Chapter 5 is going to be amazing! I should recheck what I write more often though.
The Story so far:
Chapter 4:
--------------------------
Sometimes I feel like this'd be better animated.
The Story so far:
"Empty,"Safr says,"Damn this infernal desert!" He attached his waterskin back to his clothing.
Siin goes "Nurr.." and then makes a few indistinguishable noises from her mouth
"I know. But there isn't an oasis in sight and that sandstorm wasn't of any help to us either." Safr sighed but then his eyes lit up. "Wait. Siin. Did you fill up at Shura?"
".............Murr....."Siin says nervously.
"Well that's just great. Incredible! We're both going to die here!" Safr complained.
"Murr! Numr!"
"Yeah? Well your forgetfulness isn't going to help us. It particularly won't help you."
"Meigh. Nuurr."
"Alright. Alright. Might as well keep moving then."
The Ahraqan desert is not a forgiving place. The areas between Shura and Linfan are the worst of the worst.
That is where Safr and Siin were. Walking towards Linfan. Nothing but sand dunes and hills and rock formations surrounded them on their walk.
Under what looked like a pillar of rock, a man in a dark blue garb lay coughing blood with an arrow in his chest.
"What is that?"
"Mur."
"Are you sure that it's a man?"
"Nurr."
"Alright. Let's go see what happened."
They run towards the dying stranger, hoping that he's still alive.
"Please. Help me-" He coughs up more blood.
"It's okay! Just stay calm. We'll get you fixed up." Safr reassures him. He goes to get a bandage from Siin's pack.
"They attacked us.......and took our men......." The man says with difficulty.
"What? Who? Who attacked you?" Safr replies
"The Raide-," He coughs and wheezes.
"Raiders?" Safr tries to see if he can pull the arrow out but he keeps telling himself that it'll increase the bleeding.
"NURR! MURRRR!!!!" Siin cries as arrows suddenly start flying by.
"Siin! Take cover!" Safr shouts. "Don't die on me now, old man!"
The old man in the blue garb coughs more and takes one last gasp of air.
"Wait! Stay with me! We're going to help you. Just stay alive dammit!" Safr shouts once more "This isn't the time to be dying. C'mon!" He pulls out his bow and starts shooting back at the Archers. "We're pinned here!" He takes a shot and lands it on one of the archers.
The old man stops breathing.
"NO!" Safr gets shot on his right arm and drops his bow. "Not right now! Not right now!"
One of the attackers starts running towards them with a sword equipped. Siin runs head-on into battle and charges into the warrior, knocking him out.
"SIIN! COME BACK HERE!"
"NURRRRR!!!!!!"
Several of the attackers start coming in and slashing at her. They shoot her legs and capture her in a net and then start pulling her away.
Safr looks out behind the rock and sees them dragging her with them while she cries out. "Siin! Siin........No........Stop............Siin.......,"
Safr blacks out.
Siin goes "Nurr.." and then makes a few indistinguishable noises from her mouth
"I know. But there isn't an oasis in sight and that sandstorm wasn't of any help to us either." Safr sighed but then his eyes lit up. "Wait. Siin. Did you fill up at Shura?"
".............Murr....."Siin says nervously.
"Well that's just great. Incredible! We're both going to die here!" Safr complained.
"Murr! Numr!"
"Yeah? Well your forgetfulness isn't going to help us. It particularly won't help you."
"Meigh. Nuurr."
"Alright. Alright. Might as well keep moving then."
The Ahraqan desert is not a forgiving place. The areas between Shura and Linfan are the worst of the worst.
That is where Safr and Siin were. Walking towards Linfan. Nothing but sand dunes and hills and rock formations surrounded them on their walk.
Under what looked like a pillar of rock, a man in a dark blue garb lay coughing blood with an arrow in his chest.
"What is that?"
"Mur."
"Are you sure that it's a man?"
"Nurr."
"Alright. Let's go see what happened."
They run towards the dying stranger, hoping that he's still alive.
"Please. Help me-" He coughs up more blood.
"It's okay! Just stay calm. We'll get you fixed up." Safr reassures him. He goes to get a bandage from Siin's pack.
"They attacked us.......and took our men......." The man says with difficulty.
"What? Who? Who attacked you?" Safr replies
"The Raide-," He coughs and wheezes.
"Raiders?" Safr tries to see if he can pull the arrow out but he keeps telling himself that it'll increase the bleeding.
"NURR! MURRRR!!!!" Siin cries as arrows suddenly start flying by.
"Siin! Take cover!" Safr shouts. "Don't die on me now, old man!"
The old man in the blue garb coughs more and takes one last gasp of air.
"Wait! Stay with me! We're going to help you. Just stay alive dammit!" Safr shouts once more "This isn't the time to be dying. C'mon!" He pulls out his bow and starts shooting back at the Archers. "We're pinned here!" He takes a shot and lands it on one of the archers.
The old man stops breathing.
"NO!" Safr gets shot on his right arm and drops his bow. "Not right now! Not right now!"
One of the attackers starts running towards them with a sword equipped. Siin runs head-on into battle and charges into the warrior, knocking him out.
"SIIN! COME BACK HERE!"
"NURRRRR!!!!!!"
Several of the attackers start coming in and slashing at her. They shoot her legs and capture her in a net and then start pulling her away.
Safr looks out behind the rock and sees them dragging her with them while she cries out. "Siin! Siin........No........Stop............Siin.......,"
Safr blacks out.
"Ughhh. My head....." He wakes up in a bed inside of a rectangular house made of clay. The sunlight shines through a circular hole on the upper part of a wall and through the doorway. He can see a man in brown robes mixing something with using a wooden mortar and pestle. Then the man stops and looks at him.
"Oh. You're awake." He looks to be old with white hair and a short beard.
"Who.....where......what happened?" Safr asked.
"One of our caravans had heard screaming and shouting. They sent their rangers to scout it out and found you slowly bleeding near a corpse. They took you brought you here to me. At least that's what they told me."
Safr instantly remembered what had happened. "Siin!" He thought.
"I'm Nafs, the doctor here in Zanan,"
"Zanan?" Safr interrupted.
"Yes. Zanan. Don't interrupt me."
"Sorry, Doctor. But I really need to go." Safr says as he stands up.
"You're not going anywhere with that arm. You need rest. At least a few days."
Safr sighed and laid back down.
>>>>>>>>>Fast forward to the next morning.
Dr. Nafs comes out of his room and comes to check on Safr. But surprise surprise, he's gone(and with all his things too!).
"Hmph. If that man wants to kill himself, I won't stop him."
<<<<<<<Rewind back to the night before.
Everybody's sleeping. "This is my opportunity!" Safr thought. He got out of the bed, grabbed his equipment and snuck out of the house.
Nothing but torches and lanterns lit up the village. There were more houses made of clay with wooden doors and straw roofs. There was also a sort of mansion which stood out among them(but somewhat smaller than the kinds of mansions we see today). It was made of stone and a more yellowish type of hardened clay. It seemed that guards were patrolling near it.
Of course, there was no time for Safr to observe the buildings around him. So he looked around the village and found a stable. There he left a note with 4 gold pieces (horses usually cost between 4 and 5 gold) and took a horse outside of the stable(which was sleeping mind you, but a certain someone woke it up from its rest).
