Road To Samderqand part 2

Soon kevah riders, scethian warriors from the steppes, had surrounded them. They were adorned in their battle-hardened armor and wielding weapons of war, closed in around Rufus, Suomi, and Amala. They looked hostile, all aiming their composite bows at them.

"We mean you no harm," Rufus called out, his voice steady despite the precarious situation. "We're just passing through."

The scethian warriors didn't budge.

"No one has just passed through these lands in a long time. Under the blue sky of Arslan, only the scethians can live," a scethian warrior said. 

Amala was ready to fight, and so was Rufus. 

Then a warrior came through, with a wolf pelt around his head. He had a humongous curved sword carried by his kevah. He unsheathed his blade and walked toward Rufus along with few of his warriors. Rufus himself was ready to fight and destroy the entire area along with all the riders.

But then he looked at Suomi, who knew his intention. He then signaled to Amala to lower her bow.

"Is there any way of allowing us to leave in peace?" Rufus asked. 

The large scethian warrior looked at Amala and said," She can live. You humans can not." And lifted his great curved blade. 

Suomi quickly ran forward as she saw Rufus ready to respond. She yelled, "We don't need to fight!"

Then a scethain henchman next to wolf pelted warrior punched Suomi then, who fell hard onto the ground. As she fell, Rufus moved fast and put his hand on the henchman's chest. The warrior then exploded, with blood splattering all over, and quickly the wolf-pelted warrior brought down his massive blade but was blocked by Amala's stone arrow. 

As the warriors around them hurried to fight, Rufus summoned his divine wings and twirled with his wings blasting and cutting the warriors down, like the wings were sharp blades. Only the wolf-pelted warrior was able to dodge the attack. 

The wolf-pelted warrior, swift despite his bulky frame, managed to evade Rufus's devastating attack. He glared at Rufus, fury burning in his eyes as he witnessed the destruction unleashed upon his comrades.

Rufus, wings still extended, landed gracefully on the ground, his gaze locked onto the warrior. The scethian warrior knew he was at a disadvantage, and retreated, getting on a kevah. Amala started to shoot at the warrior, but his large blade worked as a shield, which he mounted on his back. 

Rufus deactivated his divine wings and rushed to Suomi's side, kneeling beside her and checking for any serious injuries. "Suomi, can you hear me?" he asked urgently.

Amala joined him, her eyes filled with worry. She had seen Suomi take hits before, but the force with which she was struck had been brutal.

Suomi groaned, her eyes fluttering open. "What... happened?" she asked weakly.

"You were hit by one of them," Rufus explained gently, helping her sit up. "How are you feeling? Anything broken?"

Suomi took a moment to assess her condition. "I... I don't think so," she said, wincing as she moved. "Just... bruised."

She then saw the dead scethian sassans around them, with also dead kevahs. Their torso's cut in half, with blood spilled all over the ground. 

"What did you do?" Suomi said, her eyes wide open. 

"What do you mean?"

"You killed them!? You didn't have to!" Suomi yelled. 

"I did what I had to do to protect us," he said firmly, though his voice carried a hint of sorrow. "They were not going to let us go, Suomi. They wanted to kill us."

"You killed them!"

Then Amala stepped up and slapped Suomi.

Amala's hand connected sharply with Suomi's cheek, silencing her abruptly. Suomi's eyes widened in shock, her hand flying to her face as she stared up at Amala.

"Don't you dare yell at him like that," Amala seethed, her anger palpable. "He just saved your life. They were going to kill you. What did you expect him to do? Let them?"

Amala was visually mad and Suomi had no reply. 

~~

The wolf-pelted rider was able to flee and rode to a large nomadic city. The city had no permanent locattion but moved on the steppes. Yurt's were made from animal pelts and bones and wood used as well. 

As he rode the people of the town saw that hed had returned alone. Not a single one of their warriors was with him. He rode toward a large yurt and dismounted. He pushed a few warriors away as he lowered his head to fit through the yurt's door. 

Inside were many warriors, all wolf pelts tied somewhere around them. And in the end was a warrior, tall and muscular, with a pelt of a karkuk divine beast.

The warrior at the end of the yurt, evidently their leader, regarded the returning rider with a penetrating stare. "Speak," he commanded, his voice resonant and accustomed to obedience.

The wolf-pelted warrior knelt on one knee, his head still bowed. "Great Khagan," he began, addressing the leader. "We have met with strangers on the steppes. Humans and something else. They possess divine powers not of these lands. The man, he... he has wings of divine essence and can wield them like the sharpest blades and destroy things he touches"

Murmurs rippled through the yurt as the assembled warriors absorbed this information. The Great Khagan, silent, raised a hand to quell the growing whispers.

"And the others?" the Great Khagan inquired, his voice betraying no emotion.

"A woman, not human though, muscular build and taller with grey skin, who creates stone arrows," the wolf-pelted warrior continued, "and another, a human female, who seemed unremarkable in combat and foolish. They are heading south. Same way we are."

The large Khagan thought to himself and played with a knife made from animal bones. 

"Humans are not allowed to the steppes, decreed by Arslan of the eternal sky," he said. 

