//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Secrets and Promises 
// Story: The Sandstorm King 
// by PioneeringAuthor 
//------------------------------//

“What is it, Father?” Karam asked as he trotted across the bedroom alongside his older brother and father.

“Now that you have your Destiny Mark, you are old enough to know some of the secrets of our nation,” Khayri responded as he used his magic aura to ensure that the doors were fastened and all the curtains were drawn closed.

Karam gasped in surprise. 
Was he truly old enough to know such information? 
He looked at his older brother for a sign, and Daud nodded with a smile.
Karam straightened up and hoped he looked grown-up enough to be worthy of something so important. 
Meanwhile, Khayri used one of his powerful wings to move a tapestry, revealing an odd hole in the wall. Slowly his horn glowed an unusual color, and then he turned his head downwards, inserting his horn into the hole like a key in a lock. Something rumbled from within the wall. Suddenly, a section of the wall moved backwards and to the side. 

“Woah…” Karam breathed, watching as the heavy bricks of the wall all slid to the side, revealing the dark corridor beyond it.


Khayri nodded, indicating that his sons should enter. The three Alicorns quietly walked down several flights of stairs with only magic torches lighting their pathway. As they carefully walked down, the passageways grew colder and wetter. Karam looked at the eerie, purple torches that lit the way, and listened to the sound of his hooves clacking on the steps as he pondered what his father could be showing him. For the most part though he focused on not slipping and falling down the stairs. People had warned him about that, and he felt like it really could happen now.

Eventually they came to a small room with one wall that was covered in a solid metal layer of silver. Again Khayri made his horn glow in an unusual, purple tone, and the silver sheet reacted, changing into a purple glow of magic.

“Go on, Karam. You may enter first,” Khayri announced, nodding his head towards the portal.

“Enter… that?” Karam squeaked, unsure if he wanted to enter the glowing, sparking doorway.

“I promise it won’t kill you, Brother,” Daud assured him, “I had to enter as well.”

If Daud could do it, then so could Karam. 
With this in mind, Karam straightened up again, took a deep breath, and walked through the portal. He closed his eyes and stepped into it, and as his nose hit the purple glow, he felt a tingle course all over him. 
Quickly he jumped through the rest of the way.
His body tingled all over with the magic, and he sneezed roughly. As he slipped through, he felt almost as if he was swimming in sparkly water, and he felt a tad dizzy. Part of him wanted to open his eyes but he was afraid of what he’d see. Then, he felt his hooves hit solid ground, and the odd sensations ebbed away. 
In another moment, it was over. 
Cautiously he opened one eye, and spotted a solid dirt floor beneath him. Looking around, he found that he was in a vast underground cavern lit by eerie, lime green, magical torches. A moment later he heard the portal hiss, and then he leaped forward, spinning around to see who was next.

It was Daud, who smiled and said, “See? I told you it was fine!”

Daud shook himself, and in the limey light his dapple grey pelt took on a strange, crocodile-like look. Although his black mane and tail were a bit static-filled, he seemed fine. Realizing that his brother was okay, Karam relaxed some more.
In another moment, Khayri was there, and with a chuckle, he led the way down another corridor.

“Karam, do you remember the history lessons on The Great Famine?” Khayri prompted as his hooves thumped on the sandy floors.

The Great Famine happened at least 600 years before Karam was born. In those days, Khayri was still young, with his six brothers, mother, and father all still alive.
To Khayri, it was a tragic memory.
To Karam, it was an ancient story he had to memorize.

“Yes, Father,” Karam answered swiftly, “In the year 425 of Malik Al-Aziz, the land produced less and then rivers dried up, making a time of terrible starvation, but eventually some wise Unicorns and Earth Horses discovered what stopped the rivers, and this… with… with a special formula made by some Zarfaim, helped bring the land back to producing plenty of food… correct?”

“The formula is real,” Khayri answered somberly, “and the rivers truly did dry up for a time… but the rest of our restoration is a lie.”

“What?” Karam gasped, halting for a moment. Looking at his father, Karam could hardly believe his ears.

“The rivers did dry up,” Khayri explained, “But it was not Unicorns that helped them flow again--it was a magic artifact. That is what I shall show you today. Come, we are almost there.”

Surprised and curious, Karam followed his father and brother into a large room with a strange machine which whirred and clanked and hissed constantly. Inspecting it in the magical lights, Karam saw that from the right and left of the machine flowed two rivers, which were channeled into deep trenches that flowed beneath the walls of the room. In the center of the front of the machine was a golden breast color with a brilliant blue stone shaped like a drop of water in the center pendant, and the stone glowed steadily in its place of honor.

“This is what we call the Breast Collar of Water,” Khayri explained, “And it is this magic stone that creates the rivers you see flowing out of here, which branch out and feed the other rivers of the land. With good irrigation, our nation used this water to survive. 
Nowadays we have other sources of water, but these two rivers are still our main supply, and they are provided by this magic stone.”

“But… how can such a small stone be so powerful?” Karam questioned, staring in wonder at the glowing gem.

