Irem and I left the library to go back, but Irem suggested eating something first as she had not had anything since breakfast in the morning and was peckish. I agreed and went with her to a restaurant with the outdoor seating and ordered the food to eat.

She asked me if I had someone I cherished and told me about the person she liked, but didn’t know whether she could have a future with him or not. I told her if it meant to be, she would end up with him. After the lunch, we were walking back to the house when a signboard about fortune reading caught Irem’s eye, and she dragged me towards the shop.

“Do you believe in Divination?” I was surprised, but the girl told me she had never tried tarot reading before, so she wanted to do it for herself since there was no harm in it.

Irem and I entered the small shop and saw an old woman sitting at the table who looked up at us and asked us to take a seat.

“Are you here for the fortune reading?” The clairvoyant asked, and Irem nodded asking her if she could do a tarot reading for her.

The woman shuffled the tarot card and spread them out, asking Irem to pick out three cards and placed them face down on the table. Then, the clairvoyant flipped those cards revealing Four Of Cups, Tower and Reversed Emperor and made a divination for Irem. She told her that there is a potential upheaval and sudden change in future, so she ought to be cautious in her decisions. Irem sighed dejectedly and got up to leave when the clairvoyant turned to me and asked if I wanted the divination for myself too.

“I do not believe in these things.” I answered her, but she looked at me and said, “Since you don’t believe in the divination, there is no harm in having one.”

Reluctantly, I picked the three cards and gave them to the clairvoyant for the reading.  

She flipped the tarot cards and revealed them to be Justice, Hanged Man and and Death and told me that there would be a major transformation in my life that might come with a price.

“Something greater might require sacrifice in the future.” She said to me, and I suddenly had an ominous feeling after seeing the Hanged Man. However, instead of asking about it further, I paid the woman and got up to leave, accidentally knocking some cards over on the floor.

I picked the cards and put them back on her table when she said to me, “The Judgement shall be passed on the criminal. Either you or they will die. You cannot escape it.”

“What are you even saying?” Irem lashed out in rage as I stared at the clairvoyant in disbelief. However, I shook my head refusing to believe her nonsense and asked Irem to leave.

As I turned to leave, I paused to look at the tarot card which I had dropped before on the floor and had put it back on the table.

It was Fifteenth Trump, Devil.

Irem and I went back together, and Karim briefed us about his professor whose colleague was in the desert with his team. After dinner, I started packing as we had to leave early in the morning.

I was on the terrace sitting on a wooden stool and enjoying the night view when Irem came to give me a cup of black coffee.

“We are leaving in the morning.” She said breaking the silence, and I nodded in reply.

“I’m afraid.” Irem admitted. “I think something bad is about to happen.”

“Why do you think so?” I asked her, and the girl leaned closer after making sure we two were alone on the terrace. “There’s something that I need to tell you”, she said. “My uncle has been acting strange ever since he met you.”

“Yousef?” For some reason, I wasn’t entirely surprised and asked her about him.

“Will you believe me if I tell you that he isn’t my uncle?” She confessed, and I became baffled.

“What do you mean that he’s not your uncle?”

“My uncle, Hisam and others went to Egypt a few months ago. However, ever since he came back from the desert, he’s been acting strange. I think it’s not him.”

“Then, who is he?” Did somehow happen to this group of people in the desert?

“I don’t know, but I really don’t think he’s my uncle. I can’t explain it, but he has changed after they survived a sandstorm in the desert. Even, there’s something off about Hisam. He’s been obsessed with finding an artifact that could open realms.”

As Irem said it, I suspected it wasn’t just about studying realms. He’s looking into the objects that could open a portal to another realm.

“Were Karim and Amira also on their team?” I inquired, and Irem shook her head.

“No, it’s only Amira. She’s the one who went into the desert with them.” She told me.

I sank back at the revelation and realized that I got caught up in something bigger than I had originally imagined. Yousef, Hisam and Amira weren’t ordinary people who had set me up to get back into the desert.

I might not be the dead fish, but there’s someone else who wanted to escape from this world.

