Study Break

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 33, Post Number 809

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, Leona's Room-

Wearing a white tank top and khaki cargo shorts with the Daggerbook owner's manual sitting in the middle of the right side of her desk, Leona's bare feet touched the wooden floor as she sat at her desk with her Daggerbook open and powered on. Powering it on had been easy... all she had to do was press the power button at the top right corner of the laptop and it powered on. It was at the desktop screen within ten seconds of the power button being pressed, lending credence to its claim of being at "the height of processing speed and power." Leona looked at the desktop and located the lacrimanet browser icon within seconds thanks to the layout of the icons in alphabetical order and each icon being clearly labeled for the user's benefit.

Leona found the trackpad and used it to move the white arrow cursor to the lacrimanet browser, then read the owner's manual and learned that the left rectangular panel beneath the trackpad was how a user without a mouse clicked on something to make it work. Leona gently pressed the left panel once and the lacrimanet browser popped up seconds later. She was impressed with the processing speed and ease of use of the Daggerbook; the Wizard Saint from Desierto was finally taking baby steps towards computer literacy.

Leona gently put her finger on the trackpad and slowly moved the cursor to the lacrimanet search bar, then hunted and pecked keys until she had spelled out "Crocus Magicka University" and tapped the ENTER key. Just seconds later the first result appeared and it was exactly what she needed. She clicked on it and was greeted with the Crocus Magicka University homepage, which feature the university logo of CMU in the middle of a laurel wreath in golden letters in a prominent position on a white background in the center of the page. Below and to the left of the logo were a list of links in blue text.

Leona slowly and carefully browsed the links in blue letters, reading the name of each one as she went. There were links for Academics, Admissions, the Alumni Association, and more links pertaining to the university listed in alphabetical order. Leona scrolled down the page until she found the Outside Scholars Program nearly two-thirds of the way down. She clicked on it and was greeted with a summary of how and why the program was established.

According to the page, the Outside Scholars program was established to allow scholars who were not university students or faculty to have access to the university's library for research purposes. Leona skimmed the remaining five paragraphs of the program's backstory and eventually got to the information she was after, which pertained to the program's five levels of membership and how much they cost to join. She browsed the levels and saw that they were labeled Tin, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum with each level placed inside an appropriately colored bar.

Leona read through each level and learned about the privileges each level of membership gave its holder. She learned that each higher level kept the privileges of previous levels while adding a perk or two to entice holders of lower levels to upgrade their membership. Leona started at Tin level, which was the lowest of the five.

Tin was the membership that was aimed at the layperson who might need to do research every once in awhile with university-level materials. It cost an up-front fee of 5,000 Jewels to join and a fee of 50 Jewels a month to keep the membership. Tin-level members could access the university library only during school hours and only on weekdays. That restriction meant that they could not take advantage of extended hours on the weekends like holders of higher memberships could. A quick note read that extended hours lasted from 1:00 A.M. until 4:00 A.M on weekends.

Bronze was the second-lowest level of membership and was aimed at avid readers who wanted a little more access to the library. It cost 10,000 Jewels up front and a fee of 1,000 Jewels per month to maintain. Bronze-level members enjoyed two perks that Tin members did not get... Bronze members could use the university library on weekends and they got an extra hour of time in the library during extended hours, meaning that they could stay until 2:00 A.M.

Silver was the middle-of-the-road option for someone who wanted regular access to the university's research materials without planning to live in the library. It cost 25,000 Jewels up front and cost 2,500 Jewels per month to maintain. In exchange Silver members gained the perk of being permitted to stay in the library the entire length of the extended hours period. An interesting side note was that alumni received a three-month complimentary Silver membership in Outside Scholars when they joined the Alumni Association. Once the trial period expired, if they were interested in keeping the membership they got a 20% discount of 20,000 Jewels up front and 2,000 Jewels per month for as long as they were members of the Alumni Association.

