Sable Noir

In a deserted area, an old man was walking nonchalantly dressed in a delightful yellow daraa, a long and loose gown. By his side, an old camel was crushed by the weight of multiple exotic fruits of bright full colour. At each step, the sand was crumbling slowly on the edge of the massive dunes cutting the horizon. The trudge on the gigantic static wave of sand was deadly for the old man, peaking at each moment a sip of water from his gourd. Pulling the camel forward was an impressive task for the merchant, hoping to sell his odds and ends at a relatively high price. Gold was not easy to make in Rudhetria, but the sultan, ruler of the city, was choosy; Ready to pay good money for things out of the ordinary. So it was determined that Gahzo, the old seller, would go to the nearest city in search of goods that could catch the stingy eyes of the dirigeant of Rudhetria. His work paid off, and with excitement, he decided to walk quickly from Yara without any Caravan. Hoping to be the only one to grab the reward.

When he finally reached the pic of the last mountain of sand blocking his view. With joy, he saw the little oasis announcing that it was not far from his hometown. At this point, he glimpsed the shadow of a seemingly giant vulture far in the scenery but didn't really mind. Too proud to have reached a safe place, he quickly resumed his walk without even seeing the little bird taking more and more size flying in his direction.

It is known that animals have a 6th sense for sensing danger, and the old camel was no exception. Lazy and slow as usual, it started taking speed and even bringing Gahzo on his way. The old man was not ready for this sudden rush and fell on the sand, tumbling down to the bottom of the dune. He stood up furious, swearing to his companion running in the direction of the oasis, but stopped, hearing a loud and discordant sound from the sky. He already knew what was coming and talked to himself while looking at the things: " Kamarupa… ahhhh Kamarupa, Kamarupa!" The more he was repeating this dreadful word, the more his voice turned to a high frequency of despair. He grabbed his gold circular necklace with shaking hands and recited a prayer to the god protecting his Ruler and the subject behind him. He already knew that his prayer was futile since the influence of divinity was almost non-existent in the desert. But the words were not for any god or man, but for him alone.

"Geb, by your almighty grace, please give me strength to fulfill another year of my mundane existence…." The monster was flying closer and closer to the poor merchant.

"Fulfill this necklace of my source life and guide my hands through this abomination…." His hazy appearance became apparent for the old geezer.

The horrifying smell of the Kamarupa filled the atmosphere. His stretching wings were so big and black that even the sun could not reach the lonely Gahzo. What he thought about going alone on this trip. Why did he decide to let all the precious gold he possesses be far from him, way back home? What would be some mugger if he left the only way to repel the undead, not on his side?

"Let me pierce and disperse the malice from this ka!"

And with all his force, he twirled his gold accessory in the air, which became bright yellow like the sun. The movement he was doing became visible for the creature who stopped his momentum. Pushing a wild wind on the frightened man. Gahzo let a nervous smile go out and prepared the ball-like necklace to clash through the head of the huge Kamarupa.

"As I see, I didn't lose my hands, damn Kama!" He ran as fast as possible to strike the creature, curiously watching behind the proud man ruminant. Almost uninterested by Gahzo, the large flying thing was looking at the camel running away before being hit by the makeshift weapon of the human.

"You feel that little bird" said the elder, realizing his reckless action afterwards. By the side of the angry "little bird," he started panicking and running for his life desperately.

"Little bird?" Repeated, the feary human shaking through all his bones.

The angry monster began to pursue his unfortunate new prey without even looking back at the delicious fruits on the camel.

The wind was pushing the patriarch back, and the sand slowed its path. The sun had reached its highest point, and the desert was radiant, like the gold necklace that lost all its shines after the failed attempt. Everything seemed without hope, but for him, his only chance was to reach his camel, who kept his gold sword on his belongings. His goal was, without doubt, the oasis where the animal was hidden. The more time passed, the more the monster cut the distance between them. On the horizon, a jet of sand coming in his direction stressed, even more, the man. Persuaded that this is another Kama coming for him.

"Geb, Geb, Geb, why Geb?" Kept repeating the wrinkly man.

"You need some help, croaa ?"asked a mysterious voice

"Of course!" Answered Gahzo without even thinking

"Do you have anything to pay for it, croaa?"

"Of course, do you know who I am!!"

"Good, croaa"

"Wait, who are you?" Asked the man turning his head in the direction of the voice. To his surprise, a little black crow with the sign of Heh was flying by his side. The man and the raven screamed of fear. Gahzo trips on the ground, letting the monster finally reach his range. The wild beast, high off a few feet, jumped on him, opening its deadly mouth, ready to spread his hunger. The raven flew through the sky and yelled: "if I was you, I would escape this attack, croaa. The Mantrikas have a blind spot on their belly croaaa!"

