Old Enemies, Old Friends, And A New Artifact

Leona was called into Poko's office. There she was handed a letter from Chief Elijah. Once she saw the name of the sender, she quickly read it.

In the letter she was told that two of her friends, Whitney and Erica, were on the way to Phoenix Mountains to give Silver Wolf an artifact that a villager had discovered and unearthed while tending his field. However, they were captured by the Crimson Sashes. This information was relayed to the chief by a villager who accompanied the pair and managed to escape the ambush. Leona folded up the letter and took her leave of the Guild Master.

She raced to her room and donned the Argent Gloves she had received from the cat people. She prepared her backpack with extra food, extra water, long pants, and her desert cloak. She wore an olive-green t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts.

-12 hours later, Desierto-

Leona had been met on the border of Desierto by a mixed group of people from her home village and four dozen tribesmen of Regudo. She was informed that the Regudo had made contact with Chief Elijah after her rescue of the chief's daughters from Bladdi Maccoi. As it turned out, the Regudo had fought against the Crimson Sashes for the past three decades. It seemed that Nebdoui and Regudo had a common enemy.

"We have heard of the plight of your people. We too have suffered at the hands of the Crimson Sashes. In addition to your friends, they have taken our prince hostage. That is why we join forces." A clean-shaven young man wearing a white turban with a golden pin of crossed scimitars on the front said to Leona. He had tan skin and wore a white shirt with black pants and brown riding boots. He had brown eyes. The young man reminded her of Kasim. Suddenly a pair of young men rode up to him and began speaking rapidly.

"Prince Hakeem, we have found their outpost!" They said to him. They showed him a hand-drawn map marked with lines. The prince nodded.

"Our scouts have located the Crimson Sashes outpost where our loved ones are being held. Come now. There is not much time to lose!" The young man urged everyone.

-Outskirts of Crimson Sashes outpost, one hour later-

"It is nightfall. That is good. We approach under the cover of darkness. We sneak in, free the hostages, and ride away before they know what is happening." Hakeem recounted the plan to Leona and a team of ten tribesmen in tan cloaks carrying bows and arrows and scimitars on their sides. The rest of the Regudo waited beyond the camp's perimeter to avoid being spotted. Two sentries were walking around the perimeter of a tent city without walls and a prominent adobe building in the center. That adobe building was important somehow.

Hakeem, Leona, and the other ten tribesmen quickly and silently moved into position just outside the tent city. Sure enough a pair of men on horseback thundered by the sand slope they had taken cover behind. Then another pair rode by. The dozen waited a few minutes before breaking cover. Leona had just started crawling when Hakeem thrust a hand in front of her.

"Your gloves glisten like stars in the sky, Leona. Cover them!" Hakeem whispered. A tribesman quickly and silently cut his cloak into shreds big enough to cover the shining metal gauntlets. Hakeem tied the wraps into place.

"Our scouts reported that our loved ones are in the adobe building. We must hurry! If they think a raid is coming, they might kill the hostages!" Hakeem urged them. They filtered through the tent city, slipping by sleeping and inebriated guards. Two of them were so focused on a card game that the dozen slipped by only inches from their table. Another five were listening to a sixth man play a lute and sing a ballad about a sultan of Desierto famous for his wealth and the size of his harem, which was five hundred women strong.

After a nerve-wracking fifteen minutes spent sneaking about, the team was hiding on each side of the entrance to the adobe building. They watched a large double door open and a tall, burly man stride out with an escort of two men wearing the Crimson Sash outfit plus a crimson turban.

"Ah, those children are annoying. They say nothing about their villages no matter how hard we beat them. It doesn't matter. Give them enough time in the prison and they'll talk once they realize that rescue's not coming." The tall man said to his companions.

He must have been the outpost commander. After they were sure he and his escort were gone, the team slipped into the prison. It was a good thing that the men did not look behind them or the jig would be up.

-Inside the prison-

"Ah, Commander Salim, back already?" A guard asked. He was reading a magazine with an armor-wearing white-haired young woman on the front cover. She was smiling, her eyes were closed, and it looked like her hands were clasped in joy.

[Word Count: 857] [Total Word Count 857/1,000]

"You'll find the Regudo prince down the stairs to the left. He's been quiet all day. He hasn't told us a word about his village, even when we whipped him and threatened to burn him with a hot poker." The guard continued. Hakeem's eyes narrowed in anger. He raised a drawn bow and was about to silence the man when Leona put a hand up. Hakeem held off on firing.

