Those Arabian Nights... And the sand! ((Finished))

[Solemn Creed]

Sol quickly made his way back to his temporary place of residence, the harem girls following him closely. They arrived undiscovered and he quickly settled them in as he had those before them.

Sol could tell that they truly trusted them and that would only make their agony all the sweeter when he revealed his true reason for bringing them there.

First things first, Sol decided as he slipped out of the building. He had to find Omar and somehow lure the man away from his palace.

Sol smiled to himself as he strode casually down the road. The sun was just begining to rise and he knew just what to do. He would kidnap the red haired girl, Rayne. Omar seemed to care alot about that one, he would make rash decisions. He would make mistakes.

The palace staff had broken off into three groups. Omar led the biggest group into the market, yelling out the girls' names in near desperation. One group searched one side of the forest and the other group took the other side. Lanterns were passed around so everyone could see in the dark night; not even the moonlight would have been helpful under the thick canopy of vegetation. Rayne choose the group farthest away from Omar.

Rayne and her group spread through the forest slowly, making sure no rock went by without notice. The lanterns created shadows and an eerie atmosphere. It was quiet with the exception of a few beetles. The group pushed through the thick leaves searching for any signs of the girls. They found none. Rayne was sure that wherever Anya was, the other girls were sure to be. But where was that? Her worry grew for them with every step as did her worry for Omar's sanity.

He had always been around those girls. He knew quite a few of them grew up with him. They weren't just his women, but his friends. Rayne could understand the need to protect them. They had never seemed to be afraid of Omar of unhappy at the palace. Why they would suddenly disappear made no sense to Rayne.Well all could be explained once the girls were back home and safe. She caught the glint of the rock adorning her finger. Omar would return back to normal too. Rayne hoped.She couldn't let things fall apart now.

[Solemn Creed]

Sol stalked his way through the night. He was being his most careful. Sol knew that with the dissappearance of the rest of the girls Omar would most likely be out with several search parties looking for them.

It would be so easy to simply discover which party he was in and slaughter them all. The task of discovering Omar would be the hardest part, and even that would be easy. Sol could simply sniff out his scent which he had become uncomfortably familiar with due to his recent activities with Omar's former harem.

Sol had beseeched them to wash themselves vigorously, so as to clean Omar's stench from their bodies, though of course he did not tell them his true reason so as not to affend them.

Sol's ears caught the sound of a large group of people walking around the corner, likely a search party, and he swiftly his himself from sight. When they rounded the corner Sol recognized a few of them as servants from the palace. He smiled when he saw one particular face. Ah, the luck of the gods, he thought as he looked upon the face of Rayne in the distance.

How fortunate to have found her on my first attempt, was all he thought as he prepared to make his move.

Rayne felt like they had been searching for hours. The lantern felt heavy against her hand, so she alternated hands frequently. The metal handle would clink against the ring and Rayne would flinch. Every time. The group moved quietly, slowly spreading away from each other to probe deeper in the woods. They had officially split into smaller groups to cover more land. Rayne walked with two of the palace guards and her eyes scanned the forest.

She claimed that her feet were killing her and that she needed to take a break. The guards agreed and they all sat on the forest floor and took a breather. The lantern flames were dimming and no one had brought extra fuel. They weren't worried though. The forest was as safe as the palace. Rayne let her eyes scan the forest for anything out of the ordinary. She found nothing. The guards talked quietly among themselves and Rayne just sat back against a sturdy tree. She closed her eyes and drowned out the sounds of the voices and focused on the actual forest. She opened her eyes.

No beetles. Where were they? Where was she? She picked up her lantern, slightly startling the guards. "Come on." Rayne spoke with a bite in her voice. "We need to find those girls." She added to cover up the fear coiling in her stomach. She just didn't feel right about this. She had no clue was had triggered her panic attack.

Rayne speed walked, lantern in hand, with the guards slightly behind her. She couldn't see anything past the glow of the lantern, not even the moonlight could filter through the thick canopy above them. Her foot caught on a root and she stumbled, hands flailing and lantern smashing across the ground.

[Solemn Creed]

Sol made his way through the streets, stealthily, but with all due haste. He wanted to end this tonight. This was all he was thinking of as he drew near to Rayne, avoiding guards as if they were nothing. Sol paused for a moment to consider the red hair of the woman Rayne and her obvious fighting spirit. Maybe...