Gold was the second-highest level and was aimed at devoted scholars who routinely burned the midnight oil. The price for Gold was 50,000 Jewels up front and 5,000 Jewels per month. Gold members gained the exclusive privileges of being able to enter the library an hour before it was open to students and to reserve an individual study room in which to conduct research in privacy if they wished. Leona was liking that package of perks, but there was only one more level to go and that was Platinum.

Leona's eyes darted across the paragraph and learned that Platinum membership was by invitation only. She read the requirements and learned that to be invited for Platinum membership one either had to be emeritus faculty with at least twenty years of employment at the university at the time of retirement, a frequent and generous contributor to the alumni fund, or be a holder of a Gold membership for five full years. Leona thought that such exclusivity was a tactic to induce people to buy Gold memberships by making the highest level seem exclusive and prestigious, but then she read the list of privileges and learned why it was invitation-only.

Platinum members had all of the privileges of previous levels plus a few perks exclusive to them. One perk was that they could enter the library up to two hours before it was open to students if they wished. A second perk was that they could stay up to two hours past extended hours without penalty. The third and most valuable perk was the right to take research materials out of the library, but that benefit was subject to heavy restrictions. Leona stood up to stretch her legs and go get some coffee before she read about the restrictions attached to taking research materials out of the library.

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-Twenty minutes later-

Leona had taken a coffee break that was longer than intended, but she was now back in her room to finish reading about the Platinum-level membership in the Outside Scholars program. Leona had learned that a perk exclusive to Platinum members was the privilege to check out university materials and actually take them home. However, that perk came with several restrictions, restrictions that the Wizard Saint carefully read. She fished out a notepad to write them all down so that she could take them into consideration before she went and bought a Gold membership with the intent of one day being invited to become a Platinum member of Outside Scholars.

The first was that a borrower could only check out university books for a total of 48 hours. If the borrower did not return the materials within that timeframe they were subject to a late charge of 10,000 Jewels per day until it was returned. Leona was not sure that that fine would really hurt anyone who could afford a Platinum membership to begin with, but she was not the one who set the rules.

The second restriction was that if a Platinum member was late with borrowed books three times their Platinum membership was canceled and they could not get it back without having to go through an appeals system. If the member won their appeal they had one more chance. If the member was late with another book their Platinum membership was revoked permanently. While the offending member could get a lower-level membership, regaining Platinum was impossible.

The third restriction was that there was a scale of priority as to who got first dibs on checking out university books to take home. Platinum members who were former faculty sat at the top, generous donors to the Alumni Association sat in the middle, and all other Platinum members sat at the bottom. Leona thought that that was reasonable.

The fourth and final restriction was that if any borrower returned a book that was damaged or defaced, they received a strike the same as if they were late with a book and had to pay a fine of 50,000 Jewels as restitution. Again Leona was not sure that such a fee would harm anyone who could afford a Platinum membership, but again she did not set the rules.

Leona took some time to write all the restrictions on Platinum membership down before moving on and seeing if there were any other rules to it. Leona scrolled down and did not read any, so she pulled out a notebook from her desk drawer and went to work writing down the five levels of membership and all their associated perks so that she could carefully consider which level to purchase before she paid the Jewels and realized that she was not happy with the purchase. While money was not much of a consideration for the Wizard Saint, she still wanted to get the most for her Jewels.

-Fifteen minutes later-

Leona had taken the time to carefully write down the five levels of membership, the cost for each one, and what perks each level offered before setting down her pencil after double-checking for accuracy. She examined her handwriting and decided that it was satisfactory enough to be read, so she set the notebook aside. Now that she had learned about the Outside Scholar program she looked for a location to sign up for it and scrolled down to the very bottom of the screen. At the bottom she learned that she could either apply online or go apply in person at the Crocus Magicka University library during normal library hours. Leona wrote those hours down and then left the Crocus Magicka University page, going back to the lacrimanet search bar and slowly typing in "Capital Crocus GED test" to look at where she could take the GED test and what materials she needed to study to have a good chance of passing it.

