A few days out and a rhythm had been established. Omid led the trek one day, Taljir the next. Thank the camels for not being as fussy about marching order as many others. Start in the early light of morning, question just how long you could continue past suns down at night with only the moons to light the way. Start all over again and realize few get so lucky as to find something in the first few days out. Remind yourself that finding nothing at all is not so unusual.

Early morning and it was Omid’s turn to lead. They ate a short breakfast of dates and a few bites of stonebread, faces already filled with lament as they could feel the last of the cool night air being overtaken by what they could feel was going to be an especially hot day. All too soon they were each on the last bite of breakfast, chewing a bit too slow as to savor the last of getting to sit and relax in the cool air. Being done with that last bite was surrendering to another day of trekking through the desert.

They both stared off in varying directions in the early light, eyes longing for a sight that they had somehow missed last night when making camp or in the last dozen times they took in their surroundings. Alas, nothing had appeared in the last few minutes since repeating that action and breakfast was decisively completed.

They stood, dusting off their airy tunics and trousers as they went, and set about collecting their moon jars from the sand. Omid pulled at the handle, dusting the blue stained clay jar off as he went and unsealed the glassy black lid to examine the contents. He groaned at seeing it only about a quarter of the way full.

“How much did you end up with?” Taljir called out from a short ways away.

Omid angled the mouth of the jar to the horizon slightly to get a better look, hoping he had been wrong and slumping his shoulders at unfortunately being right. “About a quarter…”

“Damn.” Taljir grumbled while also trying to get a better look in the faint light of morning. “I only got about a fifth...wait…..a qua- no, no about a fifth…” He said with a sigh loud enough to be heard from some ways away.

“Well...moons will be more full tomorrow night. That should give us a bit more. Might even find a better patch of sand.” Omid said, trying to stay positive.

“We could...we could also get a worse patch of sand and end up with less.” Taljir said, failing to stay positive.

Omid rolled his eyes as he poured the contents of the jar into his water skin. “I know you haven’t come this far only to give up.”

“Never!” Taljir said triumphantly. “Just need to get all the negativity out of the way in the morning.”

This pulled Omid’s attention over to his companion, who was busy staring at the early morning sky muttering about all the various horrible things that could happen. He stopped at the same time he regained a faint smile.

“Right well you take the lead today.” He said with regained enthusiasm.

Omid couldn’t help but narrow his eyes and keep staring for a moment. “Does that...really work?”

“You taking the lead? I certainly won’t complain if that’s what finds us fame and glory.”

“No.” Omid snapped his eyes shut, giving a quick shake of his head. “The getting negative things out of the way first.”

“Oh. Well for me it does. I just think of all the horrible things that could happen, and then I think how I’m going to fight to keep those things from happening.” He said with a hand to his beard, nodding as he convinced himself.

Omid blinked and decided to judge whether such a ritual had any merit later. “I will...consider that later. In the meantime, let’s not delay any further.”

Taljir gave a quick affirmation and the two packed the last of their supplies away on their camels, over the beasts’ loud protests that continued through commanding them to start the day’s trek. The two scouts made idle chat for a short while, until the suns fully rose. What followed was an all too familiar scorching heat that made all actions more laborious. Conversation quickly died, and all that remained was the sound of camel feet against sand and the occasional bit of wind to shift the sands.

There was a momentary rush of excitement every time they started to approach a particularly large dune. Anticipation building as they climbed higher and higher, sitting up tall in their saddles as their nerves would allow nothing less while trying to get that first view from atop the dune. The disappointment that followed was palpable, and both silently chastised themselves for getting their hopes up again as they looked from atop their sandy summit. And saw nothing but sand in every direction.

On this day, it was around the third large dune that they stopped building themselves up for excitement so much. They would still diligently take a moment to survey The Great Desert at each summit, and each time think it all looked the same. Omid hung his head slightly as he saw a far off patch of small shrubs, lamenting that so far this was the extent of their discoveries of ‘not sand’.

