In the afternoon, near a coastal village in the peninsula.
The trio approached their first destination. It was visible from the horizon.
A city-like village it was. Its size was expansive, yet its looks were primitive compared to the towns of Mesopotamia. The buildings were made from clay, and the streets were unpaved.
Haider looked at Taz and Daghir and said, "Here's our first destination. The fishermen's village."
Daghir looked at Haider and said, "Is that its name? sounds bland."
"The village has no name. It's called the fishermen's village because fishermen occupy it," Haider replied.
"I've heard from A'saal that this village is a hub for spies since it's the closest to Mesopotamia," Taz said.
"Not only spies, deserters as well. Keep yourselves hidden and don't attract attention," Haider said.
Daghir smiled at Haider and said, "Taz and I can do that, but I doubt someone like you can."
Haider pointed at land between two hills and said, "I'll camp over there." He looked at Daghir and said, "In the meanwhile, you and Tanaz have the choice to stay in the village or join me."
Taz looked at Haider and asked, "How long are we staying here?"
"Three days, then we'll depart again," Haider replied.
"Can we leave our horses with you? I doubt this village is trustworthy," Daghir wondered.
Haider nodded and said, "Go ahead."
Daghir and Taz disembarked their horses and went to the village on foot. Haider, in the meanwhile, guided their horses to his secluded camp.
Daghir looked at Taz and chirped, "Isn't this great!? We're exploring new lands."
Taz smiled at him and said, "Seeing you excited like a child is adorable."
Daghir chuckled, then said, "The felines yearn for the open fields! Besides, going outside the borders is a pleasant change."
Taz chuckled, then said, "I guess you're correct."
An armed bandit cut them off when they stepped onto the village's border. The bandit stood haughtily before them and said, "Hold it, you two!"
They stopped as they wanted to humor the man.
The bandit pointed at the village and said, "You need to pay a toll before you step into the village."
"By what authority?" Taz asked.
"By the authority of the village's chief," The bandit said proudly.
Daghir smiled at him and said, "I assume you have something to prove you belong to the village's guards."
The bandit smiled arrogantly, flashed them with the arrows' medallion and said, "Here's your proof!"
Daghir and Taz looked at each other in shock.
Daghir lunged at the bandit, pinned him to the wall, beat him brutally and asked angrily, "Where did you get this medallion!?"
The bandit coughed blood and said, "The medallion is for the village's guards."
Daghir smashed the bandit's nose with his forehead and shouted, "I'll fucking kill you if you don't speak!"
The bandit gargled his blood, spat on Daghir's face and said, "Fuck you!"
Daghir activated his reinforcement magic, punched the bandit forcefully, and crushed his head against the wall.
Daghir stepped away, panted, looked at Taz and said, "We should see this village's leader."
Taz approached the corpse, took the medallion and said, "Let's go."
Before they went, Daghir did an obscure method of removing sticky fluids from his face. He grabbed sand from the ground and rubbed it hard on his face.
To which it was surprisingly effective.
Taz wanted to inquire on that subject more but let it go as they had more pressing matters.
They delved into the bustling streets of the village and headed to its center. Indeed, from there, everything would be easier to know about.
Yet the deeper they strolled, the more unwanted attention they got.
Was it their appearance? Was it their weapons? That was to be found.
But in a mildly disappointing manner, the village's center was blander than the exterior. It was a square filled with merchants standing at their stands to sell what they could.
Daghir looked around and said, "Usually, centers are more eye-pleasing than this."
Taz looked at him and said, "We're not in Mesopotamia anymore; don't expect everything to be the same."
An unaware man passed by. Daghir pulled him closer and asked, "Where's the village's chief?"
The man looked unpleasantly at Daghir and said, "What? You and your wife here want to seek asylum?"
"Just answer the fucking question, man!" Daghir groaned.
The man pointed at the coast and said, "He's in a bar at the coast; he never leaves that place."
Daghir pushed him away and said, "Now fuck off."
"I guess Haider was correct about deserters," Taz commented.
They went to the coastline and found it even more bustling than the village's center, which made them question how this village operated.
The crowds of the coastline were entirely fishermen, and their features and clothes were wildly different from those inside the village.
Their clothes were simple, thin white shirts, and they covered their legs by wrapping them in flappy cloth. Same with the Mesopotamian traditional wear, they also wore only white turbans.
Daghir placed his hands on his waist and said, "I was surely pissed minutes ago, but now I'm curious."
Taz crossed her arms and said, "It's like two different cultures in one place."
They went on their way and found the large bar the man told them about, but it didn't look like one.
For starters, it had an open wall entrance. The decorations were made from clay except for the tables they sat around. Inside were no alcoholic drinks nor drunks, only men who sat around squared tables drinking tea and smoking.
Daghir stepped inside and said, "Greetings, gentlemen! I'm looking for the chief of this village."
The men looked at him disgusted, and one said, "A fucking foreigner! You're not welcome here!"
