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turned his head to dislodge
the strands. “Not planning on it, no…wha—” Jahaan had moved
her head at the same time, trying to get her hair under control.
Her hand jerked on the reins just as a snake slithered onto the
path before them. The white horse reared in panic, almost throwing
his ride. Jahaan pulled at his mouth, but he sensed her fear at
almost being thrown, and ignored her command. The horse’s sleek
skin stretched over bunched muscles as he turned from the path they
were on, and launched himself away from the canyon where the camp
was set up.
    “What the hell happened?” Aryan’s words were
snatched away by the wind, but Jahaan heard them. Struggling to
control the wayward animal, she yelled back.
    “Just hold on. Whatever you do, don’t let
go!”

    ***

    The stallion had run for hours, or it had seemed
that way. Jahaan had dropped the reins after the first minute and
just clutched at his mane, letting him ride out his fear. Aryan, by
that time, was deeply regretting the ride, but like Jahaan, he had
just held on and waited for the mad dash to end.
    As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, Jahaan
slipped off the horse. It was damp and frothing slightly at the
mouth and obviously needed a rest. Aryan awkwardly followed. He
forced himself to remain calm as he looked around. He had no idea
how far the horse had run. More troubling than the darkness,
though, as he patted his pockets for matches, was the silence.
    “Where the fuck are we?” Jahaan’s whisper
floated from across the trembling horse. “Can you see
anything?”
    “Just enough.” Aryan found the matches, and
casually tore a strip of fabric off his shirt. Cautiously feeling
along the ground with his feet, he found a small, rotted branch of
wood. He wrapped the fabric around it, adding some sand to slow
down the burning, then held up his makeshift torch to get a good
look.
    It was a dark, dark night without a moon, but
the yellow flame bounced off the black salt of the desert, and
Jahaan drew in a sharp breath of fear.
    “Are we on the Kutchee Rann?”
    “You stupid…” Aryan caught himself before he
went any further, but Jahaan glared at him.
    “You think this is my fault? I couldn’t control
the horse!”
    “Exactly! You couldn’t control it. I thought you
knew how to ride.”
    “I do know how to ride, which is why
we’re still alive, you pompous jat .” The ancient word caught
him a bit by surprise, and as he opened his mouth to lambast her,
the torch flickered wildly, and Jahaan looked at him with a tinge
of panic.
    “If that goes out…” People didn’t come back
from the Kutchee Rann. “We’ll never find the way back in the
dark.”
    He kept his voice calm, assured. “We’ll sleep
here and wait for light. The sun will rise.”
    He swept the torch around, looking for something
that could pass as shelter. The desert was notoriously cold at
night.
    He heard her take a deep breath. “We should dig
a hole, to sleep in. We’ll stay warm that way,” she finally
offered.
    He nodded. “We will get out. We have a horse, a
huge advantage over…others…who may have gotten lost here.”
    They had been walking, slowly, Jahaan leading
the horse, in search for a soft bed, and something that would
buffer them from the cold. She stumbled, unable to see where she
was stepping, and let out a sharp cry as she fell. Aryan swept the
torch towards her, and the light fell on a crumbling stone wall.
Jahaan had stumbled into some ruins, barely standing, but there was
a wall, and a few pillars, enough of a structure to give them the
illusion of shelter. The torch created a warm ring of light, and,
tethering the horse to one of the stones, Jahaan and Aryan searched
for a soft spot under the wall, where they could dig a hole large
enough for them to snuggle into.

    ***

    They had to use their hands to dig. The horse
stood idly by, unconcerned by the humans’ frantic movements. The
torch had, mercifully, survived the wild flickering, but