As he was slowly bringing it out, he put on a saddle and climbed on. Now holding the reins and ready to go, he hears a man shout,"Come back here!" Shortly thereafter, a mysterious woman jumps on to the horse and then orders him to, "Go!"
"What th–Who are you!?" Safr asks quickly, trying not to raise his voice too much.
"There's not much time. I'll explain later! Now go!"
"Wait. Why are you–"
He hears another, "Stop right there!"
The woman says,"Go! He's coming!"
Safr makes a split-second decision and prompts the horse to immediately start galloping.
As they ride with speed, the voice of the man shouting,"Stop!" gets fainter and fainter.
And they galloped.
"Oh. You're awake." He looks to be old with white hair and a short beard.
"Who.....where......what happened?" Safr asked.
"One of our caravans had heard screaming and shouting. They sent their rangers to scout it out and found you slowly bleeding near a corpse. They took you brought you here to me. At least that's what they told me."
Safr instantly remembered what had happened. "Siin!" He thought.
"I'm Nafs, the doctor here in Zanan,"
"Zanan?" Safr interrupted.
"Yes. Zanan. Don't interrupt me."
"Sorry, Doctor. But I really need to go." Safr says as he stands up.
"You're not going anywhere with that arm. You need rest. At least a few days."
Safr sighed and laid back down.
>>>>>>>>>Fast forward to the next morning.
Dr. Nafs comes out of his room and comes to check on Safr. But surprise surprise, he's gone(and with all his things too!).
"Hmph. If that man wants to kill himself, I won't stop him."
<<<<<<<Rewind back to the night before.
Everybody's sleeping. "This is my opportunity!" Safr thought. He got out of the bed, grabbed his equipment and snuck out of the house.
Nothing but torches and lanterns lit up the village. There were more houses made of clay with wooden doors and straw roofs. There was also a sort of mansion which stood out among them(but somewhat smaller than the kinds of mansions we see today). It was made of stone and a more yellowish type of hardened clay. It seemed that guards were patrolling near it.
Of course, there was no time for Safr to observe the buildings around him. So he looked around the village and found a stable. There he left a note with 4 gold pieces (horses usually cost between 4 and 5 gold) and took a horse outside of the stable(which was sleeping mind you, but a certain someone woke it up from its rest).
As he was slowly bringing it out, he put on a saddle and climbed on. Now holding the reins and ready to go, he hears a man shout,"Come back here!" Shortly thereafter, a mysterious woman jumps on to the horse and then orders him to, "Go!"
"What th–Who are you!?" Safr asks quickly, trying not to raise his voice too much.
"There's not much time. I'll explain later! Now go!"
"Wait. Why are you–"
He hears another, "Stop right there!"
The woman says,"Go! He's coming!"
Safr makes a split-second decision and prompts the horse to immediately start galloping.
As they ride with speed, the voice of the man shouting,"Stop!" gets fainter and fainter.
And they galloped.
"Why are we stopping?" The cowled woman asked.
"We're at a considerable distance from Zanan. Now get off."
"What?"
"I said: Get off. Now."
"You're just going to leave me here in the middle of the nowhere?"
"No. We're both going to stay here in the middle of nowhere. Until you answer my questions."
"Answer your questions?"
"You said you'd explain later. Well now it's 'later'. Explain."
"Fine, fine..Ask away."
"Let's start with your name."
"Afsa."
"Alright. Why was that man chasing you?"
"It's a little complicated."
"How complicated?"
"What is this? An interview?"
"You said–"
"Okay alright fine. I said I'd explain. I get it.
Y'know that large mansion-like house in Zanan?"
"I've seen it, yes. What of it?"
"It belongs to the landlord. And the landlord is my father."
"You're really bad at lying."
"I'm serious."
"Oh really? And what was that man doing chasing you?"
"I don't know. He must've been an assassin or something. I think he wanted the secret to my father's treasury."
"What kind of an assassin shouts at you like a mad man whenever you run away?"
"I um......I'm not....um.."
"Still lying? There's nowhere for you to go from here. Tell me the truth."
"Alright. You got me. I lied about that man. But I really am the land lord's daughter."
"Mmhm."
"My father only cares about his money while his wives and daughters clean up. I always wanted to go out there and explore and learn about the desert instead of dusting and scrubbing the floor all the time. So when I saw you going towards the stables, I knew that this was my chance to escape. So I got out but the guard saw me and tried to stop me. You know the rest."
"That has got to be the weakest lie. Ever."
"I'm serious."
"You're lying."
"No, I'm not!"
"Really? Are you really not lying?"
"Yes! I mean no. I mean, yes."
Safr glares at Afsa and says,"Fine."
Afsa lets out a sigh of relief before Safr interrupts,"But if you lie to me again. You're getting worse than being left alone in the desert. Got it?"
"Affirmative! But wait. You didn't tell me where you're going." Afsa asked.
"And I should tell you that, why?"
"I just explained myself to you. Now it's your turn."
"Well seeing as you lied, I think it's not necessary."
"Whatever you're doing, maybe I can help you."
"I don't need help. Especially not from you."
"What if I said, "Please."?"
"No."
"C'mon!"
"No."
"I'm going to keep on asking until you spit it out."
"Then it looks like I'll have to bear with it."
Eventually, Safr got annoyed and then told her about Siin because she "wouldn't shut up for a second."
"I was going to go to the Mahoor to get some supplies and prepare myself. The Northern Raiders took Siin. And I need to get her back."
"You're going to get her back? By yourself? In that condition? I saw them bring you in with that arrow in your arm. You probably haven't even healed yet!"
"My safety does not matter. All that matters is that I get Siin back from those barbarians."
"Even if you didn't have that injury, you'd still get beaten easily by them. You need help."
"I'm considering it. But I know I won't need it when I'm ready."
----------
After that friendly little chat, they rode on to Mina. The small mining town that usually serves as a pit stop for travellers between Shura and the Mahoor.
This is where Safr had worked as a child. Coming back here always reminds him of his younger days and not the good memories. Mining here is always risky. Mina has the largest coal supply in the country of Ahraq but this doesn't stop miners from dying of poisonous gases and black lung disease.
Most of the mines are outside of town. Safr and Afsa see the miners coming in and out of the mineshaft with their dirty clothes covered in coal dust(Safr shivers for a moment without Afsa noticing and then continues walking while holding the horse's lead) and some meters closer to the town, stairs that run down into a ravine where workers are mining out and digging the raw metals.
Afsa was seemingly nervous. She wore her cowl and covered her face. As they arrive in town, they can see a few residential houses, a general store, an inn with a stable and there's also another mineshaft to the far western side of town. Safr takes the horse to the stable where a a man is sitting on a wooden chair. He says,"2 silver for keeping horses in here." and Safr pays.
Afsa already went into the inn. Safr came in and saw Afsa eating bread at a table in the corner of the inn. He took a seat at the bar and ordered a drink. When the bartender saw Safr, his face lit up.
"Safr! Is that really you? It's been so long and you haven't even changed a bit!"
"I'm sorry. Who are you?"
"It's me. Conan. Remember?"
"Conan? Really? You look like a completely different person. But I thought you worked at the mines."
"I did. But I eventually I grew sick of the place. Literally. I can't spend a minute in there without suffocating! So I saved my money and built this place. Might as well do something that I'd actually like to do for once. By the way, I've heard that many parts of the mines have been collapsing and breaking down recently."