Sol shook his head to clear such thoughts from his mind. Rayne needed to die along with all of the other women, including Omar. He would slaughter the lot of them, and rejoice while dancing upon their remains for that was his way.

Sol finally found himself standing behind the apparently resting Rayne after circling through the trees behind her. She quickly stood up and left as if she had been spooked by something. He followed them, waiting for another opportunity.

The time came when Rayne tripped and her lantern broke. Taking advantage of the momentary blindness of the search party, Sol quickly dashed in and picked her up, carrying her away before anyone had the chance to respond.

When at a safe distance Sol removed his hand from her mouth and attempted to calm her.

As soon as darkness enveloped her, Rayne started scrambling to get up, hell bent on getting out of the jungle, but someone had other plans as the swooped down and picked her up before taking off. She tried to scream, but her mouth was quickly covered. Immediately Rayne began flailing and struggling to get out of her captor's arms. They had other ideas.

She was set down after a while and her mouth was free to make any noise she wanted. She rethought her idea about screaming. Her captor tried to soothe her into being quiet. She felt hands on loose hair- she didn't notice the abaya's headdress being removed- and paused. As comforting as it was Rayne was still pretty terrified- she really didn't know why- and pushed her captor away. She couldn't make out anything in the darkness.

"Who are you? What do you want? Where are we?" Rayne tried to hold back the fear in her voice, but she was really scared. She couldn't place her fear though.

[Solemn Creed]

Sol was relieved that Rayne didnt begin screaming as soon as he removed his hand. He almost began to speak to her as soon as his hand was off of her mouth and it was apparent that she would not begin screaming her lungs out.

Sol stopped himself when he realised that she couldnt see anything. He stepped back and leaned against a tree, an amused expression upon his face.

[glow=red,2,300]"Dont worry, Ill make some light."[/glow]

Sol reasurred her and then he snapped his fingers, causing a small ball of fire to appear in mid air which lit the small clearing around them. He was about a good six feet from her, not wishing to cause her too much alarm by appearing too close.

As soon as the light was produced, out of thin air, Rayne saw her captor standing a little ways away from her. She gasped at the sight of the pale man and had the sudden urge to run back even though she was positive she wouldn't make it far. She backed up slowly however, away from the random fire in the middle of the air, and warded him off.

"You stay away from me. Don't come near me. Where are the other girls?" She added the last one as an afterthought.

It was dark and late at night. Rayne was not positive on her location. She was alone with a very elusive and probably dangerous man. And she was scared. This combination of things painted a very bad ending in Rayne's mind. She was having a very negative outlook on the entire thing. She didn't want to stray too far from the light, but she wanted to be a safe distance away from him. Then again, putting the village between them didn't seem all too safe.

"I need to get back. You need to go away. Where are the other girls? What did you do with them?" Rayne asked another series of questions, adding the girls at the end again. She was more concerned with her well-being. Where did all her confidence go? She was pretty desperate for it now.

[Solemn Creed]

Sol raised his hands in a gesture of goodwill to show that he wasnt going to try anything. She was obviously starting to panic which was most definately not good. He didnt want to have to kill her or force her to do anything, yet.

[glow=red,2,300]"Calm down, Im not going to hurt you."[/glow]

Rayne asked him where the girls were and what he had done with them as if he had kidnapped and hurt them. In fact it was probably the complete opposite. Their time with Sol had been the best moments of their lives.

[glow=red,2,300]"Im sorry, but I can not tell you where they are. The women do not want to go back. I have never and would never harm a single hair and their beautiful heads."[/glow]

Sol shook his head when she said that she needed to go back.

[glow=red,2,300]"Im sorry but I cannot let you go back. Im not going to hurt you but I am going to take you to see Omar."[/glow]

Rayne felt relief wash over her when she heard the girls had not been hurt.Those girls were a part of the family too. However, her panic rose when he said they couldn't go back. And her panic and fear skyrocketed when he said she couldn't leave. He was going to take her to see Omar. Rayne, wide-eye with fear, began stumbling back, never taking her eyes off of the pale man.

"No." Rayne said shaking her head. "I don't need you to take me to Omar. I'll go find him myself. I don't need your help. So just stay away from me." She said as she began to get farther and farther away from the light.