“We do not know, but it is quite powerful. It is also because of this stone that we won the war against Ippeia which followed shortly after our terrible famine,” Khayri revealed quietly.

“How, father? Did you drown the enemy?” Karam piped up, instantly realizing how childish of a question that was.

With a chuckle, Khayri explained, “No, My Son: my father, The First King, wore this collar, and it gave him powers to infuse all his magic with the strength of a hundred rivers. Furthermore, it made him immune to poison. 
I fought alongside him during the war, and beheld its strength myself. After the war, my father sealed up the collar here, and ordered that the historians speak nothing of it in their accounts, so that no one wicked would seek to steal the artifact after his death.” 
With a sigh, he added, “If our army had recovered more from the famine, perhaps we could have won the war without using this… or heading to the frontlines ourselves…. The last three of my six brothers died on the battlefields.”

For a few moments, nobeast said anything. 
Only the whirring and stirring of the machine filled the room with noise while the three Alicorns had a moment of silence for the family that passed away long ago.
The First King, whose true name had been forgotten after he was called Malik Al-Aziz for so long, was the one who united the various nomadic tribes under one banner, forming Saddle-Arabia. He and his wife ruled for centuries before their eventual deaths. In the same Great Famine that killed half of Khayri's brothers, Malik's wife, Khayri's mother, also died. Within a few centuries, Khayri was left alone.
It happened so long ago that even Khayri had trouble recalling the events clearly.
For several minutes, the three remaining members of The First King's family stood in the cavern, listening to the whirring, clanking machinery.

Mentally returning to the present, Khayri spoke again with, “Karam, you must never tell anybeast about this artifact unless they are family. We cannot afford this to be stolen. Furthermore, you must not unleash this in battle unless absolutely necessary--understand?”

“Yes, Father,” Karam agreed with a somber nod.





Magical beams zapped walls, scorched the stone flooring, and filled the room with noise as Karam and Daud trained each other in fighting skills. Unfortunately, it seemed that Daud had the upper hoof... Again. Although Karam was very nimble and a skilled flier, his brother had much more strength physically and also had the talent to harden his skin, making him very hard to beat in combat.

“Brother, can’t you weaken yourself for just one fight?” Karam huffed as he dodged another teal beam from Daud.

“No! If I do that, we’ll both get weaker,” Daud snorted as he fired another lazer at Karam.

“But how am I supposed to win if you keep using your signature spell?” Karam argued as he responded by creating a shield for himself from his golden yellow magic, deflecting the beam.

“That’s the whole point: you are supposed to strengthen yourself against me!” Daud laughed with a boyish flap of his grey wings.

“I liked this better when you didn’t find your Special Gift, and we were evenly matched!" Karam whined as he hovered in the air, crossing his forelegs and pouting.

“Well why not try using some wind to fight me?” Daud retorted with a toss of his tail, “Since you are The Strong Wind?”

Realizing his brother had a valid point, Karam flapped his wings, stirring up a breeze. Thankfully, the training room had an extremely high ceiling, making plenty of room for flying and stirring up wind. 
It had been a few months since Karam earned his Destiny Mark, and he had been experimenting with his newfound gift, learning more and more about how to stir up wind and control it, but using it to fight was something he hadn’t done before now. He pumped his wings, like one of his Pegasus retainers showed him, making a small gust, then used his magic to amplify the gust and control it, turning it into a blasting whip, which he slammed against Daud with a final snap of his wings.
In response, Daud shielded himself with his own wings, which were also enhanced to be hard as stone yet still useable. The force of Karam's gale slammed into his wings, rattled his body, and threw him back several feet.

“Well, “ Daud gasped as he climbed to his hooves, “That was certainly tough! Perhaps if you try doing that every day, you’ll eventually beat me with it!”

Karam grinned. He puffed his chest out proudly while he landed on the ground with an elegant flourish of his wings.

“Perhaps, but right now… I’m exhausted. How about we take a break?”

“I agree, Karam.  Guards, please fetch us some water!”

Hearing the order, one of the nearby guards bowed and then quickly exited the room.

“Well, Daud, I’m glad we don’t have to fight in a war like father did,” Karam noted as he lounged on one of the couches at the wall, giving his wings a well-earned stretch.

“Indeed, I certainly wouldn’t want to go and… have to actually kill somebeast. At least, not yet. Perhaps when I’m older I’ll be more ready to fight in a real battle.” Daud answered with a firm nod while his wings twitched with worry.

“Yes… and I’m so glad we don’t have to fight each other in a real battle!” Karam added, “Just think of how terrible that would be… and I would probably lose to you!”

“Well, you do not have to fear that! I will always be your older brother, and as such I shall protect you from danger. I will be your rock!”

“And I will support you when you take the throne, and I’ll… uhm… 
I’ll be the wind that… that… 
that supports you and blows away all your enemies! 
You shall see! I will be there for you just like you will be there for me, and I will help you as much as I can! 
I will! 
I promise! 
I will be an honorable younger brother! I will, I will I will!”

At that, the two young Alicorns laughed. 
Both were old enough to keep secrets, both were old enough to protect each other, and both were old enough to make promises… 
even if they couldn’t keep them.