Her conscience gnawed at her mind, grinding and pounding until her head could take it no more.

She screamed.

She called out her sorrows until speckles of her lifeblood were falling out of her ruby-stained lips. Even the air around her seemed to still, all life halting in their tracks as the piercing wail of a woman scorned echoed through the desert dunes.

No matter what happened now, nothing could halt the bloodshed taking place behind her. It didn’t matter how much she begged or pleaded, she even offered her own life in place of theirs – the savages would never hold back, especially not to a woman.

Aiyla...

The warm summer breeze floated around her, carrying the words of her kin on them. Was this her calling?

Run, my child...

The fine hairs on her nape stood up at her ancestor’s words. Alarmed, she peered over her silky drapes to see the savages streaming over the dunes. A border of flames has surrounded her while the men closed in. Ba dump, ba dump… the deep booming of drums shook the atmosphere, the vibrations shifting the sand with each beat.

You are but a lamb among wolves… Aiyla

The bare chests of the savages soon filled her vision. Wielding archaic broadswords, these barbaric men frightened her. But no matter how much the ache pounded within her to run, she could not. With her anklet-bound feet frozen in place, she could do no more than paw at the hot sand in her anxiousness.

The leader stepped forward. Silence. Assessing her from head to toe, the ox-like man caught her eye and winked, eliciting a shudder of disgust.

“Take her to the drekkar, she is a valuable one.” Ancient chants immediately filled the silence at their leader’s statement, the rumbling sound of a horn signaled for the calfskin drums to start once more. A small group of inked men swiftly moved to close in on her. Leering at her exposed ankles, crude comments were made. She snapped - without thinking, silver daggers were slid out of their sheaths, the amber tones of the setting sun causing a deadly glint to linger on the blades. The barbarian’s bellowing laughs boomed over their mighty drums - a few even had the gall to roll on the sand clutching their stomach.

Aiyla, they underestimate you...

“This lass, who does she thi-” Thump. An ivory handle lays gleaming white in his dirty throat. The man falls face-first into the dunes while the other men collectively take a step back in surprise. No one moves to help their fallen comrade.

The woman’s hair glows with a white aura as she closes her eyes, spinning around while chanting strange words. Allah, hifz, ‘ana... Allah! Hifz! ‘Ana! ALLAH-HIFZ-’ANA! With a mighty warcry, she unleashes a barrage of silver daggers - each one implanting themselves in a man’s throat. Even though I see myself being overtaken, I shall fight to my very last breath, she thought.

“SEER!”, the leader bellowed to his followers, “CONTAIN HER!” Each of the men seemed to enter a hysteria as they each took a mushroom out of the folds of their ragged, fur clothes and popped it into their mouths. Animalistic rage consumed the savage’s entire beings, all of them letting out roars of fury. Their eyes narrowed as they took in the mere woman who dares to stand before them.

Wolves, all of them…

The raining of silver daggers abruptly came to a halt when the woman realized she had no more knives on her. I will fight my destiny no more. Holding her wrists out, she waited for the men to capture her.

As the growling men grabbed her, she did nothing more than fall onto her knees, letting them drag her uselessly over the desert dunes of her homeland. Looking to her right, she saw her beautiful coastal village in ruins, the dull crackle of flames ringing in her ears.