Chapter Text
out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing, there is a desert.
the desert beckons us as if it were the oasis.
we long to hold one another in its lush grass,
and drink from its clear spring.
—Rumi, Rubaiyat No. 157
Maybe Kaveh should have been more honest with himself.
He came to that conclusion faster than he thought, but still slower than his trip to the desert—right after he set down his bag on the floor and watched his companion stifling a cough behind a hand. Next to him, Mehrak floated quietly, green eyes staring in question at him. He decided to ignore both and walked out of the room.
Roughly eight hours ago, Kaveh departed from the city for Caravan Ribat and then reached a small village past Aaru Village. His goal was to make a quick visit to the village, then get to the newly discovered temple at the western side of Hadramaveth before the night fell. There were camps set by Akademiya’s researchers around its vicinity, and Kaveh planned on joining them before investigating further inside tomorrow. It was a sound plan, much like the ones he usually went with for this kind of expedition. Yet, it had to be scraped because of something, or rather, someone.
Alhaitham.
Kaveh and Alhaitham had a fair share of bickering featuring an array of topics the day before—from mundane day-to-day stuff like groceries and laundry to more serious ones like Kaveh’s work. The architect saw Alhaitham’s opinion as unwanted advice, but the scribe regarded it as a much-needed suggestion because he was making little to no sense. Of course, such a thing was nothing new, and not rarely Kaveh had to spend the night at Lambad’s to work because he refused to breathe the same air as Mister Perfect.
But the ex-acting grand sage had been becoming more irritating lately. Bringing some ugly ornaments home was one thing, and Kaveh could tolerate the mess he made with his books or not doing the dishes. It was their growing disagreements over things that made it more irritating. Usually, it would be left forgotten—because Kaveh had more urgent and important things to do and bickering with Alhaitham was not it—but this time, much to his dismay, he could not.
Because Alhaitham was sick and he was adamant about joining him.
He claimed it was just a cough, but Kaveh knew damn well it was not just a cough. He was running on fever, but acted as if it was just, Kaveh quoted, his fucking imagination.
Now, it wasn’t as if Kaveh didn’t understand the excitement of finding a novel thing or place to explore—they shared that trait, there’s no way he didn’t understand—but this was not your casual trip to the market to buy groceries. It was a trip to the desert, where water was scarce and air so hot and definitely, definitely, wasn’t a place the scribe, who absolutely loved to lounge all day on his sofa with a book in his hands on his day off, would find fancy. Yes, the temple came with not just an unusual structure but also foreign scripts etched on its wall, but Alhaitham didn’t have to be physically there because he could ask Mehrak to make a copy of it and take detailed pictures of everything. It was natural; those scriptures were a part of the architecture, so it would be recorded anyway.
Yes, Kaveh had proposed the idea back when he was in the middle of packing for the said trip a couple of days ago, guessing that Alhaitham would immediately agree with his plan without so much thought. Yet, to his surprise, Alhaitham didn’t reply and simply walked into his room. Well, Kaveh shouted in annoyance so the man could hear him through the closed door, it’s that or joining him; he had proposed kindly, but this was what he got in return?
Less than five minutes later, Alhaitham returned and placed a pile of clothes, pouches, and books next to him. That made Kaveh glance up, meeting green eyes that stared back at him as if saying, “Here’s mine, pack them up." Kaveh, of course, grumbled even more, saying that he’s not his maid, but he packed them up together with his, anyway.
If Kaveh felt any excitement, it was because of the exploration and the possibilities of finding new things, not because Alhaitham decided to go and join his trip.
And then, on the day of departure, that excitement had to be dampened. Alhaitham got sick, but the scribe refused to back down from the trip. Kaveh was fuming, maybe concerned too, but he would rather get lost in the desert than admit it, because the trip would be hard for a healthy person already, let alone a sick one. It involved a lot of back-and-forth arguments before it was finally decided that Alhaitham would still go along because, and he quoted, “It’s just a cough.”
Fine, Kaveh hissed, but he wouldn’t help or take care of him if his sickness worsened.
The walk to the outskirts of the rainforest and into the desert had been long and uncomfortable. Not because of the long distance, not the uneven road, but the air. It was stifling between them. Him and Alhaitham.
Words were barely exchanged throughout their trip, and Kaveh blamed Alhaitham for this. He should not blame him, though, a voice from the corner of his head said, because he did not ask to be sick either. And maybe lower your ego, that voice continued, because, admit it, you’re worried, right?
No, no, no. Alhaitham was a grown man, an adult, and Kaveh was not going to run his thoughts anywhere near that idea. He was capable of taking care of himself the way he managed to keep his pace with Kaveh all the way here. If he could defeat those Eremites that crossed their way earlier without problem, then he was totally fine.
But, Kaveh, what if, the voice was persistent, what if it got serious?
“Kaveh agha? ”
The sudden emergence of a voice startled Kaveh out of his internal war. He turned to the source of the voice and found an old man standing next to him, staring at him in question. He quickly chased away all musings and offered a smile. “Do you need some help moving things?”
“Oh, no, no,” the old man waved his hand, dismissing the idea. “I’m just wondering about your friend’s condition. He doesn’t look too good.”
“Huh? Oh,” Kaveh suppressed a sigh, keeping all of the resurfacing irritation to himself. “He said he’s okay. Just need to catch a break.”
Which was a blatant lie because the reason they took a break here in the village was that someone almost fell down the sand dune after tripping over nothing. That person also refused to listen to him, so he had to drag him into the village. Something that surprised Kaveh was that it was surprisingly very easy to do that; Kaveh could pretty much carry him.
(And he wanted to because, Archon, Alhaitham was burning, and he looked so out of it. He was not so cruel to leave him, even if he said that he would not help; that was just his anger talking back then.)