Leona browsed the first result and found that Crocus Magicka University offered a facility for GED testing. She was pleased by that. She clicked on it and was returned to the Crocus Magicka University homepage. She was in a section of it that described the GED program it ran. Leona flipped to a new page in her notebook and looked for pertinent information to write down.

Leona read the page and learned that like Dr. Crouch had told her the university ran a GED program for people who wanted to earn the equivalent of a high school diploma to either improve their job prospects or to stand a better chance of getting into an institution of higher education. She read on and learned a physical address for the testing facility, writing it down and double-checking to make sure it was right before she moved on. She read on and learned that first-time test takers had to take the test in person at the facility, which upon further reading was actually an auditorium on the campus itself. There was also a 1,000-Jewel fee to take the test.

Leona wrote that information down and moved on to how the test worked. It was a traditional pen-and-paper exam that would test a person's reading, writing, and mathematical ability in several sections devoted to each topic. Leona was a bit daunted by that... she had not been in a testing environment for over two years.

The exam also lasted several hours, so she was advised to dress appropriately and eat and drink before she got to the exam room because food and drink would not be permitted in the exam room during the test. There would be breaks between sections where one could eat, drink, and use the restroom if so desired. Crocus Magica University faculty would monitor test takers at all times to prevent cheating; test takers would be monitored even during breaks.

She was not sure how that was going to work, but she did not question it too much. The Wizard Saint read on and found a list of recommended study materials that one was advised to study before taking the GED test. It was helpfully broken down into sections so that test takers would know what materials to purchase for which section. Leona wrote down everything on the page and organized it by section.

-Ten minutes later-

After double-checking everything she had written down she reviewed it all and found that she had not yet written down test days and times. She would need that information before she walked to Crocus Magicka University on the wrong day and time and looked stupid for doing so. Leona found it at the bottom of the page and diligently wrote everything down before moving on. Once that was done Leona got up from her desk and took another coffee break before she looked into where she could find and buy the GED test preparation materials.

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-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, the cafe-

Leona sat at a small square table in the virtually empty cafe with a full white mug of coffee. On both sides of the mug the Silver Wolf emblem was emblazoned in... well, silver. The Wizard Saint looked at the emblem and briefly wondered what Leila Vergious would think of Silver Wolf the way it was now. Leona wondered whether Leila would be proud of the guild's success or upset over the changes that had been wrought by Leona and her Aces. The blonde did not know and there was no point in trying to figure out how the guild's original founder would feel... she had to focus on the present and keep the guild moving into the future.

Speaking of the future, Leona had learned a lot over the past hour or so of research on the Outside Scholars program and the GED program, both of which were operated by Crocus Magicka University. She had learned about the five levels of Outside Scholars membership and what benefits each level gave the holder. She had also learned about the specifics of the GED program operated by the university and had a decent idea of what she would need to study in order to stand a good chance of passing the test. Now all she needed to do was learn where to go to buy the study materials she needed.

Leona sipped the coffee and felt her bare feet touch the wooden floor as she glanced at the table she was sitting at. The coffee she was drinking was the same coffee with touches of cinnamon and nutmeg that Leona had tried at Teresa's suggestion and had liked. Since she had liked it the first time, she saw no problems with drinking it again. Leona took another sip of the coffee and gently set the mug on the table, then watched the coffee ripple after she had disturbed its surface by setting it down. Leona watched the ripples fade and then look

Leona looked up towards the guild hall and spotted someone out of the corner of her eye. It was a young female cafe employee looking at Leona with a look of surprise. The Wizard Saint regularly patronized the guild cafe, so it was not the fact that she was sitting at a table drinking coffee that had drawn attention. Leona was pretty sure that the guild staff had seldom seen her dress this casually, which was why the young woman was looking at her. The blonde was somewhat amused by that, but her amusement was short-lived as a young male guild staff member approached her table with a letter in his hand.

"Guild Mistress, we just received this letter. It's from a... Sophia Jarnefeldt." He said to her before handing her the letter. Leona took it.

