Chapter 8: The Hanged Man

Emily twirled the spear she had been given. She was currently being escorted out of the desert by a group of five sand people.

“We must be careful,” the man from yesterday, Hiat, warned her.

“The sands are full of dangerous beasts, as you saw yesterday.”

Hiat was the best-spoken of the bunch, easily communicating with her. Emily was thankful to have met him, he would be her ticket out of this barren wasteland.

The group traversed the sands in silence, their feet flitting over the ground.

While she was walking, Emily drew a card.

The Six of Cups. She frowned. She had drawn a cup card before, but was unable to determine its purpose. At this moment in time she wished it would quench her thirst. The water skin she had been given would only hold a small amount of water.

It was only after she had walked for a few hours did she realize that she didn’t feel tired.

“Is this the power of the card?” she wondered, knitting her eyebrows, slightly disappointed. She shook her head. There was no use in complaining, the card would be useful in this situation.

As she and the nomads walked through the desert, the ground began to tremble.

Hiat’s eyes went wide, “Desert scorpions!”

With a boom, enormous arthropods burst from the sand. Three giant stingers dripped dangerously. The group was surrounded on three sides.

“It should go without saying,” Hiat warned, “but don’t let them sting you.”

Emily tensed up, her muscles tightened in preparation. She wasn’t too worried about the stinger. Instead, she was focused on the massive claws the creatures possessed. She imagined getting gripped by the pincer and started sweating.

“Two people per scorpion. I’ve seen you fight girl, you’re with me.”

Emily grunted in acknowledgement and prepared her spear. She handled it with familiarity, causing Hiat to raise an eyebrow. He had given it to her at her request, he didn’t expect that she actually knew how to use it.

The scorpions didn’t give them any more time to think. One swung a giant claw in Emily’s direction, forcing her to jump backwards out of its reach. Almost instantly, the tail whipped forward, catching her in midair.

Emily’s eyes bulged in surprise as she raised her spear defensively. She hadn’t expected the creatures to be capable of such tactics.

She narrowly blocked the stinger with the wooden shaft of her polearm. However, it split under the force of the blow, shattering into pieces.

Emily gripped the remaining piece of wood, grimacing. It was nothing more than a dagger now.

Meanwhile, the other sand people were having even worse luck. One of them had gotten grabbed by a pincer and was crushed in half, dying instantly.

Another man had been stung by the tail. His body grew paralyzed and his throat swelled shut, cutting off his access to oxygen. He died shortly afterward.

There were now three scorpions against Emily, Hiat, and two other men. The situation wasn’t looking favorable.

“Run in that direction!” Hiat shouted, pointing towards the horizon, “We’ll hold them off.”

“Why would you do that for me?” Emily asked in puzzlement, she had never had anyone display such sacrifice for her before.

“Sojos honor,” he said with a grim smile, “Now go!”

Emily took a deep breath and nodded, immediately dashing in the direction Hiat pointed.

It was only after she took a dozen steps did she realize she had been fooled. Hiat was making no attempt to stop the scorpions from chasing her.

Emily felt her blood boil as she cursed. She swore revenge against Hiat in her mind. If she ever saw him again she would make him pay the price.

She fled across the sands, the scorpions hot on her heels. Thankfully the Six of Cup had given her an increased amount of stamina, or else she would have fallen a long time ago.

The scorpions chased her for a few hours.

Now Emily was in a dilemma. A new day was about to occur. Her stamina would start to wane once more. She desperately prayed that she would draw a useful card.

The card she drew displayed a man being strung up upon a tree. His foot is held by a rope, he hung upside-down.

THE HANGED MAN.

Emily immediately felt her body grow light. With a thought, she rose into the air, flying high above the scorpions.

“The power of flight!” Emily beamed in excitement. Humans dreamt for ages to be able to fly and Emily had finally done it.

She now had a ticket out of the desert.

However, she paused. There was something she had to take care of first.

She turned around and flew, heading deeper into the desert.

Hiat sighed in relief. The girl had proven a good distraction. It was only because of her that he was able to survive.

He felt bad about sacrificing a person so young, but his own life took priority.

He limped under the desert moon, headed back towards his people. He had injured his leg in the battle against the scorpions. One of the pinchers had grazed him. He used his spear as a crutch, supporting his weight.

All of a sudden, a shadow appeared beneath his feet. His eyes went wide in a panic. He turned his head upward and saw a mass of black hurtling towards him. He went to raise his spear to deflect the projectile but was too slow. The figure crashed into him, sending him sprawling onto the ground.

Before he could raise his head, he felt a coldness against his neck.

He turned his head and saw sky-blue eyes staring back at him.

“You!” Hiat started in a panic. It was none other than Emily.

“Did you really think I’d let you live after you tricked me like that?” she sneered.

“I was doing what I had to do to survive, you would have done the same,” Hiat weakly protested.

She shrugged, “You’re right. I would have done the same thing.”

“But the situation isn’t reversed. So you have to die.”

Hiat opened his mouth to speak once more, but Emily didn’t give him the opportunity. She quickly stabbed the spear tip forward, penetrating his throat.

He choked and gurgled on his own blood, his eyes filled with regret.

Emily stood upwards, switching her broken spear for Hiat’s whole one. She also searched his corpse and retrieved the diamond she had given him.

She then flew into the sky and left the desert.