That Others May Live

Chapters

Prologue
Boots on the Ground
Contact
Charlie Golf India
Foreign Relations
Hail to the King
Meeting the Team
Operation: Desert Fury
Offload
Search and Rescue
Unpredictability
The Test
On the Fly
Back to School
SERE
The Great Escape
The More You Know
Heading Down Range
Operation: Prowling Lion
Operation: Prowling Lion Pt. 2
Offload
Applied Learning
Tactical Assessment
Planning Ahead
Operation: Red Tail
Operation: Red Tail PT 2
Operation: Red Tail PT 3
Recovery
Aftermath
Life is a Highway
Where the Grass Isn't Much Greener
On Track
Your Princesses Are in This Castle
Making Allies
The New Team
Goodwill
O'er the Hills We Go
Proof of Purchase
Moving Day
A Stable Community
New Neighbors
Like a Family
Expect the Unexpected
New Threat
Local Culture
Your Human and You
Research projects
Into the Storm
Digging In
Rainbows Over Their Heads
Long Road Ahead
Cracks in the Crystal
Ice Cold Killers
Different Battles
An Air of Danger
Tracks That Go Home
On the Front Lines
Home Invasion
Homefield Game
The Boundaries of War
When the Home's Lost
Calm Before the Storm
Bonds
No Easy Day
Pre-Deployment Training
Into the Dragon's Den
Paradise Lost
These Things We Do...
Never Leave Equestria Alive
Those Who Write History
That Others May Live
Futures
Fire Eternal

Prologue

Airman First Class Jack “Frost” McDaniel and Lt. Harris “Duke” Sky walked around the airstrip at Pope Field, North Carolina. They weren’t talking; they were too busy taking in the sights. It was their first time there, after all. They had both gone into the Air Force after college. Harris had attended the United States Air Force Academy, where he boxed and excelled academically. He was considered one of the best fighters in collegiate boxing in the United States. He had every intention of getting to where he was. Jack, on the other hand, had been planning on going into finance after college. He was no sports star; he was pretty much an average guy. But he had been considering a military career for a long time, and when he learned about this, he was quick to go for it. He trained hard during college, but after, he enlisted instead of going in as an officer. He never thought of himself as a leader of men.

Now, here they were, joining up with the Twenty-fourth Special Tactics Squadron at their new home base. It had been hard to get here, but they made it. After four years as Pararescuemen, they were able to try out and join up. Both made it, and that was where they first met. They were the only ones of their group to make it. “Wow. So, what do you think we’re gonna do first?” Jack asked.

Harris shook his head slowly, still dazed by being at Pope. “Don’t know. Probably more training?” It still hadn’t quite hit either of them that they were now in one of the most secretive units in the US Military. They had no idea what they should expect. “I bet there’ll be a whole lot more stuff on staying hidden and more first aid and serious medical treatment training.”

Jack nodded. “Yeah.” He thought for a moment. “I wonder what kinds of missions we’ll get?” Harris looked up to the sky. “No idea.”

An F-22 Raptor took off down the runway next to them, lifting off the runway and speeding off. They had to plug their ears when it flew by. “Let’s go!” Harris yelled, forgetting that the noise was gone. Jack nodded, and they ran away from the airstrip towards a hangar.

They ran all the way to the hangar, their training having made it easy for them to run nonstop for any short distance. Once there, they stopped and looked around. All around them, there were C130’s, among other cargo planes, and even a C5 Galaxy. “The sheer size of those things will never cease to amaze me.” Harris commented.

“Yeah. How humanity managed to pull that off is beyond me.”

Harris laughed. “And that’s why you and I aren’t engineers or technicians.” Jack shared a laugh, and they walked along the hangar’s outside wall.

They walked along the wall until they reached the door to the hangar. It was wide open, revealing the sleek form of a B-2 Stealth Bomber in all its glory. Under it were half a dozen technicians and maintenance boys making sure that it didn’t fall apart on them or stop being stealthy. Everyone in the military is important. “The techies are still hard at work I guess.” There was always a little rivalry between the Twenty-fourth at Pope and the techies. They would prank each other; in secret of course; couldn’t have the brass find out; they made jokes, and generally mocked each other. But both knew the importance of the other. Jack and Harris walked on, letting the techies do their jobs.

They walked to the back of the hangar. Their CO had told them to meet him there for a discussion on their futures in the Twenty-fourth. Jack had been very excited, while Harris kept himself calm. “I wonder what he’s got for us?” Jack wondered aloud.

Harris shook his head. “I don’t know man, but my bet is that it’s more training.”

Jack was fidgeting with his fingers. The anticipation was getting into his mind. But he wouldn’t let himself create any ideas of what to expect. “Probably.” he dismissed. There was a small room in the back of the hangar. Inside, Jack and Harris could clearly see their CO, Major Ash, but there was another guy there. Jack’s excitement turned into caution. “What..?” Harris shook his head and didn’t respond.

At the door, they knocked three times. “Come in.” an order came.

Harris looked at Jack, who let his hand float in front of him. “After you.” Harris cocked an eyebrow and led his buddy through the door.

Inside, there were two men, Major Ash and a man they didn’t know. “Major..?” Harris began.

The Major held up a hand. “Sit.” Harris and Jack did as they were ordered. The Major pointed at the other man, who stood wearing a decent suit and sunglasses. “This man is from the CIA.” Major Ash explained. “He needs us to do something.” Jack and Harris looked to the CIA man, shock prevailing through their eyes. “If you would, OGA?”

The man sat down in the chair right behind him. “Thank you.” he replied, not facing the Major. He was staring straight at the two PJ’s before him. “I have a situation that I need to be resolved without becoming directly involved in.” Jack and Harris looked at each other. “Before I go into the details of the mission, let me give you some background.”

OGA put his elbows on his knees. “The CIA has been conducting secret operations in Pakistan for quite some time. We operate there in the search of terror cells and terrorist training camps.” He stood up and walked over to the wall. Reaching up, he got his hand on the bottom of a rolled up map and pulled it down. “We have spies, sure, but the men who I am referencing are the Special Activities Division. SAD operatives are working around the world every moment of every day. Even outside of wartime, they’re out there.” He pointed at Pakistan. “We know that there are training camps for terrorists here in Pakistan. SAD goes in there and takes out the camps and anyone in them. Now, that’s where the trouble starts for us now.” He turned around and looked at the PJ’s. “One of our men was going on a lone reconnaissance mission. His job was to get in there, find a suspected camp for Al Qaeda cells, and report it in. From there, we would send in a team to take out the camp.” He paused, waiting for a question.

“So why are we needed?” Jack asked.

OGA looked to Major Ash, who looked back. “The man we sent in hasn’t reported in. We aren’t sure what may have happened.”

Harris leaned back in his chair. “So why don’t you send in some of your guys to find him? Why would you need us?”

OGA sat back down. “The CIA doesn’t exactly use the ‘none left behind’ prospect. When a SAD operative goes out, he does so because he doesn’t operate with any indication of being American. It gives us plausible deniability for why a foreign operative is in a country. We can say that it wasn’t us.”

Jack looked at OGA in disbelief. “So you just abandon them if they get caught?”

OGA nodded. “That’s what they join up for.” He continued. “Our SAD operative has gone missing, and I want you to find him and bring him home.”

Harris and Jack looked to OGA, then to Major Ash, then back to OGA. “If they sign up for this, and you’re one of them, then why are you trying to get him back? Doesn’t that go against your SOP?”

OGA looked to Major Ash. The Major also looked pretty curious about this. “This operative happens to be one of my best friends. I understand it’s a conflict of interest; that’s why I came to JSOC. You guys live for this shit.” Jack sat back, but Harris couldn’t help but feel slightly offended. What did OGA mean by that? “You’re job is to go in and rescue our guy. So now, that’s what you’re going to do.” The PJ’s looked to Major Ash; he looked back at them. “It’s up to you boys. I can’t make you take on an unbooked operation for the CIA.”

Harris looked at OGA, then turned to Jack. “Let me talk to my guy here.” OGA nodded and walked over to Major Ash, presumably to talk about whatever they would be needing. Meanwhile, Jack and Harris were talking on their own. “Do you think we should take the op?” Harris asked. He always asked for Jack’s input. Teamwork is essential to an effective team. “I mean, it’s kinda odd. This isn’t exactly a normal op.”

Jack looked to OGA, who was now arguing with Major Ash. “I think we probably should. This guy is in the SAD; probably originally from JSOC. He must be pretty valuable to the CIA, and to national security.” Harris couldn’t argue that point. He nodded to Jack, who nodded back, and they turned around.

“We’ll do it.” Major Ash turned around to face his boys. OGA wore a smile.

“Alright.” the Major said. “From now until the end of the op, you’ll be under his command.” The PJ’s looked at OGA, taking in his elated countenance. This would be interesting.

*********************************************************************************

A week after the meeting, they found themselves in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. This was the same place that the raid on Bin Laden was staged from; appropriate.

The brutal midday sun beat down on the Pararescuemen as they walked from the barracks of the base to the hangar. They were lugging most of their gear with them. Harris carried a 4.7x30mm MP7 PDW for his primary and a 5.7x28mm FN Five-SeveN for his sidearm. He carried ten mags for the MP7 and ten for the Five-SeveN. Other then that, the only things he carried were first aid and survival gear, like a blowout kit, his knife, water, some food, and his plates. Jack carried a 5.56x45mm HK416 assault rifle and eight mags, and a 9x19mm Sig P226 pistol with eight mags as well. On his thigh, he carried his prized CRKT FE9 Combat Knife. Like Harris, he also had things like a blowout kit, water, some food, and his plates. The rest of what they would need was in the hangar already.

They walked through the hot climate pondering what may await them in Pakistan. Neither spoke; there was little to be said yet. Jack wondered what his first mission with the Twenty-fourth would feel like. “This is crazy!” he thought, but in a good way. “I’m going on a top secret mission to retrieve some OGA guy from another country.” He thought about what consequences there might be. “If we’re caught, we’ll die. But if we succeed...” He had no idea what would happen when they returned. No credit, but certainly some prestige among their fellow airmen. Harris, on the other hand, was thinking about how to counter any trouble that they may encounter. “If we run into Pakistani forces, out best bet would be to run and gun. Terrorists? Probably kill ’em.” They were looking for a guy whose job was to hunt and kill terror leaders and such. A few dead terrorists wouldn’t be so bad. “Civvies? Nothing, I think. But it will all depend on the ROE.”

Their thoughts were cut short by a voice calling out to them from up ahead. “Hurry it up, guys! You’re on a timeline!” They both looked up; OGA was standing in the hangar door, clearly unhappy with the PJ’s timing. They looked at their watches simultaneously; they were far from being late.

They walked up to the OGA guy, whose name they still didn’t know, and likely never would. “We’re ready.” Harris said. There was no point in arguing with the man about the fact that they were actually early. His friend was lost in Pakistan; of course he was short.

