The Siege of Haniya [ONC2024] ✔

1. Banished Into The Unknown

CHAPTER 1: BANISHED INTO THE UNKNOWN

"Strength doesn't come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn't."

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"Unzur."

The sound of a foreign language stirred me up from my sleep. Did my little sister leave the television on again? She should stop watching late-night shows during a school day.

The warm, soft bed under me begged me not to leave the comfort. I sighed, knowing that if I didn't wake up at that moment, I would be late to school. Rolling over, my close eyelids came into contact with blinding sun rays. That was when I realized how quiet the room was, unlike how it usually is during the weekdays. There should be the sound of the cars being started, the birds starting to chirp, or even the occasional tantrums from the neighbour's children.

Opening my eyes, an endless sea of sands greeted me. My breath caught in my throat as I glanced around my surroundings. As far as my sight could reach, all I saw were sand dunes, reddish-yellow in colour, unlike the sands I used to see at the beach. I turned my head to the left and right, and it was the same view. My heart hammered against my ribcage as I looked down at my hands, which were full of sand, before they slowly slipped through my fingers.

"Kaifa halak?"

I jumped at the voice, turning my head to the source. A woman with frizzy, brown locks and thick eyebrows stared at me as if expecting me to answer her. Beside her was an old man, whose short black-greyish hair and beard had some sand in them. Both of them were looking at me, expecting me to say something.

"Kaifa halak?" The woman repeated it louder than before, probably thinking that I didn't hear her the first time.

Something clicked in my mind, but I couldn't make out what it was.

"I–I..." I gulped. "Where am I?" The words slipped out of my mouth. It was the only thing on my mind.

Silence filled the air, except for the sound of the wind blowing on the sands. Both the woman and the old man looked at me in surprise before the woman asked, "English?"

I nodded. At least they understand what I say.

"I was asking, how are you?"

"I d-don't know... Where am I? How did I get here?"

"If you're asking about where we are, truthfully, we don't know. But how you get here, you most likely had the same fate as us, for rebelling against the kingdom," the woman explained in English with a heavy accent lingered in her voice.

I almost laughed at what she said—I would have—if not for the sheer absurdity. "What? Why would I rebel against my kingdom? There must be a mistake."

I had never broken a rule in my life. I had never broken a law in my life. Why would I?

"The government wouldn't make a mistake. Only people with grave crimes will face a punishment like this. A banishment to the unknown, forgotten to the known," the old man said under his breath, letting the wind carry the heaviness of his heart into my own. He turned his back on us before he murmured a string of words.