We do not want war. We have lived quietly by our oasis for many years now. However, the Golden King has once again demanded tribute. From afar we could spy his company approaching. Their force was small, as was our own. He formed up and prepared to meet them. Sons of Harad against the Sons of the Southron. It is our lot in life. It isn't enough that we must fight the men of the West, but we must fight one another as well? It almost seems unfair.

I, Na'man along with our settlement's warriors prepared to meet them. There was Qusay and Waqqas my trusted friends and with them came our people's fighting men: Umar, Nizar, Amr, Maazin, Ghasaan, and Aqil.

With spear and bow we faced our foe. A chief from the Golden King along with 3 archers and a few spear men. We knew why they had come, to destroy us. We sent no tribute and now had to pay. We were ready.

I scored the first kill. An archer. Never again would his arrows claim another soul. Despite our greatest efforts however, the chief flanked us and we soon found ourselves in the thick of battle. I withdrew my scimitar but the chief and his men were well trained. Our brave warriors fell quickly. I found even myself injured and bleeding. The chief and his men made fast work of us. They took our women and burned our settlement. There was nothing left.

Afterward, Waqqas searched about to find the living among the dead. I was wounded and lay bleeding on the battlefield. I was recovered but it would be some time before I could fight again. I had a flesh wound. Qusay faired worse than I, his left arm would never be the same, "I can still fight he said."

"Perhaps," agreed Waqqas, "but another wound such as that and you will never fight again." Qusay scoffed at Waqqas' comment.

We found Nizar next. He was hale, but wept over those we had lost, "Who lives? I asked."

Nizar looked at me, and with tears streaming down his face, "Aqil."

"And?" I asked.

"That is all Na'man. They're all dead. Umar, Amr, Maazin, and Ghasaan. They all perished." He fell to his knees weeping.

Words failed me, my heart sank as I realized there was nothing left, "What should we do?" I asked.

"We fight," stated Waqqas, "We must save our families. We can't let the Golden King do as he wishes forever. We are Hardrim, we will take our people back!"

Despite our painful losses, we agreed. We would find a way to free our people.

My wound was deeper than I expected. After a march in the late evening, we decided to rest. Mostly for me. Nizar, Aqil, Waqqas and Qusay set up camp while I rested in a tent near the oasis where we set up camp. We ate what we could then rested. It was short however, as Waqqas tells for we were attacked in the night by a group of hunting wargs!

It was sudden and quick! In just a few short minutes, Waqqas tells me that the Wargs raced in, killed, maimed then dragged their prey off into the night.

My companions fought hard, but were caught completely off guard. Nizar was mauled to death before being devoured by one of the monstrous beasts. Qusay was dragged of, Aqil was injured but recovered quickly as was brave Waqqas.

When I crawled out from my tent I was shocked by the carnage. All our own. So swift was the attack from the Wargs that not a single one fell to our spears. Now, Qusay is in need of rescue and we had no idea how to find him. It was in this moment of despair when we heard a voice, "I have been tracking them," it said.

I turned and saw a man dressed in black, "I am Jibran," he said, " I am a hunter from Karna. I have been tracking these Wargs for some time. I can help you find them."

Finally, a stroke of luck. They are few in these unforgiving lands. Perhaps we will find Qusay after all.

Jibran proved true to his word. His knowledge of the warg pack allowed us to locate Qusay before it was too late. From outside the den we peered in. It seemed quiet.

"Qusay is in there?" I asked.

"Yes. I will go with you and find him." answered Jibran.

"Aqil and I will scout around the den to ensure there are no surprises waiting for us. I've had enough surprises" Stated Waqqas.

Jibran and I sneaked into the den. It smelled musty and dry. Qusay lay in the center, he was bleeding but alive. He smiled when he saw us, "You came for me?"

"Of course," I said leaning down. I reached out to bind Qusay's wounds but a growl from the back of the cave stopped me.

"Stand up," Jibran ordered in a low voice. I stood. from the corner of my eye I could see Qusay attempt to stand, I motioned him to stay down. From deep in the cave we spotted a pair of eyes moving in. Slowly at first, Jibran and I fired blindly into the dark. The clatter on the ground told us that we missed our mark. From the shadows leaped forth three foul wargs. Jibran and I were quickly surrounded. We fought ferociously for our life, but the warg's thick hide proved too much for our blades.

