"Take another step and you'd wish you were
never born", echoed through the compound before pumping black fear into my head, I tried to swallow the dry lump of dust and fear lodged in my throat.

The dark brown dust made it unsuspecting until it wasn't - the dozens of armed teeth pointed straight to where I stood; ready to waste rounds on a domestic target.

I stood frozen with eyes pointed down to the
reflecting myriad of lights, hearing the footsteps of whoever came behind me, his steps shook both the earth and I.

His hands rested perfectly on my head before squeezing the hair with it, i winced, turning to face the unknown i locked eyes with this green eyed devil, his gaze was sharp as a serpent's, and the desert breeze whipped his long dark hair around his face.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing!", he
asked, his words were snarl, each word laced with venom blowing smoke from this drugged cigar at me.

"nothing sir ..." , cutting me off words he
squeezed harder.

"You better have good reason for me, boy!", he
said.

"I here for pay, sir", I added immediately.

The brief pause gave chance to explain while he continued to smoke.

"I watch your camels, sir, nine hundred and
thirteen days, I want pay sir, I mean... I need pay sir", I said, trying my hardest not to stutter.

The darker clouds painted the scene for my possible gruesome death staring into Sayyid Bilzar's emerald eyes.
The green-eyed devil's laugh was low and hollow,
rattling like a viper's warning.

"Yes, yes, yes ... ...you.. you watch my children,
yeah ?, yes..." he said, letting go of my head, he lifted his hand to shield eyes from the wind and sand.

"What do I give you..., how much?!",
managing to be audible enough even in the screaming wind.

"Two thousa...", he cut me off immediately.

"They outside?!, where are they!... my
camels...", he added.

His accompanying mercenaries closed the distance between them and their Sayyid, the low visibility made it clear. We were into a sandstorm.

His eyes slowly widened in disbelief as he repeated the question.

"where are...", the Sayyid's words died on his lips as i cut him off.

"They're safe, i swear, i... i hid them in a cave shelter...", hurriedly explaining i digested my words, evaluating the chances of the camels wandering almost immediately after leaving them and surviving the scaving haboob, the reality of what i had done struck like a thunderbolt, i wasn't done when my mouth slept.

"i... i don't know where they are", i whispered,
my voice barely audible over the howling wind.

The silence was deafening, the storm raging around us like a beast hungry for blood.

Without warning, the devil's hand lashed out, a
backhanded slap that sent me sprawling into the sand.

"You idiot! You've lost my camels!" he snarled,
his voice rising like the storm itself.

My senses told the bitter truth as the worst part of
the storm slipped in completely erasing visibility, i couldn't see the devil that stood in front of me.

The feeling of the cringing cold in the air and hot
moment of undoubting death all at once.

Falling at the mercy of both atmospheres - the roars of unrest, Sayyid's angered voice and presence as i layed planted in frozen and sandy confusion.

"You dare!... leave!... in that storm!", sent
shivers bringing with it a wave of cold sweat that prickled my spine - injecting chills, just what i needed to fall back to reality.

Instincts drove me, lunging forward as my legs
pumped into a sprint frenzy.

Finding myself inside the palace, bursting from
and into rooms away from the armed presence tailing closely.

The air filled with deafening cracks of gunfire, each shot reverberating through the room like a sonic boom. The walls trembled and splintered as the bullets ripped through them, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

I ran, yet, expected one through me.

A dead end, my twitching eyes searched for the next door, next stair to maneuver whilst my knee ached on battered feet.

That corner was the next assignment, I crawled hurriedly and sat curled in the slight darkness of the spot. Numbness crept slowly into cold hands when cold tears ran down my hot face.

The realization that this was the end dawned, swallowing me like stone in quicksand.

Gunshots thundered outside, those savages
wouldn't come for me by wasting bullets in the air, they'd chase and cut me open.