Flesh Wounds

1.0

The sun was an unforgiving element. Zarria's skin had become riddled with blisters and dried skin over the course of three weeks. She began to question her decision to leave her home, why did she risk her life to follow something that might not even be real. Crouched under the small amount of shelter the tree provided from the first tree she had seen in days, Zarria pulled a bottle from her bag and tried to empty its contents into her mouth. A couple sips of liquid rushed into her mouth, and she let out an upset groan. That was the last water she had from the small puddle she found four days ago.

"I'm going to die out here. What was I thinking, this is stupid!", she shouted her frustration. Her father had advised her to head Northwest, but even he did not know how far the desert reached. A tear escaped her left eye, and she aggressively wiped it away before burying her head between her knees.

Zarria had barely escaped her mother's attempts to bind her to the home hut by chains and only grabbed what she could before taking off. The thought of her parents caused a sting in her chest, and she pressed her palm to her sternum rubbing it soothingly. Although she thought leaving was a mistake, she could not help but acknowledge she would rather suffer the consequences of the dessert than spend her life in an environment that felt unwelcoming. Lifting her head up she sniffed away the homesickness and glanced around. The vegetation had become less sparse, and she started to see more animals here and there.

'Progress', she thought to herself.

The more vegetation possibly meant the closer she came to reaching the outskirts of the desert. Standing back up Zarria wrapped her cloak tightly around her trying to protect her skin from the sun and started walking again.

~~~~~

As hours had passed Zarria became more and more weak with every step. Her head hung low as her long legs carried on. A small sound had the woman's head snapping up quickly. In front of her was a four-legged animal standing stiff as it stared at her. Its legs were long and slender with long branched horns on top of its head like a crown. As Zarria examined the creature it stomped its foot down against the ground. Zarria watched the action and at that her eyes widened as she noticed the slight scattered green peeking through the sand. Her head snapped to the left then right as she looked around as she took in the scattered trees. A wide grin spread across her face as she noticed a small water source near the animal, and she dashed forward with eagerness. The animal did not hesitate as it took off frightened from her sudden movement. Dropping her belongings to the ground she fell to her knees as she cupped the water into her hands and drank it greedily. Zarria continued to drink the water and splash it into her face and rub it on her arms.

"Thank the heavens!", she fell into the small creek of water letting it soak her clothes as she felt her skin absorb the hydration the water offered. As her eyes closed, she felt her body relax into the comfort the coolness gave. Her eyes closed slowly as she let out a soft sigh. She just needed to rest her eyes for a moment then she would be on her way again.

Shooting up from her resting position Zarria's eyes darted around in panic as she realized her moment of rest had turned into possible hours of sleep. She scurried out of the water quickly and gathered her things. Cursing herself as she realized her clothes were soaking wet and now that it was night, she would not be able to dry them quickly. The night air was crisp and a lot cooler than the day. Letting out a puff of air Zarria stripped quickly and dug through her bag, pulling out a pair of dry pants first. She shuffled into them quickly looking around as she heard the nightlife making its presence known. Crouching down, she grabbed a shirt and pulled it over her head, shoving one arm through and as she went to put the other one through, she froze.

"Don't stop on my account," a deep voice laced with humor spoke behind her. Zarria was not aware of him until he had stepped on what sounded like a stick. Her hands began to shake as she stared forward into the darkness before her.