Neil felt like his head was full and his body waded through molasses, just until Calliope's hands pressed against his flesh. The ground, or the horse more accurately, leaped up and Neil felt everything go from sluggish to weightless, and he flipped over. His head hit the ass of the horse and before he knew it, his body hit the creek with a splash. He sucked in some water involuntarily, and then yanking his head out, he hacked as he tried to breathe in precious air. His soul might be in the realm between life and death but his body was very warm and alive, and he wanted to keep it that way. At least until he'd die doing something fun. 

"Good, you're awake." She said, crossing her arms and gazing around them. 

"I agree," He deadpanned. He wasn't certain if they were going to make it, and now that they were here he was bewildered they had attempted that dreadful crossing. He got off his knees and sat down in the pool, taking handfuls of the water and drinking greedily. He was careful so as not to shove more water down the wrong pipe, but he felt parched. He hadn't thought of where they were, but he didn't really care until he felt something sharp prickling his skin below the neck. 

He stopped drinking, freezing in place and slowly looking up. For a moment he thought Calliope had turned on him for some reason, but instead he saw two riders swathed in tan linen, with leathery faces and dark beards. If he had to guess, they wore chainmail under their fabrics. One held a long saber in his hand, mounted on a short pony. He glared at Neil in a very familiar way; the city watch had given him that look many times. The other man was atop a strange, humped creature with an elongated neck. A kameel? Camel? One of those, and in his hand was a wicked looking whip. He had a scimitar sheathed, but he seemed to favor the longer weapon. 

"Ma hi kalimat alsir?" The one threatening Neil demanded harshly. 

"No thanks, I'm on a diet." 

He pulled his sword away and struck Neil hard with the pommel. Red flashed across the thief's vision and he realized now wasn't the time to be clever. He caught himself before he slapped into the water again, tougher than he looked. The thief contemptuously wiped blood off his lip, blinking away the stars. 

"What is the password?" The man asked, now in the northern tongue. 

"Password for...for what?" Neil inquired. Yet again a wrong answer. This time it looked like the man would strike blade first, but just as he went to cleave Neil from collarbone to chest, the saber hit something unknown. A small pocket of blackness, and through it the same saber had cut through. Only now, it had chopped into its own user's head. Neil watched dumbly as the man gasped equally as dumbly and swayed, blood now dribbling down his head. A few seconds later, he collapse into the water. Calliope looked at her nails as if she were bored with the whole affair. Neil scrambled to his feet just as the second man recovered and uncoiled his whip, and instead of going for Neil, he glared at the dark woman and snapped it at Calliope. Too quickly for the witch to do the same trick twice. Luckily, Neil was smooth on his feet as always.

"Insolent wench!" He yelled.

The whip was suddenly caught by Neil's forearm, wrapping around it like a constrictor. The raider had attacked something with some physical strength, which he likely wasn't used to. With a heave, the dark haired scoundrel yanked the man off the strange mount. It snorted and groaned oddly, but did not panic as a horse might have. As the man fell, Neil reversed his arm and punched him in the face as he fell, adding to the momentum of the hit. The desert dweller lay moaning in the pool. 

"Thanks," She said and laid a hand on his shoulder. Neil found it was coming easier to her, at least. He gave her a wink, and with the gusto of a man who made things up as he went along for most of his life, he did not mount the pony or the horse, but deftly climbed atop the Camel. The beast complained but didn't bolt, and Neil offered a hand to Calliope. When she took it, he grinned. "You'll be happy to know I have a plan." 

"It's what I pay you for..." She said, and then paused. "When we get paid, that is." 

The next ten minutes was a flurry of activity in what Neil and Calliope discovered was an oasis. The Camel and the two intruders had trotted off, and a wailing, undulating cry in the native's tongue blew into the wind. The Camel they had procured burst out of the undergrowth of hard ferns and tropical trees and galloped into a sea of endless sand and dunes, the sun looming over the land like an ancient god. Soon, men on camels and stout ponies whooped and chased the camel in pursuit, scimitars and other blades flashing as the sand kicked up. They would overtake the beast in less than an hour at this pace, if Neil had to guess.

Luckily, Neil and Calliope watched with interest from the safety of the bushes. At Neil's insistence, they had dismounted the Camel at the edge of the oasis and he had slapped its ass so it would make headway into the desert, kicking up sand and making it seem as if the two had made for the wastes in a mad dash. Now they watched as seven mounted men had trailed the camel, and all 8 figures had disappeared over the nearest hills of dry nothingness. 

"Now let's go see what exactly they're guarding here," Neil said with a playful nudge of his shoulder to the woman, the two kneeling under the ferns conspiratorially.