"Those annoying Nebdoui girls are down the stairs to the right. They just won't shut up. They keep talking about how some girl named Leona Jarnefeldt is going to rescue them and how we'll be sorry where she gets here. I think it's all empty talk. That girl can't possibly get past all... our... securit-eeeee!" The guard trailed off as he finally looked up from the magazine. He was staring at a dozen angry people, eleven of them with bows drawn. He bolted up from his seat and was promptly silenced with an arrow between the eyes. He was dead before the dropped magazine hit the ground. Hakeem turned to Leona.

"We need to act fast. We'll go free my brother. You free your friends!" Hakeem instructed. The Regudo men rushed down the hallway while Leona drew her knife and bolted down the hallway leading right. She carefully made her way down the stairs and opened a wooden door.

"Oh, it's about time! Do you know how boring it is to listen to those two complain all day?" A portly Crimson Sash member asked as he strode towards Leona. He held a ring of keys in one hand and a wine jar in the other. The smell of alcohol was wafting through the air. To say he was drunk was an understatement. However, he was just sober enough to realize that she should not be down there.

"Hey, you're not suppo-!" He started before Leona stabbed him in the chest with her knife. She stabbed him multiple times to be certain he was dead, then took the ring of keys from his hand.
She quickly made her way into the cell block and looked for her friends. They were in the very last cell down the hall. Leona broke into a sprint and stopped near the cell door.

Leona fumbled for the keys. She tried the first key, then the second, then the third. No dice. The frantic jingling caught the attention of the cell's occupants.

"Hey Whitney, it's Leona! Leona's here!" A female voice whispered. The other occupant, who lay on a thin blanket facing the cell wall, was roused from her slumber. Leona continued to try keys. The fourth, fifth, and sixth were all failures.

"Huh? Leona! LEO-" Whitney started before Erica clapped a hand over her mouth. Leona opened the cell door with the seventh key on the ring. The two girls quickly got up and huddled around Leona. They both embraced her at the same time.

"Sorry to cut the reunion short, but we've gotta go!" Leona told them. They went quiet and hurriedly followed Leona back up the stairs. On the other end of the hallway she saw Hakeem and his party emerge with a young man with an eye swollen shut, a bloody lip, and whip marks on his bare chest. Leona linked up with them.

"We have what we came for. Let us leave this place!" Hakeem urged.

"Uh, Leona, the artifact we were bringing to you... it was taken by that burly guy with the two bodyguards." Whitney chimed in. Leona groaned. There went their smooth escape.

"What is she talking about?" Hakeem asked. His men watched their back as the pair conversed. They really needed to go.

"They were bringing me an artifact. You see, I work for a guild who collects artifacts for research." Leona informed him. Hakeem's eyes narrowed. Was he angry with her?

"I did not know you were a collector of antiquities, Leona. But is now really the time?" Hakeem asked.

"Look, I know it sounds dumb, but I need that artifact." Leona stated.

"It's a tablet. A stone tablet. It has some really weird writing on it." Erica chimed in. Hakeem frowned.

"We don't know what it can do, Hakeem. I don't want to leave it and hand the Crimson Sashes the manual for a doomsday weapon or a really powerful spell. It might even raise an undead army they could use to conquer Desierto." Leona argued. Hakeem took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and muttered something.

"We will go and take your friends to safety. They will escape unharmed. I swear it." Hakeem stated.

"Thanks Hakeem." Leona expressed her gratitude.

"We need to go NOW!" Hakeem urged. With that the group swiftly exited the prison. They needed to move quickly.

[Word Count: 797] [Total Word Count: 1,643/1,000]

The group had slipped halfway through the camp when Whitney remembered something.

"The commander's tent is the big one with the skulls on pikes outside the entrance. You can't miss it!" Whitney whispered.

"Thanks. I'll go get it." Leona whispered back. Suddenly a sentry wandered by. He was dangerously close to the group and facing in their direction. There was no way that all of them were going to slip by. The guard was about to turn around and walk away when a snake slithered by the crouching Whitney, who screamed.

Leona and Hakeem cursed. There went the silent escape. Leona popped up and knocked the sentry down with her Crescent Wave spell. Guards started taking notice. Leona grabbed a torch positioned just outside the tent.

"Damn it! Go! Get out of here!" Leona urged.

"But what about you?" Hakeem asked.

