"We will not flee."

Nicos stared in frustration at the gathered elders of the Naru tribe. Six of the most hunched and wrinkled humans he had ever laid eyes upon, gazed impassively back at him, underneath a hastily assembled gazebo. Urz's father was among them, and though he seemed pleased at Nicos' presence, he was just as unyielding as the rest.

Gritting his teeth, Nicos asked, "Why not? You've admitted that the Naru are not warriors. The slavers coming for you are beyond what your hunters and scouts can handle! There is no shame in fleeing from a superior foe!"

No shame for the Naru, at least. They were, as Nicos had said, not warriors. They were closer to clients, or merchants—noncombatants, by Farathun standards—and could not be held to the same expectations. There would be no harm done to the Memory of the tribe, should they retreat, as far as he could tell. It seemed like the only rational choice.

"The next oasis is almost a turn's travel," Durz, Urz's father, explained. "The distance is manageable with our current supplies, but we would arrive weary and weak. Many of our people would suffer at the pace we would have to set. And there is no reason to believe that this would make us safe. The Outsiders will follow. Perhaps they would even beat us there. If they know the location of one camp, why not others?"

Nicos shook his head. "They cannot move like you do. I do not know what kind of raiders you are used to facing, but these people had caravans, pulled by beasts. They cannot move like you do. They will travel slower, and need many more supplies. Their own strength is what limits them."

"Perhaps many of them can traverse the sand as we do, but were merely conserving their energy?" another elder posited, rubbing at his jaw. "We cannot know for certain."

"They tried to take me while mounted," Nicos replied. "Why? Those lizards are horrendously ill-suited for combat. Why use them?" He held up his finger. "Because they thought me a tribesman, at first. They assumed I could sand-skate, and needed their mount's speed to catch me. Why would they put themselves at such a disadvantage, unless they had to?"

There was much grumbling debate at this question, and Nicos waited patiently for it to subside.

He crossed his arms suppliantly at his waist, and said, "My proposal is simple. You run away. Keep moving, until the next oasis. They will track you, but they will not chase forever. It simply isn't worth the cost. There are other, easier targets."

Durz frowned. "You suggest we simply make ourselves too difficult to catch, so that they seek out other prey?"

"Why not?" Nicos shrugged. "The slaver mentioned two other tribes. If the Naru are no longer profitable to pursue, they will simply move on to those."

The old elder's frown deepened. "We will not condemn our sister tribes to a life of subservience and torture, simply because it is more convenient for us."

Nicos muttered several curses under his breath. This was why he had never given much thought to altruism. Here he was, attempting to save these people's lives, out of respect for what they had done for him, yet they were insisting on making it as hard as possible for him. Why? For a group of strangers, whose only association was through sheer proximity!

And it wasn't even particularly close proximity! The desert was fucking enormous! He doubted that the Naru had so much as seen a member of their so-called sister tribe, in over half-a-dozen seasons.

Farathun made war upon their neighbors. The Naru sacrificed themselves for theirs. It made no sense to Nicos. He wanted to throw up his hands and be done with it. He had given his warning, his duty was over. He had repaid the favor by passing along critical information; if the Naru did nothing with that information, then it wasn't his problem.

He couldn't quite suppress the frustrated growl that slipped out of his lips.

He couldn't leave. It wasn't even an option that he was willing to seriously consider. Every part of him felt ill at the thought. He just wished that they would make it easier to keep them alive. He had not been trained for this. None of his ancestors had been trained for this. His family advanced, they did not retreat. They guarded the citizens of Farathun by sallying forth, and destroying the enemy, before they could ever become a threat. The Hero was the sword of the All-King, not the shield.

The All-King did not have a shield. He did not need one, or so he liked people to believe.

The thought sent a spike of bitter anger through Nicos' mind, and he refocused to the problem at hand. The Naru had saved him from himself. They had plucked him from the desert, when his hubris had brought him to the brink of death. He would help them, no matter how difficult they made it.

"Fine," he said. "No running. How have you dealt with this situation in the past?"

"We have never faced so large a force," Durz admitted. "The Outsiders rarely work together, nor are they usually willing to venture so deep into the desert. Most of our encounters are near the borders, at oases we no longer visit. It has been at least a season since we've last encountered any slavers." The old man grimaced. "Normally, they can be fended off by a show of force. Their numbers make such a thing impractical, this time."

NIcos sighed, running a hand through his hair. He glanced around himself, at the Naru tribe members, lingering at the edge of the gazebo. They had set up slightly away from where the majority of the tribe had made camp, but there was no shortage of people lingering at the edge of hearing range. Nicos could not blame them. The decisions made here might determine their future in an extremely final manner.

The Naru were not warriors, he repeated in his mind once more. They were hunters, and gatherers. They were simple, peaceful people, more concerned with survival than glory or battle. They had been this way for generations, and that Memory weighed heavily upon the tribe. They had neither the need nor the desire to change their ways. He admired their conviction, but cursed its inconvenience.

"You're going to have to kill them," Nicos said bluntly. He saw a vaguely familiar scout flinch in the corner of his eye, but bulled forward anyways. "They are coming to end you, do you understand? They will need to take as many of you as possible, in order to make this trip profitable. The leader admitted as much, to my face.

"You're going to have to kill them," he repeated, "or they will kill you."

Durz shook his head sadly. "Our hunters cannot face the numbers that you have described."

"Then force them to split up," Nicos replied immediately. It was the most basic strategy he could think of. The enemy was too large; they needed to be whittled down. "Split the tribe, and they will be forced to follow. Take a longer route to the oasis. They will have to send outriders, to track you. Ambush those men, and kill them."

There were problems with the plan. More than he could count, really. But it was a decent enough foundation. All else would depend on how the slavers reacted.

"You scatter," Nicos continued, his voice picking up steam, "you lay false trails, you vanish into the desert. But not too far, and not too fast. Make their greed work for you. If the trail is fresh, they will press on, and you can punish them for it. Kill them with a thousand cuts."

Several elders looked distinctly green. One spoke, looking more steady than the others, "Many of our hunters will struggle with this plan. Violence is not our way. We have little experience in it."

But neither were they necessarily against it, Nicos noted. The Naru would never be aggressors, and perhaps that was a good thing. But neither were they meek. Not, at least, in the face of annihilation. That was good, he could work with that.

"I will accompany them," he promised grimly. He nodded to the the Naru tribe, settled in the distance behind him. "Your people have taught me much. You've shared your culture with me. Allow me to do the same. War is what I was born to do."

Durz looked sad at his pronouncement. "This is not your burden to bear, young Nicos. We do not ask for your help."

"You have it, regardless," Nicos replied forcefully. "I did not ask to be saved, when your son found me, but saved I was. I will return the favor." He grinned, showing teeth. "It's only what's right."