The Day of Thunder

[Wu Zhe]

''By Shilah!'' he could not help but exclaim, earning a strike of the lash.

He knew that the Senpet who had captured them had ordered silence but damn was she out with a vengeance today. He could tolerate the heat to some degree but the heat added to the forced walk behind the mounted escort while having his hands tied to a post took its toll.

Glancing to his left he saw the half dozen people the slavers managed to catch. The first three of them were men. One was of darker skin complexion than what he was used to see in the city, although it was a different dark then his own, and the second seemed to be another Senpet with no real discernable features. The third was easy to recognise : a Moto...one of the horse lords who raided the medina's caravans.

How in Kaleel's name did they manage to catch this one?

The wind answered his question by bringing to him the man's strong acrid smell of piss mixed with spilled alcool.

Ah, a drunkard. Probalby one whom the raiders exiled.

He forced his neck to turn a bit more to look at the last three. One was a woman, not quite tall but with a strong musculature...and not the kind of muscle you get from heavy work: She was lean and looked agile. Noticing his gaze she gave him a look mean enough to have the hair on the back of his neck stand.

An acrobat or a dancer? At any rate I am sure she'll give them trouble if they try to make her a concubine.

The last two were clearly family. A boy and his mother? She did not look old enough to be his mother but did not seem like she could'nt have had children of her own even if quite younger.

The way they try to hold hands...the words of comfort she tells the kid. They might know each other or she is the kind of blessed woman able to care for others even in these situations. It won't end well for them despite the reassurances she tries to provide.

His fate was not an enviable one either...the salt mines...he would spend the last of his life in the dark as human cattle. His head fell down at the thought : He had long resolved to stop cursing himself for his idiocy and instead focus his energies trying to escape but it was a trial

I should have known better, the deal was too sweet

Faruq shook his head, trying not to get down on himself too much

The mines will give me ample opportunities for that

He raised it back up just in time to see something glimmer on their left at some distance. The four guards seemed to have noticed it as well and stopped their horses. That gleam could be many things but it probably meant trouble.

The prisoner focused his gaze in the direction and caught the reflection once more.

Ah, I know that shimmer...not quite copper...bronze. Heh, unless someone dumped jewelry in the middle of nowhere that's the sun's reflexion on a weapon.

Faruq looked at the distance.

No sand cloud

It can't be a raid...we would see it. An army waiting here would also be unlikely unless one of us is royalty and someone hired mercenaries.

Judging from the chatter of the guards, he doubted anyone here was overly important but aside from this point they came to the same conclusion.

Except for another one.

Profit

The bastards were considering if whatever was there could be captured and, if alive, added to their prisoners. Being mounted, the slaver felt confident to risk whatever they planned and changed direction towards the source of their interest. It took a few moments but the troupe could see what was shinning in the sun.

A bronze spear...an odd looking weapon held in the hands of a cloaked stranger who was kneeling, possibly in prayer. As they saw this the four Senpet slavers exchanged a laugh and decided to send half of their numbers to retrieve him.

Faruq grimaced as they did.

Two? That poor soul might already be dead for all they knew...one scout would be enough to loot the body.

That also meant that now only two guards were there to manage six prisoners...if an escape could be made, the time was now. It was not Faruq who acted first, however : The dancer fell to the ground, forcing their shared rope bonds to drag the bland Senpet and the dark skinned man with her.

The first of the two remaining slaver guards cursed before getting down from his horse to straighten her up with a kick in the belly.

She did not seem to react.

He kicked again

Once more there was no reaction and the slaver cursed again.

The dead girl meant less profit for the group and that new catch would likely be far less valuable.

He turned to exchange a few words with the second guard before untying the knot that held her to the rest of the merchandise. He was not foolish enough to remove her bonds, suspecting this might be a ruse, but that caution would prove utterly useless.

Quick as a leopard, the woman spun on her back and had the guard keel over with a powerful kick in the shin. She tried then to jump on him but the slaver recovered just enough to roll away before she could grab him. He was now far enough from her to try to regain his footing while his friend sought to recapture the deceitful wench but he was not far enough from the Moto who decided to fall on the poor sod's back, arse first, bringing all prisoners down with him thanks to his bulk.

The second guard, still mounted, tried to trample the acrobat but she dodged just at the right time and ran to the other side of the human pile pinning the first guard down. Despite his irritation the rider could not risk passing trough the pile for fear of causing too much damage to their profits.

But a spear thrown through his chest would quell that concern.

An odd bronze spear at that.

Faruq managed to look from where the spear was thrown and found two silhouettes.

No...wait. There is just one?

He blinked to clear his eyes and when he looked again only the lone man was there : the other form likely a mirage.
The man looked at the company a good moment before going back to retrieve the horses. He then asked if they knew where to go from here with an odd accent.

The prisoners looked at themselves before the captured Moto told the group that he knew of a small village built around a large spring a day or two from here and he could show them.

It was Faruq who spoke next : ''Who are you?''

The stranger was silent once more but gave his reply ''I am no one but what you see : a lone man in the desert.''

The panther woman frowned as she removed her shackles ''What is your name then?''

''I have none, I left it somewhere along the way.'' came as the reply

The group glanced at each other once more before the man spoke again

''We should go, the road is not over yet.''

They did so in silence.