William the Conquerer and the Sands of Persia: Chapter 6 - Attack in the Night

On the third night of travel, the group was suddenly attacked by a horde of desert tribesmen riding on powerful horses. Ali Baba and his men tried to defend themselves, but they were severely outnumbered. The savages encircled the group and captured them. 

Poor Scheherazade was made a slave, William was tied to a stake, and the tribesmen drew knives, intending to kill him slowly. Hajji were lashed to a grill and a fire was lit under him. The other men were buried in sand up to their necks to await their turn. It was a dire situation that was soon made worse, when joking among themselves, some of the men began practicing their knife throwing skills by using the captured men as targets. William thought this was a bitter end for them – Al-Horrid was still in power, and he would never find his way home – what would his parents do if he never returned?

So far, the knives had narrowly missed their targets, but suddenly one of the deadly blades came frighteningly close to Hajji! In his panic, Hajji somehow found enough power to deflect the knife back at its thrower, hitting him in the chest. The man’s face expressed utter bewilderment before he keeled over, face down in the sand. For a moment, the group of men looked at each other confused.

“What devilment is this!” shouted one of the more intelligent men, backing away. 

William thought he saw a chance to play upon the men’s fears.

“Clearly, you have angered some desert spirits by attacking innocent travelers,” William suggested helpfully, “Perhaps, the wisest course would be to release us and allow us to go on our way – perhaps that would mollify whatever forces your crimes have unleashed.”

The men looked at him warily.

“It seems strange that spirits have never object-um before,” one of them pointed out sounding like Bugs Bunny impersonating an Arab. “me been here in  parts for many years, and never before had any bad juju.”

The other savages nodded in agreement. 

“I think bad juju come-um from one in group,” suggested another tribesman, “We have never had problem before we meet them!”

“True!” agreed another, “We should kill-um all to make sure we get rid-um of clever sorcerer among them!”  As the barbarians surrounded the helpless men, their knives raised to strike, William turned to Hajji with a sigh,

“This didn’t quite turn out the way I intended,” he admitted.

Suddenly, the sounds of battle horns cut the darkness, as a group of the Sultan’s guards charged in, brandishing their scimitars.

Not wishing to tangle with the royal guards, the tribsmen scrambled, jumping onto their steeds and escaping into the night. The guards followed in hot pursuit, yelling loudly, the moonlight flashing off their blades. A couple guards stopped to help release William and Hajji, and they in turn began to unearth the other men. Then the guards left to follow their compatriots, mistaking Ali Baba and his men for an innocent caravan waylaid by bandits. The rescuers  all soon disappeared over the dunes, leaving the night eerily silent again. 

Soon, the rest of the men were released, and they did their best to shake the sand out of their clothes, amazed by their unexpected good fortune.

“Wait, what happened to Scheherazade!” yelled William suddenly, concerned that she had been taken with the fleeing bandits.

“Here I am!” Scheherazade's voice could be heard in the distance, and they could see her graceful figure running towards them in the moonlight, “The bandits were in such a hurry to get away, they forgot about me!”

Grateful to hear her sweet voice, William breathed a sigh of relief. They set about gathering up their belongings which had been scattered across the sands by the pillaging thieves – luckily, it appeared that little had been taken – and they continued on their way…