"I'll go get the artifact. I'll draw their attention away from you guys. JUST GO!" Leona urged him, setting the tent on fire. A quartet of guards rushed at her. Hakeem and his men dropped them with arrow fire. He then gave a swift doff of his turban and made a break for it.

"HEY DUMBASSES! OVER HERE!" Leona screamed, setting another nearby tent on fire. That did the trick. More guards came rushing out with murder on their minds. They paid no attention to Hakeem and the hostages as they slipped away. An eyeball count showed two dozen guards armed with swords, spears, and bows and arrows. Leona had gotten herself in deep.

She glanced around for the commander's tent. Sure enough, she saw the big tent with human skulls impaled on pikes outside the entrance. That was the one. The guards surrounded her and began approaching. She raised a fist and used Storm Impact.

The dust cloud kicked up disoriented them, giving her just enough time to set another tent on fire and run away.

"NOT THE FOOD!" One guard shouted in distress. Most of them promptly forgot about Leona and set to work trying to rescue their food supply. Eight of them broke off and chased Leona, who was sprinting for the commander's tent as fast as she could go.

She ducked inside another tent, then crouched down and waited. The eight men went racing by. She almost snickered until she felt a hand grope her backside. A drunk and barely conscious guard was behind her!

"Hey baby, the desert gets pretty lonely. The commander keeps all the girls to himself." He muttered while feeling her up more. Leona's face was turning red. She could not scream unless she wanted the camp coming after her. Well, they already were after her.

"Yeah. Listen. You leave me alone now and we'll talk about it later. Under the covers. You and me." Leona pleaded.

"Yeah. Sure thing Hot Stuff. Don't keep me waiting." He said before rolling over and facing the wall, cradling a bottle of wine in his arms. Leona quickly got up and left before the man reconsidered. What a bad idea this was.

She spotted the commander's tent and thought about her options. She could burn it down and swipe the tablet in the confusion. She could sneak in as a girl and take it. Or she could-

An arrow whizzed by her face. She had been spotted! Time to do something really, really dumb.

Taking a deep breath, Leona raced into the tent and past the crimson-turbaned men, ran over to a table, and swiped the tablet. Women nearby started screaming. Seconds later a tall, burly man with a scimitar as big as his arm emerged from another part of the tent.

"GET HER, YOU IDIOTS!" The commander screamed. She raced past the crimson-turbaned men and turned around. She used a Crescent Wave to tear a tent support pole to splinters, bringing half of it down on the occupants. Now was the time to run like hell.

Racing through a hail of arrows, she ran to the camp entrance. She had burst past the pair of sentries from earlier and was almost clear when an arrow slammed into her left shoulder. Leona screamed and nearly dropped the tablet, but help was on the way. Hakeem and his men were riding hard and firing arrows to cover her escape. Another arrow grazed her left leg.

"LEONA! TAKE MY HAND!" Hakeem shouted as his horse slid to a halt. Leona reached up with her free hand, which was hit with an arrow. Thanks to the Argent Glove, the arrowhead was blunted and did not penetrate. Hakeem hauled her up onto the back of his horse and the group fled under a volley of covering fire from the rest of the Regudo. A pair of enemy horsemen were shot from their saddles and the rest stymied by a rain of arrows.

"DAMN YOU ALL! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" A male voice screamed as Leona, Hakeem, and the others rode away from the smoldering camp. Leona had made it. She had only survived because of Hakeem and the Regudo.

The hostages were alive and free. The artifact was secured. Most of all, Leona was still alive.

"I don't know if you're brave or stupid, Leona. You could have died! You would have died for a stupid stone tablet!" Hakeem shouted at her. His face was full of anger. Leona faced the sand. He was right. She did some really stupid things tonight.

"But you helped save my brother. You risked your life to make sure we all got away. I cannot thank you enough." Hakeem said as his facial expression softened. Leona took a deep breath. The adrenaline was wearing off and the exhaustion was setting in.

"Your friends are safe, Leona. Your tribesmen are already taking them home with an escort of my best men. Both your fellow villagers and your young friends spoke highly of you. They said that you were brave and willing to risk anything to accomplish a mission." Hakeem informed her.

"Yeah. It's what I do. And thanks for protecting them, Hakeem." Leona thanked him in a soft tone of voice.

"Do not talk any more. You will be my guest for the night. Tonight we will treat your wounds. Tomorrow we will escort you to the civilized lands." Hakeem said. Leona went quiet and looked at the tablet. She hoped that it was worth all the danger.

[Word Count: 1,065] [Total Word Count: 2,708/1,000]