Attitude is the difference between an Ordeal and an Adventure.
- Anonymous

They did reach Drum Hills. Alive.

But nothing improved. Hills, Alexandra surmised - were NOT her favorite landform. For every two steps she took, there was some small rock, pebble or slippery moss growth sitting deceptively, with the only goal to slip her off.

She was glad for her mountain climbing lessons. They were not as challenging as this, but rather relatable. And the main point was that there were encampments here.

And the men, were not grunting. They were shouting, roaring and indiscriminately yelling. And the amplitude was high enough to make her ears ache.

They stopped behind one camp. Alexandra peeped in -

A man stood in the center, in front of him was a huge plate of white thing - salt. Even as Alexandra watched, he picked the salt up, in fistfuls and began rubbing them across his whole face. The white crystals turned pink as his skin scraped off and then - red.

He thrust his hand into the plate once again - picked up the salt and rubbed them over. Blood kept dripping and turning the white substance pink - to crimson to dark red. And he didn't so much as wince. 

Alexandra was rooted to the spot, kneeling down by the encampment and watching the progress, horrified. Her legs seemed to have turned to lead. She'd seen a lot of things, but this - she had no idea what he was doing. Or - why.

'Mabel, come on!' Watson whispered, pulling at her shoulder.

'What's he doing?!' Alexandra demanded, not moving. She pulled him down, beside her and pointed inside the tent. Watson frowned at the thing, his face darkened and he shook his head.

'He is rubbing himself with salt - so that when he's hit - it doesn't hurt him. He's increasing his - tolerance. And, it means they are deadly serious about what they are doing... now come!' He hissed, and pulled her off.

But that was the end of violence. The others were all behaving and appearing pretty normal. Laughing and joking. Playfully pounding each other on the back or the chest. But it all made Alexandra's spine shiver. Everything felt hostile. Each movement of theirs felt deadly. She had been among hundreds of men before as well. But that had felt challenging and friendly. Healthy. This, was downright a death trap. Spying here was impossible. They could only stay for sometime and then run away. It was the only sane thing possible.

Some - with their faces covered, were practicing to run down the hills at terrifying pace. Others were flipping over, archery practice, sword fighting, unarmed combat and some were even having breakfast. Why not, terrorists felt hungry too!

'Why are we even continuing?!' Alexandra asked the two men, 'We know they are terrorists- let's go back!'

'Where's the proof? They could be something else- they haven't got any arms. This could be a- summer camp!' Daniel said.

'Exactly, Captain. It isn't written on their foreheads WE ARE TERRORISTS. We need better proof.'

'Fine!' Alexandra grumbled, 'Bu-'

'Shh,' Said Daniel, 'There!' He pointed to somewhere in the distance. Alexandra followed his finger...

One camp stood out from the rest. Not only in sheer size... but also, it was the material... not any cheap quality tent. This was a military camp.

And even in that- not any military camp. It was a makeshift weaponry. Used by soldiers in wars.

The three spies looked at each other. If they were thinking the same thing as Alexandra- this was a Storage Centre. And it was conclusive evidence. Ammunition in non-military regions was conclusive proof of terrorism. Of indirect warfare.

'That camp's inviting us inside,' Watson nodded, adjusting his dagger-belt.

'And we accept the invite.' Daniel completed. The overcast sky didn't seem so gloomy anymore. Just one trip inside that camp and then, they could return. Easy enough.

That's one thing a spy should never say.

Easy.

The three of them entered the camp- it was dark inside. A conical ceiling with a skull - definitely artificial - hanging from its tip like a chandelier.

Terrorists had a sense of humor, after all. Huge regions were curtained off. It struck Alexandra a bit suspicious. No guards? No traps? Watson pushed aside one side of the curtains. No alarm went off. Beyond the curtain was a disarray of weapons. Swords and shields, helmets, bows and arrows - in fact, the most populous weapon here was the one Alexandra carried in her own sheath.

Daggers.

'What's this?' Daniel said, walking towards the bit of exposed weaponry. The area was so quiet that his footsteps sounded like bricks falling, 'They have left their weaponry exposed? Is this is a trap or are they utter fools?'

'Unfortunately for you, Spy, this IS a trap.'

