. ‘Since when does a soldier like you care about what happens to us in the desert?’

The look in her eyes became furtive. ‘It’s not my fault if I’ve never really... spoken to a nomad before. We were told you were all rapists and crazed-mutants... and cannibals.’

Eno stared at her with wide, tear-soaked eyes. ‘Let’s eat her and prove them right.’

The soldier reeled back, believing him at first. Why was she acting this way all of a sudden? Empathising with us now that she was our prisoner? She’d probably strike when our guard was down.

‘That’s not funny,’ she said, continuing to avoid eye contact. ‘And when I said I was sorry, I meant it.’

I wiped my eyes with my sleeve. I was sick of this conversation. I gestured for Eno to join me as I walked towards the other end of the corridor. ‘Let’s go.’

We left her behind. If she wanted to run, now was a good time.

‘Do you have a name?’ I called back. ‘Or are you just a number to them?’

She nervously looked around at the nearby corridors. ‘Uhhh.. it’s Tau.’

Eno cleared his eyes, too. ‘Tau? That’s a stupid name.’

I stopped and glanced over my shoulder. ‘I’m Sacet. This is my brother, Eno.’

There was a silence as she continued to weigh up her options.

‘We aren’t going to eat you,’ I said, rolling my eyes.

She gave a long, drawn-out sigh and marched after us.

‘Unless we have to,’ Eno teased after she caught up.

At the end of the corridor there was an archway leading outside into the desert. A hot, wavy haze emanated from the yellow sand outside. We’d finally found our way out of this wretched place. Our footsteps echoed as we walked through the archway. The glare blinded me for a moment, but my eyes adjusted and the outline of the sand dunes on the horizon became clear.

Now that my portals had returned to me, travelling over the desert would be much easier. How many could I create in a day? I concentrated on the distant sand dunes. I stopped, weaved my fingers in circles, closed my eyes. A zephyr of air swirled underneath my robes.

‘Do it, Sas,’ Eno said as encouragement, but it sounded more like impatience.

‘What are you doing?’ Tau asked.

A large ellipse appeared, taller than all of us and wide enough for us to pass through. The portal’s destination, the distant dunes, was visible through the window. Its circular edges appeared as a smooth haze.

I stepped through the gate and looked back at Tau’s stunned expression. ‘Coming?’

‘I knew it.’