Daghir pointed at him and said, "Now, Now. I came here in peace and proper manners. I advise you to reply with the same."
"Go fuck yourself!" The rude man said.
Daghir rolled his sleeves and snarled, "How about you come here so the men can see you for the bitch you are!"
The rude man stood up, approached Daghir and growled, "A fucking foreigner dares to insult me!?"
Before the brawl started, an old man shouted, "Enough!"
The rude man glared at Daghir and returned to his seat.
The old man who sat among men of his age was wearing the same clothing as the people outside. He had a thick mustache and a big belly he preceded. He had a wrinkly face and tanned skin.
The old man looked at Daghir and said, "I'm the leader of this village; the name is Jabir."
Daghir approached Jabir, stood before his table and said, "A pleasure, Jabir. The name is Daghir."
Old Jabir nodded.
Daghir crossed his arms behind his back and said, "I came here to ask a few questions; after that, I'll go on my way,"
Old Jabir nodded again.
"Who's the leader of your village's guards?" Daghir asked.
"We don't have guards," Jabir said.
Daghir looked at Taz in confusion, and she only shrugged her shoulders. Daghir looked at Jabir and asked, "How do you protect this village?"
Jabir smoked his pipe and said, "Its men protect it."
Taz felt that Daghir's questioning would lead to nothing as Jabir kept giving Daghir vague answers, so she took the initiative. She approached Jabir, flashed the medallion at him and said, "Jabir, we would like to know how this item ended up in the hands of a roadman."
Jabir looked at Daghir and asked, "You let your woman speak to men?"
Taz was struck with awe and offense. Not only did old Jabir ignore her, but he also labeled her as Daghir's second-class property.
Taz struck the table with ferocity and shouted, "I am talking to you, old man!"
Jabir's upper lip contracted in his repulsion, then said, "The audacity of women these days!" He looked at Daghir and shouted, "Control your woman!"
Taz walked back and sighed in frustration. Daghir looked at her and said, "Don't..."
She returned to the table and flipped it on Jabir, spilling all its contents on him.
Daghir was quick to react to defuse the situation at hand. He knew without a fast response, they'd get killed.
The men of the place stood up to attack them.
Daghir hastily went behind Taz, closed her ears, infused his magic within her to avoid harming her and activated his sound magic by mimicking a dog's bark.
The bark incapacitated everyone nearby, and Daghir's attack proved successful.
Daghir let go of Taz and approached old Jabir as he groaned in pain.
Jabir looked at Daghir in pain and said, "You're a cursed one!?"
Daghir grabbed Jabir by his collar and asked, "We want information, you decrepit cunt. Where can we find it?"
Jabir panted and said, "There's a Persian named Bahar. He sells information for a price."
Daghir shook Jabir and shouted, "Where's he!?"
"In the south side, where all the Persians live," Jabir informed.
Daghir let go of him, looked at Taz and said, "Let's go wolf."
On their way to the village's southside, Taz grew concerned.
She looked at Daghir and asked, "Isn't it bad to step unprepared into our enemy's turf?"
Daghir looked at her displeased and said, "We're arrows, for fuck's sake. We're Mesopotamia's strongest weapons."
"I know, but I don't want to make a mess again," Taz said.
Daghir pointed backward with his thumb and said, "You mean what your foul temperament led us to?"
Taz sighed, then said, "Not everyone deserves courtesy and respect! Especially if they're rude cunts."
"We're in unknown lands and don't know their customs. Like that one village in north Mesopotamia," Daghir said.
"Not every custom and tradition is worthy of following. I will not let myself be humiliated to cater to some plebs' emotions," Taz retorted.
Daghir looked around and said, "Hold on, Taz. We're here."
Usually, one would think the south side of any community would lack grace and class, but this unusual part of the village broke the ordinary rules.
The south of the village was another wild change to the village's center. The architecture was styled differently and more colorful—a merger of symmetry and scenery that pleases the mind.
Taz looked around and said, "It's another city and culture."
"I swear this village is the weirdest thing I've stumbled upon. It's extremely diverse and filled with racists all at once," Daghir said in frustration.
"I guess A'saal didn't lie when she said the peninsula is filled with madness," Taz commented.
Daghir peeked into an alleyway and saw two men dealing in narcotics. He approached them and said, "You two! Tell me where I can find Bahar."
One of the crooks looked at Daghir and said, "Foreigners don't make demands in this village. Fuck off."
Taz passed Daghir and muttered, "I'm not going to waste all day arguing with plebs!"
She shot the crook with a small ball of lightning. It was undoubtedly a new technique for shooting lightning.
The crook was shocked and fell to the floor. The other one fled, not wanting to partake in what was about to happen.
Taz activated her reinforcement magic, lifted the crook, pinned him against the wall, punched his gut and growled, "Where's Bahar!?"
The crook looked at Taz and said, "Persians shouldn't sell one another, sister!"
Taz became furious. She punched him three more times in his face, chest and gut and asked the same question again.