“Good.” OGA replied curtly. He led the PJ’s into the hangar. “Alright, before I get you on the plane, let me talk to you about what I was discussing with some higher-ups earlier.” Jack groaned. It couldn’t be good. “Relax. You’ll be flying in on this C130. Then, when you’re over your target, you’ll jump, obviously. Once you get your feet on the ground, you’ll start your search for my guy. Odds are,” he said, pulling out a map. “he’s somewhere around here.” He was pointing at a very mountainous area of Pakistan, almost towards the border with India. “He was looking for terror cells that were planning to distract the world by attacking India, then attack the US.” He handed Jack the map. “He landed around there, we believe. When you find him, get out of the area and activate this beacon.” He handed them a small radio. “You’ll have to get out of the mountains because, for whatever reason, comms aren’t working out there.”

Harris felt uneasy about that. Comms not working, a SAD operative going missing and not being heard from... something was up. “Sir, if you don’t mind my asking, what’s going on? This is the weirdest op I’ve ever heard of for PJ’s. What’s going on?”

OGA looked at him through his large sunglasses. “We don’t know. That’s the rough part. We can honestly say that we have no idea why this is happening. That’s why we’re sending you in.” Harris and Jack decided not to take it the wrong way. “When you’ve activated the beacon, we’ll send in a stealth chopper to get you. Odds are, we’ll send it from Jalalabad, and it’ll bring you back there. If not, from and to India.” Harris nodded. Jack bunched his face displeasingly. “You’ll be fine. I can only hope that my guy is right now.” The PJ’s looked at each other.

“Don’t worry.” Jack assured OGA. “We’ll bring him home.” That was a promise the the aimed to keep.

They all started walking over to the C130 in the hangar. Not wanting to walk in awkward silence, Jack struck up conversation. “So, what other stuff did you discuss while you were talking with the higher-ups?” he asked OGA. Harris looked at him with a face that said, “Really?”, but OGA chuckled.

“The ‘Good Idea Fairy’ decided to pay us a visit.” Jack blinked. Harris groaned. “No worries; I kept her at bay.” Jack stepped forward and walked next to OGA.

“What did she bring us?”

OGA started to laugh. “Well, some genius thought that we should drop you from a B2, so that you wouldn’t risk being shot down. Another guy suggested sending you in with six guys from SFOD-D or DEVGRU. I explained that this was a small operation that needed minimal people involved; more people could get harder for this op. Another guy suggested using Stealth Fighters to take out potential enemy targets before you dropped. That idea got scrapped immediately. Those were easily the dumbest ideas, but there were certainly others.” Suddenly, Jack and Harris really appreciated this OGA guy running the op.

They were next to the plane. “Alright. When you drop, it looks like there’ll be some cloud cover. We’ll spend the next few hours getting everything prepared and quadruple checked. We’ll be off the ground at 2100. See you then.” The PJ’s nodded to OGA and set about checking all of their gear.

*********************************************************************************

The time for departure came quickly, though it didn’t feel so for Jack and Harris. Everything else that they needed was in the C130; parachutes and some small things, like bribing money and some tech. The tech included night vision, satcoms, thermal scopes, radio coms to talk to each other, and a laser for marking locations for a satellite. They also received some other gear; two flash-bang grenades each, one frag each, and one flare gun each. They put it all in their battle-rattle and took their seats in the plane.

OGA was across from them. “Alright, from now on, you’ll have to refer to each other by your callsigns.” He waited.

“Frost.” Jack said.

“Duke.”

OGA nodded. “Alright.” He gave a thumbs-up to the guy by the front, who returned it and went to the cockpit. A few minutes later, the plane started up. “Okay, so here’s what we’ve got.” OGA started. “Weather reports indicate a cloud bank that’s been hanging around the area for a while. Unfortunately, you’ll have to jump through it.” Frost and Duke looked at each other. “From Pakistani weather reports, the clouds are still about five thousand feet above the ground. That’s still enough time for your HALO drop.” The planes engines started up, and the C130 lurched forward on the runway. “You’ll be looking for this man.” OGA shouted over the engine, presenting a picture. The man in the picture was tall, wearing a skydiver’s outfit, and had a bunch of tech on him. “He had no weapons when he dropped, since we didn’t want to risk anything on a simple recon mission. Turns out, we were right.” Duke took the photo. “We’ll drop you in the same area where my guy dropped. Start searching from there. When you find him, use your satcoms to contact us, and we’ll come get you.” Duke and Frost sat back as the plane took off right as OGA finished talking.

They spent the rest of the flight in silence. Duke was checking his own gear, while Frost was admiring his FE9. “Have you ever seen a more perfect knife?” Frost asked rhetorically.

“No, actually.” It’s a nice knife.

“Yeah. Curved edges to prevent people from gripping the blade. Finger grooves to keep it in my hand. Anodized steel for a stealthy black finish. I tell you, it’s amazing. You have to get one.” Duke went back to his gear. He should get one after the op.

About twenty minutes after takeoff, the pilot got on the intercom. “DZ in ten mikes.” Duke and Frost got up and checked each other’s rigs. When they finished and gave their okays, they moved to the back of the plane where the door was.

“Remember who you’re looking for!” OGA shouted. The door started to open.

“Five mikes to DZ.” The red light on the side of the cabin glowed angrily.

“And the rules of engagement are to get my guy the hell out of Pakistan!”

The light turned green. “GO GO GO!” the intercom shouted. Duke went out first, followed immediately by Frost. They looked down as they fell; OGA wasn’t kidding about the clouds. Even though it was night and it was dark, they were still the darkest things around, and they didn’t look very welcoming. They looked especially bad when there was a flash of lightning from underneath.

“They didn’t tell us this would happen!” Frost thought, pissed off. He was about to be killed in a lightning storm because the CIA couldn’t keep track of its own people or check the damn weather report. Duke, meanwhile, was thinking tactically. “We’ll hopefully be safe until we hit the ground.” he hoped. He wasn’t a weatherman, so he didn’t know if the lightning would hit them mid-air.

When they first contacted the clouds, it felt like someone had shoved them hard on the whole front of their bodies. The clouds were bizarrely thick; they shouldn’t be able to get so dense that you can touch them like that. The trip was short, but incredibly unpleasant. Lightning flashed around them, blinding them for just a moment. Thunder boomed around them. It was as if someone had set off a stun grenade next to them. When they were finally clear of the clouds, they looked down. The ground was fast approaching, much faster than they were told to expect.

“Deploy!” Duke shouted into his radio. He and Frost deployed their chutes, being yanked up by the sudden reduction in speed. There was no wind or rain; apparently, it was a dry lightning storm.

“Boss, I thought that they said it would be raining.” Frost said into his radio.

Duke looked around. “They did. And they were wrong.”

The ground was fast approaching. When they landed, it they had to roll upon contact since they hadn’t lost enough speed. So far, nothing had gone quite according to plan on this op. “They also said that we would have more space between us and the ground.” Duke nodded. Immediately, the two went about packing up their chutes. Unfortunately, since they did have US logos on them, they had to pack them up in a carriable fashion. Once they were done, they put the packs on their backs and looked west.

“You wanna start in that direction, boss man?” Frost asked. Duke looked out there. In the distance, there was a small town with some lights.

“Sure. Let’s get moving.” They started trekking through the mountains towards their destination, heedfully walking through the unfamiliar terrain, vigilant of their surroundings.

This journey was going to be a long one.

Boots on the Ground

Duke and Frost got on the move down the mountain. Looking forward, the landscape wasn’t the most friendly; there were cacti everywhere, and the number of hills and mountains between them and whatever population was at the light was worse than he had expected. “This is what I signed up for.” Duke thought. He was retrieving an American who needed to be rescued; he was living his dream.

He and Frost looked up at the sky. Unexpectedly, the clouds had disappeared completely, revealing a much starrier sky then there should have been. “Yo, Duke. Isn’t this like a six on that scale of stars you can see in the sky?” Frost asked. Duke looked over at him. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” he replied. Frost ignored it and kept talking. “This sky is like what you would see in the Australian Outback. Something is up.” He was shaking his head as he spoke. Duke looked up at the sky; there were more stars than in Jalalabad, he could see that. “Whatever, man. Let’s keep moving.”

They walked on, the dirt crunching under their boots like thousands of tiny ice cubes being crushed by an icemaker. The stars twinkled in an unnatural light. Even the landscape seemed off. “Maybe he has a point.” Duke thought. While he was reflecting on the oddness of the landscape, he he pulled out the pair of binoculars from his survival kit. “Hold.” he ordered. Frost stopped dead in his tracks. Duke pulled up the binoculars and laid down on the ground. The zoom was 100x; he would have to be still. He aimed them at the town. “I’m not detecting any movement.” he said. There were two large, decorated horses outside a building, chewing something in a strange fashion. He lowered the optics. “I got horses. There’s definitely people down there.” Frost nodded. “How fast should we approach?” he asked. “We should try to get there by morning.”

They got back on the move. After about three hours of trekking through mountainous terrain, they were about halfway to the small village. Frost looked to their right and stopped. “Dude, hold on.” he said. Duke looked over; what was so interesting? “Check this out.” Duke walked over. It was just a cactus, nothing special. “Take a good look at it.” Duke rolled his eyes and looked hard at it. Then he noticed. “It’s like, one really funky shade of green all over.” he commented. “Shouldn’t it have shadows? The moon is out.” That was when he realized another thing; the moon hadn’t been out earlier. “Boss, something is seriously wrong here.” Duke couldn’t help but to agree with the sentiment. “Let’s go.” he said, trying to ignore the cactus. “We have a job to do.”

Not five minutes after moving again, Duke was getting that feeling like something was going to go wrong. So he pulled up his satcom. “Overlord, this is Papa Romeo Two. Something is weird out here. How copy, over?” He listened; nothing. Comms were, indeed, down. “Frost, comms aren’t working.” He turned around, a scowl on his face. “How? The radios are just fine. And the clouds are gone.” He turned around and looked to the village. “What the hell is going on?” Duke shook his head. “Let’s just try to get the mission done. Then we can get outta here.” Frost nodded. “Roger that.”

They walked on.

*********************************************************************************

They arrived at a point about three hundred meters away from the village at one hour before dawn, up on a small cliff to remain unseen. The sky was just beginning to change, going from a dark black and blue to a glorious range of orange hues and purple clouds. It was totally silent; not a noise emanated from the area around the Pararescuemen. The valley in which they learned the village was located in was still coated with darkness, a foreboding blanket on an untamed land of hostility. The cool desert air from the night would soon be replaced by the blazing hot air of the day. The two men used their night vision to get a good view of the houses.

The horses were gone, nowhere to be seen. The men took that as their indication to get moving into the village to search for signs of the OGA boy. “Let’s roll.” Duke ordered. Frost nodded, and they descended from their small cliff down to the village.

