She followed Jelani, almost half expecting the sinkhole to be gone when they arrived.
The sun was sinking beyond the dunes, casting long shadows that fell over the sand, creating contrasts of inky black over the hues of golden sand.
Pyla kept one hand on her desert staff and the other hand hovering just above the hilt of her scimitar. Her eyes constantly scanned the desert, the temperature rapidly sinking now that the sun was descending.
She looked for that sense of familiarity and grief, where Zephyr had been shot protecting Jelani.
Ah...there it is. Slowly fading. She picked up the pace, almost overtaking Jelani and slowing to a stop. She drew her scimitar and crouched behind a rock. The sinkhole was still there...or was it? The more Pyla looked at it the more it felt off. Jelani was right.
She heard distant shouts. A group of men, looking to be quite well armed, numbering around 10, emerged, swords drawn; some men holding bow and arrows, and looking ready to kill. Jelani felt a chill go down her spine. These guys were not good news. She really didn't want to attack first...she looked at Pyla for confirmation to attack and then something embedded in the sand next to her.
It was a knife, buried in sand up to the hilt and still vibrating from the force of the throw.
Pyla smirked at the unfortunate man that had foolishly thrown the knife "That's the best you can do? Figures. You're all men. That's why the ladies do the fighting!"
And Pyla charged, sword in hand. And then absolute chaos happened. Pyla figured if she didn't die in this fight, Jelani was going to kill her personally.
An angry looking, older man with an unshaved beard swung his sword at Pyla and she deftly blocked it with her staff and stabbed him through the torso, the man promptly collapsing to the ground.
An arrow whizzed through the air and stuck into her staff with a thunk!
She yanked the arrow out and threw it like a makeshift knife, the arrow finding its mark with startling precision, another man falling down with a startled cry. She felt rough arms grab her from behind, a sword grazing her arm, and she slammed her foot down onto her assailant's foot, cracking his foot and causing him to release her. Pyla swiftly turned around and tripped him, letting the momentum of his fall carry into her staff, which she swung up and hit the guy square in the face, at least knocking him out. She hoped Jelani was faring well, in the chaos she had lost her.