I turned to Irem and asked her if she had mentioned it to anyone else besides me. She shook her head in denial and told me that she couldn’t trust Hisam and his friends. I took her hand in mine and said, “Listen! No matter what happens tomorrow, you have to stay closer to me. We can’t trust anyone on this team when we are in the desert.”

We became silent and turned to look at the glowing city lights under the bright night sky of Chefchaouen.

That Night, I called mother and siblings to tell them that I was going to the desert and would return soon. I knew what dangers lay ahead of the road. If something happened to me during the trip, and I could not come back from the desert, I’d die without regret of not letting them know.

‘About the pictures, you had asked me to find, I’ve sent them to you’, Mother texted me.

I checked my phone and scrolled through the pictures. The first few pictures were grainy and black and white, so the quality was quite low. I had to zoom in to see them properly. It’s the sixth colored picture of the grandmother that caught my attention, and my suspicion was right.

It’s the red stone on the flower as that of Hachim’s dagger which was missing. I became the target because of the hairpin which was connected to that place. I realized that I might be a pawn in someone’s game, but I’d be the one to end it.

Legend Of Erg Chebbi 

We set off in the morning at 4:00 from Chefchaouen to Fez with a team of total ten people in four land rover defenders. Aside from Hisam, Karim, Irem and I, there was a research team of Professor David including his female co-worker, Abigail and his two students, the fraternal twins Zimar and Sean from the university. There was also an Egyptian archeologist, Joachim and a Moroccan named, Okba who dealt in ancient relics and artifacts in Marrakech and was accompanying Professor David to the desert as his trusted aides.

It was the Professor David and his team who had organized the trip and arranged everything in advance. David was an American physicist and a professor of Quantum Mechanics at the University of Cairo; however, after his research failure in Egypt, he got himself transferred to the Moroccan University of Research. Amira was his student in Cairo who had also returned to Morocco to continue studying under him, or gave the impression of it.

It’s four to five hours estimated drive from Fez to Errachidia and further two hours car ride to Merzouga. I fell asleep in the car and asked Irem to wake me up once we reach Merzouga.

Merzouga is a small town and a tourist spot in the southeast of Morocco near Algeria’s border and is a gateway to the Sea Of Dunes, Erg Chebbi.

We arrived at a small local hotel in Merzouga to stay and rest for the night there. The rooms for everyone had already been booked, and Irem and I had to share a room together. I took a hot shower after being on the road for too long and decided to hit the pillow when I saw Irem sitting on her bed in daze.

“What’s the matter?” I asked, making her snap out of her thoughts. “Is everything alright?”

She shook her head and said, “Nothing. It’s just that I can’t sleep.”

“Are you thinking about what you’ve said to me earlier?” I asked and seeing how she became stiff, I guessed this was the case. It’s better to be cautious; however, if what she had said was true, we couldn’t let the team suspect it.

“Get some sleep.” I told her to rest and lay down to sleep as well.

In the morning, after the breakfast we refilled our cars’ tanks. Joachim hired two local guides from there and rechecked all the necessary equipment including safety gears, travel permits, satellite phones, GPS trackers, fuel, warm clothes and jackets, food, water and medical kits before hitting the road again to Erg Chebbi.

Professor David’s car was ahead of us, and Hisam and Karim followed behind. I sat with Irem in the back seat and took out my journal to record about the things that we’d experience in the desert. Irem took some pictures of the road with her camera, and I started writing about the places I had visited, the number of people going into the desert and the purpose of our visit because if I died in the desert, someone would know what had happened to me.

Finally, we arrived at the Luxury Campsite of Erg Chebbi located amidst the dunes of Zniqui and were welcomed by the host. It’s such a beautiful spot perfect for spending vacations in the desert. There were Bedouin camps on each side of a red carpet that ran through a sitting area in the middle and led to the royal tent at its end. The small carpets were connecting the other tents as well, and the floor cushions, rugs, drums and the musical instruments all were placed on the ground in one corner for entertainment. From an aerial view, one can see the entire campsite forming a human eye in the middle of the desert.

“David has arranged it for us.” Hisam told us. “He thought we should enjoy ourselves while we are in the desert.”

The gesture was much appreciated, but I was still on guard against them.

