Chapter -2, The blind one.

"Sands of time..." Arya remarked, pulling on gyro steering of the vehicle to stop as she scanned the shifting desert, "...slipping away."

Ahead of them stood a shallow rocky terrain which also meant that the vehicle could not take Arya and Benji anymore further into the destination.

"AVAH, reroute the path via valley to the slum." Benji unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out of the vehicle.

"Yes Dr. Benji. Rerouting complete.
The distance to reach the camp is 3.2 kilometres, approximately 45-50 minutes by walk."

A holographic projection of AVAH came alive from the orb above. She walked along with Benji and Arya as if she were a human, but only a little transparent and with too much blue for a skin tone.

After retrieving some essential equipments from the rear opening, both of them took a thin passageway between the shallow rocky formation. Holographic AVAH followed them closely as the sphere hovered above them.

"Seriously, how are these Zoramaic sinukians anyway?" Arya questioned as she balanced while walking crossway down a loose sandy heap. "Haven't heard much about them, haven't found much of them online either."

"Zoramaic sinukians are strong believers of the faith. Compared to their counterparts in other districts, Zoramaic ones believe that they are the direct descendants of Hayal, the chosen one." AVAH educated them. AVAH mimicked Arya's walk as if she was struggling to go down the sandy heap as well.

"Hayal?" Benji wondered, "never heard of it either."

"Look!" Arya pointed at the shrubbery grown scarcely along the rockey valley. "The Tyrum's beetle."

A bluish -black beetle of a thumb's size circled upon a leaf. "They usually survive on plant sap, but can be very deadly when they decide to feed on flesh."

Benji squinted through the scorching rays of sun, the only thing preventing them from having a heat stroke was the thermal suit and ofcourse the water concentrator attached to their backpacks which was made to extract water from the humidity of any surrounding environment.

Arya made sure to collect 4 of beetles as specimens into a container, it was indeed an integral part of the camp day. 'Survey, collect, supply and save'.

A screeching peal of an eagle trailed off into the sky shuddering both of them, they watched it momentarily and got back to their path.

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According to AVAH, the co-ordinates matched, but there was nothing. No human activity, no houses, no signs of life at all.

"Reconfirming co-ordinates, Arya." AVAH re-assured, as her holographic avatar scanned the surroundings.

"Come on, people can't live inside the sand." Benji exasperated, "the soil seems a little wet around here, air feels different. And the valley is holding off the sunlight and sandy storms too. Where else could they be?"

"Perhaps we need to search within the mountains. It's self explanatory, AVAH scan the mountains and point all the possible doorways."

"No need of that."

Arya and Benji jumped to their feet, pointing the lazer shooter at the source of the voice behind them.

There was nobody. Nothing on the 9 'O' clock, negative on the three and definitely no-one in front of them.

"Benji, pick up anything?"

"Nope."

"Possible hostile weapon detected in between the shrub over the giant rocks on the left side of the valley." AVAH's voice transmission was subtle into both of their ear devices, "stealth mode, activating."

AVAH's holographic image vanished and the ball moved up and away from them informing, "detecting multiple weapons, category two."

Before a blink of an eye, there were people walking and acrobatically jumping down the valley on either side.

"We have made it clear, we want no association with your kind." A feminine assertive voice spoke from the mob.

"Who is that? Show yourself." Arya redirected her shooter cautiously.

A woman made her way through the crowd, her face still covered with murky piece of cotton cloth. Her shirt was a little old, but crisp and gently moving with the wind.

"I am Oja, the chieftain of the tribe of Hayal." The woman undid her veil revealing an ebony face with sharp jawline underneath.

Arya relaxed, withdrawing the shooter from her face and slid it into her belt. "Uh...Hi Oja. Myself..."

"What the heck are you doing?" Benji poked his elbow into her back as she proceeded towards Oja.

"It's alright Benji." Arya surpassed his concern and moved ahead. "I'm Arya and this is my friend Benji."

"Oh why? We know that. The thing that interests me for now, is what brings your kind here, this far, into the middle of nowhere?" Oja motioned her face towards her men indicating something.

"We...we are researchers. From the city side down south. We mean no harm, ok? And the government wants..." Benji put his shooter reluctantly into a bag held in front of him by a tribesman.

"I got this Benji." Arya cut his introduction midway and turned towards Oja.

"We are researchers, yes. But we also brought some supplies like medicines and some small technologies with us, if you wish to trade with us."

"Trade for what?" Oja looked intensely through her brows. Oja's face had grit instead of pride, scars instead of wrinkles. She was young, she was not any old, docile chieftains they had met at other places.

"Trade for knowledge."

Benji almost slapped a palm on his face. Well almost, if he really did execute the action, then there's no tomorrow fo them, for sure.

"Knowledge?" Oja circled them, her eagle eyes prying every inch of their bodies. "What type of knowledge?"

"You'll know. My intention is clearly academic and selfless." Arya affirmed, "Now, if you could let me, I can teach your tribe about farming and healing and many other things you're unfamiliar with."

Oja waited patiently and waited a little more than necessary, as if waiting would make her decision any easier. She scanned the eyes of all her tribesmen as they intently and eagerly watched her.

"I give you one day." Oja turned around before leaving the place, "but remember, by tomorrow you were never here."

Arya laughed, a little hysterically. Atleast they weren't sliced open and hung on posts like they had heard.

Benji clasped his chest and bent forward as if he had held on to his last breath all along.

The crowd started dissolving, disappearing through many doors in the rocky mountains of the valley, doors so carefully carved that they seldom looked unnatural.

But something seemed 'off' here. Arya started musing again. 'May be it's just the desert, or may be it's because of all the blood that's rushing through my temples, right now or may be it's because of that tall person standing there...wait!'

A lean womanly figure stood at a distance from their place, watching them, studying them.

Arya stared back at her, the figure wouldn't move. She was a lot different from the other tribesmen as well, because this one wore a black clothing.

'Who even wears black in this hot desert?' Arya thought as she collected her things from the ground.

The beginning of eclipse started to create a ruckus in the nature, the scenery morphed as though it was a cool night in the middle of of a hot summer day. The golden eagle screeched a peal call over their head again and disappeared into the mountains. Bugs started to click and cricket a little louder now, as if the desert orchestrated a complex white noise for them to sleep.

Benji double flipped his head while picking up things from the ground, the girl in black was there for one moment and for the next, poof! Gone. "Are we seeing ghosts now?"

"At this point of my life, I don't even care anymore." Arya sighed and followed the path taken by the crowd into the caves of the valley.

"Fair enough." Benji paused for a second, took a glimpse of the eerie place and walked away.

AVAH whirred, hiding somewhere behind the place where they had had the conversation. She scanned the place, her screen pointed at and zoomed in on the dark shadow figure spying on Arya and Benji as they left the place, well camouflaged behind the bush.

"AVAH, deactivate stealth mode and follow me, stat."

Arya's command made AVAH to buzz around and form a beeline towards her queen, "sure Arya, deactivation confirmed."

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Wc-1370
Thank you for giving this story a chance.