The clans of the desert part 3

It had been an uneventful six days. Nothing had happened since the riders of the different clans had come and gone, but they knew they would come back with a vengeance.

The witch of the village hidden in the rocks had been grumpy, knowing she would end up in trouble for aiding the foreigners. She now completely ignored them.

"We should probably leave this village before the Saracens of the other clan arrive here. They might have asked other clans for help," Haley suggested.

"And how do you expect us to survive in the desert without the help of the locals? We would get lost and die," Doreen explained.

Haley felt irritated but their discussion was cut short when they saw a dust cloud appearing in the distance.

"Get the Ghersengs ready for battle," Rufus ordered.

~~

Around a hundred Saracen warriors rode out with another hundred warriors walking alongside the cavalry. They carried round shields and wore light or no armor at all. They had curved swords and long spears.

With the army, three people were riding scythes, gliding in the sky right on top of the incoming force. They were three locust witches, each from a different clan.

The villagers of the village hidden in the rocks started to panic and run inside their caves. The witch of the village walked forward and called his horde of large ants.

The army arrived at the entrance to the village. There the three witches landed right in front of their counterparts.

"Bouzid. It's been a while. Still, the rebel are you?" one of the witches said.

The witch of the village didn't answer.

"And still a mute....." another witch said with an evil smile.

The army started to enter the rocky area of the village, but the ants stopped them.

"Get your ants out of the way or we will force our way through," one of the witches said.

The ants didn't budge. Then one of the three witches got tired and waved her hand. A large antlion from beneath the sand came up. It was being controlled by one of the witches who then ordered it forward toward the large ants.

The ants attacked and were able to fend off the giant antlion, but the other witch joined in and summoned a crawling bug from underneath her clothes. A swarm of birds sized flying insects attacked the mute witch, but luckily she was an expert with her melee weapon.

With her scythe, she blocked each and every one of the small bugs but then got distracted when the third one attacked her with her own scythe. She was able to dodge it, but the third witch was faster and stronger.

Some attacks came from underneath her clothes ripping off the mute witch's clothes. The attacking witch had large centipedes underneath her clothes that attacked when she got close to an enemy. They worked as whips and their claws were deadly, with poison oozing off them.

The mute witch was overpowered and she fell to the sand.

"Never liked you anyway," the witch with centipedes as her weapons said as she was ready to bring her scythe down on her.

As the mute witch was about to die, a group of Aesis main worlders rushed out.

Pema came and took the attack head-on with his carbon-armored skin. The witch looked confused with her centipedes being unable to penetrate Pema's thick armor.

All of the witches and Saracen warriors looked confused. The mute witch then saw Rufus next to him.

"I think it is time to pay back our debt, right? And I guess we can call you Bouzid?" Rufus said.

Bouzid, the village's mute witch looked stunned.

The Saracens then charged at full force. Before they could get close, Joan and Edward lunged with their sword, cutting the sand right in front of the charging enemy. This demoralised the army right then and there.

The Haley formed giant crystals and was ready to shoot them at the Saracens.

Bouzid then tugged on Rufus's clothes and tried to plead with him.

The three witches could not move as they saw hundreds of crystals ready to kill them all. Such power was unprecedented to them.

Rufus then saw that Bouzid was looking and staring at the Saracens. Haley unleashed the crystals, but Rufus then realized what Bouzid wanted.

Rufus formed giant divine spheres and destroyed the crystals before they could hit the attacking Saracen warriors. The crystals vanished into thin air and the witches, as well as the Saracens, realized that these outsiders were too strong for them to beat them.

The three witches fell on their butts terrified at both Haley and Rufus.

"Why the hell did you defend these? They are the ones who attacked them," Haley protested.

Rufus then looked at the attacking force.

"Does it seem we have to kill them now?" Rufus said and pointed out that they had one without killing a single enemy.

Haley felt annoyed.

Doreen then stepped up and yelled," This is king Rufus Fairfax of the Fairfax kingdom. We do not mean any harm, but if you insist, I promise you. Only harm will come to you. We want an audience with your queen, Satifa of the dessert!"

The Saracens looked confused with the witches smiling.

"You think you can get an audience with our queen? You must be joking," one of the witches laughed.

"Does it look like we are joking," Joan said and placed her sword on the witch's throat.

The witches looked scared and didn't know what to do.

"Oh, you will meet our queen. I will make sure of it....." one of the witches said and stood up.

The witches then turned around and commanded the Saracen force to retreat. As they did, the three witches smiled menacingly.

~~

When the attacking army had left, the old clan leader came to talk with Rufus. The witch, Bouzid was with him. She used sign language to communicate what the clan leader interpreted.

"It seems you get your witch to meet with the queen, but our witch here recommends for you guys leave right away," the clan leader explained.

"Wait, wait.....You were able to communicate with the mute all this time?!" Amala yelled.

"Yes, but it was more fun seeing you trying to communicate with her, rather then just coming to me," the old man laughed.

"Why do we have to leave in a hurry?" Rufus asked.

"Because if the three other witches arrive at the queen first, the queen will come here and kill us all."