SWORD MAIDEN OF SEKHMET

Chapter 38: Alone

All Ashayt's hopes lay in her speed and her stamina.

After running day after day during her training, few other Sword Maidens could outpace or outdistance her, with the exception of Layla and Panya.

Now, in these first few minutes, it was vital that she put as much distance between herself and any pursuers as possible. Including her friends.

She needed to disappear.

So she ran as fast as she dared down the avenues of columns, sometimes switching to a parallel avenue when the way was blocked, sometimes leaping over lesser obstructions

But as she reached the far end of the Temple, she already saw an obstacle to her plan.

Standing between the perimeter of the Temple and the edge of the desert was a black-robed priest.

She had imagined they were all on the other side of the Temple facing Djed and his men, but this one had clearly been posted here to keep watch. He carried a spear and a sword hung at his belt.

But there was a glimmer of hope: his back was to her, his head tilted back as he raised a waterskin to his mouth.

Even though she was unarmed, she knew there was no going back.

Putting on even more speed she went straight at him.

Perhaps he heard the sound of her sandals on the stones or some sixth sense warned him, but just as she was no more than a few paces away he turned, his eyes widening with surprise and shock.

He dropped the waterskin and started to level his spear at her, but he was too slow.

Ashayt launched herself through the air in a flying kick. Both her wooden sandals smashed into his stomach and he doubled over, wheezing as the wind was driven out of him. As she hit the ground, she rolled back on to her feet, grasped his spear with one hand and drove the flat palm of her other hand against his nose, breaking it with an audible crack. His grip on the spear loosened and she wrenched it from his hands, smoothly reversing it as if she were still at practice back in the Overworld.

But this was no practice. With the briefest feeling of pity, she drove the spear point into his chest, straightaway twisting it out and pulling it back to be ready for a second thrust, as she had been taught.

But there was no need. He fell to the ground with little more than a groan.

To Ashayt it felt as if the encounter had lasted an age, but in truth it had been no more than seconds. She glanced behind her. Still no sign of pursuit - by anyone.

Even though all her instincts were screaming at her to keep running, she knew she needed to risk a few more precious moments. She rolled the priest over and stripped him of his sword and sword belt, slinging them over her shoulder. Then she tore off the black robe and, with an expression of disgust, pulled it over her head. Snatching up the waterskin and spear she set off at a fast trot.

Her plan had been to take to the desert. But if she did this close to the Temple, it would immediately reveal her tracks, so she turned and kept just inside the fertile strip, running at a steady pace beneath the palms and between the bushes, avoiding sandy areas that might reveal her tracks. She ran like this for several minutes, until she felt she could wait no longer.

She paused for a moment looking at the sheer size of the desert that filled the horizon. Then, with a last look back, she ran out onto the sands.

©Adriana Nicolas 2016