"Collapsing?"
"Yeah. Nobody knows why. According to them, whatever is causing it definitely isn't normal."
"I see."
"Yep. Just breakin' down like there's no tomorrow."
"That is unusual. But it's not what I came here for."
"Oh?"
"We're—I'm heading out to the Mahoor to get some supplies and some information."
"Information on what?"
"Northern Raiders."
"WHAT!?"
Everybody starts looking at these two.
Conan says,"Umm.....What would you like to drink, sir?"
Conan whispers,"Are you crazy!? You don't talk about the Northern Raiders! Never!"
"Why not?"
He whispers again,"Have you never heard the rumors? They're ruthless murderers. They attack all kinds of travellers. They raid caravans. And worst of all, they're everywhere! Why am I even talking about this?"
"Everywhere?" Safr replies in a low voice.
"Yes. Everywhere. You need to be careful because they're always watching.
"These barbarians have disguises?" Safr asks
"You can't tell them from someone else and they can kill you without anyone hearing or seeing it."
A loud noise came from the back as if a table was broken. Safr, shocked, looked back. A table was broken! A brute man lay on a broken table and he looked as angry as you'd look if somebody would break your computer and all of your devices for fun. Afsa was standing in front of him. And now Safr was really confused.
"HEY!" Conan called. "No fighting allowed in the inn! You wanna kill each other, go outside!"
The brute man stood up, angry, threatened Afsa,"I'M GONNA RIP YOU APART LIMB FROM LIMB AND THEN CHEW ON YOUR BONES LITTLE GIRL!"
Afsa, with a determined look on her face, took a combat pose. Now try to imagine how confused Safr is at the moment.
The man tried to deliver a punch, but Afsa dodged and hit him in the stomach and then on the face. When she tried to get at him once more with a kick, he grabbed her foot and threw her out the window. The broken pieces of glass cut her cowl and gave a cut on her palm when she tried to get up. The brute got out through the door and charged at her and she managed to dodge.
At this point people were looking out of windows, standing near their doors and making bets on who the winner would be.
Safr came out and ran to them, trying to help out. Now this was obviously a stupid thing to do, so Afsa shouted:
"NO! SAFR! STAY BACK! YOUR ARM—" Afsa got a swift punch to the face and got knocked down. "Oof!"
The brute tried to charge again at her but Safr jumped on him.
"Why don't you fight somebody your own size, you son of a-" Safr got an elbow to the kidney before finishing his sentence and fell to the ground.
Safr quickly got up and then took out his sword with his left hand(he was right-handed and this left him at a disadvantage). Seeing this, the brute unsheathed his war-axe.
The brute swung his axe and Safr tried to block with his sword but failed and he was disarmed and then kicked in the gut. The brute came and was about to go for the killing blow when he suddenly felt two sharp stings in his back.
Afsa stabbed him with two of her daggers. And then pulled them out. And the brute fell, dead, with blood flowing out on the ground.
Everybody watches in shock. Especially Safr.
People start talking to each other about what just happened.
"Did that woman just kill someone?"
"Who is that other man?"
"Who are they?"
"Maybe they're murderers. Or thieves."
"HAHA! Guess who won the bet!? That's 5 silver for me!"(I love this guy)
All the while, Conan had the worst of it. His inn in shambles. Furniture broken. Window broken. And his childhood friend is associated with a killer! Boy do I feel sorry for this guy.
Safr stood up, picked up his sword and sheathed it. He said,"You've got a knack for men chasing after you."
Afsa replied,"I think we'd better leave quickly."
"Really? So there are no amends to make?"
Afsa said in a low voice "It's not safe to stay here. We need to keep moving. I'll tell you everything that happened on the way."
Safr looked at Conan's inn and then agreed reluctantly.
From there they set out to the Mahoor.
"We're at a considerable distance from Zanan. Now get off."
"What?"
"I said: Get off. Now."
"You're just going to leave me here in the middle of the nowhere?"
"No. We're both going to stay here in the middle of nowhere. Until you answer my questions."
"Answer your questions?"
"You said you'd explain later. Well now it's 'later'. Explain."
"Fine, fine..Ask away."
"Let's start with your name."
"Afsa."
"Alright. Why was that man chasing you?"
"It's a little complicated."
"How complicated?"
"What is this? An interview?"
"You said–"
"Okay alright fine. I said I'd explain. I get it.
Y'know that large mansion-like house in Zanan?"
"I've seen it, yes. What of it?"
"It belongs to the landlord. And the landlord is my father."
"You're really bad at lying."
"I'm serious."
"Oh really? And what was that man doing chasing you?"
"I don't know. He must've been an assassin or something. I think he wanted the secret to my father's treasury."
"What kind of an assassin shouts at you like a mad man whenever you run away?"
"I um......I'm not....um.."
"Still lying? There's nowhere for you to go from here. Tell me the truth."
"Alright. You got me. I lied about that man. But I really am the land lord's daughter."
"Mmhm."
"My father only cares about his money while his wives and daughters clean up. I always wanted to go out there and explore and learn about the desert instead of dusting and scrubbing the floor all the time. So when I saw you going towards the stables, I knew that this was my chance to escape. So I got out but the guard saw me and tried to stop me. You know the rest."
"That has got to be the weakest lie. Ever."
"I'm serious."
"You're lying."
"No, I'm not!"
"Really? Are you really not lying?"
"Yes! I mean no. I mean, yes."
Safr glares at Afsa and says,"Fine."
Afsa lets out a sigh of relief before Safr interrupts,"But if you lie to me again. You're getting worse than being left alone in the desert. Got it?"
"Affirmative! But wait. You didn't tell me where you're going." Afsa asked.
"And I should tell you that, why?"
"I just explained myself to you. Now it's your turn."
"Well seeing as you lied, I think it's not necessary."
"Whatever you're doing, maybe I can help you."
"I don't need help. Especially not from you."
"What if I said, "Please."?"
"No."
"C'mon!"
"No."
"I'm going to keep on asking until you spit it out."
"Then it looks like I'll have to bear with it."
Eventually, Safr got annoyed and then told her about Siin because she "wouldn't shut up for a second."
"I was going to go to the Mahoor to get some supplies and prepare myself. The Northern Raiders took Siin. And I need to get her back."
"You're going to get her back? By yourself? In that condition? I saw them bring you in with that arrow in your arm. You probably haven't even healed yet!"
"My safety does not matter. All that matters is that I get Siin back from those barbarians."
"Even if you didn't have that injury, you'd still get beaten easily by them. You need help."
"I'm considering it. But I know I won't need it when I'm ready."
----------
After that friendly little chat, they rode on to Mina. The small mining town that usually serves as a pit stop for travellers between Shura and the Mahoor.
This is where Safr had worked as a child. Coming back here always reminds him of his younger days and not the good memories. Mining here is always risky. Mina has the largest coal supply in the country of Ahraq but this doesn't stop miners from dying of poisonous gases and black lung disease.
Most of the mines are outside of town. Safr and Afsa see the miners coming in and out of the mineshaft with their dirty clothes covered in coal dust(Safr shivers for a moment without Afsa noticing and then continues walking while holding the horse's lead) and some meters closer to the town, stairs that run down into a ravine where workers are mining out and digging the raw metals.
