Emily froze. She could hear the squeak of sand being compressed as somebody walked on it.
Silently she stepped backwards till she was under cover behind an outcrop of rocks, then sat and waited.
She listened to the soft squeaks and estimated about ten men, heading her direction, on foot and traveling lightly about twenty five metres away.
They got closer and closer until they were no more than a metre from her hiding place.
She held her breath, willing them to just walk past without noticing her.
Unfortunately, they stopped.
"We'll stop here for a rest. It's going to be dark soon." Said one man. Probably the leader, thought Emily.
"Edward, scout the area and find a good lookout, then sit there and use it." He ordered, and Edward walked off to do as he was told.
Emily let out a silent sigh of relief as he walked in the opposite direction to where she was hiding.
She followed his movements with her ears, getting ready to run at exactly the right moment.
There was a gap between two rocks and she had been keeping an eye on the new arrivals as they approached.
They were all wearing similar clothing, a pale coloured shirt, leggings and moccasins under a red vest with a black scorpion in the middle.
They also wore black and red keffiyeh and wide, black belts.
They were scorpions and exactly the people Emily was trying to avoid, at least until she reached Scorpion Mountain.
Edward was almost up to the rocks now and Emily tensed, ready to run.
Sensing the time was right; Emily jumped up and sprinted off.
But Edward had fast reflexes, and he had both his knives in the air, aimed at Emily, in a heartbeat.
Emily saw the knives coming and ducked, deflecting both knives with a swipe of her hand as she did so.
She rose to start running again but Edward was soon upon her, knocking her to the ground and pinning her down so she couldn't move.
Seemingly in slow motion, Edward lifted his stiletto, ready to drive it into her heart, still pinning her down with the other arm.
Emily thought about her brother. When she was dead there would be no one to carry out her mission, and her brother would die.
She sighed. This was a useless way to die, completely helpless in the middle of the Arridan desert without any way of saving her brother.
She watched as the stiletto came up and started its journey down again, aiming for her heart.
"Stop!" a young voice commanded and Edward paused and turned to confront the speaker, loosening his grip on Emily as he did so.
Emily saw her opportunity and took it, spinning round on her back and kicking Edward hard in between the shoulder blades.
She didn't wait to see the result of her kick before she jumped to her feet smashed him with a left hook to the jaw.
Edward slumped on the sand, unconscious.
Emily turned to greet her rescuer and was devastated at what she saw.
Surrounding her were eight more scorpions, all with knives drawn and pointing at her. But that wasn't what worried her.
Outside the circle was a ten year old girl, gripped tightly round the collar by another scorpion and staring down a short sword at her throat.
Emily had taken Edward's stiletto and she now threw it at the scorpion holding the girl.
The stiletto hit point first into the man's chest and he sunk to his knees, dead. "Run!" Emily yelled and the girl fled without a backwards glance.
The remaining scorpions pounced, tied her up, and gagged her. Then they propped her up against a rock alongside the still unconscious Edward, lit a fire ten metres away, and gathered round to talk.
"What do we do now?" One scorpion asked "We can't take a prisoner on this mission, and besides, we can't kill a white girl. Edward isn't up to the mission now either and Riko is dead."
The other scorpions nodded. "That's true; does anyone know what really happened to Riko anyway?" One asked and everyone shook their heads.
Emily smiled to herself. These men didn't normally throw stilettos, and it was unheard of for a girl to be good at fighting.
Edward stirred, tried to sit up, failed and lay back down again; resting his head on a well positioned rock and groaning softly before going unconscious again.
Emily was slightly worried about him. She hadn't punched him that hard, and it shouldn't have knocked him out for more than a few minutes. Yet it had been more than an hour since he had gone down.
She had been working on the cords that tied her hands together and now they were loose enough to slip off.
She reached up and untied her gag, taking it off and folding it neatly as she did so.
Beside Edward all of her gear had been dumped and she leaned over and took a water skin from the heap of junk.
Edward's lower lip was cut and swollen and he had a cut on his forehead from a sharp rock.
Emily poured some water on the wounds and tended him as best she could with what she had.
He grunted a couple of times and muttered once but otherwise didn't respond.
After she had had a drink herself she leaned over Edward once more, took a blanket from the pile and replaced the water skin.
She draped the blanket over Edward and started working on the bonds to her feet, loosening them gradually and listening to the men by the camp fire.
"We better get some sleep. I'll take the first watch. Koino, check that blasted girl's bonds before you go to bed." The newly appointed leader of the group said as he went to a good vantage point and settled down to watch.