Alhaitham did not say such things, and Kaveh was just glossing over things to make it simpler, but, yeah, Alhaitham would not admit that he was not okay to him, let alone to a stranger. At this point, Kaveh would just take all of Alhaitham’s words at face value to spare more irritation that would further dampen his mood.
“That’s good. The desert has been harsh these days,” the old man agreed before walking to a chair to sit. “Those from the Akademiya were all worn out after discovering the new temple back then as well.”
Kaveh joined him as Mehrak emerged from the room and sat on a chair across the old man while he poured a glass of water from the jug and offered it to him. “I know you’re eager to study the temple, but have a good rest first. The temple isn’t going anywhere.”
The architect laughed. “Yeah, it’s certainly better than camping outside. Thank you for lending us some rooms, amoo.”
Maybe he really should not have blamed Alhaitham—objectively speaking, it was far better to rest in the village than camping outside, after all. There was always something good out of everything, Kaveh reminded himself, and maybe this was one of them.
“No need to thank me. We always crossed paths back when we were still a group of nomads, and you helped us to find a place to settle down. It would be uncouth for us not to–”
“Baba!”
A woman’s voice cut through the front door, pounding on it rapidly as she kept calling the old man. “Baba! Baba, please open up!”
Kaveh hurried to the door, opened it, and caught the woman who stumbled into the house with a panic-stricken face as tears threatened to fall from obsidian eyes. The old man approached her as she fell to her knees, holding onto Kaveh’s hand and fighting back sobs.
“Goodness, Anaya!” The old man kneeled, a mixture of surprise and worry thick in his voice. “What happened? What’s wrong?”
“T-Tamer…” she stammered, “my son, he met the Eremites while playing and…”
“Kidnapped…?” the old man asked in a whisper, praying it was not the case, but the woman’s sobs made it apparent that it was exactly the case. “Did they ask for money?”
The woman nodded shakily. “If I have money, I would give it all to them. But you know we– I don’t have much money, baba…”
Of course, Kaveh thought. The villagers were bartering to get supplies, only spending money to get stuff from Karavan Ribat or the passing merchants. Money held little to no significance in this small, newly-made village, so they only kept the necessary amount of it. But this…
“I’ll go,” Kaveh glanced at Mehrak and motioned to get ready. “Can you tell me where your son was playing, khanom?”
Kaveh did not have much on him either, only enough for him and Alhaitham just in case they needed to buy something in Karavan Ribat, but it did not mean that he could not use something else to get the boy back to his mother: violence. Sometimes, violence could go a long way, especially when it came to that kind of desert-dweller. It’s always either money or blood with them, but Kaveh was not going to let an innocent child’s blood be spilled, nor would he give them the money. Listening to their demand would only make this village a good target for exploitation in the future, and negotiation never worked, so it only left him with the other option.
A glimmer of hope appeared amidst the tears streaming down her face. She swallowed thickly, suppressing a sob as she answered, “A-At the western outskirts of the village…”
“Alright,” Kaveh nodded and grabbed her trembling hands, smiling at her. “It’ll be fine. I’ll be quick, promise.”
“T-Thank you,” she stammered, holding onto his hand tighter. “Thank you!”
“Be safe, agha,” the old man said, tapping Kaveh’s shoulders as he stood and handed an oil lamp. “We will ask for help from Karavan Ribat and Aaru Village, too.”
Kaveh nodded. Ruby eyes strayed momentarily and landed on the door of the room where Alhaitham was.
“ Amoo,” he found himself saying, “if he came to you and asked about me, just tell him I’m looking around the village and sketching, okay?”
Why the lie, Kaveh? Afraid he’ll come and join you?
No. Kaveh shoved the voice to the corner of his head as he pushed the door open. Dry wind greeted him as he looked up to the sky bathed in a golden hue—30 minutes left at most before the night fell and blanketed everything with darkness. It would be hard for him to track those Eremites in the dark, not to mention it had been a while since his last expedition to the desert, so the layout of the dunes could have changed by now.
There was no time to waste. Whether Alhaitham asked about his whereabouts or not, it did not matter now. The man knew what was best for himself, and after almost passing out earlier, Kaveh believed that he would stay in his room and rest. All of his focus and concern should be directed to the kidnapped boy, not Alhaitham.
He would be okay. Alhaitham would stay there resting, and Kaveh would be back in twenty minutes with the boy after giving those Eremites a good beating.
If only Kaveh realized how wrong he was.
Shit.
The word almost fell out of his lips as Kaveh tried to regulate his heavy breath. The damp air was stifling, and he could barely see the lines of his body. Something warm slid down his abdomen, probably soaking his shirt in red by now, and Kaveh winced.
He underestimated them.
A mixture of residual energy sourced from pyro and geo was scattered around the spot he had been told, all leading to the very same temple that he wanted to explore. Unlike how he was informed the day before his departure, there was no one guarding the site, and whatever camps set by Akademiya’s researchers were nowhere to be seen. This sent questions and suspicions to Kaveh’s head like an alarm, but he disregarded it.
Big mistake.
The last time he went for a trip to the desert was around seven months ago, and it was just it: a trip. It was a lot closer than this temple, and basically, it was just him visiting Sethos’ home with Cyno and Tighnari. Maybe the decreasing frequency of desert expeditions made his instinct dull. His mind reasoned that the absence of researchers’ camps was simply them returning early, and they missed each other, especially since Kaveh made a stop in a remote village that was yet to be recorded in the desert map. It crossed his mind just now that maybe the same group of Eremites had raided them. Kaveh did not want to think about what became of those researchers.