"Thank you." Leona thanked him for delivering the letter directly to her instead of putting it in her office. The young man nodded and went on his way, leaving Leona to read the letter from her mother. Leona carefully opened it and saw that it had some bad news.

"Dear Wizard Saint:

I've been keeping this from you for the sake of the village, but I can't keep it from you any longer. Chief Elijah is gravely ill and no medicine we've tried works. Not even the doctors in the Tri-Council City can help him... he won't live much longer. Get to Nebdoui as quickly as you can!" The letter read.

It was short and to-the-point, which was just like her mother. Leona stood up from the table, pushed in her chair, paid for her coffee, and walked briskly to her room while clutching the letter in her left hand. She had to get dressed and equipped for a trip to Desierto and did not have a whole lot of time. She hoped she could make it before Chief Elijah died.

-Desierto, the outskirts of Nebdoui, eight hours later-

Dressed in her green, white, and gold outfit with bike shorts underneath the skirt, Argent Gloves on her hands, and Silver Longsword on her left hip, Leona jumped off of Winged Lion before he could come to a stop and hit the ground running. She dispelled Winged Lion and straightened her outfit top as she ran towards Nebdoui as fast as she could go. As she drew closer to the village and the sun gradually shifted behind her right shoulder she could see her mother standing on the village outskirts with her arms folded and a look of worry on her face. She was pretty sure that her mother's worry was due to the chief's condition, but she did not have time for a chat. She had to get to the chief's tent before he expired.

"Wizard Saint-" Sophia tried to speak to her daughter, who simply ran by her without stopping. Leona did not have time for talk. She made a beeline towards the chief's tent and nearly ran into Leonidas, who was carrying a bucket full of iron ore towards the blacksmith's tent.

-Inside Chief Elijah's tent-

Leona burst into the chief's tent and nearly got tangled in the canvas that served as a door. Joshua stood next to his father, who was lying in a cot placed in the top right corner of the room. The chief was so gaunt that Leona involuntarily took a step back when she saw the man who had led Nebdoui since long before she was alive. He had once been full of life and vigor, but now he looked old, sick, and tired. Now she understood what her mother meant when she said that the chief did not have much longer to live.

"Who is that, Joshua?" Chief Elijah asked Joshua.

"It's Leona, Father." Joshua answered. Chief Elijah gave a faint smile.

"Leona. I'm glad you made it." Chief Elijah said to her. Leona recovered from her shock and listened to him.

"I don't have much longer to live. So promise me. Promise me... you'll protect Nebdoui. You'll protect Nebdoui's allies." He asked her to promise him that she would protect Nebdoui and its allies Berreb, Regudo, and the Blue Sky Clan. Leona forced the lingering shock of his gaunt appearance out of her mind and approached him. She took a knee so that he did not have to sit up to speak to her.

"I promise." Leona vowed to the chief. He turned his head and gave her a faint smile.

"Also. Please promise me. Promise me you'll protect Joshua." He asked her to promise him that she would protect Joshua once he passed on.

"I promise." Leona made her second vow to the chief. She had promised that she would protect Nebdoui and its allies. She had promised that she would protect Joshua Hamlin no matter what. Leona intended to honor both of those vows. Leona heard the tent door rustle and saw her mother out of the corner of her eye.

Chief Elijah gasped for air and sat upright and Joshua rushed to support him. Leona could not bear to see the chief struggle to breathe, but she watched anyway because she was not going to run or hide during the last moments of the man who had held Nebdoui together in times of crisis. He managed to catch his breath again and Joshua eased him down onto the cot. Elijah looked at Joshua.

"Nebdoui... is yours now. Joshua. Keep it safe." Chief Elijah said, then closed his eyes for the last time. Leona stood up. Chief Elijah had died right in front of her.

"I... I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready to bear this burden." Joshua said to his father in a pleading tone. The dark-haired youth would give anything for his father to come back to life and for the burden that had been placed upon him to be lifted by the great man who had just passed away.

