KeYnNamM 

The Man-with-No-Name,

the King of No-One’s-Land

By: Ruwen Rouhs
(© 2022 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

RRouhs@tickiestories.us

Chapter 9
Theft of the Crystals

Tarit hurried down the narrow path from the ridge into the valley. Before turning into the hollow-way, he turned back and waved to Ikken. After only two days he had grown fond of KeYnNamM's son and understood why his friend had adopted the strange boy from the city of Tinghir. His own two sons were barely three weeks old and still strangers to him. He only hoped that at Ikken's age they would be as smart and fearless as KeYnNamM’s son and that he would love them as his friend loved Ikken and Aylal.

At the end of the hollow-way his small corps was waiting, twelve experienced desert sons. During the last few days, the Imugahs had traversed first the No-One's-Land and then the Border-Land in groups of two or three on hidden trails. They had exchanged the long overgarment of the desert riders with the shorter shirt of the inhabitants of the empire and the face veil with a turban. With their long hair, they still didn't look exactly like men from the Empire, but they could pass for residents of the Border-Land.

Tarit encouraged his men, “The next narrow path that is joining this road comes down from the crystal mine. Its access to the highway is barred, to prevent wanderers to take the way to the mine and the prison camp. We will continue to ride along the country road to the next side valley, hide our horses there and wait for the darkness. Aftert nightfall, we ride back along the country road and set up an ambush in the oak grove through which the caravan with the yield of crystals will pass before small road joins the big road leading from the Border-Land to the town of Tinghir. Two of you must stay with the horses." He eyed the twelve, then pointed to the oldest and the youngest. "Ameqran, you have the most experience. I can rely on you if anything should happen to me. Usem will stay with you." Then he turned to the younger, "Usem, while Ameqran tends the horses you lie in wait on the hill overlooking the grove and the road, because you are quick as lightning and have ears like a desert lynx. As soon as you spot anything unusual, you notify me or Ameqran." “As you order my Prince. I will notify you if I see riders on the road. However, if you get into trouble, Prince Tarit, I'll run to Ameqran and get him and the horses." Tarit agreed but reminded the inexperienced young man, "But don't forget to get Ameqran and the horses either, if our coup is successful."

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Shortly after midnight, Tarit sensed a faint vibration of the ground and concluded a troop was riding toward the grove with great speed. He felt the approach of the cavalcade much earlier than he heard the hoofbeats of the horses, as they were muffled by the sandy road. He gave the agreed alarm signal and two of his men took up their position on the left and three on the right of the road.

Behind a bend in the road, where the oaks formed a dense canopy over it, the Imuhagh had tied a rope from one side of the road to the other at chest height of the horses. The strong but thin rope was almost invisible in the darkness.

When the horse with the lieutenant, who led the cavalcade with last month's crystal yield, was about to reach the taut rope, the bay snorted briefly and wanted to stop. The lieutenant did not understand the warning and gave the horse the spurs. It galloped off and bumped hard against the rope. The sudden jolt hurled the lieutenant headlong into the sand of the road. The horses of the two escort soldiers riding behind him shied, threw off their sleepy riders, and bolted. The lieutenant was still lying stunned in the sand when the Imuhagh burst out of their hiding places on either side of the road, howling like Kel Essuf, the dessert ghost, himself. One seized the two mules carrying the sacks of crystals, the others tied up the soldiers who had been thrown off, and tore the accompanying soldiers, riding behind the mules, from their horses and tied their hands behind their backs. The lieutenant's horse, which had galloped against the taut rope, raved, turned on its hindquarters, and, before it could be caught, galloped back up the trail to the crystal mine.

Before the lieutenant could regain his senses, Tarit shackled him. Then he pushed him to the edge of the forest together with the other soldiers accompanying the crystal transport. They left them to their fate tied to trees in sitting position.

During the entire raid, the Imuhagh did not exchange a word with each other. When Ameqran and Usem appeared with the horses, the small troop set off for home without delay. Before doing so, however, they divided the looted crystals into smaller parts so that they could take them back to the kingdom of the desert sons without causing a stir.

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A few hours later, the governor was roused from his sleep. The city captain rumbled into his bedroom, "The crystal transport has been attacked. The yield of the mine of more than a month has been robbed, the guards tied up ......."

The governor would not let him finish, "What? What are you saying?" Then he comprehended the bad news! Robbers had robbed the Empire! Stolen the property of the Emperor!” The governor was outraged, "Don't you have arrested the robbers by now? You're useless! Hurry, hurry, find them, catch them, slaughter them, but for heaven’s sake bring back the crystals!"

The city captain knew the governor's temperament, "It was a gang of Imuhagh. They were disguised as peasants, but spoke the language of the desert sons! They must be in No-One's-Land by now, and tomorrow they will certainly have disappeared into the desert. Once they have reached the Sea of Sand, we won't get them anymore.

But that was only the first of the bad news of this morning. No sooner had the city captain set out with a search party in pursuit of the Imuhagh than the commander of the crystal mine stumbled into the governor's palace, "The penal camp at the crystal mine has been raided. The fence burned down, seven guards slain and a dozen seriously injured. All the prisoners managed to escape. They are all free now, Governor, the harmless prisoners as well as the dangerous ones, the felons!"

Governor Gwasila, who was in the process of cooling down by enjoying an abundant breakfast, was so shocked that a bone of lamb got stuck in his throat. Red as a turkey in the face, he lunged at the commander, choked him and began to shake him. "Your fault! This is your fault, only and only yours! You will pay for this! Not able to perform even the simplest task properly! I'll have you thrown into prison! You are totally incompetent!” he took a deep breath, and roared “And I've given you the post! You've lost last month's crystal yield and have no prisoners to make up for it! How do I break this to the Emperor!"

After Governor Gwasila calmed down a bit, he began to think how to save his head, not only his head, no also his office and his wealth. Already that very day he left for the capital of the Empire to tell his version of the happening. He had to dump the blame for the debacle on the shoulders of the commander of the mine. Throughout the ride to the capital, he pondered which version of events could prove his innocence and the commander's guilt. He was the innocent lamb, that was certain, and the commander, the incompetent dolt. That was the truth, the only one and he had to convince the Emperor of that.

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To be continued...

Posted 07/08/2022