Dark eyes glanced to the side, trying to discern the boy from the darkness enshrouding them, and placed a hand on his neck to feel the pulse beating steadily. A heavy sigh escaped him, and Kaveh retracted his hand, letting it fall on his lap, before leaning back against the wall. At least he managed to find him, knocked unconscious, yes, but unharmed in any way. It was also the very reason why he got this injury on his side—he got careless when finding the boy on the floor of a hall, thinking maybe the Eremites had abandoned him.
Except that was not the case.
Kaveh should’ve known that it was a trap because the moment he untied all ropes binding the boy’s hands and feet, the Eremites came out of their hiding spot and launched a barrage of attacks at him. Mehrak alerted him when he was distracted, ended up getting some of the attacks, and Kaveh quickly held on to Mehrak, then used his claymore to knock the Eremite members out before he dashed back to where he came. This was the second mistake he made: underestimating the temple’s layout.
To call it a temple might be justified because the facade was constructed just like any other temple found in the desert, and so was the interior. But deeper, starting from the big hall where Kaveh found the boy, it was anything but ordinary.
A maze, a labyrinth.
The corridor twisted and turned, branching here and there, which differed greatly from what Mehrak had recorded when he first entered the temple. The markings Kaveh had made had disappeared without any traces, and having to deal with the incoming attack, he had to take any available turns if it meant the wall could shield him from pyro and geo attacks.
Those two, the woman with pyro vision and the man with geo vision, must be the leaders. Ruby eyes scanned any possible openings for him to land a blow on either of the two while also keeping the boy safe. Kaveh could not use his claymore freely in this narrow corridor, so he needed to lead them to a bigger place. One more turn to the left, Kaveh glanced at the temple layout Mehrak visualized next to him, and they should be arriving at the hall where he had found the boy earlier.
Except it was not the hall—another similar corridor stretched out before him with the exact same broken jug, flickering torches, and foreign words carved on its wall. Kaveh cursed the outcome and narrowly dodged a wave of geo attack, but missed the momentum to defend himself from the pyro missiles. The impact had him lurching and hitting a wall on the side, then rolling straight into a hidden trap door that sent him and the boy crashing to the lower level.
One of his ribcages might have broken, but at least the boy was okay since Kaveh broke the fall for him.
“Are they still chasing us?” Kaveh murmured to himself. Next to him, Mehrak floated wobbily, making broken mechanical noises in response. He turned to the toolbox, a hand lifted to trace the crack formed on its corner. “It’s alright, Mehrak, don’t force yourself. When we’re back in the village, I’ll repair you, okay? So, hang on a bit more.”
Because it was hard enough with Mehrak’s help. Kaveh could not afford to have Mehrak breaking before they’re out of this maze-like temple and back to the village. He had a promise to fulfill, and another one for Mehrak just now, and he had no intention of breaking it.
For now, he needed to find a way back to the upper level safely and maybe brute-force his way out of this temple. That was the last resort—fighting those two with him injured and needing to keep the boy safe was undoubtedly hard. He could not afford to overexert Mehrak, too, not when it was his last hope to find their way back to the entrance of this damned temple. He should avoid confrontation at all costs. Taking a detour had a better chance for them to make it out safely than to take those Eremites head-on.
Of course, should his luck run out, Kaveh had no other way than having to rely on Mehrak to keep going with the boy while he distracted them. Somehow, Kaveh had an inkling that those two knew the nature of the temple and its layout. If he switched the role to him hunting them, maybe he could get those people to lead them back to the entrance. Would he be able to do that with this injury?
Not a question.
Kaveh pulled his capelet and wrapped it around his injury before taking the boy on his back and pushing himself to stand. His claymore scraped noisily against the corridor ground, using it as a lever for his shaky legs. Mehrak hovered closer to him, green eyes blinking in worry, to which Kaveh returned with a chuckle.
“I’m fine, the bleeding has stopped. We’ll find stairs or a lift to go to the upper level, then I’ll get information from those guys. In the meantime, map out this temple’s layout the best you can,” he said to Mehrak after adjusting his hold on the kid. “We’ll return safely.”
Yes. Back to the village. Back to the boy’s worried mother.
Back to Alhaitham.
They set out of their hiding spot. Kaveh strained his eyes to make out the lines and corners of their surroundings in this low light. It gradually got better, even better when they reached the spot where they first landed after falling, and found an unlit torch after tripping over it. At this particular time, Kaveh was grateful he kept a flint rock in Mehrak because the darkness started to stress him out.
The fire cast a warm glow on their surroundings, revealing all the debris on the ground and scriptures etched on the wall. Kaveh trudged on, this time marking the wall each time he took a turn, just in case the corridor twisted and turned the way it did above. Maybe it was his luck because getting back to the upper ground was easier than he had anticipated. He just hoped he had some luck left.
“Ugh–”
Mehrak hovered close to him, green eyes blinking in worry as Kaveh leaned into the wall at the last flight of stairs up, one hand grasping the capelet wrapped around his wound. For a moment, his vision blurred, and his hold on the boy almost slipped. He gave himself a pinch on the thigh, fighting the pain with pain, and regained his focus—he needed to get out of this temple. Fainting was not an option.
“It’s alright, just catching my breath,” he said to Mehrak. “How’s the temple’s layout?”
The toolbox let out a rickety noise as it showed him a visualization of the temple, closing in on where they were, then zooming out. Ruby eyes scanned the green projection, mapping out the possible location of the entrance, the maze-like corridors, and green dots not far from them. They were in a bigger space, perhaps the hall where he first found the boy, unmoving as though they were waiting. Kaveh nodded, then motioned for Mehrak to stop the projection and move along.
Right to where those green dots were.
Two pairs of eyes hidden beneath scarlet cloth found their way to Kaveh. Shit, Kaveh gritted his teeth in annoyance, he was just three steps into the intersection and the moment he made a turn further away from where the green dots were, the temple just had to shift and lead him to the hall. So much for taking a detour and leaving safely. Curse the temple and its ever-changing layouts.
