Chapter Twelve- Akira
The oasis was dry.
Out here in the desert, water was the most important thing. Rarer than gold, and ten times more valuable. We were lucky to have found the pools, as they were hidden by dunes all around them.
This was where we got all of our water, out in the desert. The oasis near the city was heavily guarded.
But if you made it over the huge hills of sand, there were pools of fresh, sparkling water, surrounded by date trees and tall grasses. Flowers grew where the sun broke through the trees, creating a beautiful carpet of greenery. A paradise.
But now the plants were shrivelling, and the pools were dry.
This happened sometimes in the desert. A dry rainy season, a shift deep in the sands… the slightest change could drain the water away.
Common occurrence or not, if we couldn’t find another source of water soon, we would all die.
I stood in the dent in the sand where a pool had used to be. There were teams harvesting dates from the trees, as many as they could before the trees died and fell. There were others digging in the sand, hoping to find where the water had gone.
They wouldn’t find anything. The oasis was as dry as the desert around it.
I heard footsteps behind me, muffled by the sand. Turning around, I saw Kytor and Johan directing a small group of Groundmovers. The sand started shifting, and everybody scrambled to get out of the crater where the pool had been.
I just lifted off the ground, touching down right on the edge of the pit. I turned around in time to see the sand lifting into the air, as if giant fingers were combing through it. So they were looking for water. More effective than shovels, I supposed.
After a while, everybody became bored with the spectacle and walked away. Somebody tapped me on the shoulder from behind and I turned.
It was Kytor, looking worried. It made sense, I guess. I was worried too.
“Akira, right now you’re the only rebel who can fly. I need you to do a survey of the landscape. Try and figure out where the water might have gone, or see if you can find another oasis.”
I nodded, stretching my wings. Kytor went back to the Groundmovers, and I jogged towards open sand where I could take off.
Once in the air, I traced a wide circle around where the oasis had been, looking for any signs of water.
I kept tracing wider and wider circles, and I kept finding nothing but sand.
As I searched, I thought. We had some water stored in case of something like this, but we never really expected it to happen. There was barely enough water to last a week.
If there was no oasis, how would we get water? The normal city people had to get it from somewhere, right?
Maybe there was a way to get to the city’s oasis. We could disguise ourselves as merchants of The Split, and go to buy water…
But they were more careful than that. You weren’t allowed to hide your eyes when buying water. We’d lost a lot of rebels that way.
Maybe we could fight the guards, take over the oasis. But it was in the heart of the city, and it would be nearly impossible to hold that position.
Raids, then? Hit and run attacks, taking as much water as we could carry and then escaping. But then more guards would be assigned to the oasis, and we would have to find another source of water anyways. It might buy us some time, though.
By now, I could barely see the oasis in the distance. I wasn’t going to find anything searching like this. The water was gone. But the city oasis wasn’t.
I turned back to the dying patch of green in the distance. Kytor knew that we wouldn’t find anything in the dunes, but he had to try.
Whatever it took to keep the resistance alive.
This was the last option. We had no other choice but to attack the city, with more force than we had ever sent out.
I touched down, sending clouds of sand up around me and drawing the attention of the other rebels.
I didn’t care. I had a raid to organise.
Previous || Next || First
0 notes
Kreileroord viert vandaag 65 jarig bestaan
Lokaal nieuws: 'Kreileroord viert vandaag 65 jarig bestaan'
KREILEROORD – In Kreileroord is het vandaag groot feest. Het dorp bestaat 65 jaar en daar wordt met een feestprogramma uitgebreid bij stilgestaan. Vanaf 13.00 uur geeft wereldkampioen groundmoves Nasser el Jackson een clinic waar iedereen aan mee kan doen. Tegelijkertijd kan je een kijkje nemen bij de verenigingen en de school die je graag informeren over hun activiteiten.
Een feestelijke aftrap…
View On WordPress
0 notes