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-The outskirts of Nebdoui, one hour later-

The sun beat down on Leona and Sophia as the pair stood on the outskirts of Nebdoui. Chief Elijah had died one hour ago and funeral arrangements were being made as the Jarnefeldts stood silently and tried to wrap their minds around the enormity of the change that was soon going to envelop Nebdoui. Both of them had once been bit players in the village, but now they had been thrust directly into the center of events.

Leona had vowed to protect Nebdoui and its allies and had also vowed to protect the new chief Joshua Hamlin. Sophia had been the advisor to Joshua and had silently hoped that the chief would recover and resume governing Nebdoui so that she could go back to being a scribe and teacher at the village school. Now any hopes of her burden being lifted had been dashed with Chief Elijah's death. Both Jarnefeldts felt the burden of their roles weighing on their shoulders.

"Wizard Saint..." Sophia said to Leona, using the younger blonde's title instead of her name in an effort to be official and impartial. Sophia was mindful of the rumors going around that she would use her new role to get special privileges for her family and did her best to remain impartial, calling her son and daughter "Blacksmith" and "Wizard Saint" respectively instead of by their names. Leona knew that the rumors were just cheap talk, but her mother took them seriously and did everything she could to avoid showing partiality to her family.

"Advisor." Leona answered, using her mother's new title. Sophia turned and looked at Leona for a moment. Her blue eyes showed that she wanted to drop the titles and just be a family again, but both of them had responsibilities that neither of them could abandon. For better or worse their roles defined them now. There was no going back for either of them.

"The days ahead will be tough. The village will have to be told about Chief Elijah's death. And you..." Sophia said while looking towards the horizon.

"Nothing's really changed for me. I defended Nebdoui while Chief Elijah was alive. I'll defend it after his death." Leona said to Sophia. The burden of defending the village had fallen to Leona after she had become the Wizard Saint of Courage. She had done it so well that it was said that she was one of the only reasons that Nebdoui was still standing despite the efforts of its enemies to destroy it. Now she would continue to defend the village because she had promised Chief Elijah that she would.

"I know you will, Le- Wizard Saint." Sophia started to use her daughter's name before catching herself and using the title. Leona noticed that slip but said nothing. Instead she continued to look towards the horizon, where she noticed a large cloud of dust rising from about 500 meters away. Sophia noticed it too and took a step back.

"I don't think it's any of our friends coming to pay respects." Leona remarked. She saw two large wagons with cages on the back being escorted by a large contingent of cavalry. When they drew to within 400 meters Leona thought she saw white robes with golden collars. She knew right away who she was dealing with... the Golden Band!

"I think we're being raided by the Golden Band." Leona said to her mother. Leona drew her Silver Longsword and prepared to summon the Furies and Sky Champion Rafale when she felt a strong tug on her left arm. She turned around to find her mother.

"Get to the village." Leona instructed her mother. Sophia stood in place and did not seem to want to move.

"GET TO THE VILLAGE! NOW!" Leona shouted at her mother. That did the trick because Sophia began to run. Leona looked at the crowd of men and estimated that there were fifty to sixty slavers in the small army heading their way. She knew that she had no chance out in the open, so the best thing to do was flee to the village and get the help of the militia. A rain of rifle bullets was heading towards them, so she needed to cover their escape.

Leona used a Storm Impact on the ground in front of her to kick up a cloud of sand, then ran for it. She followed right behind her mother and ducked as bullets continued to fly by them. While the sand did nothing to stop the bullets, at least the cloud made it harder for the shooting slavers to get a good aim on their targets. Together the Jarnefeldts ran for the village.

-Inside Nebdoui-

"THE GOLDEN BAND IS COMING!" Sophia shouted a warning. The villagers who had come outside hurried into their homes while men in tan uniforms with white headbands and bolt-action rifles hurried to fend off the incoming slavers. Leona was not sure what to do, but then she had an idea. She summoned Sky Champion Rafale, Tempest Avian, and Winged Lion.

Leona got on board the lion and sent Sky Champion Rafale and Tempest Avian after the Golden Band while she thought of her overall plan.

