Zaelia grinned proudly. It was time to leave. She took the horn at her belt, the same horn she had always used to make the departure signal. She blew and they rapidly charged the maximum things they could. They left with the first lights of the morning. Right before entering the desert, Zaelia stopped herself a second before the town disappeared on the horizon. She could hear the cry and the lamentations from the habitants pushed by the wind into her ears and her heart was pounding in her chest.
She did it. She attacked a town outside the desert and now she would have to assure the journey back to the tribe. Once they would be back, the elders would finally have to listen to her and Zephira would regret asking her to renunciate.
They were like the wind, coming, striking, and leaving. The burning sands wind.
As they ran into the desert they felt heavy in the sand. These two days on the solid floor made them feel very strange. They didn't need a lot of time to get back to their usual speed but that was a nerve-wracking experience to walk on such different ground.
They were used to running after pillage and without the eights to slow them down they managed to reach the oasis in time. There, they could recharge their stocks of water. The oasis was a great landmark. It was safe and close enough to the town to be accessible in a day only. The priority was to avoid being stuck in the desert by night without shelter.
The few rocks and trees around the water were enough to block the effect of the gusts of wind and to protect them. They dropped their bags. The group was overly happy, they were overwhelmed by their emotions. The two days and nights of being active, running, and fighting was playing on their nerves and they needed to be discharged. Most of them got naked and threw themselves into the water. She laughed, she also felt the nerves breaking and her laugh was slightly hysterical. All the stress, fear, and tensions were leaving.
Maybe that was too much adrenaline or maybe too much tiredness but in the end, they were all in the same state of pseudo trance acting a bit like animals.
Zaelia stared at the sky, this was her sky. She felt safe again watching the stars. She knew this was the same sky and the same stars as she could see in the valley but still, it felt different now that she was in the desert, at her place.
She had the feeling that Archanium was watching and that he was proud of her. She was doing it for the tribe, for him.
She isolated herself a bit from the group to prepare her place to sleep. She was truly exhausted, she lay down on the floor and pillowed her head with her arm.
"Are you watching, my god? I hope you saw this."
Then she closed her eyes slowly with a content smile on her face. Her sleep was deep, she needed this. All her emotions started to calm slowly and when she awakened on the first lights of the morning she was ready to lead the men to the grottos. After this, they would have another day of running and they would be home. She hoped her men were as rested as her. She walked through the sleeping forty-two and awakened them slowly, with care. Most of them were still naked from the night, some were on the same mat to sleep together. The night was intense for most of them.
She found Xzander in the arms of a girl, he didn't want to let her go so she tried to push him away. Zaelia laughed while kicking him with her feet, her authoritarian tone seemed to be a bit softened with the previous days.
"Get up, we're coming back home."
He yawned as he stood up. He dressed and prepared himself to leave. In no time, they were ready and she led them through the hardest part of the desert where the winds were the strongest and the most dangerous.
Fortunately for them, they had no difficulties on the way and they arrived at the grottos without difficulties. She kept in mind how she lost the eights and she still couldn't forgive herself for it. On the other hand, she managed to lead the first expedition outside the desert successfully and she was bringing swords.
She helped to prepare the camp and then she sat watching the fire as they were cooking some kind of dinner. She watched her hands and she noticed that they were tired. Her skin was not as shiny as usual, her veins were apparent and her fin fingers looked like the ones of an old lady. She was exhausted from the recent events. It was not only about the pillage outside of the desert but it was about all the arguing she had with the elders.
Including Zephira. Zephira had always been her only support and she didn't even tell her goodbye when she left. She couldn't stop herself from thinking about the discussion she had with her and how to make things. Zaelia truly cared about Zephira and she didn't want to stay on these bad feelings because she knew that if Zephira tried to stop her from going it was not for the same reasons as the other elders, it was because she truly thought that it was better for Zaelia to not go.
The first time Zephira told her about this mission she seemed so cold, so distant. The last night before departure she was very close to her and told her that she would know a terrific fate if she succeeded in the attack. Zaelia intended to ask Zephira for answers as soon as she would put a foot in the tribe's encampment.
She spent all night thinking about the situation and how to tell the things to Zephira. After all, she was like a mother to her. Zaelia had lost both her parents at a very young age. Zephira took care of her and taught her how to make her own opinion. If Zaelia succeeded now it was mostly thanks to Zephira.