"The human man. He is powerful,"

"AND SO ARE WE!" the khagan yelled and the other warriors drew out their weapons, "CALL THE HORDE! CALL THE WARRIORS! WE MOVE RIGHT AWAY AND HUNT THEM DOWN! WE WILL NOT REST UNTIL WE GET TO SAMARQAND TO MEET UP WITH THE ARSLAN AND THE REST OF THE TRIBES! And we will kill a few humans along the way."

Horns were blown, and drums were beaten. The entire city was on the move. The yurts were taken down by the warriors, and the regular people as well. Farm animals, that grazed the grassy steppes, millions of them, were moved as the large host began their move. 

The Osman tribe was on the move.

~~

Amala, still burning with the intensity of the moment, looked between Rufus and Suomi. "We can't stay here," she said. "More will come, and next time they might not underestimate us."

Rufus nodded in agreement. He helped Suomi to her feet,. "We need to move. Now," he affirmed. "Amala, lead the way. Suomi, stay close."

The group hastily retreated from the scene, leaving behind the grim battlefield of their encounter. They moved south, as stealthily as possible, aware that the Scethians' swift kevahs would outpace them if given the chance.

They needed to find a way to Samarqand, but now they knew that they were on territory where they would be killed on site.

They climbed up a hill, hoping to get away from the horde, as they heard and felt the ground rumbling. They knew the army was close by. 

"Stop!" yelled Suomi. 

"We have no time anymore to argue!" Amala yelled.

"I am not trying to argue, just get down," she said and took out her kantele-

She played it and with the melody of the music, the grass started to grow. From just small grass, that reached the ankle, it grew all the to the shoulders, hifing the trio well. 

From the high viewpoint, they saw the horde moving on the steppes. Tens of thousands of warriors rode kevah mounts, with each warrior having a few spare mounts along with them. Carts moved goods as civilians, women and children pushed them forward. But more than warriors or civilians, thousands of flying birds, the same fluffy ones Rustam had, flew overhead and were controlled by kevah riders using large eagles as herders. 

Amala, Rufus, and Suomi lay hidden in the tall grass, scarcely daring to breathe as the Scethian horde thundered past. The ground vibrated under the weight of the countless hooves, and the sound was deafening. They watched as the vast army moved like a living organism, a massive force of nature that seemed unstoppable.

"This is no army. It's an entire nation," Amala whispered, her eyes never leaving the spectacle. "We can't confront them directly."

Rufus nodded, his mind racing for strategies. "We'll have to be smarter."

Suomi, still clutching her kantele, looked troubled. "We're headed to Samarqand too. What if we run into them again?"

"Let's move east. It might take us more time, but we can not stumble upon such another force anymore," Rufus said. 

As the last of the horde disappeared over the horizon, the trio cautiously emerged from their hiding place. They continued their journey, staying off the main paths and using the cover of the landscape to conceal their movements.

Hours turned into days as they journeyed through the vast steppes. The journey was grueling, with the constant threat of being discovered hanging over them. They scavenged for food and water, moving mostly at night to avoid detection.

Their journey eastward, while safer, was significantly more challenging. The terrain became rougher, and the resources scarcer. Each day was a struggle for survival, but they pressed on, driven by the need to reach Samarqand and the looming threat of the Scethian horde.

One evening, as they set up a small camp in a secluded valley, Amala raised a concern. "We're running low on supplies," she said, her voice edged with worry.

"Is there no animals here?" Rufus asked. 

"No, it seems like another massive horde, a migration of a nation, took place here. All the fauna and animals have been hunted out." Amala said. 

They looked at Suomi who was sleeping. She was incredibly thin, her cheeks caved in. Once more her mortal body and all its flaws and weaknesses showed. 

Rufus and Amala exchanged a worried glance. Suomi's deteriorating condition added urgency to their already desperate situation. They needed to find a sustainable source of food and water soon, or their journey to Samarqand might end in tragedy.

"Tomorrow, we'll need to venture closer to the paths," Rufus decided, his voice low. "It's riskier, but we may find something to hunt or forage."

"Or," Amala said and pointed south.

There rose tall mountains, cutting the flat steppe landscape.

"You want us to get to the mountains?" Rufus said, "Are you mad?"

"Mountains are the natural borders of nations and people. We are now on the scethian side." Amala explained. 

"Maybe, but Suomi won't make it if we try to cross the mountains. Especially if we do not know if there is any other nation there," Rufus countered. 

"There is....." Amala said who woke up, "I sense it. The divine winds are bringing me clues. There are great cultures there. I am sure of it."

"But, Suomi. Your health..." 

"I will make...I will not be a burden," she said and then looked at Amala, "And I will not complain."

Amala gave Suomi a long, scrutinizing look, weighing the sincerity of her words. Rufus, meanwhile, seemed to wrestle with the decision, his gaze shifting between the daunting mountains and the vast, open steppes they had journeyed across.

Finally, Rufus nodded, a resolve settling in his eyes. "Alright, we'll head for the mountains. But we proceed with caution. We don't know what lies ahead, and we need to conserve our strength. For now, we rest."

Amala nodded in agreement. "I'll take the first watch tonight. You get some rest, Rufus."

As Rufus lay down, his mind was restless, filled with strategies and concerns. He knew the dangers of being closer to the paths where Scethian patrols might pass, but the risk was necessary for their survival.