Her initial plan was to buy the village militia some time to get ready to repel the attack, but she might not be needed after all. They had loaded their bolt-action rifles and had formed up in ranks behind a newly built waist-high adobe wall that looked to be of fairly recent construction. Leona thought about what she was doing and decided to go through with it, but she would need a ranged weapon. Just then Leonidas came running up to her.

"Here, take this semi-automatic carbine." He said to her, pressing a rifle into her hands and handing her a bandolier with five spare magazines. Leona put away her Silver Longsword and gripped it in her right hand. He then began a brief tutorial on how to use it.

"Your rifle holds fifteen rounds and fires once each time you pull the trigger. When you're out of ammunition, you hold down the magazine release and take out the empty magazine, then put in a new one. Once you put in a new one you work the lever on the side and you're ready to go again." Leonidas said to her, showing her which was what and how to reload the weapon. It seemed simple enough, so Leona nodded. She was about to take off when Leonidas stopped her.

"You don't want to be flying around during this battle. You'll just be an easy target. I suggest that you stay behind the wall until they get closer." Leonidas suggested. Leona saw that the Golden Band had gotten to within 250 meters of the village. The village militiamen opened fired with their rifles and ducked behind the wall to avoid return fire as they loaded another round.

Leona dispelled Winged Lion and ducked behind the far right side of the wall to avoid getting hit by a stray bullet. She heard an order and saw the militamen stand up at once. Leona joined them and aimed her carbine at the nearest horseman, who was 150 meters away and closing. Leona aimed for the man's head and fired once, missing by a wide margin. She fired again and missed.

A volley by the militia hit her target and several other horsemen, then they quickly ducked down to avoid return fire. Leona ducked too, flustered at not having hit anything. Getting used to this new style of fighting was a challenge for the Wizard Saint.

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While she tried to get used to a defensive style of fighting Leona heard the sound of men on horseback shouting as something attacked them. Leona recalled that she had sent Sky Champion Rafale and Tempest Avian after them, so she peeked over the wall and saw a group of horsemen firing at the summons. Leona rested her carbine on the wall and aimed the back of a man aiming at Sky Champion Rafale, who had just decapitated a horseman and was zooming away while under intense gunfire. Leona fired once and hit the target below the left shoulder, causing him to yell in pain and drop his weapon.

The village militia stood up, aimed their rifles, and fired a volley into the horsemen, killing several of them. The horsemen who were not busy shooting at her summons fired back, killing five of the militiamen and wounding several others. Leona saw that they were within 75 meters of the village before a rifle bullet ricocheted off of the top of the wall to the left side of her head, causing her to shriek and duck down again.

Leona took a mental tally of her success with firearms and recalled that she had fired three times and had only scored one hit. She definitely needed to learn how to use the weapon before she got into another serious battle with it. In the meantime she heard a warning.

"They're fifty meters from the wall!" A voice shouted a warning. The militia stood up again and Leona stood with them. She carefully aimed at a man charging with his rifle pointed at her and fired at his chest, grazing his torso. He clenched his teeth and Leona aimed at his chest and fired again, this time hitting him in the torso and knocking him from the steed. A shot rang out and Leona heard a bullet whiz by her left ear... it was time to duck!

Leona ducked down and found that the man to her left had been killed with a single shot to the head. She faced left and waited for the other men to stand up for another volley before standing again. Seconds later they did and Leona stood up. Now the slavers were only 25 meters away.

"Fire!" The voice yelled. The militiamen fired their rifles and knocked some of the charging horsemen from their steeds. The slavers fired back and hit four of the men, killing one and wounding three in various places. Jaesa was right... the slavers firing from horseback was ruining their accuracy. However, a few veteran slavers who were accustomed to shooting from horseback were putting up a fight.

"They're at the wall! Fire at will!" The voice yelled. Leona stood up and raised her left hand, casting a Wind Blast that caught six of the slavers and staggered their horses, giving the militiamen enough time to pick half of them off. Leona took her carbine back into her hands and aimed at a man who was aiming his rifle at her. She aimed for his torso and fired, sending a shot just above his left shoulder. She aimed and fired again, hitting him in the throat and knocking him from his horse.

