The sun raged in the sky, while the sand burned in the ground. Old small tents with holes in its hide spread meters close to each other inside the small fenced village. on the entrance, there was words carved into a rock. it said; "Tribe of the boar."
"Sandworm, a fight is the last thing we want. If you simply give what we need we will be on our way." A man with red striped paint on his exposed chest spoke.
Sandworm with his two-meter tall stature stood with a frown and crossed arms, he opened his mouth when a child suddenly held his leg. He looked down
A woman quickly rushed and took the child away.
Sandworm looked up to continue the talk, the man who was speaking suddenly looked at the young man beside him. He was the only one on top of a lizard mount. The young man looked at the woman and smiled lewdly at the man.
The man in red stripes nodded with the same lewd smile. From the moment the woman appeared he knew what this son of warlord would want, and looked at him only for confirmation.
"Sandworm, I Understand that what we"re proposing it"s too much to decide at the moment, so how about this; We"ll camp here as a rest from the trip, while you think, Is that good?"
Sandworm showed no emotion for a second he didn"t move, he didn"t need much to understand what happened, and for him who had always had a quick wit was even more easy to understand, When they nodded to each other he already knew what would follow.
The tribe got the news a week ago; the lizard tribe gained the upper hand against a tribe of similar power now they are a.s.similating some of the small and more distanced tribes to replenish their forces.
Sandworm could feel the tension on his people behind him. They wanted to fight. What happened to the tribes that were a.s.similated by the lizard tribe is well known, the women above thirty are used as cannon fodders in wars and hunts, and the ones between thirty and fifteen are to birth children. And the men are used to fight wars and hunt.
The alpha owned everything in the tribe; women of age, food, and water Sandworm schemed too much for his t.i.tle to be taken away from him just a month later. He gnashed his teeth swore to protect the village and his wife and gathered the men of his village to make a stand.
But now looking at the young man and his thirty warriors looking at him with obvious intentions His will faltered.
Reality punched him in the gut
He could order his tribe companions to attack right now, but even if they win and repel the enemy, they would just come back in rage with more numbers take what they wanted and kill what otherwise they would use.
Sandworm looked deeply at the women who took the child away. in the entire tribe, she is the most beautiful woman. And the one he took as his main wife.
"But, our men need some fun while resting, you know we"ve come from afar after all" As Sandworm stood muted the men kept speaking.
"You"re the tribe leader, after all, you wouldn"t mind sharing some women and men with us right?"
Sandworm looked behind him. "Anyone willing can go." He said.
Some women slightly old and some young men went forward showing their will to party.
Sandworm nodded to himself while they have fun he would have time to think. He didn"t know what to think and knew it was almost pointless but the delay was the only thing he could do.
"No, No. Sandworm. I think I know just what women we want."The man said.
Sandworm frowned, it was common to have some kind of feast with guests from afar including s.e.x, as a manner to drown fatigue. But to choose and pick was an act of disrespect.
The man with the exposed chest pointed his wife. She was a dark skinned woman burned from the sun. her eyes were light blue a mutation rare in the desert but beautiful nonetheless. She didn"t look a the men with red striped she stared at her conflicted husband in despise.
Sandworm thought deeply, silence birthed restlessness, the warriors that came to fight for him was getting anxious at his hesitation.
Sandworm nodded to himself. He looked at his wife and waved his hand.
"Go service our guests." Even though he chose this for the sake of possible survival his words destroyed the morale of the tribe
The people of the tribe trembled they knew what would happen next. Of all the things, he chose the path of the weak and compromised instead of fighting to the death. But he was the Alpha and must be followed.
But the barbarians venerated the strong and such choices was despised.
The blue-eyed women laughed. "Someone who uses shortcuts to win the alpha t.i.tle is really a waste." She gave birth to his children only because of the Alpha1s orders not because of any feelings.
Sandworm"s face went somber
"Blue- amethyst. There"s isn"t another option. if we fight we"ll eventually die. But if we a.s.similate with them we might live!"
"And live for what!?" Blue amethyst yelled "To slave away to their will and die on a fight we didn"t want? at least if we fight now and die here. The laws of barbarism take place, and the elders and children less than fifteen will remain with the tribe to flourish and keep it alive!" Blue-amethyst raised her voice "My brothers and sisters, Let"s fight and die here! Then our legacy can live!"
"AOOHH" The men and women wielding amethysts weapons screamed. The elders took the children away. They didn"t defied the alpha and attacked but they showed their will.
Sandworm looked at Blue-amethyst with disbelief.
The men in red striped frowned and the men behind him got ready to fight.
"What are you all doing!? this is a fight that we"ll all die!" Sandworm screamed.
Blue-amethyst held a pink amethyst sword. Both sides stood against each other. The man with the striped chest sighed. "We"ll have to kill you and take what we can."
Suddenly the sound of steps disturbed the tense atmosphere.
They all looked at their left.
A woman who clearly wasn"t of their race came walking in a set of leather armor with a fur cape swaying. Her green eyes wide staring at their direction. Her exposed white abdomen attracted the eyes of many. Her braided hair swayed with the intensity of her steps.
