WARRIORS DEFEND THE VILLAGE

It has been quiet around the Village. Too quiet. The warriors have all grown restless. The other Masks have been gossiping and pointing.

However, recently a Tribe member out looking for firewood found a strange scrap of cloth torn off by a stone. It certainly was unlike anything the Tribe has made. Everyone agreed at the council that it was evidence of Outsiders!

And so the Tribe has dispatched you brave Warriors to find the source of the cloth. Who wore it? Why were they so close to our Village?

You grab your war axes and go in all directions to find the one who wears cloth like the scrap.

Suddenly you spot them...

A person dressed in rags, wrapped head to toe with a cloth just like the piece that was found!

They see you just as you call out your war cries and charge with your axes waving over your heads.

They are unafraid. They draw a gleaming Scimitar from a red sash at their waist. They prepare to meet you in battle.

But you have other ideas, my brave Warriors. You attack to kill

**THE FIGHT **

The warrior and the Nomad face off.

The scimitar gleams as the rag-bedecked Nomad swings it this way and that. The sword whistles as it cuts through the air almost as if the blade is singing!

One by one the Nomad deftly parries every attack by each Warrior. All that you can see are their eyes between strips of cloth, a predator’s gaze, twinkling with apparent joy.

You have attacked alone. You have attacked in pairs. In threes, and in numbers more. But the Nomad is too fast for you all.

The Nomad seems to be enjoying the sport. Every attack is dodged, side-stepped, blocked with the whirling blade, one hand behind their back.

You are not damaged by the Nomad just somewhat humiliated. They are toying with you!

Until the warrior has an idea. The flash of the scimitar blade is the hint.

The warrior maneuvers the fight out into the open, circling to the north and then the east. The sun is high in the sky and its light reflects perfectly off their war axe which they tilt to aim the dazzling rays into the eyes of the Nomad.

The Nomad stumbles. It is only for a moment but the warrior is able to strike home! A direct slash of the axe into the blinded Nomad’s face.

The war axe hits something hard under the strips of cloth! The Nomad’s arms go up, clutching at their rag-covered head. They jerk back, and something drops, falling to the ground and bouncing once before landing flat.

It is a Mask!

You all stare at this treasure losing track of the Nomad and in just that instant they escape.

But for the warrior, all that matters is the Mask!

The warrior has defended the Village and the Tribe.

A great Warrior!