......Among the dunes

The night had been long and with it the loud yet distant howls of some unknown montrosities seemed to have drug on for days. May beit had been days the young monk thought to himself; as if time were non existent. The years of meditation, training and persistence had not brought the young monk the mental fortitude in which he thought he had achieved years ago ... "Years ago he began to mutter but was it years or decades ago?". When had he last seen the mountains from which he fled?Months or years he did not know but the stinging painful memories felt like freshly opened wounds. Fleeting questions run through the monk's mind like the sand blows across the vast wasteland. As if it was a coping mechanism his mind shifts from the relative measure of time to the lasting taste of raw scorpion and cactus juice that continues to resonate in his mouth. As the monk walks through the sand with his feet wrapped in tattered cloth and his body barley covered in his temple robes the sand bites against his face ... the grit fills his mouth and burns his eyes. He continues forward clinging to the random thoughts of the past and begins muttering to himself. "They are dead ... they are all dead ... SHE IS DEAD ... but why ... why ... why?" The monk's head, which is already splitting, begins to pound even harder as the anger wells up inside him, his vision begins to fade and his body falls into the hungry sands.

A quiet calm resolved inside the monk as he opened his eye's to find himself cool, relaxed and in a clean robe. The room was also calming as the subtle candle light washed over the darkness. The monk began pinching himself as to think he may be dreaming or dead ... dead; his memory served well to remind him that he was headed for death as his face had collided with the desert sands but what had happened afterwards? The monk sensed he was in a small enclosure of some sort and could hear the desert winds howling around him at their times of unrest but he did not sense anyone else in the dwelling with him. Just as he was about to get up to further investigate the deserts voice rose abruptly as door opened; a short individual in a dark brown robe descended the steps and quickly shut the door, silencing the angry desert winds. "Ah your awake child." came a hoarse and raspy voice from under the hood. The person continued to talk to the monk but was reluctant to show their face or person. "About dead you were when I found you; albeit alive you almost did not make it through your sleep." After the comment the person let out a horrible laughter that seemed all but malicious. "Sorry child" theperson apologized; "Sometimes me gut a tickles when I am proved wrong by the gods; jerked from the sand demons you were thanks to those you may pray to and laughter to those who tried to take you". The person could sense the discerning glare coming from the monk and was quick to reassure that only the purest intentions were present. After a few moments of awkward silencethe monk asked the person their name, "What is your name sir or madam?" Another awkward silence followed but she finally answered the monk. "My name is of no concern to you young man, however you may just refer to me as madam." With that the woman brought over a ladle of water for the monk and while sipping the water the monk glanced under the hood to see the most grotesque site he had ever seen. Luckily the woman had not noticed the change in the monks gaze under the low light of the candle. After the monk drank the water he said to the woman, "My name is.." he was abruptly interupted by a concerned voice from the lady in the hooded robe, "Lohan is your name but nothing else is of concern right now; you must rest child". The monk wanted to ask how she knew and what she knew about him but before he could he seen bright flash of light from the woman's fingertips and darkness rinsed over him yet again.