They approached slowly and quietly, weapons trained on the village in front of them. They had no way of knowing if any hostiles were present in the village. Or the village could become hostile of OGA was here and they tried to rescue him. Either way, the Pararescuemen found it to be a better idea to keep cautious. “Stay frosty.” Duke said. He heard a small chuckle in his radio com. “Am I ever not?” He smiled and they stacked up at the edge of the village.

They were next to the wall of a mud hut, keeping an eye in all directions. Duke moved out of cover first, but only a little. He scanned the area for hostiles and found none. “Move.” he said. He left the cover of a wall, followed quickly by Frost, and they moved through the village. None of the lights were on in the buildings. “They must have left for the night.” Duke thought. Up ahead, they saw a house that looked much larger than the rest in the village. If they were holding a prisoner, it would probably be in there. “House up ahead.” Duke said. Behind him, Frost grunted.

They advanced on the house, being sure to scan the areas around them for hostiles. Once they were at the house, they regrouped. “We’ll go around.” Duke whispered. “Search for another entrance. A window, if necessary.” Frost nodded. “I’ll take point.” They moved around the house. When they were at the next wall, a light suddenly came on above them. “Hold!” Duke whispered. They stopped dead in their tracks and listened. “فماذا حدث لهذا المخلوق من قبل بضعة أيام?” a male voice said. They were speaking in Arabic. “I thought they spoke Urdu here.” Frost commented. Duke nodded. He thought so too. “اعتقد انه ذهب الى الملك للاسترشاد بها.” A female voice responded. “Dang. This could be trouble.” They listened for a bit longer, but it was just more Arabic. They moved on to the back of the house.

They scanned the area from the corner before approaching the back yard. Once they confirmed that nothing was there, they moved forward. Around them were a number of articles of clothing hanging on a wire. But something was off. “Boss, this is too weird.” Duke moved to get next to Frost, who had moved to examine the garments. “They’re not anything I’ve ever seen another person wear.” There were strangely shaped shawls, bizarre ear covers... and several saddles. “Must be for their horses.” He looked around; there were no horses. “Let’s move.” It was getting harder to ignore the strangeness of the operation.

They approached the back door. It was closed, and they couldn’t hear any voices on the other side. “Frost, take point.” Frost moved forward and tentatively put his hand on the door. It was unlocked. “Breaching.” he whispered. He slowly pushed the creaky door open. There was movement inside. “Hide!” Frost whispered over radiocoms. They ran from the house and hid among the garments. Shortly after, a figure, the visual obscured by clothes, came out. “من هناك؟” the male voice asked. When he received only the night wind as a response, he went back inside and closed the door behind him. Duke let out a pent up breath. “That was close.” Frost commented on his coms. Duke looked over at him; he was crouching on the ground in a firing pose. “Let’s move.” he said. They could come back to this house later.

They moved away from the back yard of the house and onto other homes in the village. Most were not so large; they were single level, maximum two room huts. Even then, only a handful were two room. “I’m glad I live in America.” Duke commented. “True that.” They cleared most of the homes fairly quickly; the residents were either asleep or not home. “Is it just me, or are most of these homes empty?” They were. “I don’t know.” Duke replied. “Let’s get back to the main house.” They were calling it the main house because of how big it was.

They returned to the backyard of the main house and crouched among the garments again. Up ahead, the house was silent again, the lights no longer on. “Could be a trap.” Duke thought. He looked to Frost; he was thinking the same. Frost pointed up at the roof. Duke cocked an eyebrow. “How?” He then pointed to a wall on the side. “Nice.” he complimented. Frost moved to the wall and leaned against it, cupping his hands. Getting a running start, Duke ran at him and jumped up, getting a boost from Frost on his way up. Duke reached up and got his hands on the edge of the wall and pulled himself up. He leaned over the side of the wall. “Your turn.” But instead of taking his hand, Frost ran at the wall and tried to run up it. He just hit the wall with a body slam. “Ow.” he said, laying on the ground. Duke shook his head. “Just take my hand, ice brain.” Frost moved back and took a look at the wall. He sighed in defeat and ran forward. As he leapt up the wall to get Duke’s hand, the lights in the house came back on. “Crap!” Duke thought as he yanked Frost up the wall. As soon as he was stably on the wall, they ran to the roof. Below them, they could hear someone walking out of the house and into the yard. But the sounds that came from his or her feet were unusual; it was like this person had four legs instead of two. “الذي هو هنا؟ وأنا أعلم أنك هنا.” It was the man. When he got no response, he continued speaking. “إذا كنت ودية، وأنا لن القتال.” Frost looked to Duke, who was already looking at Frost. Neither had any idea what this guy was saying. After a few minutes of silence, the man sighed loudly. “ربما كانت على حق. ربما أنا أتخيل الأشياء.” He walked back inside.

Duke and Frost waited for a few minutes before moving. Being on the roof, they had the potential to wake up anyone who might be below them. They turned around on their bellies. Behind them, there was a pair of rooms on the roof, each with a door leading to the roof where they were. The two men stood up, weapons at the ready. “Move.” Duke ordered. They approached the two rooms and looked inside.

Duke saw something that changed how he was looking at this mission for good. Using his finger, he signaled for Frost to join him. “What is it?” Frost whispered. Duke pointed in front of them into the room. Before them, lying in a bed, was one of the horses that Duke had seen before they approached the village. It snored peacefully in the bed, its chest rising slowly as it took in precious breath. It was colored as strangely as the cacti in the region. Very monochromatic in spots, but overall, very technicolor in appearance. It’s head was shaped a tad odd, being somewhat more pointed at the snout. The eyes were enormous, taking up most of the horse’s face.

Frost backed up slowly, pulling Duke with him. “Boss,” he said. “I don’t think we landed in Pakistan.”

A noise came from a staircase in the corner of the room. Frost shoved Duke away from the line of sight of the window and moved to one side of it. He listened. “البكم الضوضاء، مع نومي بعيدا.” He moved away from the window a ways and dared a look inside; sure enough, the man was a horse too. Presumably, that was his mare in the bed. The stallion climbed in and slept fairly quickly.

Frost moved forward to pick up Duke, but he was already getting up. When Frost was up next to him, Duke had a spacy look on his face. “Boss?” he asked. “Alright. We landed in a weird place where there are apparently talking horses.” Duke looked at his partner. “Did we ingest or smoke anything before we came here?” he asked. Frost shook his head. “Right.” He thought hard. “This might explain the lack of comms. And if that’s true for us...” It had to be true for the OGA boy; which meant that he was in this world too. “Frost, here’s the gameplan.” Frost knelt down and listened intently. “Logic says that the OGA boy must also be here, since he’s also not in contact with CENTCOM. We still have a job to do; so let’s go do it.” Duke stood up and moved to the other room that could be accessed from the roof. Smiling cynically, Frost followed. “This mission is just getting more and more interesting.”

The pointed the barrels of their weapons into the room before peeking inside. There were two very small horses in two beds in this room, both sound asleep. The men moved in slowly, silently, making sure that they didn’t step on anything noisy that might awaken the small horses. Once both were inside, they looked around the room for any unlikely signs of OGA; that’s what they named their HVI. When they confirmed none, they moved to the staircase in the corner and descended into the first floor of the home.

At the base of the stairs, they scanned the room for any more signs of either OGA or hostiles. They saw nothing of either. “I’ll take left.” Duke said. Frost nodded. “I got the right.” They separated into the two sections of the large house, each taking the time to investigate whatever room they came across. Duke went through the living room, what looked like a study, and what looked like a playroom for the kids. In them, he found no signs of OGA.

Frost went through a very stark room with a nice wooden floor. On the ceiling was a very expensive looking chandelier and several bizarre horse shoes on shelves off to the side. “Ball room.” he concluded. He investigated everything he could see, which wasn’t much. But he did find something. “Boss, I think I might have something.” he said into his radio. “What is it?” came the response. Frost picked up a zippo lighter. “I think our guy might be a smoker. I found a zippo lighter.” Duke waited a moment to reply. “Does it have a logo?” Frost turned it around in his hand. “No.” In the other room, Duke was nodding to himself. “Hold onto that.” Frost affirmed and moved on.

The next room he found himself in was the kitchen. There were numerous cupboards, two stoves, a fridge, a table, and an oven. “What?” Frost said quietly to himself. “What use do you have for these things when-” He stopped his thoughts. Something was off about all of this, more off than before. “Boss, how much light would you say came from these buildings earlier?” he asked. “The amount you might get from a grouping of incandescent bulbs. Why?” Frost looked up; there were incandescent bulbs. “Is there a generator anywhere?” Duke must have taken a moment to think, because he took his time responding. “No, I didn’t see any.” There was a pause. “Just keep looking. We’ll figure this out later.” Frost nodded and went back to investigating.

The kitchen had been recently used, he could tell that much. The stove was still warm, the light bulbs looked like they were still glowing just a little bit, and there were dishes in the sink. Though no visible signs of OGA. “Boss, I got nothing- wait.” he saw something on the countertop that caught his attention. He walked over and picked up the item. “Scratch that, I think I got something.” “What is it?” Duke asked immediately. “I think I found his camera.” Frost turned the item over in his hands, inspecting it; no logos anywhere. “Grab it, and meet me in the back of the house.” Frost put the camera on his gear web. “Roger.” It wasn’t easy with everything he was carrying.

He went to the back of the house, where Duke was waiting for him. “Let’s see it.” he said, holding his palm out. Frost pulled off the camera and handed it to Duke. “This was our guy’s alright. He was definitely here.” He stuffed it into his parachute pack. “Let’s move. The sun’s coming up.” Frost nodded, and the two men ran off away from the village, questioning what exactly was real and what was not.

Contact

Frost and Duke ran from the village as fast as their feet would carry them. With all the rattle they were wearing, it was a tough run.

They stopped at a point about five hundred meters from the village, behind a large boulder. “What do we do now, boss?” Frost asked. He held out the lighter. “We have plenty of reason to think he may be here, but how should we proceed?” He flicked the lighter open, but didn't light it. No need to give away their position. “We probably can’t just waltz in. Too risky.” Duke replied. They sat in silence. “Here’s the plan. We go back to the house, look for intel or a basement, then try to get out. If we don’t find anything, we’ll have to use interrogation tactics.” Frost frowned. “We aren’t trained for that.” he replied. Duke shrugged. “We’ll just do it the way they do on TV and movies. Should be simple enough.” Frost sighed, but relented on it.

They rested behind the boulder for the day, taking shifts on who went to sleep just in case they were about to be uncovered. Once it was night again, they moved back into the village.

The Pararescuemen made a beeline for the main house, careful not to get too close to any other buildings on the way there. They made sure to stick to the shadows as they closed in. “We’re going in through the front.” Duke ordered. If they didn't find what they wanted, then they would go for the horse guy. “Roger.” Frost moved forward, ahead of Duke, and got right up to the doorway. But it wasn’t a door, it was just a curtain. “Guess there’s no breach and clear.” Frost commented, moving aside the curtain. There was no man or horse inside. Duke came up behind. “Clear.” Frost said very quietly. They moved in.

