LITMIR.BIZ

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of the party doing the same. The enemy leader looked over the group, and a small sneer appeared on his face, almost like a snarl. He looked back at Najwa and spat on the ground before him. Najwa said nothing and made no attempts to move; he simply stared at his rival.

      The Qismah leader spoke first. “Tabu nawa bu ta agne.”

      Najwa responded in his tongue. “Betu gemma unbatu.”

      The enemy tribesman laughed. It was a horrible guttural sound that reminded Alek of a rabid wolvin. He leaned over very subtly and whispered to Tallyn. “Do you understand what they’re saying?”

      “The Qismah leader asked what gives us the right to step into his boundaries. Najwa has answered him by explaining our mission.”

      “The Qismah don’t seem too easily swayed. I doubt they care where we’re going, only that we’re on his turf.”

      “True, but Najwa will get through even if we have to fight our way.”

      “I’m not too keen on that, Tallyn. You persuaded me against my better judgment to give up our protection. I don’t want this to get messy.”

      “I understand you’re concern; however, Najwa made a promise to get us into the city, and he will do that no matter the cost. They may seem uncivilized, but they are honorable.”

      The Qismah leader was larger than Najwa. In fact, in scanning the whole group, they were all larger than the Badu tribesman by at least a head in height and more in girth. He hadn’t seen men this large in ages. They were easily six-nine, standing on the ground, and they had chests the width of horses. They were clothed similarly to the Badu, except they carried an extra weapon, and it looked far worse than what the Badu carried. They were curved swords, with serrated blades, and they had a barbed hook on the end. Not only would it fillet you, but de-bone you as well. Alek swallowed. He didn’t think they’d be a good match against them. There were twenty of the enemy and only thirteen of them, and his men had no mail. Alek rubbed a hand across his eyes, trying again to remove the grit. They stung and felt dry. He refocused his attention.

      The leader was getting agitated. Alek could see his muscles tensing and the line at his jaw tightening. His mount was starting to get agitated as well. It was shifting its weight from foot to foot and was snorting. Alek caught a whiff of it’s foul breath carried to him on the dry desert wind.

      Najwa was speaking now, and within a few moments, Alek saw the men behind the Qismah leader draw weapons at once. Alek pulled his and motioned for his men to do the same. No one made any moves yet, but Alek was adept enough at sensing tension, and he knew it wouldn’t last. The Qismah were getting mad.

      In an instant, all hell broke loose. The Qismahs all had their weapons drawn, and they were squatting in their saddles. The beasts were snorting and pawing the ground, waiting for the signal to attack. Najwa pulled his spear from underneath his mount, and his men followed suit. Alek looked over his shoulder. His men were at the ready. Tallyn readied his bow, and the other elf, Cai, had his sword unsheathed. The leader of the Qismah screeched at the top of his lungs, and the jazas lunged. Alek pulled his horse to the left just before the tribesman swung down with his horrible weapon. The men were scrambling for more solid ground, but the soft sand under the hooves of the horses made moving quickly impossible. They would have to rely on strength to overtake the enemy. Tallyn had managed to take out three of the nomads with his bow, and Cai another two with his quick sword work. The jazas were sturdier on the sand, their webbed feet worked like presses, packing the sand down in order to stay upright. Alek decided that the horses were going to hinder his fighting and slid off his mount to the uneven dunes below. He hissed at the horse, and it bolted away from the scene. A quick glance over his shoulder told him his men had the same idea and were scattering as best they could from the jazas coming at them head-on. Once Alek had a comfortable and solid stance in the dune, he wielded his sword over his head as a rushing jaza and rider headed right for him. As the jaza bowed it’s head as it passed, Alek swung his sword arm up, brought it down with lightening speed and force, severing the jazas head from its torso. The creature went down, its green blood spilling out onto the hot sand, steam rising into the arid air. The rider flipped off the back and landed hard onto the ground, curved sword raised menacingly over his head. Alek was ready. The man swung the sword in a curved arc in front of him, intending to fillet Alek open, but he was fast and as the sword missed by only inches; he swung around and sliced the Qismah across the back. He thudded to the ground in mid stride, face sliding across the hot sand.

      Alek took in a breath, sweat pouring down his face and into his eyes. He pulled the cloth from around his head, the loose material hindering his sight, and wiped the beads of moisture from his face. He turned around as another jaza was coming at him. He jumped to the left just as the creature passed, sliding into the sand on his knees. He stayed in stride and got up quickly, turning around to meet the man head-on. He took two steps forward when an arrow flew by his head and landed in the chest of a warrior who had been de-horsed and was coming at him from behind. He didn’t have time to thank Cai for having his back because the warrior was almost on top of him. He slid across the sand on one knee and jabbed upward into the chest of the jaza, slicing it open from groin to chin. The beast wailed and thudded to the ground, blood spattering for several feet in all directions. The man was trapped under the beast who had fallen over, and Alek didn’t miss a beat. He turned on a toe and brought his sword down into the man’s throat, cutting his jugular.

      Blood dripped into the sand everywhere he looked, and his hands were sticky from the blood baking on his skin in the heat. He wiped his head again with the back of his hand, and ran toward another group of warriors grappling with more tribal men. The two elves were still alive, and three of his four men. There were still six Badu tribesmen including Najwa. The enemy was down to only five now. He headed in the direction of the fray and did a quick survey of the battle scene. The bodies were strewn all over the sand, and the heat was already baking the flesh of the dead into bloated masses. The blood was thick, and the heat of the hot sun was creating such a horrid stench that Alek gagged back bile.

      He ran toward the group of warriors grappling with the Qismah and their mounts. He raced over the dunes, feet sinking with every step, causing the muscles in his calves to ache with strain. He approached a Qismah still mounted on the back of his jaza and took a wide swing with his sword, cutting into the creatures hind quarter and loosening a chunk from its hide. Blood oozed from the wound, and the beast screamed in pain, but it wasn’t enough to stall its retreat. The rider, noticing its mount quivering, turned to see Alek swinging down again to slice him down the back. The Qismah warrior was too fast, his mount still too agile on the sand to allow the downward motion of Alek’s sword to penetrate his skin. It barely worked, only leaving a small thin scratch across the man’s back. The Qismah smiled derisively and charged Alek. Alek scrambled backwards and sunk in a sand dune up to his ankle and went down, leaving him squinting into the glare of the sun. The warrior was closing in on him, but all Alek could see was a blurred outline, the sun making a halo around his body. The warrior dismounted from the jaza without losing a stride and swung down and sideways. Alek was able to roll over, but not all the way out of the Qismah’s reach or in time. The curved blade sliced him at the shoulder blade on his weapon arm. Even had he been wearing mail, the spot the warrior got him would have been unprotected fully where the arm and chest pieces connected. Blood started to run down his side, and he now couldn’t move his arm. He cradled it across his chest and grabbed his sword with the other hand. He crawled a few feet then stood slowly, weak from the pain of the severed tendon and dazed from the extreme heat. The Qismah had noticed over his shoulder that Alek was not down for good and started back in his direction once again. Alek planted his feet as sturdy as he could in the uneven soft terrain and prepared himself for the force of the blow he knew was coming. The warrior raced across the sand, the jaza running smooth and graceful, and Alek assumed his fighting stance. From the corner of his eye he saw a blurry figure headed toward him from the left, but he did not take the chance to take his eyes from the approaching mass to see whether the side attack was enemy or ally. He’d just have to have faith that he wouldn’t fend off one just to be struck down by another. The frontal assault came, and Alek whipped around his good shoulder striking with a force so brutal, he severed the man’s head from his chest and went halfway through the beast as well. He turned

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