From outside Waqqas could hear our skirmish. He quickly made his way towards the cave's entrance, "Aqil! Aqil!" He yelled in an attempt to call the spearman. To his dismay only a warg responded. Waqqas had time to fire a single shot. His aim was true, but his strike pierced not but hide.

The warg moved to charge, Waqqas tensed his legs in preparation to dodge. He flexed to jump but stopped as Aqil leaped out from behind the warg. With perfect timing and coordination Waqqas charged forward and slew the warg. "Well done Aqil." He said.

Aqil winked, "But of course." They turned to race into the cave but were met by another warg, "The pack must be close," stated Aqil.

Jibran lay on the ground, the massive paw of a warg had knocked him unconscious. However, he did not go down before slaying a warg. I too finally struck a warg dead, but the thrid warg proved too much. I was struck down. As I fell and before the darkness took me I watch as Qusay was devoured by the final warg. His cries still fill my ears.

When I awoke we were outside in the cool dark of the desert. Waqqas stood over me mending my wounds. In a flurry I sat up, "Qusay!"

Waqqas shook his head, "He's gone Na'man. The wargs devoured him." Tears stung my eyes. With a sandy sleeve I wiped them dry and looked at my ill fated company. By the fire's light I could see Aqil the spearman sharpening his weapon, Waqqas was cleaning up his healing herbs, and Jibran the hunter from Karna was oiling his bow. I pounded my fist into the sand and cursed.

"We were supposed to be reclaiming the people of our village. Look at us Waqqas! Look at us!" I stood, trembling.

"I know Na'man. I can see," Waqqas nodded.

"What happened?" asked Jibran.

Before I could answer, Aqil spoke, "There were nine of us, Umar, Nizar, Amr, Maazin, Ghasaan, Waqqas, Na'man, myself, and..."

"Qusay," I interrupted.

Aqil nodded, then continued, "Our tribe was attacked by a warband from the Golden King. Only Nizar, Qusay, Waqqas, Na'man and I survived the attack and we were not in good shape. The Golden King's men took our women. Our families. Then we were attacked by the wargs. Nizar, Qusay and Waqqas defended Na'man and I. You know how that turned out," Aqil finished.

"Ill fated. It would seem the valar have forsaken you, perhaps your luck is about to change." commented Jibran.

After packing his goods Waqqas stood and from across the fire and scoffed, "The valar. What have they done for us? Nothing. I am alive because I fought harder than the others. No spirit protected us, no spirit forsook us. We are alive by our own hands."

"And what of Qusay?" I demanded, "Was it his own hand which forsook him to the wargs? Don't be so swift to dismiss the valar yet Waqqas. I for one need their comfort right now. Our brothers are all but spent, our families gone. I need something to grasp, something to hope for."

"I am sorry Na'man. Mourn in peace."

I'm not sure how long we had been wandering, but it was no more than a week before Aqil approached me with a sullen look upon his face.

"Na'man, our supplies are nearly spent. We haven't seen a trader in a long time. We need to find a settlement," Aqil said.

I nodded, "I know. I noticed my pack was becoming very light."

Waqqas, who was a few paces ahead of me spoke up, "If we go around the highlands we can reach a small settlement I know of. It shouldn't take more than a few days."

Aqil shook his head, "We don't have enough water or food to last a few more days."

"I agree," began Jibran, "If we don't reach at least an oasis before tomorrow, our water will be spent," he paused a moment as he prepared his next statement. From the look on his face, I could tell his comment would be unfavorable, "We could go over the highlands."

We all stopped.

"Over..." commented Aqil.

"Over," Jibran repeated.

"Do you know what is over the highlands?" asked Waqqas.

"I do," stated Jibran, "but I do not fear the Dimlokhi. The people of Karna never fear the spirits of the dead. We are charged to protect the likes of you from them."

"I never said I was afraid of the Dimlokhi," asserted Waqqas, "but I'm not going out of my way to meet them."