The guy readied his weapon, and Kaveh pulled his claymore, hoping they would not notice the way his one hand trembled to lift his claymore. Kaveh motioned Mehrak to get ready and take the boy on his signal, but right before he could make a move, the pyro woman raised a hand.
“Hand over the kid, and we won’t harm you,” she beckoned.
Ruby eyes narrowed. A hand that supported the unconscious boy on his back made a silent motion to Mehrak. “Why him?”
“For our lord, our king,” the woman smiled. It became twisted in the end. “A pure soul is needed to bring back our great Lord Al-Ahmar.”
Sick.
His jaw clenched tightly. Yes, he knew how some of the Eremites worshiped King Deshret and still attempted to bring him back, but to go as far as sacrificing a human, a child?
“Over my dead body,” Kaveh growled. His grip on the claymore tightened, tremble all gone with anger and disgust surging. A snap of his hand, and Mehrak took over the boy, using its power to keep him levitating as Kaveh charged at the woman.
A loud clanging noise reverberated in the hall, bouncing all over as his claymore met the geo weapon. Green glowed around him, creating a radial damage that sent the man tumbling back. He glanced at the toolbox, clicking his tongue at how it stayed there instead of going to the entrance like he had planned. Yet before Kaveh made any remarks, the ground shook, forcing him to refocus and hold his ground with the claymore.
A wave of explosion went his way, hitting him where his weapon could not protect him. It was getting hard to ignore the pain, and he really could not afford having Mehrak fight more than this, so at least he should finish this guy quickly and make his run with the boy and Mehrak back to the entrance. However, Mehrak suddenly hovered close to him, making a worried noise before unleashing its energy to form a cubic scan around them.
Dendro power hit the man before he could make another attack, making him stagger as Kaveh used the chance to keep attacking. It was all a series of rabid movements, uncoordinated, desperate, and he could barely feel his arm. One leap and he finally slashed the man across the torso, eliciting a loud, pained groan before he slumped to the ground.
Heavy breaths fell out of his mouth, and his ears were filled with the loud thumps of heartbeats. He barely realized how his face was all marred with blood as he struggled to return to his stance. This was not yet finished. The woman was still around, watching the whole thing as if it were merely a spectacle.
“Quite a fighter, aren’t you?” She said with a smile, clapping her hands as if she had known how the fight would go. “Maybe you’re a worthier sacrifice than the kid. Those foolish researchers aren’t enough for our lord’s resurrection. So, how is it? Care to surrender and be the holy sacrifice for our great Lord Al-Ahmar?”
Kaveh straightened himself, although his legs almost gave up. His sight started to blur, and something was trickling down his side—his wound must have gotten worse from the previous attack.
Not good. Forget stalling this woman, he could not even run at this point.
“Mehrak…” he whispered, ragged breaths tasted like iron and all shapes losing their edges. “Get out of here.”
Maybe Mehrak made a disagreeing sound at that, but Kaveh ignored it. He took a heavy breath before smiling at the woman. “Sounds fancy,” he repositioned himself, taking the bloodied claymore with both hands, “but I have to refuse.”
The woman laughed and pushed herself from the wall, swiftly launching pyro missiles without missing a beat. It caught him off guard, but Kaveh managed to dodge and closed in on her. The swing of his claymore felt slower than before because even at such close distance, she could flicker away from him to dodge it. A flash caught his eyes, and Kaveh jumped behind a wall just in time for the beam to come his way. Something shifted, and before he could blink, the hall changed into a corridor.
The layout had changed again—he must have accidentally stepped out of the hall. Kaveh frantically looked around and found his companion and the boy a couple of meters away from him, taking a shield behind a big rubble. Good, at least he did not get separated from Mehrak and the boy, and the shift actually bought him some time to catch his breath.
“Join us in the grand resurrection of Lord Al-Ahmar!” He heard her hysterical laughter echoing from a distance away, with explosions and crackling noise following close by.
The ground shook beneath Kaveh’s feet from the sheer damage. He knew he had to make his escape now that she was not around, but the idea of her wandering around trying to kidnap children for a ridiculous attempt bothered him. It was either she got captured by the authorities or he finished her off this instant, and between the two, honestly, the former was far more tempting, given his condition.
But this was the desert—the patrol would not go so far to reach this corner of Sumeru, and it would be hard to track her, suppose they pursued her. Yes, he might need to take this matter into his hands, like it or not. The woman almost killed an innocent child; that much was enough justification for Kaveh to finish her off.
Another explosion made the ground shake as Kaveh caught his breath and retrieved the boy from Mehrak. His back against the wall, and his legs were on the verge of giving out from the way his wound reopened. Shit, this really took the worst turn possible, wasn’t it?
“Mehrak, the layout.”
The toolbox immediately showed him the temple’s interior, green lines flickered weakly, and a green dot was almost invisible. Of course, Kaveh sighed, just when they were so close to the entrance, the temple just had to throw them back to the furthest corner. He bit his tongue, a poor attempt to keep his focus before the projection flickered away. Mehrak blinked worriedly, making mechanical noises as it tried to show the layout again to no avail.
“It’s okay. I got it memorized,” Kaveh lied. No, he did not remember anything except for their position and the woman’s, which turned out to be closer than he thought, but he needed to, at least, reassure his companion here.
Kaveh straightened himself and forced himself to focus. They needed to move. If Kaveh learned anything from this temple, then it was better to keep moving than to sit still. Whether the shift brought him closer to the entrance or to the crazy woman, there should be a point where they would be led right to the entrance. A fat chance, a very slim possibility, but Kaveh wanted to bet on that.
