A November Halo Story: Thieving from the Desert Part 4

“I told ya not to wreck,” Barak said with Nova coming to and looking around to see her arms were tied above her head to a wood pole. She couldn’t see her brother, but he was tied on the other side of the pole. Her head was killing her, which was the main reason she started to wake up. They were alive, which was a good thing. The question is, who saved them and why?

                “The rock came out of nowhere,” Nova uttered in pain. “Are you okay?”

                “A little banged up,” Barak said, “but good.”

                “Who got us?” Nova asked, looking around at the tent and guessing it was one of the tribes that roamed the sands. This part of the world was filled with warring tribes and warlords, and there was no way, right now, to know which one had taken them. It could be good, but knowing their luck, it was bad.

                She glanced down at her hip, and her guns were gone. She didn’t care much about the second one, but it was the other one. The dragon hunter pistol which her grandfather had given her was missing. She quickly started to look for it, hoping to see it somewhere in the tent.

                “Where’s Granddad’s gun?” She asked, trying to get the rope off her wrists.

                “Calm down,” Barak said softly, knowing how much the gun meant to her, “they took it.”

                “Damn.” Nova looked up at the flipping opening to the tent. She started to shout for someone to get her. Two men with hidden faces came strolling in with swords on their hips and rifles around their shoulders. They eyed her, saying something in a language she couldn’t understand, but she didn’t care.

                “I want my gun back,” Nova said, “now.”

                They both shrugged, turning on their heels while Nova yelled for them to come back in a very harsh language, and she was sure they understood. She was enraged she didn’t have the pistol. They couldn’t use it, but she hated being away from it. It was given to her by the man who loved her more than anything.

                “You might not want to piss them off,” Barak said. “I'd rather die quickly than slowly.”

                Nova growled to herself, letting her arms go weak with her skin burning from the ropes. She sat there momentarily but then asked, “So, what are we doing to get out of here?”

                “I was thinking,” Barak said, “of sitting here until my arms go numb and then waiting for you to come up with something.”

                “You are useless.”

                “Yup, yup,” Barak agreed.

                Nova took a deep breath, running her fingers along the rope, trying to feel it. She couldn’t see the knots, but if she could calm down, she would find a way to escape them. Her grandfather had taught her how to get out of knots. She had trained for weeks to get out of ropes until one night, her grandfather had put a potato bag over her head and tied her up in the shed. He wouldn’t get her unless she got out. It took her about eight hours, and he sat outside chewing wheat.

                “Next time,” he said with his smoke-scared voice, “you’ll do it quicker.”

                Nova started to work on the ropes with Barak hearing it. She closed her eyes, working on the ropes, slowly pulling them free. It didn’t take her long, and every one of those who tied these knots wasn’t as good as she was or her grandfather. It was easier than she planned.

                The ropes fell off her hands. She quickly undid the ones around her feet and spun to free her brother.

                “See, this is what I was waiting for,” he said, smiling at her.

                “Grandpa always said you were too lazy for trainin’.”

                “Ouch.”

                The ropes fell off his hands while he moved to undo the ropes. Nova stood up, spinning around to face the opening and reaching out to her brother’s head, tapping him.

                “You should stop.”

                “What? why?” Barak asked, looking over at the flips and seeing three men dressed in black standing there. They had moved into the tent like the wind, except the wind was a bit louder. He pointed at her. “It was her idea.”

                The man in the middle of the three men with a gold belt grinned as Nova flicked Barak on top of the head. He had a nasty scar running down his face, looking over Nova and Barak. He pulled from his back Nova’s pistol, and she started to move toward him. The other men let their hands fall to the hilt of their swords, making her stop.

                “Give my gun.”

                “Your gun?” the scared man asked, making him smile even bigger. “Your Flynn’s granddaughter then?”

                Nova looked down at Barak, who shrugged, still working on untying himself. She looked back at the man spinning the Peacemaker around in his gloved hands, studying the golden dragon wrapping itself around the gun barrel. The mouth of the dragon was open at the end of the barrel, and he seemed to know what the true power of the gun was hidden in the eyes of the dragon.

                “I am,” she said. “If he owed you money. I’m sure my father will pay for it.”

                The man tossed Nova the pistol, allowing her to grab it out of the air. The moment her finger wrapped around the hilt of the gun, the dragon’s eyes opened, and he laughed. He pointed at her.

                “Flynn saved my great-grandmother’s life,” he said, nodding at the gun, “killing the dragon of the world.” He dashed forward, opening his arms. “His granddaughter -“

                “And grandson,” Barak added.

                “Are always welcome among my people,” he said, taking her into a hug.

                “Then why did you tie us up?” Nova asked, trying to free herself.

                “Had to make sure you didn’t steal my friend’s weapon,” the man said. “Now-" “

                The two men behind them fell into the tent with a sword and a dagger being pulled free from their bodies. They dropped to their knees, allowing the lady ninja cladded in a black and red devil suit to stroll in. She pointed her sword right at Nova and narrowed her eyes.

                “Told ya we should’ve shot them.”