"If we cross over the highlands we can reach the settlement by night fall," stated Jibran.

"We just have to face the Dimlokhi," I stated.

Jibran nodded.

"If we go around the highlands, we may well die of thirst. If we go over the highlands we may be killed by the Dimlokhi. Either way, at least we know there are friends waiting for us on the other side," I stated. In silence we stood as the others awaited my answer, "It would seem that speed is of the essence. We must go over the highlands. Perhaps our numbers are few enough that the spirits there will not take notice."
--------------
From the ridge where we stood. We could see across the depression within the highlands. Spots of green were accented against the barren ground around it, "It's a shame the water in the highlands is haunted by the Dimlokhi. We could rest here and refill our water skins," commented Aqil.

"Indeed," I agreed, "Come, stealth is our greatest weapon here. We must move quickly and silently." My small company moved around the ridge of the depression. We great haste we moved. From the corners of my eyes I could see the movement of the Dimlokhi. They were unaware of use.

We each in turn climbed up a small ledge. We all nearly ascended before I head the sound of movement behind me. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I knew what was behind me, but I didn't want to turn. I heard Jibran gasp, "Na'man, watch out!"

I let out a quick breath and ducked as a spectral blade passed over head.

With great haste and courage I heard Waqqas charge, "NO!" He leaped down from the ledge followed by Jibran. With a flurry of blows we banished the spirit. There was a flash of light and it was gone. "Quickly!" I ordered.

We raced around the edge of the depression. I lead the way and urged my company onward.

"Here comes another!" shouted Waqqas, "Aqil, to me!" the young spearman changed his vector and fell in behind Waqqas offering support. They had developed as quite a cohort since the warg den. With practiced skill they dispatched the second spirit.

"We are almost across," I shouted back. We caught a third spirits attention. Aqil raced ahead to meet my pace. Jibran and Waqqas withdrew their bows and loosed a volley of arrows on the spirit. The shafts passed harmlessly though its spectral body. They loosed a second volley but to no effect.

"We mustn't tarry here," stated Jibran.

"Agreed," nodded Waqqas. He placed his bow in his quiver, turned and sprinted away to catch me. Jibran came in toe.

We raced to the far end of the depression leaving the swampy oasis behind. I looked to the archer of Karna, "Will they follow us?"

"No, the Dimlokhi are bound to a single location, but if we tarry we will find a larger number of Dimlokhi dwell here than three. We must keep moving," instructed Jibran. I nodded in agreement, smiling as I did knowing that we had just faced a foe and not a soul among us had fallen.

I'm writing this by the light of our company's campfire. We reached the settlement but to our dismay, it had been attacked by bandits. Unfortunately for us, we discovered this too late. Before we could sneak in and formulate a plan of attack to liberate the settlement and acquire our much needed goods we were assaulted. Try as we might, we could not bring our arrows to bear against our foe.

Waqqas fought bravely, as did his spear-bearer Aqil. Our enemies numbers were too great, however, and Waqqas fell injured. I too was harmed, knocked out cold. Jibran tells me after I passed out he and Aqil managed to drag myself and Waqqas away before they were overrun by the bandits.

I thought our fate was beginning to change. How wrong I was. I am now seeing double and Waqqas lays wounded in our camp. He is a stout warrior and will recover, but his wound was deep.
------------------
Na'man closed his journal at the sound of approaching footsteps. Jibran must have heard it too as he appeared from the dark with his bow drawn. Na'man grabbed his scimitar and turned towards the sound, "Speak and be known, or we will strike you down!"

The voice of a man returned, "Stay your fear! I am Jafar," a middle aged southron walked into the camp fire's light, "I am one of the village's warriors. I saw you fight, as did my brothers in arms Yaman and Nawfal. We wish to aid you and reclaim our village. Will you help us?"

I looked to Jibran, who had lowered his weapon. He returned my gaze, "We could use the help."

"How do we know they aren't bandits?" I asked.

Another voice sounded from the dark, "Because I could have killed you before you finished writing in your journal if that were the case." A young man joined Jafar and in tow he lead a stallion, "I am Nawfal and this is my horse, Storm."