Faerûn: Lord of the Eternal Sun

Under the blazing sun, a camel caravan is making its way through the desert.

Isaac and Scar, acting as the accompanying guards, rode ahead on camels, harboring many questions, but the current situation made it inconvenient to discuss them.

The caravan consisted of about twenty guards, all wearing hard leather armor and armed primarily with spears, scimitars, and bows and arrows. Apart from a dozen or so guards belonging to the caravan itself, the rest were hired by Sandwalkers.

A dozen or so camels carrying valuable goods walked in the middle. The goods were all packed in large and small bags, and it was said that they were some gems of excellent quality, as well as several expensive magic crystals.

Isaac and Scarface huddled together and whispered among themselves until the person in charge told the caravan to stop for a rest.

"Something's not right. Look at these Sandwalkers, they accept jobs, but they don't communicate much along the way."

Isaac raised his doubts, and wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that these people's eyes were glancing at him intentionally or unintentionally, which made him feel very uncomfortable, and this was only the first day.

"They were probably tired from traveling, and with the sun so strong, it's normal that they didn't talk to each other."

Butcher Scar wasn't as heat-resistant as him; he was currently filling a water bag with water.

Isaac suspected he was overthinking things, but his vigilance remained high. Years of experience had taught him that caution was always the best policy.

Influenced by the strange atmosphere, Isaac didn't interact much with the other guards and caravan members, preparing to quietly complete this mission.

……

As night fell, the caravan set up a temporary camp and pitched tents for the night.

To save trouble, Isaac and Scar slept in the same tent. There were many guards in the caravan, and since the two of them were off duty that night, they could sleep peacefully.

The caravan leader came over, carrying several pounds of meat skewers.

"Big guy, Scarface! This is some dried mutton we brought. Everyone get some, have a taste."

The overweight manager smiled, his eyes narrowing into slits, giving him a friendly air. He handed the jerky to Scarface.

The two expressed their gratitude, and after drawing the curtain, Isaac sniffed the jerky; there was no unpleasant odor.

However, when venturing out, it's a basic rule not to touch food or water from strangers. In addition, there's not much trust between us and the caravan since we haven't worked together yet.

Therefore, Isaac simply put the jerky into a burlap sack, feeling a bit of goodwill towards the enthusiastic person in charge.

"Big guy, I'm going to sleep now."

Scarface was exhausted after a long day of travel. He lay down and soon fell asleep, dozing off.

Isaac sat alone for a while, then finally lay down and closed his eyes to doze off. He didn't take off his hard leather armor, and his weapons and shield were habitually placed in the tent, not far from his hand.

He has plenty of energy and only needs three or four hours of sleep a day.

For some reason, when I close my eyes, I keep thinking about the strange glances from the caravan guards.

I managed to stop thinking about it and finally fell asleep after about ten minutes.

……

In the middle of the night, a gentle breeze stirred the sand and gravel, and the temperature was somewhat chilly.

More than twenty figures split into two groups and surrounded a tent in the corner of the camp. They held spears and bows and arrows and formed a hunting formation in perfect unison. If an experienced veteran saw them, he would recognize them as a battle formation of an army at a glance.

From this perspective, these people are not strangers to each other; they are clearly all retired veterans from the army.

About ten meters apart, seven or eight wooden bows were nocked and arrows were slowly drawn back, aiming at the makeshift tent from two directions.

The faint sound of a bow being drawn spread out, and Isaac, who was extremely sensitive to such sounds, gently opened his eyes, even though he was not asleep.

Before he could react, several 'thud' sounds came from the bowstrings, accompanied by the sound of arrows piercing the air.

Isaac snapped to attention, reaching for his heavy scimitar and shield while shouting, "Scar, enemy attack!"

Seven or eight arrows pierced the tent, followed by the sound of arrows being rapidly drawn and nocked.

Isaac's shield blocked two arrows, but he was still hit in the back. The sharp arrowheads pierced through his leather armor and drilled into his tough skin and flesh. The pain in his back made him groan involuntarily.

Compared to Isaac, Scar was much more unfortunate; he had just gotten up when he was shot in the chest and fell to the ground again.

"Scar!!"

Isaac's eyes widened in fury. He stood up, brandished his scimitar, and tore open the tent, revealing the scene outside.

The golden pupil between his eyebrows had been opened, and his dark vision allowed him to clearly see that more than twenty guards surrounded the tent.

The front row consisted of three or four guards wielding shields and scimitars, the middle row of guards held spears, and the last row held bows and arrows, forming two directions that made it difficult for Isaac to defend himself from both ends.

"Three ranks of soldiers! They're in battle formation!"

Isaac, who had served in the military, recognized it at a glance. Connecting it with the strange look in his eyes during the day, he suddenly realized that it was a trap!

The so-called camel caravan and escort commission were a trap set by the Lancaras family, with the aim of killing him. As for Scar, he was simply an innocent victim!

When the second volley of arrows came, Isaac could clearly see the trajectory of the arrows in the air, dodging most of them, and blocking the remaining two or three with his shield.

"Scar!!"

Turning his head, he saw that Scarface, who had been shot again, was unable to get up and his eyes began to glaze over.

Overwhelmed with grief and anger, Isaac forced himself to run in another direction, towards the camels' location. Only by riding a camel could he possibly escape their pursuit.

He was shot in the back at the very beginning of the battle, and the veterans who had gathered in battle formation were not someone he could deal with alone. Fighting them to the death would only lead to his own destruction.

[A surge of action]

Run! Isaac's heart pounded, the pain from the wound on his back caused his body temperature to rise rapidly, and he ran so fast he disappeared from sight.

The third volley of arrows all missed their mark, and Isaac was even able to look back and dodge the arrows.

Veteran soldiers wielding swords, shields, and spears chased after them relentlessly, while the chubby caravan leader looked utterly bewildered. How could they possibly escape a hail of arrows?

"Is this the power of the Son of the Sun?! If he gets away, how am I going to explain this back home...?"

Isaac burst forth with astonishing speed, breaking through the encirclement before they could even close in, and reached the camels, who were tied to a tent in the middle of the camp.

With a swift stroke, Isaac severed the reins, leaped high onto the back of his mount, and laid his scimitar flat, giving it a hard slap on the rump.

The leisurely camel suddenly let out a "whoosh" and galloped away from the temporary camp.

"Quick, after him! We can't let him get away!"

The person in charge gave the order, and soon more than 20 veterans mounted camels and gave chase.

Twenty-odd camels were engaged in a life-or-death chase in the desert. Isaac was filled with grief, and his hatred for Lancaras rose to its peak because of Scar's innocent and tragic death!

……

As dawn broke, after running for several hours, even the stamina of the Desert Ship couldn't hold up, and its speed gradually decreased.

Isaac estimated the distance, then simply flipped off the ground and jogged towards the city-state of Shahramun.

A few minutes later, no matter how much the pursuing soldiers urged the camels on their backs, even slashing at their rump, the camels still couldn't run anymore. They could only watch the small black dot in the distance grow farther and farther away, and finally disappear into the vast sea of ​​sand.

After jogging for several hours, Isaac's endurance was amazing. He controlled his speed and maintained his rhythm, and finally caught sight of the magnificent city-state at noon. Looking back, the pursuers had long since been left far behind.

Amidst the astonished gazes of the city gate guards, Isaac walked into the city with a broken arrow slung across his back.