Guardian

The sound of hustling sandles echoed through the dusk night sky, in an effort to protect what may be lost. "Get them inside quickly! It may come at any moment!" Mothers grabbed their kids, kids that haven't the slightest clue what is going on in this town. "Board up the houses fast, make sure not even a mustard seed can fit through the cracks!" Burly men with beards started shutting the wooden windows and defending them with whatever leftovers the city abandonded. From a distance, a group of horseback riders could be seen galloping toward the center of the town, kicking up a sandstorm in their wake. They all reigned to a halt by the command of their leader, David the Protector. Loyal to his word, they listended tentively. "Has the call for Magrib been proclaimed?" A man answered, "No it has not David. And the Sheik is nowhere to be found." "A thousand curses." They looked behind their back, weary of what may come in the darkness of the night.

"Look, the walls!" The pack turns toward the humble defense of their town. Mud walls two date palm trees high have protected this hamlet for generations, and tonight it bleed. "They're dripping with blood..." David knew the moral of his men is draining quickly. "Tighten up, look alive, and cover each other's backs! I want to see this beast before I kill him!" The men closed up in a circle. Suddenly a smoke envelopes the pack. "How can you kill that which you cannot see?" A force ripples through the group, like a strong wave from the sea. The horses rear, throwing the men and David onto the ground, and run away. "Damned horses, they lose courage in times of need."

A small black figure is seen far away toward the gates of the town."What is that?" The figure can be seen closing in quickly. "Here it comes! Ready your swords!" The body of a decapitated man halts with sudden force in front of the group. It's the body of the town's holy man. "Oh God...", one of the men hurl onto the ground. "Who did this..." David sheaths his sword and walks toward the floating corpse. A booming deep voice reverberates from the body, "David, your unseen transgressions are worse than the scene before you. Leave this town by tomorrow night or face a fate far worse than your conspirator." The corpse floats for a moment, then drops hard onto the ground. The group is left silent, with passive winds blowing onto the dunes. David looks toward the sky, "O God, help me."