Afsa was seemingly nervous. She wore her cowl and covered her face. As they arrive in town, they can see a few residential houses, a general store, an inn with a stable and there's also another mineshaft to the far western side of town. Safr takes the horse to the stable where a a man is sitting on a wooden chair. He says,"2 silver for keeping horses in here." and Safr pays.
Afsa already went into the inn. Safr came in and saw Afsa eating bread at a table in the corner of the inn. He took a seat at the bar and ordered a drink. When the bartender saw Safr, his face lit up.
"Safr! Is that really you? It's been so long and you haven't even changed a bit!"
"I'm sorry. Who are you?"
"It's me. Conan. Remember?"
"Conan? Really? You look like a completely different person. But I thought you worked at the mines."
"I did. But I eventually I grew sick of the place. Literally. I can't spend a minute in there without suffocating! So I saved my money and built this place. Might as well do something that I'd actually like to do for once. By the way, I've heard that many parts of the mines have been collapsing and breaking down recently."
"Collapsing?"
"Yeah. Nobody knows why. According to them, whatever is causing it definitely isn't normal."
"I see."
"Yep. Just breakin' down like there's no tomorrow."
"That is unusual. But it's not what I came here for."
"Oh?"
"We're—I'm heading out to the Mahoor to get some supplies and some information."
"Information on what?"
"Northern Raiders."
"WHAT!?"
Everybody starts looking at these two.
Conan says,"Umm.....What would you like to drink, sir?"
Conan whispers,"Are you crazy!? You don't talk about the Northern Raiders! Never!"
"Why not?"
He whispers again,"Have you never heard the rumors? They're ruthless murderers. They attack all kinds of travellers. They raid caravans. And worst of all, they're everywhere! Why am I even talking about this?"
"Everywhere?" Safr replies in a low voice.
"Yes. Everywhere. You need to be careful because they're always watching.
"These barbarians have disguises?" Safr asks
"You can't tell them from someone else and they can kill you without anyone hearing or seeing it."
A loud noise came from the back as if a table was broken. Safr, shocked, looked back. A table was broken! A brute man lay on a broken table and he looked as angry as you'd look if somebody would break your computer and all of your devices for fun. Afsa was standing in front of him. And now Safr was really confused.
"HEY!" Conan called. "No fighting allowed in the inn! You wanna kill each other, go outside!"
The brute man stood up, angry, threatened Afsa,"I'M GONNA RIP YOU APART LIMB FROM LIMB AND THEN CHEW ON YOUR BONES LITTLE GIRL!"
Afsa, with a determined look on her face, took a combat pose. Now try to imagine how confused Safr is at the moment.
The man tried to deliver a punch, but Afsa dodged and hit him in the stomach and then on the face. When she tried to get at him once more with a kick, he grabbed her foot and threw her out the window. The broken pieces of glass cut her cowl and gave a cut on her palm when she tried to get up. The brute got out through the door and charged at her and she managed to dodge.
At this point people were looking out of windows, standing near their doors and making bets on who the winner would be.
Safr came out and ran to them, trying to help out. Now this was obviously a stupid thing to do, so Afsa shouted:
"NO! SAFR! STAY BACK! YOUR ARM—" Afsa got a swift punch to the face and got knocked down. "Oof!"
The brute tried to charge again at her but Safr jumped on him.
"Why don't you fight somebody your own size, you son of a-" Safr got an elbow to the kidney before finishing his sentence and fell to the ground.
Safr quickly got up and then took out his sword with his left hand(he was right-handed and this left him at a disadvantage). Seeing this, the brute unsheathed his war-axe.
The brute swung his axe and Safr tried to block with his sword but failed and he was disarmed and then kicked in the gut. The brute came and was about to go for the killing blow when he suddenly felt two sharp stings in his back.
Afsa stabbed him with two of her daggers. And then pulled them out. And the brute fell, dead, with blood flowing out on the ground.
Everybody watches in shock. Especially Safr.
People start talking to each other about what just happened.
"Did that woman just kill someone?"
"Who is that other man?"
"Who are they?"
"Maybe they're murderers. Or thieves."
"HAHA! Guess who won the bet!? That's 5 silver for me!"(I love this guy)
All the while, Conan had the worst of it. His inn in shambles. Furniture broken. Window broken. And his childhood friend is associated with a killer! Boy do I feel sorry for this guy.
Safr stood up, picked up his sword and sheathed it. He said,"You've got a knack for men chasing after you."
Afsa replied,"I think we'd better leave quickly."
"Really? So there are no amends to make?"
Afsa said in a low voice "It's not safe to stay here. We need to keep moving. I'll tell you everything that happened on the way."
Safr looked at Conan's inn and then agreed reluctantly.
From there they set out to the Mahoor.
Chapter 4:
On the road outside of Mina, Safr and Afsa rode towards the largest city in the desert—Al Mahoor. The Hub.
It was almost fully quiet after they got far enough away from the voices of people gossiping and whispering. A silence filled only by the sounds of horseshoes hitting the hard, rocky ground as the horse trotted on. Until Afsa broke it.
"So.......there's something...some things......that you should know.......about that thing back at Mina."
Safr kept silent.
"You see, that man may have...um...dropped....a bag of coins from his pocket and he might have thought that I took it so....he got a little angry and I had to defend myself but I accidentally got the table broken......by accident."
"Accident. Right. Of course it was."
"Um..."
"I was right when I said that you're a terrible liar. Don't you think?"
Afsa didn't say a thing but only turned her gaze and looked at the surrounding terrain with a nervous expression.
"First, it was with the ridiculous story you made up and swore that it was real. Second, a pair of my oranges were missing from my bag before reaching Mina–and yes, I knew that no one else could have taken them. Third, a man was angry because his bag of coins were "dropped". Fourth, seeing you dodge, fight and take down a muscle-bound man. All of it adds up and confirms my suspicions."
Afsa continued looking at the terrain.
"You're a thief. Am I right?"
"..."
They kept on riding until they camped and the two were sitting close to the fire while the horse rested. Safr was looking at the fire. That's when Afsa finally let out.
"Y'know, now that I look back on it, I guess there was no point in lying about who I really am. And you're right about me being bad at it. I should've told you the truth."
Safr looked up,"You killed that man."
"I know, but–"
"But you also saved my hind back there. So I'm grateful for that."
"Oh."
"I won't forget that you lied to me. But I won't hold it against you. Right now, I need to know something."
"What is it?"
"Where did you learn how to fight like that?"
"My uncle taught me."
"If your uncle taught you that, why also teach you to steal?"
"He'd never do that. He was an honest man."
"And yet you've lied more than thrice since we met. What happened to him?"
"I don't really feel like talking about it."
"So he's gone then."
Afsa looked back at the fire and kept quiet with a sad expression.
"Seems we've both lost families." He said as he threw a small piece of coal into the fire.
The atmosphere stood noiseless as the cold wind blew in their direction.
"Well,"Afsa said while standing up,"We're not going to get your camel friend back if we worry any more about the past.
We should get some rest before we head out. Wouldn't want to suddenly fall of the horse and hit your head, right?" She yawns and then lies down to sleep.
Safr looks at her for a moment, lies down and then goes to sleep as well.
------------The next morning----------
"Alright. I know how to cheer you up. How's about a joke? I'll go first."
