Sandstorm [ACOTOR series side story]

Fifteen

"Is the little chick staying?" asks one of the males in the entry way. He wore robes head to toe even on his face, so only a slit of his eyes could be seen from it. Even then, those were masked barely showing any feeling, any life, in them. Those eyes were looking straight at me in a challenging way and I held his stare.

"Nashira, did you kill the Seaclum?" Asim asks me. I think back to my experience with the entity in the mirror realm and I couldn't proudly say I killed it. More like I freed it from endless torment.

"No" I said truthfully.

"What do you mean? Did you even hunt the beast, or did you sneak back into the camp and hide like a coward till now?" the robed male snaps pointedly at me. Asim goes to intervene but I speak before he can.

"No, I faced the creature, but I ended up freeing it from its curse than killing it" I say.

They seem to focus on me and without further prompting, I explain my hunt in detail to them. I don't even leave out explaining my ability or the advice the entity gave me. But I stop at the point when it gifted me with an unknown thing feeling that it was not meant to be shared. They all stood rapt and at attention to my tale, absorbing all the details like porous rocks. Asim had a gleam of pride in his eyes during my tale and it just encouraged me to go on.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" the robed male asks suspiciously.

"Enough Ma'at, you've questioned her enough" Asim says.

The male who I now know as Ma'at turns to the general and tells him, "I don't need falsity and half-truths to record in my books Asim". 

I could tell that this male had a problem with me, but unless he becomes upfront about it, I won't call him out on it. I don't wish for this to escalate into a heated argument, so I do the only thing I can to prove myself. I seem to be doing that a lot lately.

I focus on all the mess within the room that had yet to be cleared and made them disappear. 

The males all rear back in surprise and into defensive positions. They looked around warily for the source of the sudden disappearance of objects within the room. All except Asim.

"Why look at that, you've cleaned this place up. Can you leave the junk in the other realm until I have the time to deal with it?" Asim drawls.

I give him a nod as my answer.

"Does that prove our little lambs worth Ma'at?" Madu declares in the silence as he lands his arm around my shoulders having moved beside me.

Ma'at barely nods his affirmation, but I can tell I'm still not fully trusted or liked by him.

"Anyone else have any objections?" Madu adds. They all shake their heads no.

One corner of my lips raises in a tiny smile because I've now been inducted into the most legendary group of elite warriors The Day Court has. Well at least as a recruit.

Madu claps then heads to Asim along with the rest of the males. 

"Now that that's settled, time for introductions" Asim states.

All the males line up at attention and I can't help but straighten up where I stood to match them.

"I am Madu, commander of the vanguard, the lion of this pride". He couldn't help but wink at me after his introduction.

"I am Ma'at, executive officer of strategy, eagle of this land" Ma'at says afterwards.

"I am Horus, head scribe of military records of the Day Court, gazelle of these plains" says the smallest male among them. He too wore a robe, but it was of thicker fabric and with a lower collar. His hair was the lightest blond imaginable, so it appeared white even in the confines of this tent. It was a mess a top his head, almost covering his sandstone eyes that flitted around, absorbing all the details around him. That with him having the lightest skin tone among us, I could see him being locked up in a room content with multitudes of texts around him.

"I am Odion, the first son of Shar" "And I am Pili, the second son or Shar" 'And we are the commanders of the left and right armies, twin foxes of this desert" they say in unison.

They both looked the same, from their black hair and eyes, to their faces and bodies. They only way I could tell who is who was Pili had his hair swept back while Odion had it falling into his face. They both grinned at me and I knew to watch out for them because they no doubt had tricks up their sleeves for me. They also appeared the youngest of the group, but still centuries older than me. They must also be ferocious deep inside to both commander a side of the army.

"I am Bakaret, guard of the mountains, bear of those peaks" says the biggest male among them. He was dark, muscled and bald with scars all over him with a serious air about him. His eyes though were startling from how blue they were, like a clear skyline in the mountains, and they had a relentless focus of them that if I didn't know he was a comrade, I would cower. 

"And I am Asim Gamal, general of all the Day Court's armies, scorpions of the light, blah blah blah. Now let's get to the good part" he drones.

"We the Scorpions acknowledge your skill and loyalty to our Court and take you as one of our own to train".

"Do you Nashira Gamal accept our offer" Asim says ceremoniously, but he couldn't hide the pride in his voice at claiming me for his own.

"Yes" I reply hoarsely.

"You'll receive full titles like the rest of us after you've been fully tested, but that will be dealt with in the future. For now, you shall be called the Seaclum destroyer."

I just bow my head in gratitude for all that they have given me. A family who wants me, a place to belong and most importantly, the chance to become the greatest me I could be. Yet I still feel one set of eyes boring holes into me.

A surprise update because I felt like doing it, your welcome!