The two things Alexandra hated most, was when the enemy succeeded in either duping them, or in surrounding them. Here, they had done both.

As soon as the deep, male voice answered Daniel's question, both Alexandra and Watson turned and hurried backwards, stopping on either side of Daniel. The sight that then met their eyes was not pretty at all.

They were pushed in front of the weapons behind them. And facing them stood a huge, tall man... Alexandra couldn't see his face in the darkness - but it made no difference anyhow- flanking him, on each side, stood at least fifteen other men.

Great. Thirty armed men against three disoriented spies.

'Oh yes, very smart!' Alexandra said, nevertheless, 'Thanks for the weapons right behind us, at least you didn't leave us unarmed.'

The central man laughed. A true, humorous laugh. 'So, woman, you think that junk is real weapons?' He laughed again, Alexandra turned back- how could she have missed it before! These were bent swords, useless arrows, broken bows and almost all shields had holes in them. Even the daggers were damaged.

'Stop laughing, idiot.' Watson said, 'Of course they are weapons. Just because a human loses a leg, he doesn't become a monkey!'

'QUIET!' Bellowed the man- with astonishing force, 'Three puny spies- against the thirty of us, and you talk! You still live, only because I am too amused-'

'Call a hundred more men and then perhaps we'll be well-matched!' Daniel said, cutting him across.

'I said, Quiet! And then you might as well have a quick death!' He replied, throwing a dagger at Daniel, who simply bent to the right side - Alexandra thrust her hand forward and caught the dagger, she threw it to Watson - who was a bit ambidextrous - though his right hand didn't work as well as his left.

'That's one weapon extra for us!' Watson said, 'Come on, Captain, let's show this dog and his pack, some of our Master's tricks!'

Together, the three of them charged.

The men were armed, but woefully untrained. Alexandra kicked one in the chest, he collapsed. She picked up his shield and sword, tossing the sword into the pile of junk, she proceeded deeper with the shield.

Compared to the Agents Alexandra had fought, these men were kids. It might have been only half and hour when the leader- he now had a nasty gash across his face (which Alexandra had made) and didn't look as confident as before- whistled.

'He's calling reinforcements!' Watson yelled across the camp, 'I say- Arnold's Tenth Detention!'

Arnold's Tenth Detention was nothing but the code word for "gather close and retreat". Arnold had been one particularly notorious agent who always ran away from detentions, mid-way through them. He'd been caught in his tenth one- so the code word also implied that being caught would be fatal.

'We're into the Lake!' Alexandra protested- nothing but saying that we're winning- because the Lake was a beautiful place to be in, like victory.

'No!' Daniel called out, 'Tenth Detention!'

So they did.

Alexandra, Daniel and Watson ran- not looking back. The burst of light, though it was a dark day, made Alexandra's head swirl.

Losianish are fast runners Alexandra's mind reminded her,

Can't you ever tell me something worthwhile?! She replied, running faster than she could have even imagined herself to do.

Behind them, the terrorists- now with reinforcements, ran in hot pursuit. They were catching up.

Alexandra had no choice.

'CLOSE WINDOWS!' She yelled- close your eyes she meant by that, but if the chasers heard it the simple way- they would close theirs too and then her Red Chili and Pepper Powder would be of no use.

Red Chili and Pepper Powder.

Evil, but necessary. Running, she thrust her hand into the pouch next to Moira's sheath and pulled out the smaller pouch, opening the mouth of it and closing her eyes she threw it behind her back.

One half glance behind was all she managed. It helped raise her spirits. The powder had worked, half the people were on the ground, shouting for water and covering their eyes.

'Just a bit more!' Watson said, the end of the hill was in view, they skidded to a stop right at the edge of the cliff, Watson took out the rope-hook, he held it in one hand, 'Daniel, you first - we both will hold it. Mabel's light- I can manage alone,'

'You mad Elf!' Alexandra said, 'What about you?!'

'I'll hook it!' He replied, as Daniel began climbing down, without wasting a second. Alexandra held the rope hard, squatting beside Watson, whom she currently wanted to push downhill.

'And they'll pull off the hook!' She said,

'Look- it's the only way!'

'Shut up!'

'Go!'

'No!'

'I said, Go!'

'No!'

'Mabel- LEAVE!'