Safr reluctantly listened to her.
"Why didn't the demon want to leave the party?"
"Dunno."
"Because he was having one hell of a time!"
"I've heard better."
"Oh come on. It was good. Right, Epona?"
"Epona? Who in the heck is that supposed to be?"
"Epona, remember? I told you earlier, that's what I named our horse."
Safr remembered that he was ignoring her some time earlier but also took notice of what she just said.
"Our horse? I'm pretty sure I'm the one who paid for him–"
"Her."
"Whatever."
"You should learn to fix that hostile attitude of yours for once. It's not nice."
"Is that a fact?"
"Yes!"
"Maybe you should figure out that 'hostile attitude' and 'not nice' are the same thing."
"Oh for the love of the Allmaker–"
"Shh." Safr pulls on the reins stops Epona.
"Don't you shush me."
"Look."
He points to great stone walls running wide for miles. A large wooden gate standing between the outside and the inside and many large buildings can be seen stretching to the edges of a river. Vegetation and trees cover the ends of the city's rear. Closer to these plants are the fields and the largest farm you could ever see. Here lies the economical lifeline of Ahraq. Where fruits and foods of all kinds of produce are sold and exported. Where Ahraqians of all kinds live and grow up in. Some call it 'The City of Oppurtunity'. But as for everyone else, it is the Mahoor. Otherwise known by outlanders as 'The Hub'.
"Amazing! I haven't been to the Mahoor in so long. I forgot just how beautiful it looks!"
"Yep. Selling the best oranges in the world. Me and Siin. We'd always come here whenever we needed a break. We'd be stuffed in oranges like there's no tomorrow. Well, I'd usually have most of them but you can't blame me for loving them."
Afsa took a breath of fresh air and smiled in the sunlight.
They carried on to the gate.
They rode on the road down the hill until they came upon the path to the great wooden doors separating them from the outside and the city. Connected to these large doors were the thick warm castle-like stone walls that worked as a barrier around the city. Archer towers were erected on the walls with wooden canopies that looked like half-open umbrellas and stood at equal distances from each other. There were also stables next to the gate.
Approaching the great wooden gate, the two companions saw a peculiar trio of men who stood talking to the guards at the gate. These men were wearing rough leather armor, with many straps and belts. Two had swords, while one had equipped a bow. From what Safr could see, there were also three horses in the stables(all of which were parked next to each other). After a short while(a few seconds actually), they were let in by the guards.
When Safr, Afsa and Epona came to the gate, they were greeted by Asad, one of the guards at the gate(the other was Namad, his brother, who normally stays quiet and is the stronger of the two).
"Safr! Back from another delivery?", Asad said."And who've you picked up there?"
"Yeah, we got it delivered to Shura. This is Afsa and the horse is Epona."
"Where's Siin? Wasn't she with you?"
"She was. Until we got into a mess and I lost her."
"Ah. Well I'm sorry for that."
"You don't have to be sorry. Anyways–"
"Who were those men that you were just talking to?" Afsa interrupted.
"Oh, those guys?"Asad said pointing back with his thumb."A strange bunch, I tell you. Haven't ever seen them around these parts."
"Are you sure?", Safr said."Maybe you forgot?"
"I ain't ever forgotten anyone's face. Why do ya think they hired me?" Asad replied,"Now, you should take your horse to the stables and I'll let you in."
And so they did.
Getting inside, they were met with wide paths leading to different districts. The district they were in was the Market District.
"We should get to an inn first and buy a room. There are some things I forgot to mention when I was telling you about what I was going to do," Safr said,"I know a good one close to here. We'll talk on the way."
"I work for the Ahraqan Central Trading Company. Their main building here is the Trading Hub in the Upper District. That's where products come and go for deliveries and all deals are officially recorded in their archives. It's also the head of the export/import business. They hire travelers and caravans for delivering on land and you can guess what they use for the sea." Safr said.
"So you deliver things. A mailman of sorts."Afsa said.
"Right. I've got a friend who works as a bounty hunter here in the Mahoor. His name's Robert. He's a foreigner from Havan but as far as I know, he's the best there is at what he does. I thought that he might know something about the Northern Raiders. They're notorious enough to be known by all bounty hunters." Safr said.
"What if he doesn't?" Afsa asked.
"Oh he'll know. I'm sure of it." Safr said, hoping that he was right.
"No. I mean, what if he doesn't know anything other than what we've already figured out?" Afsa said.
"Then we'd have to find Siin ourselves." Safr said. "And I'd be sorely disappointed."
They reached the inn and bought a room for a good bit of silver and had a bite or two. From there they had decided to split up and return to the inn before the evening.
"And Afsa."
"What?"
"Don't get any bright ideas if you see something shiny."
Afsa smiled,"I wouldn't dream of it."
Half an hour had already passed after they'd left the inn. Safr wanted to fill up on oranges because he'd already ran out. Afsa was intent on exploring the city but she got the urge to steal more than once. She'd even taken a golden ring and a small garnet. "Blast it! Stealing wouldn't be so hard if he wouldn't guilt trip me." She thought,"I guess a trinket or two won't hurt."
Safr had went to what he called,"The best Fruit shop in all of Ahraq." His friend Neru owned the shop. To his displeasure, Safr found out that the shop was closed and empty. He didn't want to settle for the oranges being sold on stalls in the Market District because they were,"ready to be sucked on by flies unlike Neru who preserves his fruits in cold storage." Though he was never completely sure how Neru could even manage that.
Safr had decided to go to Robert's Office. While walking there, he found Afsa in a pen full of dogs. She was petting a Greyhound. Safr walked up to her, smiling and said,"I think he likes you."
"Hm?" Afsa turned her head.
Safr quickly changed his expression,"What?"
"Did you say something?"
"What did I say?"
"I swear I heard your voice just now."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Okay then?" She said.
"I'm not hallucinating." She thought,"I know I heard him. I just don't know what he said."
"So what's with the dog?" Safr said, trying to change the subject.
"Huh? Oh, this little boy?" Afsa said."Well, since your arm is still healing I thought that a guard dog could be useful."
"He's also kinda cute." She said in a low voice.
"I'm not that defenseless. I can still fight." Safr replied. "Still, a dog might help if we're ever in a tough situation. Okay then, we'll buy him."
"Oi! Sir!" He called out to the owner."How much for the Greyhound?"
The dog trainer replied,"Fifteen gold."
"FIFTEEN GOLD!?" Safr felt like he was about to faint. No dog should cost that much. It's thrice the price of an expensive horse!
"Yup. Fifteen. That ain't no ordinary hound. He's the fastest war-dog, he is. Boy can even outrun a horse and zap targets like lightning. They'll never see em' coming." The trainer explained. "So I know he's worth much more than his cousins here. How about it? Fifteen gold?"
Safr felt like he was being ripped off. He only had 33 gold left. Buying this would almost halve his total balance. Afsa somehow managed to convince him to buy the dog. Though he regretted it soon after.
"I think I'll call him Rex. No wait. How about Nex? That's it! I'll call him Nex." Afsa said."Well! Now that we've done that, how about we go pay a visit to your Bounty Hunter friend?"
Safr muttered under his breath,"Oh, one of us is going to pay alright. Hmph."