His eyes went wide and he brought his camel to a halt, all of his senses on high alert. Behind him, Taljir brought Nazer to a stop and he was thankful that he and Masel were being quieter today. It was a sense he had not expected to be of much use on this trek, and if anything it would be more of a detriment. One’s sense of scent in the middle of a massive caravan had the rare treat of experiencing a fine tea being brewed and spices used sparingly on an accompanying exquisite meal. Even if one was not part of such a meal, the mere scent was a welcome break from vast quantities of people in the heat and the even stronger smell of an even greater number of camels.

The scent of something fresh on the light breeze at the top of this dune was enough to give Omid pause, focusing on what to him seemed like the most wonderful scent in the world. He closed his eyes, pulled his scarf down from his nose, and sniffed the air in an attempt to find its origin.

“See something?” Taljir called from behind, keeping his voice low as a precaution.

“Smell something. Floral, I think.” Omid said after finally opening his eyes, followed shortly by frowning at not having a clear direction.

Taljir pulled at his own scarf, giving a few quick sniffs to the air. Raised eyebrows and uncertain eyes quickly went wide with shock as he too smelled the aroma.

“Could be...something blooming at an oasis?” Taljir asked, daring to show a bit of hope.

“Could be. Could be a trick?” He said with a shrug, trying to hide his own spark of hope trying to turn into excitement though .

Taljir just shook his head. “Can’t be. I already counted that one out this morning.”

Omid considered pointing out that that was not how his own system worked, but decided that debate would only delay trying to find the source of what seemed to be the smell of flowers in the middle of the desert. He looked out from the summit of the dune, squinting hard as he scanned the near endless tan waves reflecting the intensity of the three suns. There was a darker patch, off in the distance tucked between two dunes. Squinting even harder provided just enough clarity to determine that it looked to be a large patch of tall grass, largely hidden by an even larger dune.

“There!” Omid raised a finger and allowed a bit of excitement to show in his voice. If he had been facing Taljir, the scout would have seen a rare full smile from him that spread from thin lips to dark eyes. All lit up in pure joy.

“Lead on!” Taljir cried out. His own smiles were given far more frequently, but the promise of having found something truly worthwhile as an oasis warranted one even larger with eyes twinkling like emeralds at what the two could have possibly found.

Masel complained loudly as Omid ushered him into a canter towards the oasis with Nazer braying loudly in response as Taljir beckoned him to follow at a matching pace. No, both eventually reminded themselves that it was certainly only a patch of grass. It was only a patch of grass and not a beautiful oasis just behind that hill with the most heavenly scent that drew them in closer and closer. Every thud of a camel’s foot bringing them closer to the truth. To seeing and smelling the source of the scent that was just around that large dune. Every thud against the sands carrying them to that oasis that just had to be around the corner. To seeing that it was only grass and this was nothing but their own imaginations playing tricks on them.

They rode with their scarves down from their noses, inhaling every bit of the sweet and floral scent at the expense of all three suns bearing down on them. Scorching heat and searing light be damned. After this long in the desert, after so much time searching it was too beautiful a thing to let practicality and safety stand in its way.

The scent got stronger and stronger as the camels carried their riders closer to that patch of tall grass at the base of two dunes. They ignored the suns on their exposed faces, the same suns shining down onto the sands to make everything around them even brighter. That dark patch of tall grass looking even more inviting for the simple fact of it not reflecting the suns so much. Over the sound of camels running over sand, the two young men could even swear they heard the gentle breeze rustling the tall grass. And in the depths of need and desire they would swear they could already taste the waters of the oasis on their lips, and feel the water cool against their skin.

Tall grass grew larger in their view as they rushed towards a promised end to their struggle. A tiny patch of dull green no longer a far away temptation that was liable to be a mirage. Each blade of grass bristling in the breeze ever clearer as they approached. The dune hiding their salvation grew larger and larger, their camels turning into the tiny valley that held the oasis that grew ever more real. That floral scent was stronger and stronger with every stride of the camels as the two young men craned their heads to look for a palm tree peeking out over the dune, or the bright reflection of the pool of bright blue water.

No palm trees peeked out.

There was no glint of blue water sparkling in the desert.

Cool breezes coming off of the oasis did not hit their exposed flesh.

A sparse patch of grass awaited them around that large dune that was to hold the end of their suffering.