Tying his capelet tighter and securing the boy back on his back, Kaveh trudged into the intersection, taking the straight path this time. They were back in the hall, but it was quiet this time. Mehrak made another attempt to show him the layout, and true to his suspicions that the hall did not move, nor did the entrance. It stayed there, not too far south of the entrance. If he kept making his way to the north, then, logically, it would lead him back to the entrance.
Except it did not.
He was led to the eastern side of the temple this time, and the woman was on the other end of the corridor. She smiled, summoning missiles aimed at him.
“Found you!”
Kaveh barely dodged the barrage of pyro, and only managed to deflect some of it with his claymore. The ground shook again as the missiles hit the wall, sending it crumbling as though it were made of sand. The woman chanted something, opening a triangular rift in the air, and a fiery scorpion leaped out of it, shrieking as it aimed its tail his way. Kaveh scrambled back to his feet, eyes scanning around to find another intersection he could escape to, but found nothing. The only intersections available were the one behind him and behind that woman. His best bet was to return where he came from and–
“You won’t escape!”
The scorpion suddenly appeared behind him, burrowing out of the ground with loud noises that grated his ears as it raised its tail. Kaveh let out a string of curses under his breath; the toxin from this scorpion could render a healthy person into a long, comatose state, and if it were to graze him in his current state, he might be as good as dead.
Shit–!
A bright green light emerged, raining down on the scorpion like countless sharp leaves piercing its body. It left no trace, gone as quickly as it appeared, but Kaveh recognized it. This kind of attack, he knew it well.
“So much for looking around the village to sketch.”
A familiar voice echoed in the silent hallway. The figure made its presence seen, stepping away from the dark intersection where Kaveh had tried to make his escape to his side. Bright ruby orbs found the familiar gaze, silent and cold, almost devoid of emotions, but Kaveh knew better. A hint of annoyance, the kind that he often saw in cats whenever he poked them out of their sleep, yet tame and harmless.
A wave of surprise and relief flooded in all at once, crashing like a violent wave that rendered him speechless. For a moment, he could feel his last remaining energy leave him, making his knees weak, and his hold on the boy slipped. A hand grabbed him, steadying his stance as those calm eyes shifted to stare straight at the smiling woman. Kaveh watched as the man readied himself, but more than the fact that it was nice to have a reinforcement, the heat transferred to his skin from Alhaitham’s fingertips reminded him of his condition.
“Alhaitham, wait, you’re still sick–”
But before he could finish it, Alhaitham had charged at the woman, swiftly dodging all pyro bullets and landing dendro blows at her. It was truly amazing to see that despite his fever, Alhaitham could still deliver efficient attacks and calculate the Eremite’s next move. No single movement wasted, no single pyro licked his skin as he kept dendro surging with each swing of his sword.
Perhaps it was because of exhaustion that Kaveh thought everything looked like a dance. Dodges and counterattacks were swift and steady, taunts went past him like it was just a gust of wind. And then, before long, he had her on her knees with the tip of his sword pointed at her.
“Excellent, such excellent sacrifices we have today!” The woman screamed, laughing uncontrollably as blood dripped from her jaw. “Kassim won’t die in vain.. and neither will I…”
“What nonsense…” Kaveh heard Alhaitham saying as he approached him.
“Yes… I might not see my lord with my own eyes, but you…” The woman glanced at them, dark eyes peeking amidst torn scarlet cloth that gave Kaveh the chills. “You three, along with me… We will all become the holy sacrifice for Lord Al-Ahmer in the end!”
A snap of her fingers was followed by a loud sound of an explosion that shook the corridor. Dust from the ceiling rained down on them as Kaveh lashed out, “You crazy woman! It’s not enough with harming a child, huh?!”
The woman grinned widely, letting out one last strangled laugh before slumping to the sandy ground. Her blood pooled beneath her body, almost reaching Alhaitham’s shoes when he moved away with a little bit of lag in his movement. Kaveh noticed it; there was no way he did not, but he knew better than to say anything about it. At least not when he had another thing to focus on: getting out of this temple.
“This temple will collapse soon,” Alhaitham suddenly said, just in time for another explosion that sent another violent vibration. “We'd better get out of here.”
Kaveh wanted to ask how, but Alhaitham had pulled him away from the unmoving figure, positioning himself right behind him. Kaveh agreed—this temple would not hold if the woman’s threat was not just some bullshit spouted to scare them. But how could they find the right path to the entrance? The corridor was always moving as if intent on trapping and swallowing them alive.
“Left.”
“Huh?”
A hand pulled his arm, swinging him to the side before it pushed him back to the front. Kaveh had no time to ask why the sudden direction, but he had to believe in Alhaitham. If he could find his way to him in the depths of the temple, then he must have his way to find the right path back to the entrance. One hand stretched back and found Alhaitham’s wrist, feeling his skin hotter than before.
“Don’t let go,” Kaveh said amidst heavy breaths, “can’t afford to get separated by accident.”
“Right.”
That reply was not an affirmation, but a direction. Kaveh should have known the man would not make anything easier for him, sick or not. But it was better this way; this was the Alhaitham he knew and was familiar with. Somehow, the thought brought him peace amidst the chaos, a touch of reassurance in desperate times.
Mehrak levitated next to him and forced itself to show him the layout. They were still a good distance away from the entrance, but they slowly got closer, nonetheless. Alhaitham’s directions had been correct all along. A sharp turn to the right, and then left, another left, forward, and that was when Kaveh felt Alhaitham’s hand slipping off his grasp. The architect hastily turned at him, intending to grab hold of him, when his outstretched hand froze mid-air.
Alhaitham had fallen to his knees, clutching his head as blood fell to the sandy ground.
“Alhaitham!” Kaveh approached him, crouched to try and get a look at him. His hand covered half of his face as he hung his head low, making it hard for Kaveh to see his fresh injury. “Blood… Why didn’t you tell me that you got injured?”