Both men had their weapons aimed forward as they cleared each room in the house in their search. Each room was clear; the owners must have been in bed already. Frost keyed his radio. “Boss, I got-” There was a loud thumping from upstairs. Frost sighed in the kitchen. “Boss, we got thump-thump.” Duke went silent. “Thump-thump?” he asked in seriousness. Frost nodded. “Thump-thump.” More silence. “Alright, we’ll check for a basement now.” Frost nodded to himself and went back the way he came. There was no basement.

He met back up with Duke. “You find a basement?” Duke shook his head slowly. Both men sighed. “Alright.” Duke looked at the his weapon, the only thing in his hands. “You find any intel?” he asked. Frost shook his head. Both men sighed again. “Alright. Upstairs we go.” They moved toward the staircase that they remembered led to the kids’ room, then found the other and moved up. Slowly and silently, they moved up. “Stack up.” Frost got behind Duke and prepared for the breach.

“GO!” They stormed into the room, taking either side. The stallion’s and mare’s heads shot to the side to find out who was bursting into the room. Before they could respond, Frost ran up and socked the stallion in the side of his head with his HK416, knocking back on the bed. The mare started screaming, but was quickly shut up when Duke pointed his MP7 at her and said in a low, menacing voice, “Shut it.” She went silent. he walked over to her. “You will remain silent.” He turned; Frost was standing on the side of the stallion, keeping him on the floor where he fell to after being bashed in the face. They nodded to each other.

“Alright.” Frost said. The stallion struggled very weakly under his boot. “Do you speak English?” The stallion looked up at him. “It not English; it Equestrian.” Frost blinked, then looked to Duke. He shrugged. Turning his attention back to the stallion, Frost put more weight on his foot. “Fine. Whatever.” He motioned for Duke to give him the picture, and when it was tossed to him, he snatched it up and put it before the stallion. “Where is this man?” The stallion studied the photo for a moment, then narrowed his eyes. “You took the camera.” Frost nodded. “Where is he?” The stallion snorted. “He is not here.” he stated. “We never took him, if that is what you imply.” Frost put more weight down. “Then why do you have this camera?” Duke tossed him the camera, which Frost put right into the stallion’s face. Again, he snorted. “He gave it as payment for helping.”

Frost looked to Duke, who narrowed his eyes in thought. Frost took the moment to let him think. “Explain it.” The stallion cleared his throat before starting. “He said he landed here, not a place that he was supposed to land in. He asked how to get back to America, wherever that is. We told him we help, and he offered the camera as payment.” Frost pulled out the lighter. “And this?” The stallion looked at it. “I don’t know what that item is.” Frost lit a flame. “Ah. That must be what he used to smoke.” So he was a smoker. “Please get off. I will help you find him.” Frost looked back to Duke. He nodded, and Frost got off.

Frost moved back alongside Duke, both being right next to the window if things went wrong. The stallion stood, then looked to the mare. “Wait downstairs. Make tea.” The mare nodded and walked away, looking frightfully to Duke and Frost. Horses are flight animals, after all. “This ‘man’ you are looking for was here. Now he is not. We sent him to our leaders for help.” Duke looked outside. “I thought you were the leader of the village.” The stallion nodded. “Yes. But not of the country.” He looked to both men, then continued. “Our leaders can show him a way home, we believe. If not them, others, maybe. Either way, he is gone.” Duke stepped forward. “Alright.” He looked to Frost, then back. “Take us to your leaders.”

Frost started cracking up, but the stallion clearly didn't understand why. “What is funny?” he asked. Frost waved a dismissive hand up. “Nothing, nothing. You were telling us..?” The stallion gave him an unsure look, then turned to Duke, who was still serious. “We will take you there in the morning. But if I may ask,” He waited for confirmation. When there was no response, he continued. “Why are you looking for him?” Duke looked to Frost, who shrugged. Your call boss. “He’s a buddy of ours, and some friends want him to come home.” The stallion looked fairly unconvinced. “I thought he might be a criminal, with how you treated me and my wife.” Neither man made any motion to apologize. “But I suppose I will take your word for it.”

He walked over to the staircase. “Come.” he ordered. Frost and Duke walked on, wary of the potential for a hostile situation. They broke into this guy’s house and assaulted him and his wife. He might be really into honor fighting, or something. “My wife makes tea.” They exited the room.

They went downstairs and through all of the rooms to the kitchen. Through each room, the two men were scanning to check for the wife, in case she decided to attack. They heard her in the kitchen. “هو الشاي جاهز؟” he asked his wife as they all entered. She replied by bringing a tray of tea and cups with biscuits to the table. “شكرا لك.” The stallion turned to them. “Do you mind if she is with us?” The men shook their heads and sat. “Thank you.” The mare sat. “Might I ask why you have so very many things with you?” the stallion asked. The men looked at each other. “Gear. For our jobs.” The short answer was all the stallion needed to hear. “Ah. I see. And what are your names?” Frost sipped his tea. “Frost.” “Duke.” the stallion nodded. “How about yours?” He looked to the two men, one at a time, as if gauging how he should respond. “Afaf.” The men nodded, glad to at least know the name of their apparent host.

They all sat there silently after exchanging names, sipping their tea cautiously, watching each other. Frost decided to try to break the awkward silence with a simple conversation. “How is it that you have electricity, but no way of generating electricity?” Afaf looked at him with a raised eyebrow for a moment, but his expression seemed to become understanding rapidly. “Ah. The other man wondered this. We have magic.” Frost and Duke blinked, looked at each other, and blinked again. “What?” Afaf repeated himself. “I thought I heard you right.” Afaf took the last sip from his tea. “The other man had the same reaction. We cannot explain; it just is. You do not have magic?” Duke and Frost shook their heads. Afaf nodded slowly, like he was trying to puzzle together some great conundrum. “Ah. I see. Then how do you have your things?” Duke set his cup down. “We use technology and innovation.” Afaf nodded again.

They sat in silence once again, neither party thinking of any way for them to talk without ultimately ending up in silence again. “The other man said he worked for the CIA.” Afaf’s wife suddenly stated. “Do you work for Princess Celestia of Equestria?” Duke cocked his eyebrow and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. “No, we don’t.” He leaned back forward. “Who is Celestia?” The mare blinked twice, then looked to her husband, who seemed to give the all clear for her to explain. “Well, she and her sister Luna are the rulers of Equestria, a nation to the west. We share a long border with them, and do much business with them.” She went on to explain the government, economy, and society of this neighboring state. “And a long time ago, they assisted us in our troubles against the Griffon insurgents.” Frost’s ears perked up. “Insurgents? In Saddle Arabia?” The mare nodded, not sure why it was so significant. “Boss, this world might be more like ours than one would think.” Duke nodded and shut his eyes for a moment. “Yep.”

Duke decided that it was time to stop hoping for the conversation to take a new turn. “So, this man, he said that he’s CIA?” Afaf and his wife nodded. “And can you tell us anything about him?” Afaf looked to his wife, who shrugged at him. “Well,” he began. “He was a very good guest. Polite. Smoked outside. Great with our little ones. He said that he dropped into some place called Pakistan to find insurgents. We just assumed that that was his name for Saddle Arabia.” Duke put his elbows on the table. “I can tell you now, it isn’t. Pakistan is a country that is far away from here.” Afaf nodded, and continued with his explanation. “Ah. Okay. Well, anyhow, we thought that he would help us with our current insurgent problem. The Griffons have returned to cause trouble. Equestria helps as much as it can, but we fear that that may not be enough. When your friend said he was CIA, we thought that meant Celestial Intervention Agency. Celestia’s secret group of spies and whatnot. We sent him to our leader, Heisahn Riyah. We thought that he would help with the troubles.”

Duke and Frost took this all in with grim faces. They were hoping to simply locate OGA, nab him, and get out. They weren’t expecting to end up in some other world and having to avoid getting involved with their terrorist problems. “Is something troubling you?” Afaf’s wife asked. “No, we’re fine.” Frost lied. He leaned into Duke’s ear. “Boss, ew might have to keep our jobs a secret. If they find out about them, this could end badly.” Duke nodded. “I know.” They refocused on the horses on front of them. “Alright. In the morning, when we go to see this Heisahn Riyah, we’ll ask him about our friend.” Afaf nodded. “Good. Now that that is done, let us all get some rest.” He stood up. “You may sleep anywhere on this level. Good night.” The Pararescuemen nodded as Afaf and his wife walked away and went upstairs.

A few minutes after the master of the house left, Frost and Duke got up and walked around slowly, looking for a relatively comfortable place to sleep. “Boss, I don’t like this.” Frost commented. Duke nodded grimly. “If they have him, or know where he is, we might be forced to take him back by force. For one reason or another.” Duke sighed. “I know.” he replied. This was all getting too weird for him. “Let’s just try to get some rest for now. We’ll be moving out early, I’ll bet.” They went into what looked like a living room with a couch and a nice carpet. Duke took the couch and Frost took the floor. “Why do you get the couch?” Frost asked in mock resentment. “Because I’m the officer.”

Frost lay down and looked up at the ceiling, to the light with no electricity. “How did you become an officer?” he asked. Duke shifted on the couch and looked up as well. “I went to the Air Force Academy.” He sat up and tossed off his parachute, prompting Frost to do the same. “I boxed there. It’s how I got the name Duke.” Frost thought about his own past while he listened. “I had been planning on flying an F-22, but unfortunately, they weren’t accepting any more pilots into that program. The F-35 was available, but I just failed the initial test to get into one. Probably would have failed the F-22 test too. So I looked into the programs that favored people who were extremely physically fit, and I saw Pararescue. So that’s how I got here.” Frost nodded. “Cool.” He was quiet for a moment. “What did your family think of it?” Duke breathed in deep. “My dad was proud, but my mom was afraid. Still, they supported me. We stay in touch.” Duke’s head rolled over and his eyes lazily drifted over. “How about you?”

Frost scratched his chin. “Well, I went to college. But not with any help from my family.” Duke looked over and raised an eyebrow. “My dad was a jerk, and my mother was a drunk. I don’t think I was on purpose.” He sat up to make it easier to talk. “My dad was always trying to smack me around, saying that I thought I was better than him.” He smirked. “Even if it was true.” Duke chuckled. “I got good grades and was decent at running. Using that, I was able to get a scholarship to Fordham University. That was like a slap to the teeth for my father, who never even completed High School.” Frost pulled out the lighter and flicked it open and closed. Clink. Clink. “He hated me for that. So I just kept on doing well, and I didn’t go home for summers. I would still mail my parents my transcripts, though. Just to screw with them.” Duke was actually laughing now. He had no idea why it was so funny. “My father said that I would still never amount to anything. In response, I went to enlist in the Air Force, you know, get out of contact with him. The recruiter told me about Pararescue, so I signed up. Be the best, just to spite my father.” Clink. “But it wound up being about more than that afterward. Before I shipped off to training, I kept seeing images of people being injured and dying around the world. I thought, ‘This world may have given me my father, but it gave me a lot to make up for it. Time to even the debt.’ So, I decided that I would do it for the people.”

