Scientific Sorcery

Part 33

Zahra, Sati, and Cabar dashed through the dry grasses of the plains, keeping as low as possible. They were a good distance from the marching army but would be able to intercept them in under a minute's sprint. They first had to locate their target.

Lilith, the betrayer of New Giza.

Zahra decided that this would be her name, when this tale was retold to her sisters around the evening fire. She had it all planned out. She knew how it would feel when her dagger penetrated her neck and ended this silly battle. Now that she knew Lilith lead the army, she was certain the men would disperse if she was slain.

But not all things were certain. There was a chance the three of them could still have a little battle action before the day was done.

The other two scouts had been sent back to the city. Zahra had judged Nabirye to be the fastest runner, so she was tasked to go around the city. How did she know there wasn't a second force out there? If she met any returning scouts along the way—at least two other scouts were supposed to be returning with battle numbers—she was to turn them all around. The scouts on the other side of the city had new battle plans.

Before the full scope of the army had been determined, the scouts on the other side of the city were just counting heads. They had to determine first if there was a second approaching force, and then find the full scope of this force. They would report those numbers back first to Cabar and back to Zahra. Nabirye would meet the scouts coming back to Zahra and turn them around.

The Cheetah on the other side of the army had the new job—confuse the marauders. If Zahra and her commanders were going to strike at the head of the army, then she needed to make sure that head was distracted.

Zahra's mind counted down the steps. Thirteen hundred, seventy-three steps. That's what it would take for Nabirye to circle the city and meet the reinforcement scouts. They would all run seven-hundred eighty-seven steps before attacking the army from their side. It soothed her mind to go over the numbers.

They would strike at what they estimated was the center of the marauder column. The attack of her Cheetah would cause confusion in front of and behind their attack. Anything they could do to turn Lilith in that direction would make it easier to stab her in the back—the same way Lilith had stabbed New Giza in the back.

They had a little time to wait until the rest of her scouts were in position. Zahra decided to take the three of them to higher ground to get a better look at the army. Her two commanders shadowed her movements as she aimed for a hill in their path.

Slipping her daggers into their sheaths at her side, she used both hands to bound upward like a cat, bouncing from boulder to boulder as she climbed upward. Behind her, she knew Cabar and Sati were copying her movements. This was another game of the scouts. Zahra picked smaller and smaller rocks to spring to—higher and higher perches to light upon.

First one to slip hunts for lunch, she chuckled in her mind. The thought of lunch made her stomach gurgle, and she licked lips that tasted of bile. She had evacuated breakfast after they had scaled down the city wall. A lighter stomach meant for a faster run. She now wished she had kept some of that food.

Her two commanders followed close behind her without event. Soon all three of them looked down upon the army. They were kicking up a lot of dust as they marched toward the city. It made it difficult to see to the other side of marching men, but from this vantage point, they could see the front of the marching column, where they were attacking the city. The clouds of dust at the city were massive. Someone must be harvesting the wind to confuse the marauders. Good girls, thought Zahra.

It was too far to see how the battle at the city was going. From here it looked like the city was gasping out a cloud of dust and these men were walking into it. How many were getting inside the city? She had no way of knowing.