Leona winced as the man landed a short distance from her and bled on the sand, but she did not have time to be disgusted because another slaver was bearing down on her. He fired and grazed her left shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain. She ignored it and aimed her weapon, aiming for his torso. She fired once and hit him, then fired again and hit a second time. A third shot dumped him from the saddle and onto the sand. Leona saw the village militia falling back and joined them.

A slaver wearing a white turban with a gold band circling around the middle and holding a revolver charged her with the pistol blazing, hitting the sand around her feet twice and grazing her right shoulder with a third shot. Leona spun around and aimed, firing a snapshot at him that somehow hit the man in the head and made him fall backwards off of his horse. That seemed to break the momentum of the attack because the slavers wheeled their mounts around and fired parting shots, then galloped away from the village.

"They're retreating!" The voice called out. The militiamen cheered and fired shots at the retreating slavers to "encourage" them to keep retreating. Leona saw three more of them fall out of their saddles with bullet holes to the back. Leona decided to try for one more herself and aimed at a fleeing slaver, firing once and missing. She aimed and fired again, grazing the horse's right flank and causing it to rear up and nearly throw the rider off. He regained control of his mount and galloped away... Leona felt more sorry for the horse than she did its rider.

Leona and the militia approached the wall and found that they had killed seventeen of the slavers. The militia had lost twenty killed and seven wounded. That was not a good exchange rate, but Nebdoui had bought its survival for another day. She saw some militiamen collect their dead and wounded while still others walked towards the dead slavers to collect their weapons and ammunition. Leonidas approached her.

"How do you like this new way of fighting?" Leonidas asked Leona.

"I liked the old way better." Leona commented dryly just as her summons began to land beside her. Her brother frowned as she dispelled them.

"Well, this is going to be the new norm now that Desierto's outlaws are getting rifles, so you're going to need to learn how to shoot a gun if you want to live." Leonidas told her bluntly. His words hit so hard that Leona nearly got blunt force trauma from them, but he was right. She would need to adapt to the new style of fighting if she wanted to survive in the desert. Leona turned from Leonidas to the dead slaver with the revolver lying a foot from his right hand and pointed at the weapon.

"Hey, do you think that pistol's a good weapon for me?" Leona asked him. Leonidas shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, Leona. Your aim's pretty bad. You'll only have six shots with that thing." He said, walking over to it and picking it up. He examined it and aimed the weapon at the slaver's back, pulling the trigger. The man's corpse leapt from receiving the shot.

"Yeah, of course my aim's bad. This is the first time I've ever used a gun." Leona defended herself.

"It's a double action revolver, meaning that each pull of the trigger rotates the cylinder to the next chamber and makes the hammer strike the firing pin, thus firing the gun. It's good if you don't want to spend time pulling the hammer back with your thumb, but you have to pull the trigger harder than you would with a single action revolver." Leonidas explained, ignoring Leona's defensive comment. Leona blinked.

"What does all that mean?" Leona asked. Leonidas look towards her and smiled for the first time in a long time.

"You've got a lot to learn, Leona." He said to her, twirling the revolver on his finger.

"Wait, how do you know so much about guns? Aren't they new in our village?" Leona asked in a defensive tone. Leonidas kept smiling.

"You see, we have friends in Berreb who know people and... c'mon, I'll tell you while you get patched up." Leonidas started to explain to her before reminding her to seek medical attention. Leona glanced at her left shoulder and saw what he meant.

"Yeah, let's get some medical attention... after the people who really need it get it first." Leona said to him. Together she and Leonidas headed for the medicine woman's tent. While it had been a sad day for Nebdoui because it had lost Chief Elijah, it was also a good day because Leona and the village militia had prevented the Golden Band from taking advantage of the tragedy to destroy the village and take its inhabitants into slavery.

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