He flicked open the lighter and this time, he lit a flame. He closed it quickly. “But the best moment of all was when my mother contacted me for the last time. I expected her to be calling me to ask for money or just her being in a drunken fit. But she was sober.” he turned around. “You know what she said?” Duke shook his head slowly. “Bad things?” Frost laughed. “No. She said how proud she was of me. How sorry she was that she hadn’t been there. At first, I thought she was lying to get me on her good side. But then,” He took in a deep, rattly breath. “She told me that she wanted me to go out and save the world. Be the man my father never could be. And that if I never came home, as long as I was saving people, it was fine. Just so long as I kept making her proud to be MY mother.” His voice got a little shaky, and his eyes watered a little. “I don’t have anyone else back home, really. She’s the only one who cares about me. And I’ll probably never see her again.” Duke sat up, and looked to his partner. “You know, we may be new to each other, but I care for you, like you care for me. You’ll always have someone at your back.” Frost looked over. “We might die,” Duke began their personal variation of the Pararescuemen’s motto. “so That others may live.” Both men smiled. “Good night.” Frost said. They both laid down.

“And don’t let the creepers bite.” Duke chuckled as he heard Frost scrambling around on the ground.

Charlie Golf India

Duke and Frost woke up early. Not early for them, but early for the whole town. The sun had yet to come out, and there was an eerie silence over the land. The stars were just starting to disappear, replaced by a lambent orange glow, high in the sky. The moon was still visible in the early morning, seemingly painted into the sky like a watercolor art. The pararescuemen were sitting in two of the chairs in the living room, waiting for their host to awaken and come down.

“So what do you think they wanted OGA to do for them?” Frost asked, flicking the lighter open and closed. “Do you think he even clarified that he isn’t a part of this ‘Celestial Intervention Service’?”

“From the sound of it, they think he’s a spy for whoever this Celestia is. With his skills, he probably could help them pretty well. Whether or not he will has yet to be seen.” Duke looked at the flag on his sleeve. “He’s loyal to the United States; but if it means getting home, he might just be forced to help them if it means getting there.”

“I really hope we don’t have to help them. Not our business.”

They went silent again for a while, just looking out the window at the barren landscape just beyond the town. There was a long street before them, leading out into the wilderness and mountains, and the only easily traveled valley in the area. At least, it was that way for horses. The two humans had had little actual difficulty getting through the terrain to this village, something they probably didn’t like. The village, were it not for the arrival of humans, would be very strategically located and hard to attack.

A couple of hours passed, and the sun was beginning to make its rise into the sky. “Here he comes.” Duke said, standing up and dusting himself off, getting Frost to do the same. Hoofsteps could be heard from the staircase. Without looking toward the stairs, Duke asked, “So how did you two sleep last night?”

“Well enough.” Afaf replied flatly.

“Good.” Duke understood; even if they aren’t hostile, no one wants to have real conversation with people who broke into their house.

Afaf walked over to them, his wife alongside him. “We will be departing today. I made sent some messages; a carriage will come by to pick us up at noon, and will take us to the capital. The journey is two days, but we will have food and water.” He turned to his wife and nodded.

“Excuse me,” she said, shying slightly when Frost and Duke looked to her. “But I was wondering if you would like to meet our children? They must have awoken last night in all the commotion, and they really want to see who you are.”

Duke and Frost paused for a moment and convened, hushing their voices and holding up a hand to keep their talking unheard. “Boss, this won’t hurt us, I think. I mean, we have until noon to kill time, basically. And we don’t want to make a bad impression.”

Duke nodded in agreement. “Seems good to me. But watch what you say; we don’t want to reveal anything that might make risk or any more curiosity in the kids.” Frost nodded back to him, then they both nodded to Afaf’s wife.

“Good!” she said, a big smile coming across her face. She walked over to the other staircase. “You may come down!”

The two tiny horses came running down from their room, excited looks on their faces, the clacks of their tiny hooves on the mud floor rattling through the air like a machine gun. They were only about two and a half feet tall, shocking for being able to make that level of noise. “أين هي المخلوقات؟” one asked, the voice being that of a little boy. The mother pointed at Duke and Frost, and when the kids laid eyes on the men, they froze. They looked at their parents, then to the men again. “ما هي؟” the one asked.

The mother was about to speak, but she stopped before starting, a ponderous look on her face. She looked to the men. “What are you?” she asked.

“Humans.”

There was an odd look of recognition on her face, like she had heard the term before. Maybe she had, when OGA was there. While she turned to her kids to tell them, Afaf came over to them, a new smile on his face. “I was unaware that this was the case. It is good to know that you are human.”

Duke and Frost, confused by the reaction of the horses, looked to each other for clarification. There was none to be had. “I’m sorry, are you familiar with humans?” Duke asked.

“Not personally, but there have been stories about your kind here. They tell of a human who did great things. It was around eight years ago that the human was here.”

Duke and Frost nodded, still unclear on what exactly that meant. They let it go, though, since they had a mission to take care of, and turned their attention back to the kids.

“So what are their names?” Frost asked as he kneeled down to get a better look at the tiny foals. His unthreatening stance seemed to put a little more assurance in the the kids, who readily ran up to him to ask him questions he would never understand.

They came rapidfire, in whatever language it was that the kids were speaking. Duke had managed to step back and let Frost take most of it. He handled it fairly well, though, considering. It seemed like he was good with kids.

“Well,” Frost said, standing up and looking at the kids, a bewildered countenance dominating his expression. “I don’t understand a word they just said.”

He turned to Duke and shrugged his shoulders, asking, “Any understanding at all?” Duke shook his head. “Thought not.”

Frost looked to the mother, who immediately began translating. “They ask; What are you?, Who are you?, What are you wearing?, Where are you from?, Why did you come here last night?” Frost counted the questions with his fingers and asked her to repeat the last one. When she did, he turned to Duke, who nodded, giving him the ok to answer.

“We are humans, we are men who look for lost people, we are wearing simple traveling gear, we are from America, and we came here looking for somebody.” The mother translated, taking very little time, and the kids nodded every second, soaking up the information like a dry sponge in a pool.

“Any more questions?” Frost asked. The mother translated again, and the response that came was that they were satisfied.

“Let us go outside, so that the rest of the village can meet you.” Afaf suggested happily. Duke and Frost locked gazes for a moment, considering the possible consequences of this. When they decided that it wouldn’t be too bad, they turned to Afaf and nodded. “Good!” he said excitedly. They walked outside into the blazing sun.

The men had yet to see the village in its busy, awake state. There were dozens of the horses around the street of the main house alone, all going about their day like humans. There were bustling market stands, where the horses were haggling away at various items, like canteens and rugs. Children ran about in the street, and Afaf’s kids ran past the men to go join them. The mares were all wearing very culturally Pakistani garbs, an odd thing, considering they were anywhere but there. Or even on Earth, for that matter. Some were on top of buildings, looking to the mountains with small telescopes, ever vigilant for something.

“What are they looking for?” Duke asked.

Afaf’s face turned grim, looking very serious, the shadows from his features becoming seemingly stronger and darker on the one side of his face. “They are our sentries. They stay on the lookout for the Griffon menace. If they see any coming, we all go into our homes to protect the mares and foals. As long as we stay inside with our blades, they cannot get us, for we have too strong an advantage when they cannot simply fly away.”

Frost absentmindedly scanned the mountains himself, now wary of this clearly present danger, almost expecting an attack at any moment. He had learned back in the Sandbox that attacks could happen any time. “What if they drop ordinance on you? Will the houses hold under it?”

Afaf shook his head. “I know of the ordinance of which you talk. But they have none. It is closely guarded by our military. They will not get their filthy claws on it.” Frost nodded at this, neutral about the response he had received.

Duke wasn’t satisfied, though. “But you can’t guarantee that it can’t happen. If you are attacked with explosives, what will you do? A homemade bomb is easy enough to make. We saw them in Iraq all the time; they’re responsible for most of our military’s casualties in the war.”

Afaf looked at Duke, evidently perturbed by his words. “That cannot be. How can one make a bomb in one’s home?”

Duke shrugged. “Well, all you need is the right chemicals and a det cord or radio trigger. Or they can be timed. Very simple machines can blow up trucks, or I guess...” Duke looked around for a good comparison. He got it when he spotted a large, ornate carriage. “That carriage.”

Afaf looked to the carriage, a look of absolute horror coming across his face. “That carriage could be blown up?” he asked.

Duke nodded. “Yeah. You look troubled.”

“That carriage is the one we will be taking to the capital.” Now Duke understood why he was so scared. He had basically just told him, ‘We might get killed in that thing, even though it seems safe enough!’ He turned to Frost.

“Well, boss, we should probably get going soon.” Frost said, already going towards the carriage. Afaf shouted some word at him, though not in English, and he stopped. “What?”

“We must get supplies for the journey first. Food, water, and weapons.” Frost looked to Duke, who nodded for him to go with it. Free food and water was good for them.

They spent the next hour getting supplies and getting prepared for the two day journey. They went to stands and bought food from shopkeepers, mostly wheat and grain, and had to haggle fiercely in order to get a fair price.

Then, they moved onto the well, a town controlled item that Afaf was able to draw from for free. The guards tried to make Duke and Frost pay up, but Afaf cleared that up quickly, speaking in his native tongue, but using the word ‘Human’. When they heard that, the stallions eased up instantly, eager to help out their new friends.

After that they moved onto weapons, getting spears and crossbows and bolts. “No thanks,” Frost had said. “I got my own.” He showed his FE9 to Afaf, who quickly decided to let them use what they had. In the end, they had several pounds of grain and wheat, close to fifteen gallons of water, and everyone was armed to the teeth.

“You think we have enough?” Frost whispered to Duke, looking to the equipment laden stallions who would apparently be accompanying them. There were three other horses, armored and ready to fight, who would ride in another carriage behind them.

Duke shrugged. “Is that even possible?” he asked. Frost chuckled, and they moved on.

Once they were finally armed and ready to go, it was about half past eleven, and the sun was just starting to beat down on them like a drill instructor to his trainees. It was swelteringly hot, and the crazy amount of things they carried was weighing them down significantly.

One of the horses who would be dragging the carriage came over. “يمكنك وضع كل ذلك في مساحة الأمتعة تحت إذا أردت.” Frost and Duke, still confused about the language, looked to Afaf, who was standing next to them.