Getting to Robert's Office, it looked like a small house. His office was also apparently his house in the Residential District. Safr knocked on the door once. After a while, no one answered. He knocked again, this time asking if anyone was there. Still no answer. He was about to knock again when a man of large build came out.
He was wearing a bear's coat that covered his head. He wore armor of an unknown woody substance which covered his torso while wearing simple brown commoner's pants. He also wore iron gloves with fur attached to them. He had short, golden hair and a bushy mustache too. That was Robert.
"Ah! Safr, my friend! How are you!? It's been so long!" Robert said in what sounded like a deliberately manly voice.
"I'm fine, Robert. And it hasn't been that long." Safr replied.
"And what do we have here?" Robert said, looking at Afsa,"Looks like you followed my advice and found yourself a beautiful wife!"
"SHE'S NOT MY WIFE!!"
"HE'S NOT MY HUSBAND!!" They both shouted in annoyance.
"Ah! My bad." Robert said.
"I didn't come here to share pleasantries. I came here on important business." Safr said, folding his arms with a serious expression.
"I see. Well then. Come on in," Robert said.
Safr, Afsa and Nex came in.
"Now then," Robert said, suddenly serious,"What is this important business you speak of?"
"Northern Raiders." Safr said. After being asked about why he'd want to know about them, he told him about Siin.
"Hmm." Robert took out a map of Ahraq from a shelf, laid it out on the table and pointed to the top of the map. Above the area between Shura and Linfan. "Here. This is where I believe their base was."
"How do you know?", Safr asked.
"Because I've been there." Robert replied. "And I almost died trying to escape. I think that they may have caught you near this area. What were you doing then?"
"Siin and I were going to deliver a package at Linfan after delivering one at Shura. We got hit by a sandstorm and I guess that got us off-course." Safr said.
"You're lucky to be alive, Safr. Not everyone survives the Northern Raiders." Robert said.
"Get off! Get off of my foot, ya crazy mutt!" Another man's voice came from the corner behind a curtain. Nex bit his shoe!
"Oh my." Robert said.
"Nex! Stop. Come here." Afsa said.
"You wouldn't know how to hide properly even if you were invisible, Jaq." A man said while he came walking down the stairs. Another man followed him down.
"Gimme a break, Ravir. This is hard."
Another one came out of the closet.
But these were all too familiar to them.
The one from the closet was Neru! And the three other men were the strange trio that Afsa and Safr saw outside the gate!
"Wait. Neru? What's going on!? And who the hell are these guys?" Safr said.
"Ah. Safr. It seems as if I may have to explain myself." Neru replied."Y'see, some of the travelers that deliver my fruit have been disappearing and I've hired these men to–"
Robert leans in towards Neru's ear and says,"I don't think you need to hide the truth from him."
Neru sighed and after a brief moment of silence, said,"I....am The Charred Lizards' second-in-command."
Safr opened his eyes widely."You're not really a......"
"A bandit leader, yes." Neru replied.
Safr sat down with his right hand on his forehead. The Charred Lizards are a group of bandits and the second most notorious group in Ahraq. They don't usually attack on sight like the Northern Raiders. They first intimidate and threaten their targets and kill only when their targets resist. As can be imagined, most attempt to resist and therefore, die. Nowadays, they don't attack as often. They're rumored to have a major influence in many of Ahraq's cities and are also rumored to work through trade more often.
"Groups of our kind have gone missing. At first it was passed off as dying due to the low supplies or poorly trained men. But as it became more and more common, we started to investigate. Our spies found out that it was indeed the Northern Raiders who had captured them. They were being hauled off somewhere. But not all to one place like the base that Robert had mentioned to you. Instead, this other one was in the east, underground. Our spies couldn't get a better look because that would have revealed their positions but they did see that there was a hidden passage." Neru said. He turned to the strange trio,"These men were an envoy sent to bring a message to me from the boss. I was told to look into the blockages and disappearances in the mines here in the Mahoor."
"Blockages and disappearances?" Safr said,"That's what's happening in Mina too,"
"Then this is much bigger than we thought," Robert said."We're still thinking about how we can deal with this problem. The Northern Raiders are cooking up much more trouble than they have in years. And it's showing."
Safr looks at the ground."Now I know where Siin is. And time's running out. I have to go. Now."
"You're looking for your camel?" Neru said."It's likely that they sold her or cut her up and ate her. We can't worry about that right now."
"No! She can't be gone. I'll go there, find her and get her out without anyone realizing it."Safr said.
"Didn't you just hear what he said?" Afsa said,"She might not even be there."
"If there's even the slightest chance of her being there, I'm going! I don't have time. I'm not letting them do whatever it is they're going to do to her!" Safr said.
"Safr. We don't even have a plan yet. You can't just go there."Afsa said.
Safr stood up. "WRONG! I have a plan! I already told you! I'm going in and getting her out!"
"Look Safr, I know you care about your friend. But we can't be reckless. Robert barely escaped with his life. Who knows? You might even die. And I'm not going to let you kill yourself like an idiot! So pull yourself together damn it!" Afsa said.
Safr sat down.
After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Safr stood up,"I'll wait for you at the inn." And then walked out.
"Whoa. Tensions, man." Jaq said and then got smacked on the back of the head by Ravir."Ow! Jeez, man."
"Uh...Miss?" Robert asked."I didn't catch your name."
"It's Afsa." She said.
"Miss Afsa, take care of Safr. He may act uncouthly but he means well." Robert said.
"I know. Don't worry. He's not getting past me." Afsa said.
Afsa went to the inn with Nex and found Safr fast asleep in one bed. She looked at him and then went to sleep on the other bed.
-----------the next morning------------
Afsa woke up. She went over to Safr's bed. He had covered himself with the blanket. "Safr. Wake up. We should get going. Safr?" Afsa said while she pulled over the blanket."Weren't you the one who said that we don't.....have......time?"
Safr put his pillows under his blanket to act like he was sleeping! He wasn't there!
Afsa stood straight. "That reckless fool."
----------Meanwhile---------
"I'm coming for you Siin. Just hang in there." Safr thought as he galloped with Epona. To the Northern Raiders North base.
It was almost fully quiet after they got far enough away from the voices of people gossiping and whispering. A silence filled only by the sounds of horseshoes hitting the hard, rocky ground as the horse trotted on. Until Afsa broke it.
"So.......there's something...some things......that you should know.......about that thing back at Mina."
Safr kept silent.
"You see, that man may have...um...dropped....a bag of coins from his pocket and he might have thought that I took it so....he got a little angry and I had to defend myself but I accidentally got the table broken......by accident."
"Accident. Right. Of course it was."
"Um..."
"I was right when I said that you're a terrible liar. Don't you think?"
Afsa didn't say a thing but only turned her gaze and looked at the surrounding terrain with a nervous expression.
"First, it was with the ridiculous story you made up and swore that it was real. Second, a pair of my oranges were missing from my bag before reaching Mina–and yes, I knew that no one else could have taken them. Third, a man was angry because his bag of coins were "dropped". Fourth, seeing you dodge, fight and take down a muscle-bound man. All of it adds up and confirms my suspicions."
Afsa continued looking at the terrain.
"You're a thief. Am I right?"
"..."
They kept on riding until they camped and the two were sitting close to the fire while the horse rested. Safr was looking at the fire. That's when Afsa finally let out.
