attractive in his short hair, pointed nose and pearly white teeth.
They introduced themselves as Arslan and Altan, the witch and wizard of the shamanistic
deserted city of Caj Khota, which literally meant ‘The White City’. The city was said to be a
mirage and no one had ever found it. After a moment of introduction, they started talking about
the helicopter crash when Celia moaned agonizingly.
“She’ll die without the antidote,” Arslan whispered in a barely audible voice.
“What do you mean by antidote?” Tony asked.
Arslan took out an ancient scroll from the left sleeve of her deel. The old parchment was
written in traditional Mongolian, which Anna and Tony did not know how to read.
“Tell us what it’s about,” Tony snapped, eyeing Arslan.
“The antidote is said to be able to heal any injuries, including poisons, burns, frostbites, beast
bites …. anything you can name,” Arslan tried to make the explanation sound simple. Running
her finger through the markings, she added, “The chamber that houses it is said to be located at
the southern part of the Gobi Desert, under the sand. When you get into it, you will see lots of
jewellery. The jewellery is cursed and should be left untouched in all circumstances. Passing it
you will enter a realm of magic, home of a rare and mystical creature. The antidote is dangling on
the creature’s neck. To get it, prepare for something bad to happen.”
None of them spoke. They kept thinking about the words, prepare for something bad to
happen. What could they mean? But time didn’t allow them to ponder their next move.
“We’ve got to give it a try,” Anna stated in an air of determination. “I HAVE to save Celia.”
“What?” Tony was shocked. “You aren’t going to get the antidote, are you?” added him in
disbelief. Anna nodded again as she glanced sideways at Celia’s wound.
“NO way, I’m not going!” Tony said.
“Scared?” Anna snarled. “Get lost then! I’ll get it myself.”
“But …but … it’s dangerous! We have to keep each other company and ….”
“She’s my sister!” Anna bawled.
Tony sighed and dragged his feet reluctantly behind the girl ready to take charge of her destiny.
There the three of them set off in search of the antidote, leaving Altan and Celia in the city.
The scorching sun had made their skin reddish and almost melted them. The unbearable heat wave
hit them hard and the sandstorm raged, forbidding them to enter the sacred land. Tony wiped
away the sweats on his forehead and licked his lips furiously while glaring at Anna as if it was all
her fault.
“We could have got rescued and sent to the hospital if it hadn’t been …” Tony began to complain
but immediately sealed his mouth when he saw Arslan’s face darkened with a gloomy expression.
“Where are we?” He emphasized the word ‘are’, dissatisfied with their plan.
“Let me check it out …,” Anna said, reading the parchment while squinting her eyes, trying to
figure out their location.
“Let me sense the things around me,” Arslan chipped in and sniffed around while closing
her eyes.
“I’ll take some time off then,” Tony said, obviously agitated. “Call me when you’ve come up
with a solution.”
“Hush!” Arslan said.
“You’d better not move, Tony. Curiosity kills the cat,” Anna warned. “Danger could be lurking
by in any minute.”
