I am sure you readers will find many cliches and obvious influences from other works in this story. I have tried to keep at as original as possible. I have not blatantly copied any other stories but I cannot say about what I may have copied subconsciously. Either way, this story for me is an experiment as I mostly write mystery stories. I have a basic plot designed. Much of the details, I will add in as I write. Not the best plan - heck, not even a plan - but that is how I work. So, please bear with me. I would greatly appreciate any reviews, constructive or otherwise about my story and the grammar.

I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1

Alemcho stood on a wall that bound his village. He was staring at the horizon, where the blue sky touched down on the brown desert. A breeze blew past him and a momentary relief from the unrelenting heat of the sun washed over Almecho.

"You should go home," said the man standing next to Almecho.

"Not necessary," Almecho answered. "Father will not mind. He understands me Seth, like you." He looked at his old friend and smiled.

"But everyone expects you to be there," replied Seth. Tired from having stood so long, he sat down on the sandy wall. He looked up at Almecho. "You know how they are."

"Yes, I do," said Almecho. He bent to pick up a piece of sandstone that had broken off the wall. He flexed his arm and in one sweep, flung it as hard as he could. The stone disappeared from view, lost somewhere along the desert.

"You are strong. I wish I was as strong as you," Seth said, searching the desert to see if he could spot where the stone had landed.

"You are stronger than the easterners."

"Aye. But I am not pure blooded like you."

"That hardly matters," said Almecho, as nonchalantly as possible. But the discomfort in his voice was clear to Seth.

Almecho, son of the village elder, was the only pure blooded remaining in the whole village after his father. At the age of ninety three, he was older than perhaps the entire kingdom of men to the east. Yet, his face and body held such youth men could only dream of. Seth, whom Almecho had known since childhood, was eighty seven and had already started to show old age.

"Many men in the east would envy our age," Seth remarked. "Your father would look like a man upon his sixties to the easterners when he in fact will become four hundred today."

"They envy us. And I envy them." Almecho drew a long breath. "Long life is a curse if only you are blessed with it."

"That it is," said Seth with a nod. "I will be long gone by the next hundred years while you will not have changed a hair."

"Say not things like that Seth. Today is a day to rejoice. It is my father's birthday!"

"And here you are, at the other end of the village staring at the desert," said Seth with a chuckle. "This is hardly rejoicing."

"I will return once the others leave the party."

"Do you hate parties so much?" asked Seth.

"No. I just do not like mingling with people. I prefer to be either alone or with someone I know well," Almecho replied.

"Like me."

Almecho nodded. He then jumped down from the wall and landed on his feet with a soft thud. Seth followed, though his descent was noisier than his friend's. He lost his footing on the sand and would have fallen face first to the ground had Almecho not caught his collar and pulled him back.

"Last one to that sand dune is a rotten egg!" cried Almecho suddenly and began running. Seth ran after him but could not catch up to his friend. Being a pure blood, Almecho was stronger, faster and more agile than a normal man. He could lift three times his own weight, run as fast as a horse and leap great heights. Seth, a mixed blood, could only do a fraction of what his friend could do.

Seth was panting when he reached the top of the dune where Almecho stood calmly, waiting for his friend. "That was not fair Almecho. No one can defeat you," Seth said. Resting his hand on his knees, he took in deep breaths.

"Says the man who beat me mercilessly at chess. One hundred and seventeen times," Almecho replied.

"You kept count." Seth chuckled. He remembered each one of their matches and the look on Almecho's face every time he lost.

"Look at that. Our village looks rather small, does it not?" Almecho was saying.

Seth looked up. It was a sight he had seen countless times before. His village, the place where he was born and raised, looked tiny from where he stood. Beyond his village, far away, he could spy the green hills that were the source of food to his village. To the south, the sea sparkled under the unerring glare of the sun.

"I could sit here and watch this sight before me forever," Seth remarked, squatting on the sand.

"You are just lazy," said Almecho. He sat down beside his friend and sighed.

"What is the matter?" Seth asked. "You look disturbed."

"It is the lady from Muridaw who arrived today."

"What about her?" Seth glanced at his friend. He then smiled. "Don't tell me you fancy her."

"Fancy her? No!"

"Then what is it?"

"Something about her feels amiss," Almecho said with a grave look.

"How so?" asked Seth.

"I do not know." Almecho glanced at Seth and smiled. "Perhaps I am overthinking."

"Aye."

They sat in silence for a while. Where they sat, a strong wind blew about them incessantly. The sound of ocean waves crashing onto the rocky shores leagues away was hypnotizing and had it not been for the sun's heat, they would have fallen asleep on the sand.

"We should head back," said Seth. He stood up and began brushing his clothes.

"Yes, we should. I am hungry," Almecho replied. But still he did not stand up.

"Well, you will not get home sitting down on the sand. Unless you roll down the dune," Seth said with a chuckle.

"I think there is someone out there in the desert," Almecho said, disregarding his friend's comment. He leaned forward and squinted his eyes.

"Where?" Seth followed Almecho's gaze into the desert. Quite far away, he could see a dark figure. "Yes, there is. But the glare of the sun and the sand makes it hard to see."

"It's a man. On a horse." Almecho stood up and continued peering ahead. "The man is wounded!" he exclaimed in alarm. Without another word, he had taken off, leaving a bewildered Seth behind.

To be continued. I will try to update as frequently as I can.