29 Endless Desert (5)
Just has he had expected the four comrades of the poisoned man were all sitting on the ground right outside the tent, having disregarded his advice.
Sighing again the shaman went forward. The gods truly weren't fair at all. The guards looked up at his arrival.
"How is he?" Came Uzzi's strained voice. He pressed his hands on the ground and struggled to stand up.
The shaman rushed forward, and gently pushed Uzzi's shoulders back down. These men looked just as bad as the one in the tent. "Give me a week with him and he will be up on his feet."
All of the waiting men let out the breaths that they had been holding back, their bodies finally relaxing with the news that Elon would be okay.
"If you want his recovery to be faster, tend to yourselves. Don't give your friend another thing to worry about and distract him."
The shaman turned around, ready to go back to his patient now that this task was done.
"Wait." Lael reached out his hand and grabbed ahold of the shaman's arm. "What about the girl?"
"Adom, the young man who escorted you, took her—" Before he could finish the men had all jumped to their feet and sprinted off. How dare some unworthy young buck try to steal their precious little girl from them?!
"to his mother for treatment…is what I was going to say," but when the shaman finished speaking all that could be seen of the guards was the back of their shadows as they ran down to the living area of the village. Shaking his head, the shaman went back to the tent, unconcerned. Eh…it will be alright. They will figure it out eventually.
Launch, Lael, Uri, and Uzzi left a cloud of dust behind them as they ran. If anything happened to A-Narah they would never be able to forgive themselves. Their fear for her safety had allowed them to have this short burst of energy, but sadly didn't help them to think things through. They never thought that the people who had generously reached out their hands to help them and save Elon, would also help A-Narah recover. All they thought was that A-Narah was their beautiful, kind mistress, and if given the opportunity any young man would take advantage of her. They also never thought that no one would be currently attracted or have those type of thoughts with the state A-Narah was currently in. People would be more likely to be repulsed by her.
With heaving chests, they slid to a stop in front of a lone woman who was carrying a basket of laundy. Seeing the four beraggeled men glaring t her the woman took a step back, ready to flee, but before she could turn and runaway Lael grasped her thin shoulders, his grip bruising her arms.
The woman dropped her laundry, shaking from fright. The thought of putting up a struggle was but a fleeting thought. The man's grip was so strong that is was impossible to fight or break free. She opened her mouth ready to yell for help, but before she could let out a scream she was stopped by their question.
"Where is the girl that Adom took?"
Without a thought of stopping them, she weakly lifted her forearm and pointed at one of the tents not far away.
"Thanks." Lael let go of her and the men left.
The woman fell to the ground once she was freed. She slumped forward, surrounded by her overturned clothes. Great. It's great that they are gone. Those men were so scary. They looked like devils. When they had grabbed a hold of her, all of them glaring. She had thought that she would be killed and eaten alive. Devilish, staved wolves. Their grips so strong they could have easily torn her flesh. They frightened her more than any other raiding party that had come to attack their tribe had. It was like… they had nothing to lose. After five minutes the woman, the woman still shaky, began to move. She picked up her scattered laundry that had been tossed all over the ground, and went in the opposite the direction of the tent. Her thoughts were just as scrambled as her emotions. She began refolding the clean laundry and placing it in the basket. She looked in the direction she had pointed the devils to. She lived too close. She picked up her basket with her slightly wrinkled clothes and turned around, heading toward the washing area. "All the laundry got dirty again," she told herself. "It needs to be rewashed. And whatever those strangers do is none of my business." They would have found out from someone else if not me. Best to just stay away. The woman kept telling herself this. Telling herself that she had done nothing wrong, and nothing regrettable. She had done what anyone facing death's desperate jowls would have.
---
Launch tore the tent flap open and the men fell into the entrance. The tent wasn't tall or wide and could only fit a small family. Inside were a few cots and a chest that held the family's belongings. A couple spears, shield, and long jagged dagger were carefully displayed in a case. The only decoration and luxury that could be seen were the colorful rugs that ran along the ground and hung from poles inside the tent. The tent was small and cozy, not meant to hold four grown men, and the it already had three occupants.
When the guards barged in, the already confined space grew smaller. Adom and his mother stared at the intruders with gaping mouths, startled at their sudden arrival. Adom was the first to react. With a scowl on his face he pushed the guards out, and motioned to his mother that she should continue her tasks. When the guards were pushed out, Adom blocked them from rushing back in and stood in front of the entrance. Normally, the guards would not have let themselves be so easily moved, but they had seen A-Narah. They couldn't fight inside the tent. There was too high of a risk of her getting hurt.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" demanded Adom angrily.
"That's what we would like to ask you," rebutted Lael. Behind him stood Launch, Uri and Uzzi, all wearing ferocious faces.
"What are you doing with A-Narah?"
"Who? A-Narah is the person inside?"
"She is not someone who's name you can speak so easily. Nor is she someone you or anyone here can even dare to offend, so it's best that you give her back to us now," Uri growled.
A frown marred Adon's clear face. The men in front of him all had pressed lips and veins popping from their necks. Clearly there was some misunderstanding about what was happening to the girl.
"I took her to my mother so that she could get bathed and changed. She fainted from exhaustion. It's best that you leave her for now." Adom tried to reason with them. It was obvious that A-Narah was someone important, and this should be handled with care.
"Why should we trust you? You can't expect us to just take your word for it. Let us see her. We can't leave until we see that she is properly cared for ourselves."
Adom reached for the tent flap and obligingly pulled it up. The guards all came forward and peeked in, getting a proper look. It was how the young man said. A-Narah was sleeping peacefully and was wrapped in a soft blanket, her head lying on a thick pillow.
She had had the dust and grit cleaned off her and her porcelain skin now had a soft glow. Her hair had been brushed and braided so it wouldn't tangle. She was curled up into a tiny ball and only her head, poking out from under the blanket, could be seen. Her thick lashes casted tiny shows on her cheek, the only evidence that showed all that she had been through were the dark purple circles under her eyes.
After letting them observe her for a few seconds, Adom dropped the tent flap. "Satisfied?" He rubbed his hand up his face and slid back is hair, "Now can you stop rampaging around the village? The way you are now will just scare everyone. They will mistake you as bandits." Adom felt a headache coming on. He could imagine with how these brutes rampaged in, how they had looked on their way here. It was most likely that they had scared a few years off the lives of some of the villagers. After they left, he would have to go around calming some nerves. It was an annoyance.
"The girl will be here after you clean up a bit. I will get you some extra clothes and soap for you to bathe and wash. The bathing and clothes washing area isn't far." Adom went back inside and got the supplies he had spoken of, thrusting it into Lael's arms.
The guards looked down at themselves, and pulled at their filthy clothes. What Adom had said was true. They looked worse than ruffians who lived in the wild. A visible stench was coming off their bodies, their original hair color unknown, and one couldn't tell what was dirty clothing and what was skin. Not even their eyes looked clean, they were yellowed and bloodshot. They looked unrecognizable. They feared, that when A-Narah awakened, that she would scream at the sight of them.
Knowing that Elon was being taken care of and A-Narah was safe, the men lost most of their steam. Dazedly the guards wandered away from the tent where A-Narah was and headed in the direction of the water hole that Adom had pointed out. After constant anxiety, worry and stress they could now rest.
Launch stubbornly sat down outside the tent. He would wait. He wouldn't abandon A-Narah and leave her with strangers they couldn't yet trust. Once the others had finished and come back, then he would take his turn.
Adom just ignored the guard outside his tent and went onto doing his own business. He really didn't feel like dealing with this burden anymore.