“He says, ‘You can put all of that in the baggage space underneath if you like.’” Both men let out a collective “ahh”, and immediately went over to their carriage to dump their battle rattle. For such a simple trip, they might need their weapons and a couple mags at most.

Once everything was in order and they were all set, the caravan headed out into the desert on the only road within miles. Once they were out of the town, a lot of the stallions severely tensed up.

“What’s up, do you think?” Frost asked as he leaned into Duke to whisper.

“You heard them earlier; they’ve been having trouble with an invasion here. They’re probably anticipating an attack.”

Frost groaned. “Ugh, I hope that doesn’t happen.” He looked to the horizon. “That would just be annoying.”

Duke gave his words a curt nod. “Let’s just try to rest. God knows we’re gonna need it.” Frost sighed and complied, and the two men closed their eyes and dozed off for a time.

*********************************************************************************

That night, the caravan had set up a fire, which they all sat around, laughing and telling great stories of the past.

Except for Duke and Frost. They sat off to the side, not particularly unwanted, but not exactly welcome. They hadn’t tried to join in on the fun of the stallions, instead opting to keep their distance. The language barrier was enough, but there was also the weird factor of what exactly they all were. Duke and Frost weren’t interested in making friends either, only in making sure that they completed their mission. The others seemed similar; get the humans to the capital unscathed, get paid, bedone. Purely business.

Duke and Frost were laying down in the dirt, staring up at the night sky, thinking to themselves. Frost thought about who they were looking for, what he might be like. Few people actually knew if they had ever met a CIA guy before, and the one that he had met met the criteria for the stereotype; hard, harsh, almost uncaring of those he spoke to. He hadn’t brought up his thoughts to Duke, since they weren’t that important, but they still persisted. He had met many different kinds of people, good and bad, and he wondered where OGA would fall. He hoped that he would be good, or less than bad; he had met too many of the latter.

Duke thought about home, about his family. He had a mother and father who loved him, and a brother who had gone into the private sector for R&D. He remembered their shock when he said he wanted to go Air Force, and chuckled when he remembered his brother’s words; “I’ll design your next plane!” He loved his life before, and he had a lot to go back to at home. Right now, he just hoped that he would get home.

“Hey, Frost.” he said.

“Yah?” The other man threw his voice in a foreign accent, sounding aloof and as if he were home with people he liked.

“I think we should discuss our RoE.” He sat up and moved over to a rock to lean on it for a backrest. “If we’re attacked by these Griffon invaders, I don’t think we should engage.”

Frost sat up quickly, surprised by his partner’s words. “What?” he asked. “Why not?”

“This isn’t our conflict, so we can’t engage. Plus, these things won’t exactly be the Taliban. We wouldn’t be cleared to engage anyway.”

Frost frowned and furrowed his brow, making lines appear all over his face, shadows cast over by the small fire off to their side. “Then what would we do? If we’re attacked, we won’t have a choice.”

Duke nodded. “Yeah. But if THEY’RE attacked, and we’re left out of it, we don’t go in. Unless we absolutely have to to survive and complete the mission, we don’t get involved.”

Frost took a moment to consider. There was the possibility of being attacked, but if THEY weren’t attacked, Duke had a good point. They didn’t want to pick a fight that would be hard to fight with only two people. And it was the horses’ fight, after all. “Alright. We don’t engage unless forced to.” Duke nodded, and the two men laid back down.

A few minutes later, the fire to their side went out and everyone was going to sleep. Except the sentries, of course, who patrolled the perimeter with hawk-like eyes, scanning the horizon like a set of security cameras, never blinking, never stopping. Frost watched them as they went. “You know that we’ll get sucked into this, right?” Duke only grunted, and the two men went to sleep.

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The next day, they were quickly on the move again, taking little time to get everything together. The horses didn’t seem particularly intent on staying in one place for too long, but this was understandable. Duke and Frost knew what it was like to be in enemy territory with the possibility of an attack at any moment.

They shipped out at 0600. The sky was changing shades, going from its pitch black and peppering of stars to a blood red and blinding sun over the horizon. The men looked around; nothing of civilization was visible any more, not even the town they came from. The world they were now in was cut off from everything, a barren wasteland of terror and potential ambushes. In the mountains of Afghanistan, the area was often called the Valley of Death. Now, they had a new one to deal with.

After they started moving, the stallions seemed to grow extremely tense. Looking around, Frost noticed that their eyes were darting around to the surrounding hills, ever on the watch for an ambush. He turned and looked to Duke, who was doing the same with his own eyes. He felt just a tad uncomfortable with it.

“Hey,” he said, catching Afaf’s attention in front of him. “Why is everyone so tense?”

Afaf kept his eyes on the move, not looking directly at Frost as he answered. “This area has the worst tendency of ambushes.” he explained. “Almost every time we come through, we are attacked.” Frost blinked in front of him. “Do not worry, though.” he said, helping Frost to relax a bit. “They never attack caravans this big.”

The conversation ended there, with Frost’s fears somewhat alleviated, but not enough to keep him from looking around himself. He and Duke had their hands on their guns and the safeties off. Both men chambered rounds in their weapons, drawing a look from Afaf, but they never spoke. The sky was turning blue again, the sun rising up to its peak in the sky. Though the light was blindingly bright, the men and stallions kept their eyes open and on the expansive landscape. Dust was kicked up by the winds, the dry and coarse particles rubbing hard against the skin.

At 1200 hours, they stopped for a break to eat and drink. Duke and Frost hopped off their carriage, blissful over the opportunity to stretch their legs and get some movement out of their systems. They stretched for a good bit, being followed shortly by Afaf.

“We must hurry. We do not want to stay in any place for too long.” Afaf explained. The two men ended their stretches and looked to Afaf. “Come. We must eat and drink.” The men and stallion walked over to the group of stallions, who were all sitting in a circle, watching every direction. They joined the group and ate silently, no one really wanting to talk at the moment.

It was 1252 hours when a huge dust storm rolled in. It rolled in from the mountains, coming out of nowhere. The cloud moved towards them at a breakneck pace, moving rocks as it passed. “واردة! Incoming!” Afaf yelled, hunkering down. The stallions and men dropped to the ground as quickly as they could, already being buffeted by the intense winds. The dust storm slammed into them, bits of pebble shrapnel sandblasting their faces. Duke and Frost had to cover their faces in order to keep the skin on them.

The dust storm settled on them, falling to pieces on top of them and dying out. The men were the first to stand up, taking in their surroundings in as much detail as possible, ensuring that nothing was missing. Their carriage was still there, which was all that they cared about. They noticed the others, though they were turned over and the items they were carrying had spilled out all over the place. It was only by the virtue of the weight of their battle rattle that their carriage had stayed upright.

“الجميع على ما يرام؟” Afaf asked. There were responses of varying energy from his stallions, some sounding like they were right as rain, others sounding like they had swallowed some gritty sand. The men of course didn’t understand, but from the tones, they figured that everyone was alright. “Are you two okay?” Afaf asked the men. They both nodded. “Good.”

The stallions all got up and looked to their carriages, groaning and whining about having to right them. Still, without a moment’s hesitation, they moved over and got to work.

Duke tapped Frost on the shoulder and motioned for him to follow. “We’ll help!” he shouted to the stallions, running over to them. They all just looked on at him, not understanding, but when Duke and Frost got their hands on the flipped side of the carriage, the stallions understood and moved on, grins sneaking onto their faces. The humans seemed alright.

That was when all Hell broke loose. Loud screeches came from the hillside, prompting everyone to look that way. The humans looked over their in pure confusion, while the stallions looked over in pure terror. They all scrambled for their weapons, leaving the men by the carriage. “What’s going on?” Duke shouted.

Shadows appeared all over the ground under them, strange shapes clearly high above. Duke and Frost looked up at the sight; close to two dozen griffons were directly above them, their figures being blackened by the shadows on their bellies and the shapes distorted by the light. Duke didn’t take any time trying to see these things. “Get Down!” he shouted. The men ran to their carriage and took cover.

The griffons were upon the caravan in less than a moment, landing hard, their talons scraping at the ground like a fork to a chalkboard. From their cover, the men looked on at the hostile creatures; their plumage was collectively a very dark brown, with white on their chests and large feathers on their wings. there was an assortment of body paint, ranging from a little on the wings to it being all over their bodies. One, presumably the leader, had painted around his eyes.

“وسوف تكون حرة!” a female voice shouted from the leader’s mouth. Evidently, he was a she. Without waiting for a response, the griffons went right at the stallions, who had barely managed to arm themselves.

The battle was intense from the very beginning. Swords and spears clashed, metal clangs and sparks flying. The griffons clearly outmatched the stallions in skill, especially with the ability to use their talons like hands. The stallions were struggling to repel the attackers, doing their level best to fight back. They weren’t on the right level, though.

Duke and Frost had been waiting at the sideline as he battle raged, but that didn’t stay true for long. At one point, a griffon stabbed one of the stallions with his short sword, knocking him down, and as he screeched his victory screech, looking around, he spotted the two humans. He froze in an instant, his face somehow growing pale through the feathers on his face. “البشر! قتل البشر!!” he shouted. Several other griffons who were standing around, already victorious, turned and saw them. Time seemed to stop for everyone as the true gravity of the situation came into light.

The griffons all screeched loudly, running and flying forward to engage this other threat. “Engage!” Duke yelled, dropping into a stable firing stance. Frost stayed standing, and before the griffons could get even close, they opened fire, 4.7mm rounds and 5.56mm rounds tearing through the enemy combatants. Feathers exploded into the air and screams higher than any screech pierced all present ears as the griffons fell, riddled with bullet holes. The loud bangs from the guns had brought all attention to the men from the rest of the battlefield, the whole thing stopping to observe what had just happened.

The stallions looked on in shock along with the griffons at the sight of the bodies lying on the ground in varying degrees of evisceration. All had their jaws, or beaks, agape, and some were walking backwards, away from the carnage. “تراجع!” the female voice called out, its source flying away as fast as possible. She was immediately joined by another ten griffons, all flying off to escape the fury of modern weaponry.

The men and stallions watched as the griffons all flew off, none intent on following or continuing the fight. As the griffons disappeared over the hillside, Duke called out to the rest of the caravan, “Is everyone alright?” He received responses, still in the other language, in varying degrees of pain, ranging from simple groans to hurried shouts for what he assumed to be help.

He looked to the stallion that he had seen stabbed and ran over, yelling. As he ran, Frost right behind, the other stallions who were uninjured or relatively so ran over as well. The stallion was lying on the ground, bleeding badly from the wound in his chest. Duke dropped to his knees next to the stallion.

“Frost, wraps, now.” he ordered. Frost ran over to their carriage and rummaged through his pack for bandages and gauze pads.. When he finally got them, he sprinted back over, tossing the items to his partner before he arrived. Duke caught them in the air and immediately unrolled them. “This might hurt.” he warned the stallion as he got ready to apply pressure. Before a reaction could be had, he stuffed the pad on the wound and started wrapping the stallion in the bandage. Surprisingly, the stallion only sucked in air through his teeth, and didn’t flail about in pain. When Duke finished, he helped the stallion to his hooves and got under him. “Frost.” His partner joined him under the stallion, and they carried him over to one of the carriages where they let him down.

