"We need to keep moving,"
Akyra barley noticed her trusted second-in-command approaching her as she halted her mount Safan to assess the situation of her tribe. Gazing in horror, Akyra was helpless to issue commands over the sound of the howling desert winds and cackling desert clouds ready to discharge their lightning. The infamous horde of the Sand Dragon People, a normally well-oiled military machine, was broken from the powerful magics of the Demon Cultists. A mixture of stunned horror and rage brewed inside Akyra.
"It won't take them long to catch up to us," Snapping out of her daze, Akyra turned to the bowed Komuta Naasir Qurashi. Looking back from where her tribe retreated Akyra could see one of Naasir's sandstorms impeding any pursuit that the Cultists and their followers would attempt to make. It would only by the retreating Sand Dragon People a brief opportunity to distance themselves from the Cultists, but Akyra knew every second was valuable if her people were to survive to fight another day.
"You never fail to amaze," Akyra nodded in approval. She had chosen Naasir to be the Komutan, the second-in-command, of her tribe for his unique blend of a calm strategic demeanor and a beserker rage in combat made him an invaluable asset to the tribe. It appeared for now that Naasir's incredible skill set may have very well saved her people, but she knew that the sandstorm that Naasir brewed would not last forever.
"HOP ON!" Akyra yelled to Naasir, who complied and saddled on behind Akyra on Safan, who accepted the burden of a second rider without complaint despite being badly wounded.
"HI-YAH!" Akyra shouted as she cracked the reigns of Safan, urging him forward away from the impeding death of the Demon Cultists.
--
It had been two days since Akyra's Sand Dragon People had been trounced by a group of Demon Cultists who had made a stronghold out of various ancient ruins in the Moraki Desert. In their hasty and disorganized retreat, the Sand Dragon People had failed to regroup, and now were dispersed around the desert. Some, Akyra feared, were still at the mercy of the cultists.
Ever since the battle she had been traveling north with a small group of survivors consisting of some spear infantry, Deathbringer cavalry, horse archers, and her trusted second in command Naasir Qureshi.
A violent torrent of bitter anger and hatred mixed with despair and loss brewed inside of Akyra. She fought to keep her emotions in check and think clearly. Never before in her reign as Warlord had she been faced with such a strategically hopeless situation, and never had her tribe be resoundingly beaten as they had been.
Akyra stopped to contemplate what her next course of action. The Demon Cultists were clearly powerful demonic magic users, which was problematic on multiple levels. Despite the experience the Sand Dragon People had with brutal warfare, they had virtually no experience combating magic users, and possessed none of their own, aside from the Elders. Besides, the Elders were wise consultants for the Warlord of the tribe with low level shamanic capabilities, with nothing remotely approaching the power of the Demon Cultists. Akyra was sure that her tribe infamous for the vicious and courageous style of combat would be able to fight off the Demon Cultists and their possessed borders, but they needed an x-factor to nullify the advantages the Cultists possessed over her tribe.
"A demon hunter," Akyra thought out loud, gaining the attention of her officers gathered around, waiting for commands from their Warlord.
Addressing her officers more directly, Akyra continued, "We need to travel to one of the fringe towns and find a demon hunter capable of using divine magic against the cultists."
Nodding in reply, the officers dispersed to relay the commands to their warriors. The fringe towns were the collection of various low-key villages on the edge of Essyrn territory, many were communities of congregation and rest for bounty hunters and mercenaries. While it was not likely for a demon hunter to be found in one of the fringe towns, it was certainly a possibility.
Akyra sighed deeply in an attempt to vent her anxiety. Never before had she felt so exasperated. To Akyra being the Warlord of the Sand Dragon People was a birthright that she had been destined to accept. Now her responsibility of leading a tribe of outcasts and warriors to their sacred promise land, not to mention her entire life, were on the verge of ruin if she did not find a way to defeat the Cultists and save her people.
Looking down to her left, Akyra locked eyes with Naasir, and gave him a worried gaze. While she didn't trust showing such weakness in front of her tribesmen, Akyra trusted Naasir with knowing how she really felt. Naasir returned an understanding look of his own, and proceeded to walk northward with the rest of the tribe.
There had better be a demon hunter up north Akyra matter-of-factly thought to herself.