Chapter 7
Comrade
"So, how do you plan on reclaiming the Haradrim's honor?"
"Er, I am not sure yet."
"You aren't sure?" Khalil stared at Lasca incredulously as they shared a morning meal of their combined supplies. Lasca shifted uncomfortably.
"Well, I know I must do it—"
"Do you know anything of the world? The wise and great are not going to pardon a nation that they consider a bunch of bloodthirsty scoundrels because some girl politely asked them to!"
"Well, do you have any ideas?" Lasca countered.
"Ah, no, but that's besides the point—"
"Well then, why do you insist on joining me?"
Khalil lowered his gaze. "Though I think it impossible, I too long to be respected. The burden of our ancestors should not be ours to bear."
"We shall be no better than them if we do nothing!" Lasca huffed as she got up and began packing. Khalil watched her, chewing on his date. Feeling his gaze, she glanced back at him. "Well, what are you sitting there for? Fill the water skins!" He glared at her.
"Who are you to be ordering me around?"
She stopped and looked at him, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Do you wish to die of thirst?" He was about to reply, then stopped. Grabbing the water skins with a growl, he muttered something about overbearing women. Within the hour they were heading up the road, Lasca riding and Khalil walking beside her. She looked down at him. "You said you were a 'wanderer of the world'?"
"Yes. I've been to all parts of Middle Earth. Well, save the far North."
"Why? Don't you have a home?"
He paused, gazing off into the distance. "When I was younger, I lived with my family. We lived along this very road, though farther south. We did not move around, for the oasis we lived in was large and other tribes rarely found it. Nearly every day a traveler would come up the road, or down it, and would stay with us. I listened to their tales, and was always fascinated with stories of distant places. The rest of my family was content to just listen, but I wanted to see the wide world for myself. One night, several years ago, I packed a few belongings and left."
"You left your family? Just like that?"
"I do not know how to explain it, but my longing for travel, for discovery, was so strong that I had to leave or I would have gone mad," he replied with a sad, strange smile. "Yes, there were times when I missed my family, though that only happened if I stayed in one place too long. Once I had begun to journey again, my thoughts would only be of the road ahead." Lasca said nothing. "Do you think me strange, Lasca? Do you think me heartless to abandon my family and those that loved me for the thrill of adventure?" he asked, his sad smile unnerving her.
"I—I know not what to make of you," she answered finally. He laughed and was silent. Indeed she did not know what to think. Her departure had been reluctant and filled with fear and sadness. She did not understand how he could have easily left his home and everything he knew. Glancing down at him, she thought that perhaps agreeing to let him accompany her had been a rather rushed decision.
The afternoon found them wordlessly eating as the desert sun glared down on them. An awkward silence had fallen between the two ever since their strange conversation that morning. As they set out, Khalil looked back the way they had come. In the shimmering heat he thought he could make out some figures moving towards them. He said nothing to Lasca as they continued northward.
As the afternoon wore on into evening, Khalil continued to glance back at the ever-nearing Men. They had gotten close enough that he could make out their ragged, dark robes. "Lasca, do not look back, but I believe we are being pursued," he muttered under his breath without turning his head.
"Pursued?" she repeated, feeling a sudden chill sweep over her, despite the heat. "Bandits?" she whispered fearfully.
"Perhaps."
"Then get on! We must outrun them!"
"Outrun them to where? No, for the time being do not make it seem as though we are aware of them. You must trust me."
Lasca did not know if she should. What was preventing him from abandoning her like he did his own kin? She tried to remind herself that he knew far more of the world than she did.
As the sun sank in the West, their pursuers had gained on them. Lasca could hear them, jeering and calling to them. Her instincts screamed to kick Malak into a full gallop, and it took all her self-discipline to resist. Keeping her eyes trained on the road in front, she thought she spotted a strange break in the sand. "Khalil, what is that ahead?"
"It is the River Harnen, and if I am right, it will be our key to escape."
"If you are right?"
"If the Valar are with us, I am. They should be, what with our honorable cause." He looked up at her and grinned slightly. She felt far too nervous to return his smile. Soon the river was clearly seen, and surprisingly it was quite swift and deep, fed by the snows of the Ephel Dûath. The bandits were barely thirty yards behind them when Khalil mounted behind Lasca. A shout went up from the men and they began to run. Khalil shouted for Lasca to gallop, but she needed no urging. With one swift kick Malak was flying, eating up the ground with the easy stride of desert horses. Lasca stood up in the stirrups and hunched over the mare's neck, Khalil's arms tightly around her waist. The river was fast approaching. As they pounded up the road, Lasca thought she saw a bridge, but soon it was apparent that it was only the charred remains of one. Khalil gave a joyful shout. "Yes! The bridge is gone!"
"What good does that do us? We cannot cross it!"
"A horse may be able to swim it."
Malak balked as they came upon the Harnen, refusing to cross. The bandits were coming upon them swiftly. Desperate, Khalil dismounted and grabbed the horse's bridle, talking softly and leading her into the water. As they came upon the middle of the river, the water became too deep and with a lurch Malak began to swim for her life, the strong current threatening to sweep her away. The sudden jolt had loosed Khalil's hold on her bridle. Desperately he tried to grab onto the mare, but the water had made her too slick. For a second he feared he would be pulled under, but suddenly felt a small hand grasp his wrist. Looking up he saw Lasca with a strained face trying to call out to him, but he could not hear her over the river. He reached up with his other hand, and she took it, and with the last reserve of her strength pulled him over Malak's whithers. After what seemed an eternity of swirling eddies and the mare's grunts of exertion, the two found themselves on the other side of the Harnen soaking wet. Feeling as though her arms had been wrenched from their sockets, Lasca collapsed onto the shore, which thankfully was grassy near the river. Shouts were coming from the defeated bandits, but she chose to ignore them. Khalil collapsed with a groan on the ground beside her.
"I take it you were hoping the bridge was gone?"
"I told you the Valar were with us."
"Some plan. You do realize we nearly drowned?"
"Would you rather have this or the bandits?"
"After having to haul your dead weight out of the water and losing feeling in my arms in the process, it's hard to say."
He fixed her with a glare. "The point is we are not captured by bandits, not that you are a scrawny little girl."
She matched his glower with her own. "From now on I make the decisions. Perhaps then we shall come out of this alive."
"Or not. Suit yourself, though. May I remind you that I may leave at any time." With that he sprawled out on the ground to sleep. Giving him a last glare, Lasca proceeded to untack Malak before lying down herself. She had found that even though Khalil could be very infuriating, traveling with another person was in many ways better than traveling alone, though as she looked at his sleeping form, she wondered how long it would be until she was.
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Well, not much to say except I wrote this from 11:00 PM to 12:30 AM, so I'm sorry if I messed up at all ^^;
Queenieb- Yes, they have quite the task ahead of them!