Duke looked down at himself; he actually didn’t have any blood on him from the stallion. “Nice.” he said, turning around and leaving the stallion in the carriage. Frost ran up to join him.

“Good going, boss.” he complimented. “Let’s hope he ends up alright.” Duke nodded without responding, and the two simply walked on over to their carriage.

“Duke! Frost!” The men turned around to see Afaf running towards them. Behind him, the rest of the stallions were getting into their carriages and hooking up for the rest of the journey. When Afaf got to the men, he stopped and panted for a moment. “That... that was amazing!” he yelled. “I did not know you had such items with you.”

The men looked to each other for a moment. “Sure.” Duke said, turning his attention back to Afaf. “You never know when you might encounter unfriendly people. Or griffons. Whatever.”

Afaf nodded. “Well, it makes me comfortable to have you here. At least those griffon ولد غير شرعي won’t come after us again on this journey.” He ran past them to the carriage, with the men simply going at a leisurely pace.

“Boss, I think we might be involved now.” Frost warned.

“I know, Frost.” Duke replied darkly. “I know.”

Foreign Relations

The remainder of the trip to the capital was uneventful, but everyone had their guard up just in case. They watched the hills as if they might come alive any second, like they were itching to devour the group and swallow it into the never ending wasteland of the desert.

In the last day, they had lost two stallions to wounds sustained in the battle. One had what seemed minor injuries, like small cuts and whatnot, but infection had evidently occurred, and he fell. The other had been stabbed in the chest and bled out over time. Through the remainder of the trip, he was talking in a raspy, resigned voice. “أذهب الآن إلى نهاية كل شيء.”, he kept saying.

Now, the men were told that they would be approaching the city by mid day. It was about 1000 hours.

“So, boss.” Frost initiated. “What do you think we’re gonna see in this city?” He looked up to the sky and put his hands out, like he was beholding some magnificent treasure. “Will we see a glorious city of gold and wonders? Of wealth and triumph?” He let his hands fall down unceremoniously to his lap. “Or will it be a city of poverty and despair?”

Duke chuckled a bit and looked forward. “I think we’ll find out real soon.” He pointed out in the direction that they were heading.

They could see a large city behind a large wall off in the distance. The wall was tall and looked extremely strong, and it loomed over the city as if trying to remind them of the dangers of the wasteland. Behind the wall Duke and Frost could see only a few very tall buildings with a very ornate one in the middle. Presumably, this was the palace. It was tall and white, with golden rings going all the way up the towers at increasingly short intervals. It soared over the buildings that surrounded it, casting shadows over them when the sun was in position. From outside, it seemed to be a glorious city indeed.

It took only a little more time for them to reach the gates to the city and the tall, overbearing sentry towers overhead. At various placements around the base of the wall there were small guard houses with stallions flowing in and out of them constantly. The wall itself was maybe fifty feet high and would block out the sun at any time other than noon, which was not far away. The hot sun bore down on the caravan as it stopped before the gates.

Afaf got out first, followed soon after by the rest of the stallions, and he approached the gate guards. Frost was looking up at the wall while Duke was observing the conversation between the guards and Afaf. The stallions clearly knew each other from the way they bantered, and when they finished Afaf pointed back at the humans. The guard looked and went wide-eyed.

He yelled, “فتح البوابات!” The gates began to open.

Afaf walked back over to the men and pointed into the gate. “Welcome to Akhal Teke. The greatest city in Saddle Arabia.” He turned around to leave, and the men glanced at each other.

“Well, let’s go. Shouldn’t keep a king waiting.” Duke stepped forward and Frost followed.

They fell in behind Afaf as they walked through the giant wall and into the city. When they emerged, the men had to admit that they were impressed. As soon as they got past the wall, there was a bustling city before them. Street markets abounded with all sorts of patrons, horses, little horses, and even griffons, haggling away at the little items that were offered by the vendors. The buildings were mostly two levels high, with rugs or clothes hanging outside most of the windows. They all wore garb that reminded the men of Saudi Arabia back home, and all the stallions were carrying weapons.

“Afaf,” Frost began, getting Afaf to turn around. “Why do all these guys have swords twice the size of my arms with them?”

Afaf laughed. “No need to worry, friend.” he said. “They do not carry them because they expect to fight. They carry them to defend the city against invaders. They will not harm you.” Frost nodded and went on scanning his surroundings.

They walked through the markets with little trouble. The only trouble that they got was from merchants trying to stop them to sell them their wares. Some sold jewelery, others clothes. Some sold food and water. “Boss, let’s get something decent to eat.” Frost suggested at one stand. Duke conceded with no regrets, and Afaf bought them some roasted beef, which they devoured voraciously, getting some looks from the horses around them.

They went on through the market unscathed and proceeded to the palace. When they got there, Duke and Frost stopped at the base of a set of stairs that led up to the front door.

Duke whistled. “Now THAT is a palace.”

The ornate building towered over them, reflecting the bright sunlight off of its gleaming walls and golden arches. The window frames seemed to be polished white marble, blinding and glorious to the eyes. At the base of the walls, there were murals of great battles, all with one stallion leading his soldiers from the front lines.

“Guess that’s supposed to be the king.” Frost stated flatly, never being one to be impressed by those who need to catalogue their deeds so publicly. “Must be real fighter.”

Duke nodded. “Yeah. I bet he-”

“Men!” Afaf called, already going up the steps. “Please, we must hurry. Even you should not keep the king waiting.” He turned around and trotted up the steps, and Duke and Frost cautiously followed behind.

They approached the front door of the palace, a massive set of double doors with more depictions of great battles on them, only now, they were carved into the door and frequently lined with either gold or gems. Frost continued to lose potential respect for the king as he took in the size of the doors and how much crap was on them. “That could be much better used to improve your kingdom” he thought.

Afaf stopped about sixteen meters before the doors. “Just follow my lead.” he said to the men, who simply nodded in reply. He nodded back, and they walked forward to the door. “تحياتي!” Afaf announced.

The guards at the door, there were two, got into battle stance instantly, almost drawing the same reaction from Duke and Frost. “من هو هذا؟ وما هي؟” they asked aggressively. “كنت قد أفضل إجابة بسرعة.” Afaf swallowed hard at their words, enticing the men to put their hands on their weapons.

“هم البشر، من أماكن بعيدة. يمكن أن تساعدنا وسوف تفعل ذلك في تبادل لمساعدتنا.” Afaf replied. The two guards turned their heads and looked at each other incredulously, then looked to the humans behind Afaf. There was a hint of recognition in their eyes, and they retracted their stances and stood at attention.

“شكرا لك.” Afaf said, walking past the guards. As Duke and Frost walked by, they observed the guards closely. Both looked extremely nervous, like they knew if they messed up, they would be beheaded. The men walked past and ignored it, seeing as it was none of their business.

The inside of the palace was even greater than the outside; everything was decorated. The tables had purple cloth draped over them with a silver chalice or candlesticks on each one. The pillars that held up the palace were wrapped in ornate golden ropes that went from the floor to the ceiling, almost a hundred feet above. From the ceiling, there were crystal chandeliers with bright, burning candles in them, odd for the daytime. The windows that let the light in were all stained glass depictions of either more battles or some ancient event, like the crowning of a king and queen.

The floor was unbelievable; it looked like the tiles were their equivalent to Pietra Firma, but obsidian tiles with dozens of diamonds placed into them. They sparkled and glistened in the light, giving the floor the look of the night sky, twinkling stars dominating black background. There were red and purple carpets everywhere, creating more of the feeling that this was the house of royalty, where peasants dared not traverse.

They quickly made their way through all the wide and lavish hallways to the throne room door, constantly under the nervous and ashamed eyes of the guards, who resided in every corner of every room. The door was large and gold, with emeralds and sapphires cut into patterns to resemble grass and water, two things that this region clearly had little of.

“Wait here.” Afaf ordered, and walked over to a guard in front of the door. They began to speak, and the men decided not to bother listening this time.

“What do you think they’re gonna want from us?” Frost asked in a normal voice. None of the horses around them would understand anyway. “We need to find OGA, and they might know where he is. They’ll want something in return.”

Duke grunted. “We already got involved in their war. That’s probably what they’ll want from us.” He looked over to Afaf and the guard, who were having a heated exchange for whatever reason. “But I can’t help but think that this isn’t how we want things to go.”

Frost chuckled. “When have things ever gone how people want them to go?” Duke chuckled back, and they ended their conversation.

Afaf returned, fuming, and stomped past the men. “What happened?” Frost asked, nervous about what they might have to deal with.

“سخيف الحمار. The king is ‘too busy’ to see us right now, even though we sent him a message explaining what is happening. We cannot see him today.”

Duke frowned. “Then where are we gonna put our stuff?” he asked. “We can’t just leave it outside to be stolen.”

“No worries about that.” Afaf replied, waving a hoof yet still walking. “Your other things will be sent to guest rooms in the palace. You will also be sleeping here tonight. But you will not see the king until tomorrow.” He was clearly not happy about this, but as long as they had their stuff, the men didn’t really care.

“Why the offense?” Frost asked. “Maybe something came up.”

Afaf sighed. “You are unfamiliar with our culture. This I forgot.” They stepped outside and back into the blazing sun, but this time, they were in a garden. “Here, courtesy and respect means much. We told him we would be here, so it is expected that we will be received. When we are not, it is clear that we are not worth his time. Considering who YOU two are, this is great offense to all of us.”

Duke shrugged as they entered the garden. “Well, you never know what might have come up.” he began to explain. “If the kingdom is under serious attack anywhere by those jerkoffs we met on the road, he might need to deal with that. That’s pretty important.”

Afaf put his hoof to his chin and stopped, considering this. “Maybe you are right.” he said. “But we will not know until tomorrow.”

They walked through the remainder of the garden in silence. It was a magnificent garden, with all kinds of amazing desert flowers and foreign plants growing in it. There was a big marble fountain in the middle, the water being spewed from the mouth of the statue of a well dressed stallion. “Is this the king?” Duke asked Afaf, who nodded. He nodded to himself and they continued.

The garden quickly ended, and they found themselves in the street. They were in the wealthier section of the city, clearly, as all the houses had at least three levels. There were very well dressed horses everywhere, often trailed by a less nicely dressed one. “I guess this is the wealthy district?” Frost asked.

Afaf nodded, now smiling big and waving his front leg around. “This is the best section of the city. There is never crime here, and the residents are the best you will meet.”

The men looked around more, taking in what they were surrounded by. The horses were all traveling around in small groups, accompanied by servants, and were laughing and having a good time. They seemed decent enough.