But when? He managed to dodge the Eremite’s attacks flawlessly, so it could not be from the battle. Did he get hit by fallen debris as they ran? Why did he not say anything?
“I’m fine, keep moving,” he said, and Kaveh was hit by a sharp sense of deja vu—the very same tone, the very same expression he had used to force himself on going with him to this expedition. He was forcing himself, masking everything under a calm, ignorant demeanor.
Kaveh clicked his tongue. The labored breaths and suppressed hiss of pain could not be coming from mere exhaustion from the run. His fever was not any better, too, judging from the temperature of his skin. It was just a matter of time for Alhaitham to collapse the way he did earlier.
“You’re injured! We need to–”
“There’s no time, Kaveh. It’ll collapse soon,” Alhaitham interjected, pushing himself up with a stagger. A glint of red could be seen in his eyes, but it was gone the moment Kaveh stood. “Run. And quick.”
Shit. Kaveh had no choice but to follow his order. The ground and wall had been shaking harder as another echo of the explosion resounded from the corridor behind them. He tightened his grip on both the boy and Alhaitham, gritting his teeth as he felt stabbing pain on his side and lungs burning from the lack of oxygen and too much dust in the air.
Just a bit more.
His mind hollered in joy the moment a bright light welcomed him after the turn he made. Kaveh could see the entrance of this temple, the light at the end of the long corridor. His legs felt weak, and every fiber of his muscles was screaming for him to stop. It burned, but he needed to get the boy back to the village, back to his parents. His ears picked up the booming noise and distinct explosion somewhere behind, back in the depths of the temple, echoing through the stone wall. The ground shook violently, making him stumble when he heard another explosion that sounded too close for safety.
That woman was not shitting when she said she would turn them as sacrifices too, was she?
Cracking noises that followed the explosion were unnerving. Sands were falling harder from the stone ceiling, trickling down like a waterfall, stones that constructed the ceiling crumbled, and Kaveh tried to make his legs run faster to no avail. The continuous bleeding from his abdomen made him dizzy, weakening his hold on the unconscious boy, his body faltering and hitting the wall on his side when he felt a hand on his back.
There was a push.
And then, before he realized it, he fell forward, body lurching into the sand while something rumbled, creating noises so loud and rough vibration akin to an earthquake. Kaveh turned hastily, inhaling sand and dust as it whipped up into the air, and, after making sure that the boy was still with him, wondered what had happened. Red eyes ignored the sting, and he forced his blink reflexes to stop as a hand fanned away all sand to clear his sight. All of that, and only to see that he was out of the now-collapsing temple, with a sharp realization that he had just narrowly escaped it. Call it his luck, but–
“Alhaitham?”
He was right behind him with Mehrak. But hovering on his side was only Mehrak, blinking its tired green eyes weakly. Alhaitham was nowhere around.
Something heavy dropped to his stomach as he stared at the blocked entrance of the temple and remembered the push he felt seconds ago.
No, no, no.
He was still inside.
“Alhaitham!”
Alarm rang in his head, open wound temporarily forgotten as he stumbled across the uneven ground. His grip tightened on the boy’s body as Mehrak floated around him hastily, making Kaveh realize that he had lost too much blood and was now so close to fainting.
But Alhaitham was inside, trapped.
Crushed.
“Mehrak, can you lift the boulder over there?”
His companion’s artificial eyes widened before expressing concern and uncertainty. Mehrak could not do that, not with some of its parts not functioning properly, not with its owner barely conscious. One reckless move and it could stop functioning, meaning exposing its owner to bigger danger than he was already in.
“Please, we don’t have time. He’s still inside. Alhaitham–”
“Kaveh!”
A voice familiar to his ears reached him, making him turn to see Cyno with several other matras come running. For a moment, there was a mixture of relief and hope when he saw them. He put the boy gently on the ground before kicking himself to stand and back to the ruin. The boulder did not budge with what was left of his strength, even Mehrak tried to stop him. But Kaveh could not stop. Knowing his effort would be fruitless, he turned to Cyno and his men with a shout, “Don’t just stand there and look! Help me!”
Maybe it was one of the rare moments when Kaveh had to order people. He had no qualm in ordering the matras around, let alone the Mahamatra himself. But there was no moment to lose. He needed to clear these boulders to fish Alhaitham out of the rubble before he–
“–eh.”
–was out of oxygen. He knew exactly how hard it was to survive in the dark with minimum food, and–
“Kaveh.”
–not knowing when help would arrive, or if there was any help coming at all. Alhaitham was the most rational person he knew, but surviving in a cramped place with tons of dust and sand particles required more than just rationale and wits. The best scenario was that Alhaitham was able to find a room or a crevice to keep himself safe, but what if–
What if…
“Kaveh, stop.”
A hand shook his shoulder hard, pulling him from ceaseless mulling and back to the sight of bleeding fingers, drilling stare from the Mahamatra, and Mehrak’s concerned gaze with its rusty mechanical noises on peripheral vision. Heartbeats noisy in his ears, echoing loudly, but still not loud enough to drown Cyno’s voice.
“Stop. You’re injured,” Cyno continued. “Go lie down and press your wound to stop the bleeding. You’re not helping with the mindless–”
“Are you out of your mind?!”
There was anger. Kaveh was no stranger to anger, but he knew when and where to use it. He usually knew. Mostly, he used it whenever he was around Alhaitham because the guy could be such a jerk sometimes. But he was not around. He was buried somewhere under those rubbles.
“He… Alhaitham, he…”
Alhaitham was the one who pushed him out.
“Kaveh, I get the gist of the situation here, and I understand you want to help,” Cyno sighed, “but you’re not helping. Not with those wounds. You’re out of energy.”