They brought their camels to a halt, with the loud braying that accompanied such an action. Bright eyes turned as dull as any sand blasted desert stone. Open mouth smiles filled with hope inverted into frowns of defeat. There was no sense of time between when they had first smelled that divine scent, and when this revelation stung harder than the midday suns on their exposed faces.

No words were spoken, the two looked around the sparse grass and spied a tiny speck of blue. Omid ushered Masel over, and Taljir followed on Nazer. Almost entirely hidden by the tall grass, they saw a single large indigo flower in bloom. The scent was more intense here, and they knew they had found what they had sought. Their faces had not changed from shock and devastation until they saw the indigo flower. Specifically, until they saw what lay around it. Human bones bleached white from the desert sun lay partially exposed in the sands, all but the face laying buried and the jaw left open as the rest of the bones lay sprawled out.

From the sands in the open jaw, sprang the lone indigo flower with that overpowering scent. The scouts’ jaws still hung open in shock, and with every breath they inhaled that scent that had drawn them in only to mock them. Omid was the first to look around with twitching glances, wide eyes, and heart thundering in his chest.

Taljir quickly caught on, helping to look around the surrounding desert. His own heart raced as his eyes went wide in a desperate attempt to find it. Find something. The two saw nothing but the same sands that had become all too familiar to them outside of the small gathering of tall grass. There was no sound but that of the breeze rustling the grass and their own airy clothes against their skin. Omid’s hand had subconsciously gone to the short sword at his hip, while Taljir had reached for his bow.

After having failed to find anything around them they looked to one another, silently putting away their weapons, and both pulled their scarves up over their noses. It lessened the smell that now taunted them, blocked out the sun and sand still trying to sear them, and hid the immense disappointment that both failed to hide on their faces.

They looked down to the indigo flower rising from the mouth of some poor unfortunate soul that had been claimed by the desert. Their hearts still thudding hard in their chests, they tried to talk themselves down.

“Should we...do something for them?” Taljir asked hesitantly, still unable to take his eyes off the flower.

Omid took a while to respond, thinking it all over carefully while still overcoming his own shock. He looked over the white bones poking out of the sand just ever so. No flesh clung to them, no clothes remained. Long bleached white by the sun. Should have been buried by shifting sands in the time it would take all of that to happen. “No.” He stated simply before continuing. “No I think this is...meant to be here. Not to be disturbed.”

Taljir’s eyes looked over the skeleton once more.

“We should...continue on then. Away from here, obviously. Nothing really to report about a grave in the desert. Nothing useful about a lone flower.” He shifted in his saddle while trying to convince both his companion and himself.

Omid didn’t respond immediately, but such long pauses were quickly becoming common for both of them. He looked at the scene again as his eyes dared to dart about, looking at the shadows of every patch of grass and wondering just how badly the great desert was getting to him when he could swear he saw movement at the edges of his vision. His fingers pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook it off.

“We should leave it be.” Omid finally said with a bit of effort.

He lightly urged Masel to get moving again, which was a thankfully quiet affair. There were no further words from Taljir or brays from Nazer. Gravity itself had seemed to increase around here as that deceptively sweet scent still fought to overwhelm all who breathed it in. Both camels started off in a leisurely trot before the mere presence of the scent was too much for their riders, and the beasts were urged into a canter.

Not once did they look back at where the flower had been, though both mentally returned there as their imaginations ran wild with possibilities. To look back would be to confirm any one of them, perhaps even falsely. Long after the scent was out of the air, and long after the wind had erased all of its attempts to cling to their clothes, Omid found himself glancing at every shadow he saw.

Only for a moment. Only to confirm that there was no movement as he had deluded himself into seeing earlier. Plenty to not even need to bring it up to Taljir, who unbeknownst to Omid was busy glancing at every shift of the sands with a furrowed brow and even more sweat running down his temples than what the heat demanded. Back at the flower, he had sworn that out of the corner of his eyes he saw the sands shifting as though someone were stepping upon them.

Only for a moment. Only enough to be sure that it wasn’t worth bringing up to Omid. Plenty to dull thunderous, racing heartbeats into a steady powerful thud like a marching drum. The camels marched on, their riders along for the ride and desperate to be as far away from this place as possible.