Through the Sands of Time

The sun beat down on your face, relentless and unforgiving. Sand stretched in every direction, an endless sea of gold under a sky painted in hues of orange, pink, and purple. You gasped, the beauty of the sunset momentarily taking your mind off the aching in your legs and the discomfort of your sweat-soaked clothes.
Your fingers fumbled for your camera, a familiar weight in your hand. Click. Click. Click. Capturing the ephemeral beauty, you tried to ignore the nagging question at the back of your mind: how did you end up alone, miles from Cairo, with no sign of your friends?
A shiver of unease traced its way down your spine, despite the oppressive heat. Something was terribly wrong. Your cell phone was dead, the only link to the world you knew severed. As frustration mounted, a new sound reached your ears – the pounding of hooves in the distance.