“No crime, huh?” Frost asked. He was looking at a servant mare who was being reamed at by her master. He struck her, causing Frost’s jaw to clench. “Then what do you call that?”

Afaf looked around, apparently confused. “Call what?” Frost pointed forward. “Oh, that? They’re just slaves being given discipline. No need to worry yourself about their masters.” Frost blinked twice, then looked at Duke, who was also speechless. They didn’t give half a damn about the masters; What about the slaves? “Come, let me show you the traditional ways of the markets.” Afaf lead the men out of the wealthy section, with Frost looking back at the abusive master and his mare-slave.

They walked on back to the markets, where Afaf was to show them how to haggle. He stopped at a jewelery and bauble stand that was selling mostly necklaces and wristbands that would barely fit most human wrists. Duke and Frost stood next to Afaf as he haggled away, trying to take in the ways of the country. “You speak Equish?” Afaf asked the stand owner. The owner nodded. “Good.”

They went at it in ‘Equish’, Afaf trying to buy two necklaces for one hundred fifty bits, apparently that was their currency, as opposed to the in hundred seventy-four that was written as their price tags. While he did that, Duke stopped paying particular attention and paid more attention to his surroundings, leaving Frost to listen to the haggling. He noticed that few in the marketplace were actually looking at them now, either not caring or being too afraid to. When he looked into the eyes of one of the small horses, it shied away, trying to hide itself in a crowd.

His scanning was interrupted when a voice cried out. “سرق أموالي!” Duke looked to his right where the source was; there was a mare yelling and pointing after some stallion that was running in Duke’s direction with a sack in his mouth. The others in the crowd also yelled, but none made a move to stop him.

When he got close, Duke stepped out and extended his arm out, causing the stallion to slam into his forearm and crash to the ground. Afaf and Frost turned around, stunned and smirking respectively, and watched as Duke walked over to the grounded stallion. “No.” he said, putting his foot on the stallion’s side. He tore the sack of money out of his mouth and turned around.

The victim had already run over to get her money back, but slowed down when she saw that it was Duke, and not a stallion or griffon. When she stopped in front of him, she swallowed hard and looked terrified.

“I believe this is yours.” Duke said, extending the sack out to the mare. She looked at it, then him, then back at it. Then she took it, muttered something, and turned and ran off. Duke was left to scratch his head. “Odd.”

Frost slapped him on the shoulder. “Nice work, man.” he complimented. They both looked around at the gathered crowd. “But maybe it’s time to split.” Duke nodded and they turned to Afaf.

“One moment.” Afaf turned back to the mare at the stand and said some things, which were quickly followed by him receiving the necklaces at a greatly discounted price. “Here.” he said, giving them to the men. “You earned a lot of respect just now.” The men took the necklaces and gave their thanks and the group walked back to the palace.

They went back through the wealthy district, Afaf saying how, “It is safer this way.” the whole time. The men were unhappy about going back through the pretentious section of the city, but obliged in an effort to avoid being rude.

They walked through the area with little happening. The residents occasionally gave them passing glances, but always kept their eyes off the men, like looking at them would give them eye cancer or herpes or something. They seemed to have no desire to associate with anyone who wore working clothes. “Pompous jerkoffs.” Duke muttered out of Afaf’s earshot. Frost had to agree.

Pretty soon, they were back to approaching the palace gardens. They were about to enter when Frost heard something nearby. “كيف تجرؤ أنت تنظر لي في تيه العين!” It was followed by the sound of a body hitting the ground like a brick and a cry of pain.

“You guys head on,” Frost said, intent on investigating. “I need to check something.” As he walked away, Duke and Afaf exchanged glances, then quickly followed behind Frost.

They didn’t talk, but they knew where Frost was going. They followed him all the way to the source of the scuttle, a mare lying on the ground with a very unhappy stallion over her. “لقد حان الوقت الذي تعلمته مكانك!” the stallion yelled, raising his hoof.

Before anyone but Duke could say anything, and he didn’t, Frost was next to the stallion, holding his hoof in place in the air. “I think not, buddy.” The stallion turned and looked at his aggressor, and paled as soon as he laid eyes on him. “You speak Eng- Equish?” The stallion nodded. “Good. Now, hear this; you aren’t ever going to hit anyone ever again. Got it?”

The stallion swallowed. “No, I do what I want.” Frost squeezed the stallion’s leg hard, making him fall. Afaf yelled something in the background, but Duke was holding him back. “No, you don’t. It’s guys like YOU that I hate, who make the world suck.” He out his hand on the handle of his FE9. “Now, are you going to hit anyone ever again?”

“Hah!” a male voice shouted. Frost looked up at a stallion who had burst out of the house. He was quite large. “Release my son.”

Frost smiled. “Sure.” He tossed the son to the side and stepped in front of the mare, getting between her and the new guy. “So to what do I owe the lack of care?”

The stallion snarled. “You have attacked my son.” Frost shrugged. “You show us great disrespect with this.”

Now it was Frost’s turn to frown. “Well, you showed her great disrespect. So why should I show you any?”

“She is a slave. She-”

“You know, I’m getting really tired of your crap. Now I’m gonna tell you the same thing that I told your rotten apple.” He pointed at the mare. “You can either never hurt anyone like her again, or I can make sure you don’t.”

The stallion growled. “You want to stop me from treating my property how I wish?” he asked. He pulled out a five inch knife and held it in his teeth. “Then take it.”

Frost turned around and looked at his companions; Afaf looked horrified, but Duke just looked impatient. “You can do this now or you can keep wasting time.” he said. “Just do something.”

Frost turned to the stallion, a wide smile splayed out across his face. “Alright.”

The stallion, still growling and snarling, moved the knife so that he could speak. “Here are the rules; we fight to the death, unless one of us yields. The winner gets any three things from the other that they want. Such is our way in this city. Do you accept?”

Frost nodded, hand on his knife. “Yes.”

The mare and son got away from the action, leaving Frost and the stallion alone in the street. The stallion held his knife out, smiling confidently. Frost had been waiting to say this for a long time. “That’s not a knife.” he said in his best Crocodile Dundee voice, pulling out his FE9. “THAT’s a knife.”

The stallion gaped at the nine inch blade and dropped his own knife on the ground. Frost took the chance and got right up in there, holding the knife firmly against the neck of the stallion. “Submit?” The stallion nodded, slowly, to avoid cutting himself, and stepped back.

Frost stepped back, satisfied at a job well done, and thought about his demands. It didn’t take much thought. “I want her.” he said, pointing at the mare. She walked right over to him. “I want...” he forgot what he was asking for. Lost, he looked to Duke.

“Some beers.” Frost nodded and repeated that to the stallion, who grumbled the whole time he had his slaves get the things.

“And last, I want you to release your slaves.” The stallion clenched his jaw and didn’t do anything for a moment. “Well?” He sighed a frustrated sigh, and called his slaves before him. When he released them, they all cheered and ran off, except for the mare by Frost’s side. “Good.”

He turned to her and extended his hand. “Are you alright?” She just looked up at him, scared, and he knelt down, still extending his hand. “Can you speak... Equish?”

“Yes.” she responded automatically. She put her hoof in his hand and stood, though wobbly.

“You’re free to go now.” Frost explained, turning around and going back to his companions. “Do as you like.”

The group of three walked off towards the gardens, leaving behind many elated slaves and a very angry family. “Well, Frost. You just made us plenty of nice friends but one probably powerful enemy.” Duke shrugged. “But I doubt that it’ll come back to us. You know, things going how we want them to and all.”

Frost shook his head, sighing a happy sigh. “Well, it’s no different now than when we were operating in places like Kandahar or the Triangle of Death. At least we know how to operate.” Duke chuckled a little at this and they continued on.

They walked through the garden gates, and right after, they heard a clatter of metal on metal right behind them. “ماذا؟” Afaf shouted, spinning around to see what was going on. The men turned with less gusto, not as caring about what was going on. There were the two guards at the entrance stopping the passage of a mare in rags. “نخرجها من هنا!”

The two guards started moving to grab the mare, but Duke and Frost stepped forward. “Stop!” they both shouted. The action halted instantly, the two guards looking back curiously and Afaf looking confused. The men stepped forward to get a look at the mare.

It was the mare that Frost had gotten away from that stallion. She was held back by the gate guards, apparently having tried to follow them into the garden. The men took a better look at her; she was an alabaster mare, short, more like a pony. She had a blonde mane that looked like it had been scuffed up daily and a messy blonde tail. Her eyes were a striking blue, like those of a Husky.

“Are you following us?” Duke asked. The mare nodded. “Well, you deal with this,” he ordered, turning to Frost. “I didn’t cause this.”

Frost sighed. “What is your name, mare?”

She shrunk away, getting as small as possible, and replied, “I am Amel of Kyrg.”

“Why are you following us, Amel? We don’t like being followed.” He moved closer as he finished his statement to emphasize his point.

She looked up at the two guards, nervously, then turned her head to face Frost. “I want serve you. It is all I know, ever since I was little. I not do anything else.”

Frost knelt and put his arm on his knee. “You know, we can’t really take any servants or slaves. That’s not what we do or what we need.”

“Let me go with you!” she said, catching herself right after shouting. She quieted down considerably, almost whispering, “Please. They will hurt me if I don’t have someone who protects me...”

Frost inwardly sighed and looked to Duke. Duke looked at him flatly, his expression saying, If you don’t choose now, I’ll choose for you. He glanced back at the mare, contemplating his options. She wanted to travel with them, but she didn’t understand what they did.

“Tell you what.” he said, standing back up. “You can travel with us; but there are some rules that’ll come with this.” He looked down at her, trying to be intimidating to dissuade her from wanting to go with them. “One: we will be busy A LOT. We won’t always be around, so you can’t expect us to be. Two: What we do is dangerous, more than you will know. You have to be able to handle yourself and do exactly as we say in the event that danger comes to us. Three: Whenever we stop in a town or city, you will remain in the town or city.” He turned to Duke, who was looking on with his own contemplative look. “Anything else?”

“Yeah.” he said. He stepped forward and walked between the guards, making a clearing. “You absolutely will not touch any of our things without us giving you the okay.”

The mare swallowed hard again and looked between the two humans for a time. She could see the hardness in their expressions, their faces conveying to her just how dangerous it would be to go with them. She could tell that there would be a lot going on with these two in the near future.

“Okay.” she said. Duke nodded and Frost took in a deep breath. The guards moved aside for the mare to move in and the men turned to walk to the palace. Afaf looked at her with disdain before turning around and walking away. She followed quickly, fearful of the royal guards at either side of her.

As she caught up to her savior and his friend, she couldn’t help but wonder about just how much change and excitement would come with the arrival of these two beings of legend. She wondered if they would bring as much excitement as the last one, if they would be able to do as much as he had. She wondered if they were as strange as the last one had been.

But most of all; she wondered if going with them was the right choice.

Hail to the King