The man frowned "This isn"t a place for outsiders young lady."
Zhi Rui kept on walking with a smile on her face.
"How could G.o.d make a woman so sinfully shaped?" The young man above the lizard murmured in a daze. The man in red stripes frowned, but something tugged at his gut and this time he didn"t relent
"Young lady if you keep on we"ll have to kill you." he waved his hands and three men of at least two meters stepped forward.
This time Zhi Rui laughed and rushed her steps in their direction.
The three men grunted and swung their weapons
Zhi Rui jumped up. Her mace came cras.h.i.+ng down at the man in the middle.
The meat spashed together with the bones. the ones beside him didn"t have time to register the action as Zhi Rui swung the mace around crus.h.i.+ng their legs. they were screaming in the hot sand, Zhi Rui looked at their fallen weapon
She looked at the green Warhammer on the man"s back with a gleam in her eyes.
"Everybody on her! attack! attack!" The men in red striped yelled.
"But don"t kill her! the young men above the lizard yelled. his eyes s.h.i.+ned.
Zhi Rui swung her new weapon at the approaching enemy and jumped backward. it was only a light swing but the woman was left twitching on the ground.
Raising it against the sun"s light the green glowed through the bloodied Warhammer. "it"s made of some kind of rock." Zhi Rui thought.
She laughed and jumped amidst the enemies swinging her Warhammer. blood splashed on the hot sand and Zhi Rui"s laugh resounded amids the roars.
She killed each one of them soon only ten were left.
"Run !! Run!!" The man with red stripes jumped on the lizard and shot forward screaming while the other tried to run together. Zhi Rui jumped and reached one by one. in the end, she left the ones on the horse go away.
"You have to kill them too otherwise we won"t have enough time to prepare!" Sandworm screamed.
But she ignored him. she raised her hand and the remnant spirits gathered inside herself.
Her smile faded. She walked slowly in their direction.
"Stand ready!" sweating Sandworm commanded and the warriors followed his orders.
Zhi Rui in the same way, she didn"t wield her Warhammer. but they didn"t put down their guard.
She stopped and stood an arm"s length away from Sandworm. he was two meters tall as it was the average of their race. The sun was on his back so he towered and his shadow covered Zhi Rui. her figure darkened but her eyes s.h.i.+ned wide and brightly.
The warrior all had spears and swords pointed at a palm"s reach form her chest and face. But they were sweating, the girl without using any kind of energy destroyed thirty men. The pressure was too great.
Zhi Rui reached out with her hand and tore a red feather ornament form Sandworm"s chest. she took her time and tied it into her shoulder.
She did it, neither fast nor slow but relaxed. she didn"t mind the weapons aimed at her Smiling she turned and looked at everyone else.
"Who I am, and my name doesn"t matter. The only thing that matter is I am your Alpha now, and that I"m here to conquer. Now go and bring the ones alive to my tent, and use the dead fo-"
"T-The traditions doe not allow women to be the alpha!" Sandworm trembling spoke.
Zhi Rui suddenly turned stern, she turned in stared him in the eyes.
"Where is my new home?" She spoke slowly.
Zhi Rui caressed her bloodied Warhammer. Her green eyes showed her calm killing intent.
The warriors didn" know what to do.
Sandworm" eyes turned red, his muscles bulged he moved his foot but Zhi Rui"s calm green eyes made his insides tremble, she had killed thirty men like it was nothing. He rationalized and gave himself excuses.
His eyes darted around seeking support from his supposed warriors. His mouth trembled but no words come out. He even looked a the wife that always despised him for a ray of hope.
But she merely looked at him the same way as always.
Deep down he knew, while he schemed and killed off those against him in sneaky ways, he knew, while he poisoned the alpha from before for eight weeks, he knew. He thought and solved everything that got in his way. But there was one thing that he knew but ignored, throwing to the back of the mind, distracting, deflecting. He knew. Even if he acquired everything he wanted. He too weak to keep them. And eventually, it would be taken away from him. Just like now, a great threat came to take the little he had, only to be crushed by a heavier fist. it"s like the G.o.ds were shoving in his face that his methods and way of living is wrong.
Trembling he pointed at a big red tent in the middle of the tribe settlement.
"T-That"s the Alpha"s tent, please be welcomed"
Zhi Rui laughed lightly punched him in the chest. "You"re now my immediate steward, organize the barbecue for the tribe, I"ll rest a for a little while."
She laughed one more time Valiantly and domineeringly she walked inside the tribe as if it was her home from the beginning. The warriors looked at the dazed sandworm but none cared, they walked to the corpses, some more witted started laughing and talking about the party to come. The humor slowly tipped up and they talked about how strong of an alpha she was. The elders ignored the issue with a woman leading a tribe and laughed with the children telling them stories of a great warrior and great banquets
In an hour the poor miserable tribe was bustling with loud laughs and great humor.
Feeling the atmosphere Sandworm looked at the sky and laughed " The weak compromise to win but lose respect. While the strong fights and lose, attaining what matters.
A tear streamed down his face.