Of course. What could he do to help? Mehrak could not lift those boulders, and neither did he have the energy to. He was injured, bleeding out, lungs screaming for air, and brain whoozy from probably a mixture of blood loss and lack of oxygen. He panicked; he had never felt so panicked in all his life, and he could not believe that the reason for his panic was Alhaitham.
Maybe, a small voice at the back of his head said, whispering jeers and mockery, maybe you could. Maybe you should’ve been more honest.
“I… have to… find him…” Kaveh panted, mouth tasted acrid and dry, with vision slowly tilting to the darkness. “Find… –hai… tham…”
A shout followed as soon as his vision darkened completely. Funny how he could hear Cyno’s voice calling his name and Mehrak’s hoarse mechanical noises, but unable to reply to them. Weight settled in his body, dragging it down with each passing second. Exhaustion touched his eyes, lulling his mind to ease. A memory played like a series of snapshots, in which Kaveh found his vision inside his meal as if it were waiting to be found. Yet as soon as he saw himself taking it out, the memory faded, taking his consciousness with it. The vision vanished from his hands in that memory, gleaming green that oddly reminded him of a pair of eyes.
Green eyes.
Kaveh embraced the darkness. His dendro vision had never felt so useless before.
Kaveh woke up to a strange ceiling.
It was oddly a meter too low, too old, too unfamiliar. The air was thick with an equally unfamiliar scent. Herbal, most of it, but also unknown chemical odors that stung his nose. Ruby eyes blinked as they darted everywhere around, trying to clear the blur, and mind stuck in a muddy state of haze.
He did not know where he was. No one was around, and it did not help that his body refused to move. Groggy, sore, aching all over as though the world had been sitting on him. He racked his brain to remember what had happened. Everything was enshrouded in fog, and the acute headache did not help.
Sand.
He was back in the desert. An expedition, a temple, a boy.
Right…
The ever-changing corridors, the Eremites, Mehrak, explosions.
Alhaitham.
His body jerked. Dread filled him, twisting his gut, and panic poured on him like a heavy rain. Memories came flooding in—the blood dripping to the sand, the heat on his fingertips, the push.
A loud crashing noise filled his ears along with a shout calling his name. A pair of hands grabbed hold of him, but Kaveh barely heard anything as he stared at the floor, mind registered the pain from falling from whatever he was lying on like a wake-up slap.
Alhaitham. Alhaitham.
He pushed him and the boy out of the collapsing temple. He was nowhere around him. The temple’s entrance was blocked by boulders and rubble, and Alhaitham…
No…
“Kaveh, you shouldn’t–”
“Alhaitham…” He pushed his barely responding body to move, forcing wobbly legs to hold steady and stumbling before he made a step. “Alhaitham… where..”
The same person held him firmly, preventing him from moving. “Don’t move yet. You should rest–”
“Where’s Alhaitham?!” Kaveh could barely recognize his voice; all hoarse and rough on the edges. Panic and desperation swirled inside his chest, making it tight and heavy and hard to breathe. “He’s trapped inside, he’s sick and injured–is he…”
Dead?
No, no, no–
“Kaveh!”
The violent shake of his body pulled him out of the string of guesses and wonders. Ruby eyes finally made out the black and green colors, a pair of ears, a familiar face twisted into a stern countenance. Tighnari. It was Tighnari.
“Calm down,” the forest ranger said calmly, but voice grim. “You’re back in the city and getting treatments in Bimarstan. Cyno found you and managed to find Alhaitham too.”
“Is he..?”
“Yes, he’s also here for treatme– Oi, Kaveh!”
Kaveh bolted out of the room, ignoring the sharp cut from around his wrist and the growing pain on his abdomen. His feet stumbled, forcing him to trudge slowly while leaning on the wall. The world tilted, and before he could realize it, Tighnari appeared beside him.
“Not that way,” Tighnari said with a sigh, pulling Kaveh’s arm to sling it around his shoulders while he put a hand around him. “He’s in the observation room.”
The word ‘observation room’ did not make it any better. He bit his tongue, suppressing the grunts of pain emerging from his throat. A short walk and a turn, then they stopped in front of a door. The forest ranger knocked it and a voice answered from inside, telling them to enter. There were Cyno and a man standing by the bed, both glanced their way when Kaveh spotted a glimpse of gray hair. Maybe the man said something to him, something about his wound and rest, but Kaveh ran past him.
“Alhaitham!”
There, lying on the bed, was the person he had been so worried about. The rhythmical rise and fall of his chest should have been enough of an assurance for Kaveh, but all was thrown out the moment he noticed the white bandage wrapped around his head. It went past his forehead, covering even the upper half of his face.
Trembling hands gathered the limp one resting on the stomach, feeling the subdued heat radiated from it, gripping it tight as though seeking assurance. Crimson gaze fell to the white bandage, and his mind raced, fabricating scenario upon scenario, and none of them led to a good ending. His legs gave up, forcing him to his knees as he fought hard to chase away all terrible ideas. He needed to confirm it with the doctor; he knew he had to, but nothing came out of his gaping mouth.
A hand landed on his shoulder, forcing Kaveh to tear his eyes from the unconscious man. The man who talked to Cyno stood next to him, donning a neutral face with a hint of weariness on the edges of his eyes. He gently took one of his hands to wipe a spot before inserting a needle. The sting barely registered to Kaveh, but now he realized that the pain he felt earlier came from the yanked infusion needle. The man was putting it back on him again with practiced movement, and all Kaveh did was stare at the small tube flowing with clear fluid.
“He’s okay. If anything, your condition was far worse than his,” the doctor said after disposing of his glove, pointing at his abdomen. “More movement, and you might open the stitches.”
Tighnari placed a chair behind him with a sigh. “You heard the doctor, Kaveh.”
The architect eased himself into the chair, grimacing a little at the sting coming from his side. The doctor said something about how it was hard to believe that his body managed to hold on despite the severe blood loss and the long journey to get him back to the city, but none of it really sank into him.