The old man executed the order, jumping under the creature. It was not fast enough for the Kama who stranded his black wings to take off. It caught the old man with its lower paw and flew higher and higher. So high that the uncloudy sky of the desert seems closer to him than the ground. And like an eagle, it let its prey fall.

"That's the end…" said the old geezer looking at the Mantrika. At his side, the crow stared at him without even moving. And that only annoyed the desperate elder.

" And you fu.. bird! You promised to save me !"

"Croaa!?"

"That's it… I'm losing my sanity speaking to a damn crow…."

"We have a deal, ol' man, so don't die yet," said a monotonous voice on the ground. A man in a black Daraa hidden behind a tagelmust, a cloth veil used as a turban by the desert man. A cloth hiding the face of the lonely traveller entirely, only his golden eyes caught the attention of the surprised Gahzo, ready to face death. The man jumped and grabbed him before he reached the ground. And with grace, he put the elder to his side. The geezer saw a strange hourglass necklace on his saviour during this agile act. The sand was black but also fell in rewind in the peculiar artifact. Turning his head to face the Kama; The crow flew and came to the traveller's shoulder screaming at full blast.

"bird croaa, damn bird croaa"

"Yeah, I know Nemu," answered the strange man.

Stretching his hand in the air, the sand around him starts trembling and changing colour. It floated around him, forming a black curved sword directly on his arm. At the sight of the same symbol he saw on the crow, directly on the blade, Gahzo grabbed immediately the nature of the man standing in front of him. With assumption, he pointed at him, talking with force: "you're an undead too, a Kamarupa chosen by a god, A Dune Walker!"

"You bet!?"

"You are…"

"A deadman, yes, I know, nice, just call me Khal ol' man. And if I were you, I would run in that oasis behind."

The Mantrika screamed with all his strength and went on to Khal; who began to make a loop with his sword. He took off the big bag on his back and put it on the ground. Six spider legs appear, and a sign of Anubis materializes on the top of the black bag of 3 feet. The container screamed and the merchant startled with fear. The Dune Walker began to run toward the charging monster, yelling to the bag: " Hey Bag, bring this man to the nearest water point and… don't bite the client!"

"Bite?" Answer Gahzo before being drawn away by the bag.

Khal clashed his sword on the flesh of the Kama, who stepped back without a scratch. He jumped in the air, pulling a handful of black sand with him. At each step, the ground changed colour from beige to black. A mark of the territory of the Walker. An ability that offers him a myriad of possible gear made by this sand, but everything comes with an individual cost.

The black fragments formed a chain attached to the ground and linked to the hand of the jumping Khal. The monster retaliated, opening his mouth to bite the young lad. He succeeded and took his opponent's leg, but that thing was planned in the mind of the undead human. He kept his momentum and turned on himself, making the chain grow bigger and surrounding the dark beast. This was not enough to restrain the Kama. Still, the traveller successfully jumped on his back playing rodeo to stay in place. His leg already healed by the time. The Mantrika lost his temper and took a flight, turning on himself to loosen the chain keeping him in control.

Khal began to make signs with his hand and clap them. A multitude of shadowy blackbirds appeared and made a suicidal charge on the black things. An enormous scream of agony was heard, but even the Walker was paying the price for this summoning. Every part of his skin was fuming, leaving a trail of black smoke behind. But knowing that the creature would heal almost as fast as him, the boy ran on the back of the Mantrika, facing the wild wind, and hitting a salve of cut on the massive wings. He let a yellow energy flow outside of his hand for the last strike, submerging his black scimitar. His eyes became brighter, and the flying undead accelerated right in the direction of the oasis where Gahzo hid, his sword in his hands, the strange bag on him and the crow on his head.

With the wind being progressively more brutal, the turban of Khal finally went off, revealing his beautiful young face with gold earrings and black hair, short but stylish. Only a lonely non-expressive look could be seen. As stuck in the past…

"I wish I didn't have to use my last portion of Ankh…."

With all his force, he struck the wing with his weapon coated in life energy.

The part of the monster fell, and he lost his balance falling through the sky. He was adrift for a few seconds because of the change of altitude… lost in his thought; flashing images of an unknown past kept coming to his eyes. All these memories were of a sunny woman. They were blurry, but he could see the pitch yellow hair, bright like the sun; the languorous smile she gave him and the blue eyes clear like the sea. This was the woman he loved, his reason to live… the only who can kill him...

"Hessa..."