In the near distance she could hear the faint callings of names, but her mind was too bent on fear that she didn't register it. She couldn't help, but feel as if something extremely bad was going to happen. She stumbled over her abaya for a moment and grabbed a tree for stability. And at that moment the only thing running through her head was to run. So she did. Rayne turned and started darting through the trees and running as fast as she could. In the distance she swore she saw faint lights.

[Solemn Creed]

Sol sighed in frustration. He had been hoping that it wouldnt come to this. Against all of her better judgment most likely, Rayne had attempted to flee from him.

Sol cocked his head to the side. He could clearly hear voices and see lights in the direction she was running in. That meant Rayne would stumble back into the search party which was perfect.

Sol believed that all actions had consequences. He'd had no intention of hurting anyone else and had safely carried her away from them.

There would be no merciful second time. Sol strode off into the night, ready to kill them all. Let her bathe in their blood and recognise the folly of her actions, he thought.

Rayne ran towards the distant lights. She was guessing it was another search party. it still seemed far away though. She turned her head to look behind her. Se couldn't see the man, but she didn't slow down. She was sure he was back there somewhere. She faced towards the light again. She prayed it was Omar's group. The voices were getting louder and the lights were getting brighter and she was starting to see figures.

Rayne's fear-induced mind was starting to ease with relief as she made out a very familiar figure. "Omar!" She cried out running towards the older man. He turned towards her right as her body slammed into his. His arms enveloped her.

"Aziz, where have you been? The guards came back saying you ran off terrified. Are you okay?" He asked. The incident earlier was forgotten. Rayne looked back towards the direction she came from and shook her head.

"No, I don't think so. Let's go. Can we just go away from here? Please?" Rayne asked in an urgent voice.

"What is going on? What are you so afraid of?" Omar asked confused. Rayne just shook her head.

"Nothing. It's nothing. Let's just go back please. Please? Let's go back to the palace." Rayne begged and pleaded, but she was getting nowhere. To add on, she was sure the pale man would be arriving soon.

[Solemn Creed]

Sol's handsome face was frozen into a mask of emotionlessness. The last thing his victims would see was this face, and seeing how uncaring he was they would know that the died for nothing. That it did not have to be that way. That because of the choices of one woman, they would not be going home that night.

He strode into the clearing with the search party shortly after Rayne. People began shouting, and then people began dying. As Sol walked a blazing inferno sprang into being around him, killing everyone. They all fell to the ground screaming as their clothing was incinerated, their flesh bubbling and popping as the fat underneath their skin melted.

Sol turned his attention towards the only two people who were not suffering a similar fate; Rayne and Omar. He smiled and waved. The two were only spared from his flames because he willed it to be so.

[glow=red,2,300]"Do you now recognise your folly in fleeing? All of these good people, dead because of you. No matter, here is Omar. All you have done is sped things along a bit."[/glow]

It happened way too fast. One moment Rayne was trying to move Omar out of the jungle, and the next people were screaming. There was fire and everyone around them were dropping like flies. Her hands clutched to Omar as his tightened around her. She scanned the area until she spotted the pale man. He started talking about how they all died because she ran. Rayne felt sick, she could feel the bile in her throat. The smell itself was nauseating. She resorted to begging.

"Please, please, let us go. Please. Why are you doing this? What vendetta against us could you possibly hold? Who are you? What are you?" Rayne's babbling had turned into questioning as she started sprouting all the questions coming to mind.

Omar was pulling her back away from the man, and she stumbled using him as her crutch. She held back her whimpers and her sobs and her tears. Begging was one thing for her, but crying in front of a man like this was showing a weakness Rayne had refused to show anybody. And she wasn't going to start now. She looked up at Omar. His eyes were hardened and focused on the man.

[Solemn Creed]

Sol shook his head and sighed. After everything they had no clue as to the why. After all of the random violent happenings in the world, they still had the ignorance to ask for a why. The very thought of it made Sol scowl.

Bad things happen to everyone, no exceptions. There are consequences and then there are the random musings of chaos itself. The truth was, and Sol hated starting a sentence that way, this incident was completely random.

Everyone has suffered through some unfortunate, random, event before. Sol of all things, had suffered immensely. The voices kept him alive though.

[glow=red,2,300]"There is no reason. My name is Solemn Creed and that is all you need to know."[/glow]

With that Sol began walking towards them.