"Y'know, now that I look back on it, I guess there was no point in lying about who I really am. And you're right about me being bad at it. I should've told you the truth."
Safr looked up,"You killed that man."
"I know, but–"
"But you also saved my hind back there. So I'm grateful for that."
"Oh."
"I won't forget that you lied to me. But I won't hold it against you. Right now, I need to know something."
"What is it?"
"Where did you learn how to fight like that?"
"My uncle taught me."
"If your uncle taught you that, why also teach you to steal?"
"He'd never do that. He was an honest man."
"And yet you've lied more than thrice since we met. What happened to him?"
"I don't really feel like talking about it."
"So he's gone then."
Afsa looked back at the fire and kept quiet with a sad expression.
"Seems we've both lost families." He said as he threw a small piece of coal into the fire.
The atmosphere stood noiseless as the cold wind blew in their direction.
"Well,"Afsa said while standing up,"We're not going to get your camel friend back if we worry any more about the past.
We should get some rest before we head out. Wouldn't want to suddenly fall of the horse and hit your head, right?" She yawns and then lies down to sleep.
Safr looks at her for a moment, lies down and then goes to sleep as well.
------------The next morning----------
"Alright. I know how to cheer you up. How's about a joke? I'll go first."
Safr reluctantly listened to her.
"Why didn't the demon want to leave the party?"
"Dunno."
"Because he was having one hell of a time!"
"I've heard better."
"Oh come on. It was good. Right, Epona?"
"Epona? Who in the heck is that supposed to be?"
"Epona, remember? I told you earlier, that's what I named our horse."
Safr remembered that he was ignoring her some time earlier but also took notice of what she just said.
"Our horse? I'm pretty sure I'm the one who paid for him–"
"Her."
"Whatever."
"You should learn to fix that hostile attitude of yours for once. It's not nice."
"Is that a fact?"
"Yes!"
"Maybe you should figure out that 'hostile attitude' and 'not nice' are the same thing."
"Oh for the love of the Allmaker–"
"Shh." Safr pulls on the reins stops Epona.
"Don't you shush me."
"Look."
He points to great stone walls running wide for miles. A large wooden gate standing between the outside and the inside and many large buildings can be seen stretching to the edges of a river. Vegetation and trees cover the ends of the city's rear. Closer to these plants are the fields and the largest farm you could ever see. Here lies the economical lifeline of Ahraq. Where fruits and foods of all kinds of produce are sold and exported. Where Ahraqians of all kinds live and grow up in. Some call it 'The City of Oppurtunity'. But as for everyone else, it is the Mahoor. Otherwise known by outlanders as 'The Hub'.
"Amazing! I haven't been to the Mahoor in so long. I forgot just how beautiful it looks!"
"Yep. Selling the best oranges in the world. Me and Siin. We'd always come here whenever we needed a break. We'd be stuffed in oranges like there's no tomorrow. Well, I'd usually have most of them but you can't blame me for loving them."
Afsa took a breath of fresh air and smiled in the sunlight.
They carried on to the gate.
They rode on the road down the hill until they came upon the path to the great wooden doors separating them from the outside and the city. Connected to these large doors were the thick warm castle-like stone walls that worked as a barrier around the city. Archer towers were erected on the walls with wooden canopies that looked like half-open umbrellas and stood at equal distances from each other. There were also stables next to the gate.
Approaching the great wooden gate, the two companions saw a peculiar trio of men who stood talking to the guards at the gate. These men were wearing rough leather armor, with many straps and belts. Two had swords, while one had equipped a bow. From what Safr could see, there were also three horses in the stables(all of which were parked next to each other). After a short while(a few seconds actually), they were let in by the guards.
When Safr, Afsa and Epona came to the gate, they were greeted by Asad, one of the guards at the gate(the other was Namad, his brother, who normally stays quiet and is the stronger of the two).
"Safr! Back from another delivery?", Asad said."And who've you picked up there?"
"Yeah, we got it delivered to Shura. This is Afsa and the horse is Epona."
"Where's Siin? Wasn't she with you?"
"She was. Until we got into a mess and I lost her."
"Ah. Well I'm sorry for that."
"You don't have to be sorry. Anyways–"
"Who were those men that you were just talking to?" Afsa interrupted.
"Oh, those guys?"Asad said pointing back with his thumb."A strange bunch, I tell you. Haven't ever seen them around these parts."
"Are you sure?", Safr said."Maybe you forgot?"
"I ain't ever forgotten anyone's face. Why do ya think they hired me?" Asad replied,"Now, you should take your horse to the stables and I'll let you in."
And so they did.
Getting inside, they were met with wide paths leading to different districts. The district they were in was the Market District.
"We should get to an inn first and buy a room. There are some things I forgot to mention when I was telling you about what I was going to do," Safr said,"I know a good one close to here. We'll talk on the way."
"I work for the Ahraqan Central Trading Company. Their main building here is the Trading Hub in the Upper District. That's where products come and go for deliveries and all deals are officially recorded in their archives. It's also the head of the export/import business. They hire travelers and caravans for delivering on land and you can guess what they use for the sea." Safr said.
"So you deliver things. A mailman of sorts."Afsa said.
"Right. I've got a friend who works as a bounty hunter here in the Mahoor. His name's Robert. He's a foreigner from Havan but as far as I know, he's the best there is at what he does. I thought that he might know something about the Northern Raiders. They're notorious enough to be known by all bounty hunters." Safr said.
"What if he doesn't?" Afsa asked.
"Oh he'll know. I'm sure of it." Safr said, hoping that he was right.
"No. I mean, what if he doesn't know anything other than what we've already figured out?" Afsa said.
"Then we'd have to find Siin ourselves." Safr said. "And I'd be sorely disappointed."
They reached the inn and bought a room for a good bit of silver and had a bite or two. From there they had decided to split up and return to the inn before the evening.
"And Afsa."
"What?"
"Don't get any bright ideas if you see something shiny."
Afsa smiled,"I wouldn't dream of it."
Half an hour had already passed after they'd left the inn. Safr wanted to fill up on oranges because he'd already ran out. Afsa was intent on exploring the city but she got the urge to steal more than once. She'd even taken a golden ring and a small garnet. "Blast it! Stealing wouldn't be so hard if he wouldn't guilt trip me." She thought,"I guess a trinket or two won't hurt."
Safr had went to what he called,"The best Fruit shop in all of Ahraq." His friend Neru owned the shop. To his displeasure, Safr found out that the shop was closed and empty. He didn't want to settle for the oranges being sold on stalls in the Market District because they were,"ready to be sucked on by flies unlike Neru who preserves his fruits in cold storage." Though he was never completely sure how Neru could even manage that.
Safr had decided to go to Robert's Office. While walking there, he found Afsa in a pen full of dogs. She was petting a Greyhound. Safr walked up to her, smiling and said,"I think he likes you."
"Hm?" Afsa turned her head.
Safr quickly changed his expression,"What?"
"Did you say something?"
"What did I say?"
"I swear I heard your voice just now."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Okay then?" She said.
"I'm not hallucinating." She thought,"I know I heard him. I just don't know what he said."
"So what's with the dog?" Safr said, trying to change the subject.
"Huh? Oh, this little boy?" Afsa said."Well, since your arm is still healing I thought that a guard dog could be useful."
"He's also kinda cute." She said in a low voice.
