The Desert Spear

Asome.” He pointed to the cleric.
    Jardir strode out before the men, and the power he radiated was palpable. The warriors looked at him in awe, and even his sons had a fanatical gleam in their eyes. Leesha was surprised to find that after only two weeks of instruction, she understood most of what he said.
    “
Sharum
of the Desert Spear!” Jardir called. “Tonight we are honored to be joined in
alagai’sharak
by
Sharum
of the Hollow tribe to the north, our brothers in the night.” He gestured to Leesha’s group, and a shocked murmur went through the warriors.
    “They are to fight?” Jayan demanded.
    “Father, the Evejah states clearly that women are barred from
sharak,
” Asome protested.
    “The Evejah was written by the Deliverer,” Jardir said. “I am the Deliverer now, and I will say how
sharak
is fought.”
    Jayan shook his head. “I will not fight alongside a woman.”
    Jardir struck like a lion, his hand a blur as he seized his son by the throat. Jayan gasped and pulled at his father’s arm, but the grip was like iron, and he could not break it. His feet left the ground, toes barely scraping the dirt, as Jardir flexed his arm to its full length.
    Leesha gasped and started forward, but Abban blocked her with his crutch, applying surprising strength.
    “Don’t be a fool,” he whispered harshly. Something in the urgency of his voice checked Leesha, and she eased back, watching helplessly as Jardir choked the life from his son. She drew a relieved breath as the boy was cast to the ground, gasping and thrashing but very much alive.
    “What kind of animal attacks his own son?” Leesha asked, aghast.
    Abban opened his mouth to speak, but Gared cut him off. “Din’t have no choice. Ent no one goin’ into the night followin’ a pa who can’t even keep his own boys in line.”
    “I don’t need advice from the town bully, Gared,” Leesha snipped.
    “No, he’s right,” Wonda piped in to Leesha’s shock. “I din’t understand what they said, but my pa would’ve smacked my nose off, I took that tone with him. Reckon it’ll do ’im good to eat a little dirt.”
    “It seems our ways are not as different as they first appear, mistress,” Abban noted.

    Alagai’sharak
was a nightly sweep around the perimeter of the city. The
Sharum
exited the north gate and spread out, shoulder-to-shoulder and shield-to-shield, six tribes heading east and six west, killing any
alagai
in their path until they met at the south gate. To avoid further conflict, Jardir deliberately sent Jayan and Asome east while taking Leesha and the others west. Abban was left behind at the gate.
    None of the Hollow tribe carried shields, so Jardir put them behind the line, personally escorting Leesha with Hasik and a handful of the Spears of the Deliverer. Demons filtered in quickly after the
dal’Sharum
passed to feed on the corpses of corelings left for the sun, and they did not hesitate to attack the small group.
    At first the Krasians had sought to protect them, but as Jardir had hoped, Leesha and the others quickly disabused them of the need. Rojer’s fiddle tricked the demons into traps or set them against one another. Leesha hurled her fire magic at the
alagai,
scattering them like sand in the wind. Gared and Wonda strode into packs of demons with impunity, the giant Cutter hacking them to pieces with his axe and machete as Wonda’s bow hummed like the strings of Rojer’s fiddle, killing every demon she so much as glanced at from afar. She even took several out of the sky before they could swoop down on the shield wall.
    She was well away from the others when her arrows ran out. A flame demon hissed and charged at her, and one of the Spears of the Deliverer gave a cry, rushing to defend her.
    He needn’t have bothered. Wonda slung the bow from her shoulder and grabbed the demon by the horns, pivoting to avoid its firespit and turning it to the ground with a smooth
sharusahk
twist. A warded knife appeared in her hand, slashing the demon’s throat.
    She looked up, and the ichor lust in her eyes matched that of any
Sharum
Jardir had ever seen. She smiled to the dumbstruck
dal’Sharum
who had a moment before been rushing to save her, but then her eyes widened, and she pointed to the sky.
    “Look out!” she cried, too late, as a wind demon dropped from the sky, tearing through the warrior’s armor and laying him open with its deadly talons.
    Everyone reacted at once. A warded knife appeared in Rojer’s hand,