Chapter 9 – Chase of Slaves (3)

In this vast desert where hills of sands can be found, a creature that lived on the sands crawled through the dunes. Behind them was whirling dust of storms. Riders wearing armor, riding two-legged frilled lizard race through this vast desert chasing after them. Shig holds the reins of the gator while trying to keep his eyes focus on the road.

“Looks like a battalion of riders is after us.” Leiko said, “Looks like that Dolce really wanted us back.”

“We will be hung. Even your sister won’t be tolerated for what we have done.”

Leiko’s brows creased. She glimpses at the human holding the repeater crossbow that was armed and readied. There are four repeaters that were loaded on the carriage along with the hand cannon that Shig stole from the mansion. Leiko carried a crossbow herself to protect the carriage from the incoming riders from the distance.

The sand gator has been moving quite well. But the speed of the two-legged frilled lizards was quite something else. They were able to traverse the hills of sands with ease and now they are right behind them. Joshua, who was watching the riders could not help but pray that they won’t catch up. He’s been trying to make sense of what’s happening. He doesn’t know anything about this world. Not the language and not even the people that are with him. All he knows was their names and his guess, that those are their chasers.

Trying to make sense of all this made his head hurt than it should be. How this all started didn’t make sense to him at all. From the desert and now back to the same desert that deprived him of water and food. The searing heat and the overbearing desert sand that is around him made Joshua squint. The cloak he wore along with light armor he was given made things even hotter. He could not complain about that. With the riders racing towards them, his mind was worried at the chance of death. His face changed badly.

Leiko caught glimpse of Joshua’s face changing. She thought that he was nervous. She didn’t like that. The ‘riders’ was getting closer to them and there was no need for fear. He was clearly afraid. And fear could prove fatal to this bout. She wanted to convey alarming words to him. But how could she? She doesn’t know how to speak to him. Not to mention that making gestures at the moment while the sand gator treks the land with speed. “How could I tell him not to panic?” she thought. “There are many things to say about this human. He might risk my sister’s life. I can’t let that happen.” She concluded.

“Calm down. Try not to panic,” She taps her chest and breathed in and out. She was trying to make a gesture of calming down. Joshua caught sight of what she was doing. He looked at her with a confused expression before touching his chest and breathing in and out. Joshua then understood what she was trying to say and calmed down.

Then, after a few minutes of calming down, the riders could be seen clearly without a blur. The rider on their frilled lizard mounts pointed something in their direction. Before Joshua could shout something, he heard gunfire and the whiz of bullet passing through his left ear. Joshua fell down on the carriage. Leiko clicked her tongue as she shoots the crossbow repeater. The movement of the sand gator along with the gust of the wind made the crossbow repeater practically useless.

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“Damn it! They are using rifles!”

Leiko shouted the obvious thing. Shig urged the sand gator to move. The gator crawled through this hell. The riders coordinated with others as they reload their rifles. Like a cavalry firing line, they continued shooting at the carriage. Leiko tried to helplessly shoot the crossbows but it was impossible to hit them. Having no choice she hid under the carriage along with the cowering Joshua who was holding his head. Leiko sneered while holding Kioko who was obviously afraid.

“Don’t hide! They are getting nearer Leiko! Try and do something! There are a goddamn rifle and a hand cannon there damn it!” Shig shouted. Leiko clicked her tongue as she then pulled Joshua to Kioko. “Take care of my sister human!”

Shivering, Joshua nodded his head at Leiko. He went to where Kioko was and holds her in his arms. Leiko took the hand cannon and aimed at the rider that was nearing them. The rider saw the hand cannon and tried to strafe left. But Leiko pulled the trigger and the rider along with his mount was blown away. Leiko pulled the hand cannon back. She then took the rifle that Joshua dropped and aimed at the riders again. The exchanged of gunfire happen. The sand gator’s scale was tough but it was due to Shig’s control of the sand gator and instinct that the sand gator could avoid some injury. Leiko opened fire while cursing the human that wasn’t helping her at all.

“They are getting closer! Damn it! They really did send a battalion after us!”

“Keep shooting Leiko!”

“I am trying!”

Leiko shot her rifle. But the riders were getting better at dodging. She was outnumbered by one to ten and the time she had to reload was getting longer. Cold sweat was covering her, and the feeling of fear crept up. She looked at the corner of her eye and she saw Joshua muttering something under his breath. She didn’t have time to hear what he was saying when the bullets whiz past by her head.

Joshua kept on praying the Lord’s Prayer. He was trembling. He was unable to move as the bullets past over his head. He was slightly tearing up. Kioko saw this and looked at her with watery eyes. Looking at those eyes, Joshua felt even more scared. The thought of losing his life became greater, and knowing that he wasn’t able to fire back at them made him feel even worse.

He urged himself to move his body. But before he could even a move an inch, Leiko who was shooting at their chasers turned to them, her mouth open as if she was trying to warn them. Then, Joshua saw the explosion behind her. His vision then twirled as time then slows down. Slowly, he saw the carriage being flipped. He was being thrown away as his vision tunneled red. Red veins appeared on his vision as he tries to understand what was happening. He saw the sand. He saw Leiko shouting something. He saw Shig transformed into a bull. He didn’t know what to do. But seeing Kioko being blown away too, he grabbed her and without thinking use his back to cushion their impact. He felt his being shake as his body smashes at the sand.