We each went to our private camp and took rest after a long journey. I fell asleep the moment I hit the bed and woke up at dusk to the sound of cackles and laughter outside the camp.

There’s availability of hot water in the camp, so I cleaned myself and changed into fresh set of clothes before going outside to join the others for the night. The lamps were lit outside that gave an ethereal glow to the campsite. The temperature in the desert had dropped at night, and the air became chilly too, so the campfire was made in the center of the sitting area.

I sat next to Irem who handed me food plate and asked her what everyone was talking about.

“There’s this legend about Erg Chebbi”, said one of the local guide. “It was once a flourishing green oasis, but the people of Chebbi shunned away a hungry woman and her child during a banquet while they washed their hands in milk and played with couscous but none for her. As retribution, God turned the village into barren land and buried them under these sands.”

“It’s ominous.” Irem shuddered. “Why would you mention something like this in the desert?” Item was demure: her mannerisms impeccable, but the girl had a weak constitution and was a bit superstitious.

“If you think this is ominous then, let me tell you a story of travelers in the desert”. I spoke as I throw a glance towards Professor David’s face. If what Irem had said was true, then, it’s a perfect time to test him.

“It’s said that whenever there is a group of traveler passing through the desert, there’s a Third entity that accompanies them and leads them astray”, I told them.

“What’s this Third entity?” It’s the short-haired girl, Zimar who asked about it.

“It’s a djinn of the desert tied to the place and resents humans for being unable to leave.”

“Are you trying to give us nightmares?” Irem was mortified, but Zimar became interested.

 “What happened to those travelers?” She asked me growing curious.

“The travelers realized that something else had joined them, so the merchant suggested to cut each other to check their blood. However, the youngest of them died, and they ended up killing each other in fear till no one was left alive, but the merchant himself.”

“Was it the merchant?” The blue-eyed twin, Sean asked me, but I shook my head.

“No, the merchant was also killed. It was the young lad accompanying them who used the merchant’s greed to kill the others.”

“But, it contradicts your own statement.” Sean counteracted. “You have said it yourself that the young boy had died first.”

“He didn’t.” I clarified. “He’d trapped them inside his illusion.” It is what Kasim had also done to those travelers and deluded me into thinking that Dylan wanted to harm me so that I could leave with him instead.

“Miss Cordon, if you don’t mind me asking where have you heard this story?” Professor David asked me, and I knew that the fish was being reeled in.

“I heard it from the locals.” I answered him, but his colleague, Abigail grew suspicious of me. The woman was quite observant, and I told myself to be more careful around her.

“I haven’t heard of such a tale in Marrakech, have you?” She had turned to those local guides, and I had to come up with a perfect lie before I could be caught.

 “It’s the children.” I told her. “ You know how they spin tales to scare each other. Surrounded by desert under the stars, I simply didn’t want to waste such a good story.”

“Sister!” Irem whined in protest after learning that I was teasing her.

“It’s indeed a good story for the children.” The Professor remarked. “However, there’s another account of Erg Chebbi which is far more interesting than yours, Miss Cordon. The legend had that the people disappeared overnight after that woman appeared in their village on the night of banquet.”

“Disappeared?” asked Karim. “Weren’t they all buried under sands?”

“The entire village; men, women, elderly, children, cattle and even houses disappeared as if never existed. The dunes and desert here change their shape and course. If they were buried under these sands, there would be some traces of them left.”

The professor explained himself, but I countered him, “Where else could happened to them if not perished due to drought and famine?”

“They might have disappeared into another world.” He said holding my gaze. He was testing me back to gauge my reaction.

“It only happens in the movies, Professor”. I said, “No one can fall down the rabbit hole, let alone an entire village.”

“Aren’t we here to find out about this.” Hisam interrupted as others nodded in agreement.

 “I’m here for my book.” I defended myself.

Okba who had grown tired of listening to our bantering spoke, “Why don’t we listen to some music and enjoy the night? I don’t want to be haunted at night by listening to your stories.”

We all laughed and changed the topic of our conversation. The drum beat rolled in, and we let ourselves be carried by the music under the starry sky of the desert, but I couldn’t forget David’s gaze on me.