Chronicles of an Oasis- Where Demigods Dwell

...By night fall we had entered the oasis. Tired and hungry, we made our way through the tall grasses of the small piece of salvation. I watched The Twins and Bird run toward the water. I could see glimpses of them through the many palm trees that lined the pond as they darted about as if small children let loose at a park. They laughed and played and swung their arms. I laughed and waved as they cried out to us.
Jack was smiling and it looked as if he might collapse at any moment. He must have felt my gaze since he turned quite suddenly and gave me a huge smile, teeth and all. His beautiful eyes blending into the equally green plant life, I couldn’t help but smile back. As we proceeded to the pond, I could hear the sounds of birds crying out. Small rodents ran at our feet and flying into bushes and up nearby trees. The Twins and Bird had jumped in the water and were frolicking in it. Eden picked up Bird and threw her into the deeper part of the pond as she let out a high pitched squeal that seemed to echo through our surroundings. Sky immediately tackled Eden for his treachery. I watched them drink the clear liquid and listened to their satisfied sighs.
“It’s so tasty!” exclaimed Bird excitedly.
I laughed and turned to Jack. He had set Rynne’s stiff body down on a patch of moss and grass and started to dig. My smile slid off my face. I walked over to him and started to help him dig. The others came over almost immediately and joined us, shoveling the lush dirt with our hands. Once it was about five feet deep we watched as Jack picked up Rynne and dipped her in the pond as he wade waist deep. He then turned to the grave and laid her to rest. We started to push the heavy dirt over her body. No tears were shed or words of prayer. We all just stared at the newly overturned dirt which now engulfed our comrade’s body.
“Let’s go into the water. Come play with us!” exclaimed Bird out of the blue.
Jack and I stared at her, both shocked at her outburst.
“Come on!” she pulled at Jack’s arm and The Twins followed.
I gave the grave one last glance. We had marked it with stones and stray branches we found about the area. It stood out like a sore thumb in the midst of all the lush greenery and dense trees. I walked over to the pond were they were all frolicking. Jack was standing waist deep watching the smaller ones dance and splash about in the water.
I looked up at the waterfall that crashed down on the rocks of the pond. It looked as if it had no source for its water. It was as if it was falling straight out of the heavens. I shook my head in disbelief, thinking it was just fatigue. I looked franticly at the others. Jack had his back to me and had his eye on the water scooped up in his hands. I watched him gulp it down greedily as a smile came across his face.
“It’s good,” he said as he turned to me, “and cold.”
I pushed myself closer to him in order to calm my fright. I watched the others play and swim. None of them seemed to notice the waterfall. I started to become uneasy. There was something not quite right about it all. An oasis in the middle of the Arabian Desert with a waterfall that fell from the sky was a little strange to me. Even more so was the fact that none of the others seemed to be bothered by this. I shook my head again, trying to get the thought out of my head.
A cold splash of water broke my thoughts. Drenched and shivering in the moon lit night I turned in the direction of the attack. Jack was standing next to me looking at the kids as if nothing happened. Shocked at his betrayal, I pushed him into the water with a short squeak. When he resurfaced his hair was matted over his eyes and his clothes appeared darker now that they were wet.
The younger ones were in an uproar. Laughing and jumping about they pointed their fingers and thrashed about. What are they so giddy about? I looked at the water and scooped some up in my hand for a closer examination. It appeared dark and silver in my hands. I slurped down the liquid and it felt like ice shifting through my veins. When I opened my eyes again Jack was only a few steps away with his arms stretched out.
“Jack,” I started, but I couldn’t finish.
He had already tackled me into the water. It swallowed my body up in its seemingly purifying waters and held me there in contentment. When I resurfaced my long hair was floating on the top of the water and I tried to move strands of hair, which was now matted down, from out of my face. I looked about me. Everyone was having so much fun, thrashing about in the water. The Twins had by then started to target Bird and were teasing her unmercifully. I too began to play and frolic, I danced and swam and drank the seemingly intoxicating liquid. I began to soon shiver with excitement. I felt as though my body would fly away at any moment and leave me behind. As a soft breeze crossed our dripping bodies a quake went down my spine which caused me to shutter.
“What’s the matter?” asked Jack as he pushed Eden out of his way.
“Nothing,” I said with a smile, what’s this feeling?
“You sure? You look kind of upset,” he persisted as he cocked an eyebrow. Something I had never seen him do.
“Positive.” I said smiling again, my stomach, I think I’m ganna be sick!
A shift in the wind made Jack turn away from me. I watched as his expression changed. He was all business, now. He snapped his long fingers to get the kids’ attention. They stopped making noise immediately. They stood waist deep in the water, awaiting their instructions. I was still feeling giddy and it was hard to fight back the laughter, they looked so funny. The Twins with their identical sandy hair pressed over their foreheads, their clothes dripping wet, matted tightly to their bodies, Bird with her hair darkened by the water, sprang up with a small splash with each reforming curl. It was hilarious, I didn’t laugh. I opened my mouth to speak, but Jack swiftly raised his hand, palm facing me as his eyes seemed to glow in the dark as he surveyed the area. I looked too, trying to figure out what was going on.
The moon was large and bright, it lit up the surrounding trees with such grace and poise. The tree leaves bowed up and down with the light desert night breeze, the sound of the waterfall gently hitting the pond below and the buzzing of oasis insects. The grass shifting with every blow the wind had as it caressed the lush greenery. Then, I heard it, the sound of many feet coming ever closer. I turned back to Jack. He was looking down at the water. His hair was hanging over his forehead in dripping strands. I couldn’t see what he was thinking. I listened again, the sound was very close. I looked about us for our next step, there wasn’t an obvious one. I turned to Jack again. He had not moved his position. The feet were just outside the oasis. I turned to Jack one last time, desperate for instructions. Finally, very softly he spoke.
“Into protective combat position.”
By the time our shoulders were touching, they had come into the oasis. All dressed in black with scarves covering their faces, save their eyes, which pierced through the night with black intensity. There were at least fifty men. They had their swords drown and their eyes fixed on us. I suddenly felt very small in their presence. They were at the banks of the pond, but they did not enter the water. In fact, they didn’t so much as touch it. They stood there in striking stance, perfectly frozen like statues. Soon, there was a parting in the crowd of dark figures. I began to feel light headed. My vision had started to blur around the edges. I felt myself wobble slightly, but I held formation.
Through the part of men a tall thin figure emerged. Cloaked in white he walked as far as ankle deep in the water, the edge of his cloak floating on the surface. The oasis had started to make violent twirls around my head. The man knelt down and pushed back his hood slowly, exposing a full head of strikingly white hair and a long goatee equally white. He studied us for a moment as he came in and out of my vision.
“My dear children,” he said in Arabic, his black eyes pleading with such sincerity, “What have you done?”