After a few moments, he woke up, alarmed by his instinct. Without even thinking, he summoned a big bouncing creature, marked by the sign of Heh. He successfully landed on the ground, making the Heh creature disappear as he stood up to reach the Mantrika, who fell a few meters away, right in the water of the oasis. His wings almost hit the poor Gahzo saved by the bag creature, who jumped from his back to push the large part away. The Kama was fighting with itself to get his balance in the water. it successfully raised up, facing the bag, ready to make of itself a wall to protect the old man. The elder was impressed and shocked to see this strange creature standing before him, almost shaking with fear. His pride was hit when the bag tried a hopeless attack on the hurt monster, who started to slowly heal his missing wings.

The spider-like bag jumped on his head and began to make rounds around the undead. When the one-winged monster screamed, bored of all this movement on his flesh, the bag ran in his mouth, directly into the beast's belly. Gahzo fell on the ground when he saw his non-human saviour sacrifice his life like that.

"Baggg!" Yelled the sad man, who started to cry for a plain demon bag. A simple creature made by a god, this thing called Demon, can only be summoned by the Walker link to his master.

On the other hand, Khal, who saw the scene, smiled and touched the surrounding plants. He absorbed their life energy, their Ankh, to fulfill his own stock. Making them die in the process.

The Ankh is a force of life created by every living being, but the Dune Walker. A special kind of undead humans that made a pact to a god, we're unable to produce even an inch. Simply because they were not part of the living realm anymore… so it was with delicacy that the black-haired boy replenished his stock, ready to conclude this combat.

To stop his overheating, since he used a lot of force to heal during his traverse of the desert, he jumped in the water to cool off. After inhaling a large quantity of water through his skin, he used the trail of black sand he left behind to form a massive chain that he extended on his arm.

"Do your things, Bag," he said to himself. Looking at the monster strangely calm.

The Kamarupa belly started to make a strange sound, and his face showed that it was painful. His face was distorted as the sound raised louder. Suddenly, he began to spit blood and cough painfully. Multiple bumps appeared on the center of his body. Moments later, a spider paw pierced the surface of his flesh. Slowly, Bag went out and ran to the old man disembowelled. Covered in blood, Gahzo soon understood that the tremors he saw before were not of fear but joy. The demon saw the tremendous undead as a simple toy.

Khal ambled and patted the happy bag: "Good job, little one, I will finish the job."

He turned on the side of the agonizing Kama and dashed in his direction. So fast that his feet didn't even flinch into the water. He did a somersault like a bestial jackal, letting the black chains uncover the down creature. He jumped again, running afterwards under the Mantika. Repeating the same pattern again and again and again. Until the moment where the Kamarupa was entirely surrounded by chains. Then he recited a prayer in a strange language, clapping his hands to end the incantation. The chain dislocated, floating around the monster, which turned into ashes slowly. The only thing left was a black residue floating in the air and a smoky scent. Then Khal took the reverse hourglass from his necklace and turned it upside down, absorbing all the black sand floating around. All of this in the wide-open eyes of Gahzo, impressed by the process.

The Dune Walker got out of the water and called his two friends to his side. He flattered the raven and pushed his hand inside the bag's mouth. Pulling out a towel from the body of the demon. He dried his hair and looked firmly at the old man. Startled by the gaze, Gahzo bowed his head and stretched out his hand in front of him.

"My name is Gahzo. It's a pleasure to meet you, traveller."

"Good Gahzo, pay me now," answered the young boy abruptly.

"Don… Don't tell me you don't know manners for an elder, young boy. Always begin by presenting yourself," said the sermonizing geezers.

"I already told you my name, and I'm definitely older than you," replied the harsh Traveller, who already understood the situation by looking at the old man avoiding his sight. Without any words, he took the gold sword from the hand of Gahzo and summoned a massive gold door. He opened it and threw the weapon. Inside, a gigantic pile of precious objects grabbed the attention of the poor merchant.

"So this is the famous Heaven door. The secret stack of treasure that each Dune Walker collects. You too collect gold to become a Djinn?" ask the elder, omnibulate by the valuables. An amount he never saw in his life, even inside the palace of the Sultan. Even when he sneaked in daily to reach the library. Getting this amount of riches would have been impossible for an average human. Still, anything was possible for undeads with an infinite amount of life.

Khal quickly closed the door and pushed the wrinkly to the ground. "I'm tired. I don't have the patience to wait for you, ol' man. Pay me, or I will take your life."

"You will never…" answered the old man before being cut by a stretch of black sand.

" I… I promise you, I don't have anything; I'm poor, but if you…give me time, I can sell this fruit for money and repay you!" Begged Gahzo.

"That's not a good assurance for me, but I have another offer for my service."

"What do you want? I don't have anything as valuables like gold."

"Yeah, you have something that I prefer over golds or diamonds. A simple thing called time..."

"Time?"

"Exactly, I want ten years… ten years of your boring life... "