"I'm not that defenseless. I can still fight." Safr replied. "Still, a dog might help if we're ever in a tough situation. Okay then, we'll buy him."
"Oi! Sir!" He called out to the owner."How much for the Greyhound?"
The dog trainer replied,"Fifteen gold."
"FIFTEEN GOLD!?" Safr felt like he was about to faint. No dog should cost that much. It's thrice the price of an expensive horse!
"Yup. Fifteen. That ain't no ordinary hound. He's the fastest war-dog, he is. Boy can even outrun a horse and zap targets like lightning. They'll never see em' coming." The trainer explained. "So I know he's worth much more than his cousins here. How about it? Fifteen gold?"
Safr felt like he was being ripped off. He only had 33 gold left. Buying this would almost halve his total balance. Afsa somehow managed to convince him to buy the dog. Though he regretted it soon after.
"I think I'll call him Rex. No wait. How about Nex? That's it! I'll call him Nex." Afsa said."Well! Now that we've done that, how about we go pay a visit to your Bounty Hunter friend?"
Safr muttered under his breath,"Oh, one of us is going to pay alright. Hmph."
Getting to Robert's Office, it looked like a small house. His office was also apparently his house in the Residential District. Safr knocked on the door once. After a while, no one answered. He knocked again, this time asking if anyone was there. Still no answer. He was about to knock again when a man of large build came out.
He was wearing a bear's coat that covered his head. He wore armor of an unknown woody substance which covered his torso while wearing simple brown commoner's pants. He also wore iron gloves with fur attached to them. He had short, golden hair and a bushy mustache too. That was Robert.
"Ah! Safr, my friend! How are you!? It's been so long!" Robert said in what sounded like a deliberately manly voice.
"I'm fine, Robert. And it hasn't been that long." Safr replied.
"And what do we have here?" Robert said, looking at Afsa,"Looks like you followed my advice and found yourself a beautiful wife!"
"SHE'S NOT MY WIFE!!"
"HE'S NOT MY HUSBAND!!" They both shouted in annoyance.
"Ah! My bad." Robert said.
"I didn't come here to share pleasantries. I came here on important business." Safr said, folding his arms with a serious expression.
"I see. Well then. Come on in," Robert said.
Safr, Afsa and Nex came in.
"Now then," Robert said, suddenly serious,"What is this important business you speak of?"
"Northern Raiders." Safr said. After being asked about why he'd want to know about them, he told him about Siin.
"Hmm." Robert took out a map of Ahraq from a shelf, laid it out on the table and pointed to the top of the map. Above the area between Shura and Linfan. "Here. This is where I believe their base was."
"How do you know?", Safr asked.
"Because I've been there." Robert replied. "And I almost died trying to escape. I think that they may have caught you near this area. What were you doing then?"
"Siin and I were going to deliver a package at Linfan after delivering one at Shura. We got hit by a sandstorm and I guess that got us off-course." Safr said.
"You're lucky to be alive, Safr. Not everyone survives the Northern Raiders." Robert said.
"Get off! Get off of my foot, ya crazy mutt!" Another man's voice came from the corner behind a curtain. Nex bit his shoe!
"Oh my." Robert said.
"Nex! Stop. Come here." Afsa said.
"You wouldn't know how to hide properly even if you were invisible, Jaq." A man said while he came walking down the stairs. Another man followed him down.
"Gimme a break, Ravir. This is hard."
Another one came out of the closet.
But these were all too familiar to them.
The one from the closet was Neru! And the three other men were the strange trio that Afsa and Safr saw outside the gate!
"Wait. Neru? What's going on!? And who the hell are these guys?" Safr said.
"Ah. Safr. It seems as if I may have to explain myself." Neru replied."Y'see, some of the travelers that deliver my fruit have been disappearing and I've hired these men to–"
Robert leans in towards Neru's ear and says,"I don't think you need to hide the truth from him."
Neru sighed and after a brief moment of silence, said,"I....am The Charred Lizards' second-in-command."
Safr opened his eyes widely."You're not really a......"
"A bandit leader, yes." Neru replied.
Safr sat down with his right hand on his forehead. The Charred Lizards are a group of bandits and the second most notorious group in Ahraq. They don't usually attack on sight like the Northern Raiders. They first intimidate and threaten their targets and kill only when their targets resist. As can be imagined, most attempt to resist and therefore, die. Nowadays, they don't attack as often. They're rumored to have a major influence in many of Ahraq's cities and are also rumored to work through trade more often.
"Groups of our kind have gone missing. At first it was passed off as dying due to the low supplies or poorly trained men. But as it became more and more common, we started to investigate. Our spies found out that it was indeed the Northern Raiders who had captured them. They were being hauled off somewhere. But not all to one place like the base that Robert had mentioned to you. Instead, this other one was in the east, underground. Our spies couldn't get a better look because that would have revealed their positions but they did see that there was a hidden passage." Neru said. He turned to the strange trio,"These men were an envoy sent to bring a message to me from the boss. I was told to look into the blockages and disappearances in the mines here in the Mahoor."
"Blockages and disappearances?" Safr said,"That's what's happening in Mina too,"
"Then this is much bigger than we thought," Robert said."We're still thinking about how we can deal with this problem. The Northern Raiders are cooking up much more trouble than they have in years. And it's showing."
Safr looks at the ground."Now I know where Siin is. And time's running out. I have to go. Now."
"You're looking for your camel?" Neru said."It's likely that they sold her or cut her up and ate her. We can't worry about that right now."
"No! She can't be gone. I'll go there, find her and get her out without anyone realizing it."Safr said.
"Didn't you just hear what he said?" Afsa said,"She might not even be there."
"If there's even the slightest chance of her being there, I'm going! I don't have time. I'm not letting them do whatever it is they're going to do to her!" Safr said.
"Safr. We don't even have a plan yet. You can't just go there."Afsa said.
Safr stood up. "WRONG! I have a plan! I already told you! I'm going in and getting her out!"
"Look Safr, I know you care about your friend. But we can't be reckless. Robert barely escaped with his life. Who knows? You might even die. And I'm not going to let you kill yourself like an idiot! So pull yourself together damn it!" Afsa said.
Safr sat down.
After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Safr stood up,"I'll wait for you at the inn." And then walked out.
"Whoa. Tensions, man." Jaq said and then got smacked on the back of the head by Ravir."Ow! Jeez, man."
"Uh...Miss?" Robert asked."I didn't catch your name."
"It's Afsa." She said.
"Miss Afsa, take care of Safr. He may act uncouthly but he means well." Robert said.
"I know. Don't worry. He's not getting past me." Afsa said.
Afsa went to the inn with Nex and found Safr fast asleep in one bed. She looked at him and then went to sleep on the other bed.
-----------the next morning------------
Afsa woke up. She went over to Safr's bed. He had covered himself with the blanket. "Safr. Wake up. We should get going. Safr?" Afsa said while she pulled over the blanket."Weren't you the one who said that we don't.....have......time?"
Safr put his pillows under his blanket to act like he was sleeping! He wasn't there!
Afsa stood straight. "That reckless fool."
----------Meanwhile---------
"I'm coming for you Siin. Just hang in there." Safr thought as he galloped with Epona. To the Northern Raiders North base.
--------------------------
Sometimes I feel like this'd be better animated.
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