WEBVTT

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The silence of the erg was heavy. broken

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only by the soft.

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rhythmic crunch of padded feet upon frozen sand.

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Tarek pulled his heavy woolen cloak tighter against

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the bitter winter wind

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that swept down from the northern mountains.

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Though the sun had been gone for hours.

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the desert retained no warmth.

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its vast dunes glowing with an ethereal. starlit

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luminescence under a sky.

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so crowded with constellations that the darkness between

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them seemed a rumor.

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For three generations. Tarek's family had guided the

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spice caravans across

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this unforgiving sea of sand. trusting their lives

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to the ancient trail.

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In the daylight. the path was easy to

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lose as the shifting winds constantly

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reshaped the landscape.

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But tonight. the way forward was clear.

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Rising like ancient sentinels from the dunes.

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weathered stone markers stood at intervals. their surfaces

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carved with

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forgotten glyphs and rubbed smooth by centuries of

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blowing grit.

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Each pillar caught the pale starlight.

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Casting long. crooked shadows across the rippled. detailed

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sand texture.

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like fingers pointing toward the horizon.

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As the lead camel picked its way carefully

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around a towering crescent dune.

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Tarek paused beside the fourth marker of the

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night watch.

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He pressed a gloved hand against the cold.

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time -worn stone.

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feeling the faint. residual vibration of the earth.

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or perhaps just the phantom

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hum of the countless travelers who had walked

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this exact path before him.

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Behind him. the shadowy silhouettes of 20 laden

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camels stretched out in a silent.

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orderly line. their bells muffled with cloth to

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avoid waking the desert spirits.

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With a soft click of his tongue. Tarek

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urged his mount forward.

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rejoining the caravan as it wound deeper into

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the starlit expanse.

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The trail beckoned into the freezing night. an

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endless ribbon of history.

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leading them ever onward toward the distant dawn.