Eye of Saffiyah |✔️

8

I stumble and catch myself before my feet could slip off the ledge. Rocks fall and splash into the churning waves below.

I sigh. Maybe falling backwards would be easier. Turning around takes effort, draining my body of what little energy I have left.

Okay. Again. One, two-

No. It isn't the stab of fear, the jolt of adrenaline that makes me stop. Actually I've ceased to feel anything in the last six months. That's what an empty stomach, constant bloodshed and living as a coward does to you. It's my brother. A ghost of a memory of him being carried away, screaming my name, lingers. It haunts me, keeps me up at night. At the same time I've clung onto it with a paranoia of a madman. A madman, carrying the very thing that hurts him because that fragment of the past would someday remind him of who he was. 

Who am I now? I observe my spindly arms, my caved-in stomach, my Abandryan tattoo that marks me as a victim, not a survivor. 

That doesn't matter anymore. Nothing matters except escaping this hellhole. It's my only way out.

The world tilts as I plunge into darkness.

"Oi! You up yet?"

Gentle light floods into my vision. My body hurts. A man looks down at me. 

"Can ya speak?"

I stare at his left eye. His eyeball sparkles with dazzling colors, like it absorbed every shade and tint from a rainbow. It is unlike anything I've seen.

The strange man waves his hand in front of my face. The slight wind feels nice. I close my eyes.

An audible sigh. "Well, you're too much of a docile critter to be with us. 'Tis the Desert, then."

"One-"

"Two-"

"Three!"

All at once I feel lighter, as if I am floating. The uneasy sensation sends a stab of fear, but it quickly diminishes when two hands cradle my face. I savor the touch, reminiscing the times of being loved. Someone brushes my hand. 

"Najm?"

Figures flutter into my vision. Above me is a middle-aged man, with tears streaking his face. 

"Sohel," I murmur. 

"Najm," my brother says shakily, embracing me in his arms. I try to return the favour but wince. Pain crackles through my muscles.

"What happened?" I ask instead, looking around. Just that single action makes the world tilt and sway. I grab onto my brother. It takes me a few moments to discern the surrounding Hunters.

"I called them to help search for you," Sohel says. "It was thanks to your jackals that we found you." I look down to see Hura and Harun pawing at my hand. They snuggle me with tremendous force. I smile sadly and stroke them. 

Sohel's body starts to quiver. "Sohel?" I hug him tighter despite my aching body. "Sohel, I am all right-"

"I thought I lost you," he sobs. "All I saw was you being caught in the crossfire that day. I thought you were dead. I should not have done any of this."

I look at him in the eye. "Brother, that is in the past, let-"

"No, I am not going to lie to myself again. I was the one who invited you here, and I nearly costed our lives. This is not the first time.