10. Duty.

"It seems you have a problem Ameera." said Faaris. "Please don’t let us stop you."

Outside fighting could be heard and into the house came 4 other enemy soldiers. They surrounded Nu’man and Faaris, and Maria saw that one of them was the Soldier whose leg she had cut. She looked down at the leg and saw that there was still a vividly red, and still raw, scar.

"That doesn’t make sense. He should have healed faster than that." she thought.

Nu’man saw her looking at the wound and said,

"Admiring your handy work." he said in an irritated voice. "It was problematic trying to heal it. Though looking at your sword I think I can guess why."

"He shouldn’t have had that much trouble. Why did he just not turn and allowed the healing to work faster?" she asked.

Nu’man eyes went wide. "How did.." he trailed off.

"What is she talking about?" asked Faaris.

"Nothing." answered Nu’man abruptly.

"He doesn’t know does he?’ said Maria. "He has more than one secret when it comes to Faaris." she thought. "Press on, keep them talking until you can think of what to do."

"What doesn’t he know?" asked Ameera. She was curious as well and that kept her off Maria.

"He doesn’t know the Eye of Betoth is here and not a horde of treasure, I’d wager. I think Nu’man wanted to get at it and told Faaris the horde story to get his help."

"I’ve been told you don’t have any gold, and I don’t see why I should believe it now?" said Faaris.

"Why would I lie?" said Maria. "You can tell I am not from here. answer that."

Faaris looked like he was tying to come up with an answer. Before he could, Maria continued.

"And if Nu’man is so truthful with you, then he must have told you there are werewolves in with your men."

"What?!" shouted Faaris and Ameera at the same time.

"But what I can’t figure out is why they work for you and don’t completely use there full abilities. The one I fought should have been a bigger challenge but seemed subdued as if..."

"As if?" prodded Nu’man.

"As if they were restrained somehow."

Nu’man only smiled.

She looked at the four other soldiers. The two nearest Nu’man, had bands around there necks that the others didn’t.

Nu’man saw where she was looking. "Correct." he said tapping the bands. "Useful for keeping people in check."

"That’s disgusting." said Theodore.

"I agree." said Maria. "And I know someone, who would be even angrier right now."

"Nu’man!" cried Faaris. "Is this true. Your personal soldiers are.."

"Werewolves? Yes, and some others as well." he finished for him. "And to answer your next question, yes I lied about the other stuff too. Your greed was so easy to manipulate. Now I can have the Eye and you can do as you please with this poor place. That is after our problem is taken care of by this very knowledgeable girl."

"You see." said Ameera, "If you kill me, they will win. Can you do that to an entire village and let him have the Eye?"

"I cannot allow someone like him, who can do what he has done to others, to have anything. But I have a duty that is as important." And then an idea struck her. She needed reinforcements, then let’s get them here.

"I am sorry." she said and attacked Ameera.

Their swords clashed. Maria stepped back and swung at Ameera’s legs. Ameera swung to block, but just before the swords hit, Maria dropped her sword. Having nothing to stop Ameera lost her balance. Maria reached for her dagger, and stabbed Ameera in her now exposed chest. There was silence in the room as Maria pulled the dagger out. There was no blade on it, but as they watched, a blade grew out of the handle.

"What kind of trick is this?" asked Faaris.

"No trick." said Theodore.

Ameera stared in disbelief at the dagger and down at her chest that had no wound. She was about to say something when she grabbed her chest in pain and crumpled to the floor, breathing heavily.

"An interesting weapon." said Nu’man. "It only attacks the heart."

"I would not be so smug." said Maria. "You will not be happy with what happens next."

"Mother? Come quickly."

She heard a voice in her head. "I am coming dear."

"Bring Aunty."

"I shall."

The light filled the room as her mother entered. Maria could barely see the other figure that darted through and seemed to disappear into the room. The light faded and mother had all the attention. She walked over to Ameera as she lay on the ground.

"It is time to go now."

"But my people."

"That is no longer your concern." and She touched her head and the life was gone.

There were screams from outside, but not of pain and fighting, but of shock and confusion. In the room Saleem collapsed. Ablaa cried out and went to him.

"No puppet master left." said Theodore.

"Thank you mother."

"You are welcome dear."

She turned to Faaris who stared at her and mouthing the word mother.

"There is nothing for you here" she said. "You have wasted your resources on a lie. Your troupes have nothing to reward them and that is going to be a problem for you. But you have caused enough damage here, so salvage what little you have left, call off your troupes and go home." She hoped she sounded confident enough and that the shock would keep him off balance.

He looked at Nu’man who looked uncaring. He turned to one of his men and whispered something. The man pulled out a horn and, running out of the house, blew into it. The sounds of fighting slowly stopped.

"A good leader knows when he should leave something unprofitable. I have been used and I am not happy about that." Nu’man looked unconcerned.

"There is little you can do about it." he said. "If you want to fight me you can, But I have the superior fighters and now I will have the Eye."

"Not if I can help it." said a voice for the chair behind the desk."

Everyone in the room turned to see Eva Lonehunter sitting in Ameera’s chair. Now if you had seen any other woman sitting naked in a chair you would probably find it amusing or arousing, except if you met Eva. Her strength flowed from her and you did not dismiss it.

Nu’man stared at her and for the first time looked flustered. "The Great Mother Wolf." was all he said.

"Yes." she answered. "And I see that you have imprisoned some of my children. You may have power enough to hold them, but it is not enough against me. I shall be taking them back if you please."

And she tilted her head, and howled. And the two in the room began to change.

As the two changed there could be heard screams of terror from outside, and soon the bands around their necks broke and the change was complete. The room began to fill with other wolves and, as Maria watched, a bear entered as well. They all surrounded Nu’man as the howl ended.

"Now," she said in the voice she used when she was particularly upset, "I don’t think they are happy about what you did, and I think they might want to have a chat."

They moved in closer to Nu’man. "As much as I would like to, I haven’t the time to spare for talking." and he waved his hands and a column of fire engulfed him. The wolves moved back and once the heat died down, there was naught but ash left where he had been.

Eva was not happy.

The others turned back into their human forms and all went and knelt down in front of her aunt. All but one tall woman with long blond braided hair, who stood off to the side.

The one Maria had first met upon arriving here, had placed himself in front of the others and said from his prone position, "Thank you Great Mother, we are grateful for your..."

He stopped as her expression did not change and she said "Wait. I have but one thing to ask."

They all waited, until she took in a deep breath and shouted,

"WHAT IN THE HELL HAPPENED!"