Red eyes found their way back to the unconscious man, taking in the sight of pale lips and scratches peeking through the edge of the bandage on his cheek. Another wrap of bandage around the neck and the forearm near the elbow. His thumb brushed the soft skin of Alhaitham’s hand, feeling the bumps of knuckles and the length of his fingers. Short nails, neatly trimmed, with a small bump on the top knuckle of his middle finger—read a lot, write a lot—a hand that was not that much larger than his own, a hand that shoved him out of the crumbling temple.
Kaveh sighed.
Thank Archon…
He survived the collapsing temple.
Alhaitham was alive.
For the longest moment, Kaveh did not say anything. The conversation of the other three men melted into a white noise as he squeezed Alhaitham’s hand. Squeeze, then release, squeeze again, then release. It was as though he was coaxing Alhaitham into waking while also hesitant to rouse him from his rest.
“…truly a miracle.”
The last line said by the doctor pulled his mind out of its wandering. He turned to the doctor, who was talking to Tighnari and Cyno. The doctor, realizing he might have missed the explanation, repeated, “He doesn’t sustain any serious injuries. No fractures, no excessive blood loss, no internal organ damage. If what Sir Cyno said about the incident was true, then it was truly a miracle. Lesser Lord Kusanali must have protected him.”
A miracle. Kaveh repeated the word in his head. It was a miracle, yet…
“If there are no serious injuries, then he should be awake by now,” Kaveh said. “He was bleeding from his head, I saw it myself. Are you sure he’s okay?”
The blood sliding down his jaw and falling to the ground, Kaveh remembered clearly how the man fought back a pained hiss, swallowing it all down with a swift dismissal. There was no way that he was okay. The bandage wrapped around half of his face was not there for show—Kaveh would beat the doctor, even Cyno and Tighnari, suppose they were pranking him, which he knew they were not. Something was going on with Alhaitham, and if it was not anything from the temple incident, then it must be from the fever.
“Not his head,” the doctor replied calmly, “but his eyes. That’s why he’s on observation.”
Eyes?
The bandage wrapped around his head… so it was not for his head? Did the blood he saw back then come from his eyes? Did the debris injure his eyes?
“He woke up earlier than you. A couple of times, in fact,” the doctor resumed. “Each time, his eyes were hurting even if there was no visible damage to them. They grow sensitive to light, but nothing more.”
No visible damage and just sensitive to light. It sounded relieving, but that feeling did not ease the knot in his chest. Something, a part of him insisted, something was off, yet he could barely put a finger to it. It was his gut feeling, and for the first time, Kaveh wished that he was just overthinking things and that his gut feeling was wrong.
“…veh.”
Ruby eyes widened at the voice and the squeeze on his hand. He quickly turned to Alhaitham and found him stirring, tilting his head his way. Words were caught somewhere in his throat, and the only thing he could do was to hold his hand tighter.
“Alhaitham, how do you feel?” Tighnari asked as the doctor went to the other side of the bed to help him sit.
“The bandage,” he raised one free hand, hitting his jaw before fingers found the texture of the cloth, “is making my head ache.”
Kaveh looked at the doctor. “It should be okay to remove it, right? We can close the window and turn off the lamp.”
The doctor glanced at him at the question before turning to Alhaitham. “Are your eyes still hurting?”
The scribe shook his head, prompting the doctor to walk to the window to close it while Cyno turned the lamp off. It was darker now, but Kaveh’s eyes could still see clearly how the doctor untied the bandage and slowly unwrapped it. Everything felt like it was moving very slowly. Maybe it was the anticipation, or maybe it was his fear. Kaveh could hear his heartbeat echoing in his ears, loud and distracting.
The last layer of soft bandage slipped away through gray tresses. Alhaitham bowed his head slightly with fingers massaging the side while the other was still a captive of Kaveh's nervous fidget. The architect did not say anything on the way Alhaitham kept bowing his head—gray hair fell across his face, and Kaveh could not see his expression. Still, he did not shake off his hand, so maybe he was still adjusting his sight.
The doctor disposed of the bandage before returning with a question. “Can you see clearly?”
“It’s dark.”
“Y-Yeah,” Kaveh swallowed a lump in his throat, his heart hammered in his chest at the remark Alhaitham made. It made scenarios resurface. “The doctor said your eyes are sensitive to light, so we turned off the lamp.”
“Want me to turn it back on?” Cyno asked as he stood by the switch.
“Yes,” was the only thing Alhaitham replied with.
“Alright. You might want to close your eyes first and open them slowly,” the Mahamatra said. “I’ll turn it on now.”
Artificial light filled the room with cold white, and for the longest of time, Alhaitham said nothing. Kaveh pressed his lips, eyes glancing from the man to the doctor and back to the man almost anxiously. He watched as the man straightened himself, staring straight at the wall across him without words. His name was hanging on the tip of his tongue when Alhaitham's question stopped it dead in its tracks.
“Kaveh, where are you?”
Kaveh froze. His heart fell into the pit of his stomach, and a heavy lump formed in his throat again. Air was trapped somewhere in his constricted throat, and everything that fell out of his ajar lips was, “Huh?”
Eyes like beautiful bloodstone blinked slowly. A hand raised slowly as though searching, and Kaveh met him halfway, grasping it as he felt his stomach twisting. Something was not right. He was there, right by Alhaitham’s side, so close that Kaveh could see the flutter of his lashes each time he blinked.
But…
“I’m here,” Kaveh swallowed down the lump, forcing words out of his stiff tongue. “Alhaitham..?”
Please, please…
The man tilted his head his way, and Kaveh’s breath was caught in his throat as they locked gazes.
Alhaitham was not looking at him.
Alhaitham did not see him.
“I can’t see anything.”