Just a for second, they stared- then Alexandra accepted it. It was no use wasting time. She held the rope and jumped down, landing on one of the boulders- seven to eight minutes was all it took for her to step down, beside Daniel.

But it was too bad- Alexandra watched as the rushing Losianish had almost closed upon Watson. No, hooking was no solution.

'DON'T HOOK! JUMP!' Daniel cried above. Thunder cracked over head. It would burst down any second, 'I SAID- JUMP!'

'I DON'T BELIEVE YOU ONE BIT!' Watson yelled back, simultaneously sticking the Central Terrorist's dagger into the heart of one man who'd come closer to him than the rest, 'BUT FINE!' And he jumped.

'Mabel, your cloak- fast, we have only a minute!' Daniel said. Alexandra didn't even realize what he was speaking, but she unfastened the black cloak and handed it to him.

Daniel spread it open, like a bed sheet, 'Hold the other two ends- like a trampoline!'

'Oh!' Alexandra said, as she finally understood. She grabbed the other two corners of the cloak, spreading it between them. The two agents looked above them- silently thanking the overcast sky, there was no sun falling into their eyes, to bar their vision. They shifted five steps behind. Watson landed right on the cloak and jumped back to his feet.

'BAD!' HE cried, 'BUT THANK YOU!'

'WHATEVER, RUN!' Alexandra replied, crumpling the cloak and throwing it behind her- there was no way she could fasten it back on. The terrorists were very agile at hill climbing, they were almost down. Just as they began running again, the rains started pouring.

The three agents ran for dear life. They plunged into the Scorpion Forest, thankfully, the rains had driven them into their shelters. Not that Alexandra would have cared. She was running too fast for her brain to be able to think.

The Terrorists were still in tow. Branches and wild shrubs tore at her clothes, grazing her skin. All the sweat and blood mingling with the rain - and water from her eyebrows dripped into her eyes, barring her vision at times. She wiped them with her arm and ran a bit faster- aware of the pain, but ignoring it.

Alexandra hadn't imagined she'd be so happy to see that narrow, rickety bridge. This time, the spies didn't even care for weight or narrowness. They simply rushed on, like the bridge was another huge bit of normal road. It wobbled horribly underfoot.

'This will break!' She cried, stopping for a second. One look at the wood beneath her foot and as if on cue, the bridge- where her right foot had been - simply broke off.

Alexandra would have collapsed into the never ending abyss, had Watson not grabbed her by the arm just then. He didn't say a word, they simply continued running, not daring to stop again.

Alexandra fell on her knees on the other side of the bridge. Panting and rasping and coughing. The two men behind her twirled and slashed the two ropes holding the bridge steady- connecting it to this side of the Drum Corner.

Alexandra got up and turned. The terrorists were trapped on the other side of the abyss. Rain continued pouring as Watson and Daniel collapsed on either side of her, panting. Their hair plastered on their faces and their clothes dripping.

'We're alive!' Alexandra said, sheathing Moira, her band had broken, leaving her wet, chestnut brown hair was splattered across her shoulders, tumbling down to her tailbone. She wiped her forehead, the wet rain holding on.

'Right,' Said Watson, 'And we taught them a good lesson.'

'You have a point.' Daniel said, 'They'll think twice before messing with Idgardians now.'

'That's fine- but do any of you realize they saw us? That now, if the Losianish Monarch is helping them- they might release their whole constabulary after us?!' Alexandra said,

'Watson, they saw us?' Daniel asked, his lips quivering,

'Exactly, I wonder too - they saw us, Dan?!'

'What are you two saying?!' Alexandra asked, exasperated.

'How many men did you see, Mabel?' Daniel asked, 'It was too dark in the camp. And later, they saw our backs - then half of them got Red chili powder into their eyes. They saw us, yes.'

Alexandra didn't reply, her constricted chest seemed to be opening up, part by part. This was definitely the best news, so far, 'Wonderful,' She said, 'GREAT! I mean, great!' She said again, laughing.

'Exactly, great.' Said Watson, 'Now, is my salary getting cut, Sir?'

'If you don't stop having a dig at me, certainly, Agent!' Daniel replied.

'Whatever that may mean,' Alexandra said, 'let's go back. I need food or I'll die,'