The crook coughed blood and said, "Bahar is in a teashop that overlooks Persia's land."
Taz struck him again and shouted, "I'm not a fucking map! Tell me where this teashop's location is."
"It's on the coast! It looks exactly like the fishermen's teashop, only further south," The crook said.
Taz let go of him, and he fell on the floor.
She pulled out her sword to finish him off, but the crook looked at her pleadingly and said, "Please, no! I have a family to feed!"
Taz glared at him and said, "I don't care." She slashed his throat and walked away, leaving him to die slowly.
Daghir went after her and said, "You're certainly efficient, but you didn't have to kill him."
"I have no mercy for deserters," Taz replied.
They strolled on the coast and soon arrived at the Persian teashop. As the crook said, it was like the fishermen's teashop, with the only difference being that the Persian teashop had more colors.
Taz went in first, insisting on taking the lead in this information pursuit. She looked around the teashop as the customers gazed at her, mostly out of wonder and curiosity.
"Which one of you is Bahar?" Taz asked loudly.
"Who's asking?" A man asked.
"A woman interested in his services," Taz replied.
A man from the back stood up. He had a light-brown skin tone and a shaved face. He had thick eyebrows, short black hair and honey-brown eyes.
He wore a white shirt and a green colored robe. His pants were black and flappy, and he had a bowl-like black hat.
The man opened his arms and said, "Welcome, sister! I'm the man you seek."
Taz looked at him and asked, "Bahar?"
"In the flesh," Bahar replied.
Taz approached him and said, "I need information."
Bahar approached her and said, "Of course! Follow me."
Taz and Daghir followed him upstairs and went into his small office. It was neatly organized and had the strong smell of scented wood.
Bahar sat in his chair, and Taz and Daghir stood before him.
Bahar interlocked his hands, looked at them and asked, "Is that your husband―."
Taz interjected and said, "No!"
Bahar smiled, then said, "Apologies then. How can I be of assistance?"
Taz crossed her hands and said, "How much does your services cost?"
Bahar pointed at Taz and said, "For you, sister. For free."
Taz thought about using his ignorance to gain free information. She knew he would know she was Mesopotamian if she showed him the medallion; trickery wasn't an option this time.
"We're not Persian, Bahar," Daghir said.
Bahar frowned, then said, "Then the information cost will rely on its nature."
"How much?" Taz asked.
"Like I said, it depends on its nature," Bahar said.
Taz showed him the medallion and said, "Do you know what this is?"
Bahar glanced at the medallion and said, "A soul storage or an arrow's medallion."
Daghir approached and said, "We found it in the possession of a roadman. Do you know how it got in his hands?"
Bahar shook his head and said, "No."
Daghir smiled, then said, "You're full of shit, Bahar."
Bahar placed his hands on the desk and said, "I simply do not have the information you seek."
Daghir leaned on the desk, looked at Bahar's eyes and said, "I heard your heartbeat rising when you saw the medallion. I bet you also know who this medallion belonged to."
"We're arrows, Bahar. You know what people like us are capable of," Taz said threateningly.
Bahar began to sweat, and his eyes switched back and forth between Taz and Daghir.
Daghir stood straight and said, "Let's make a proper deal, Bahar. Help us, and we'll pay you. Refuse, however. We'll kill the entire Persian population of this village."
Bahar sighed in distress and said, "I'll help, but the payment will not be in dinars." He looked at them and said, "I want a special type of payment only arrows can provide."
Taz and Daghir glanced at each other and asked, "What?"
"I want to relay a demand to King Nimrod. I want him to leave this village alone," Bahar said.
"As far as I know, he hasn't made a move yet," Taz said.
"It's only a matter of time. History has shown us multiple times how bloodthirsty new rulers are," Bahar said.
"Why do you think this village is in danger? The late king never stepped in it," Daghir asked.
Bahar looked at Daghir seriously and said, "I've received word that your king is reforming the military. He went as far as replacing the current generals. That man plans to start a major war, and I don't want him to turn his sights on this village."
Taz sighed, then said, "Fine, I'll relay your demand myself. Now tell us what you know about the medallion."
"The medallion belonged to one of the arrows who were sent here. They chased after information dealers that used to work for Ras Al Ghoul," Bahar said.
Taz looked at Daghir in confusion and asked, "Aren't they our replacements?"
Daghir looked at her and said, "It sounds like it, but didn't the information dealers flee?"
"Flee to where? Jinns and beasts overrun the sea. The only haven is here or Sky City, and even that is a risky journey," Bahar added.
"Agreed, I went to a place near Sky City. The path was treacherous," Taz commented.
Daghir rubbed his chin and said, "This doesn't make sense. If the information dealers never fled and one of the arrows is dead. That only leaves out one thing."
"The other arrow is alive," Taz said.
"There is a gang here that specializes in altering the appearance by sorcery. I'd start there," Bahar said.
The pair finished off their hidden dealing with Bahar and left the teashop. When they stepped out, they noticed it was sunset and returned to Haider's camp.
They approached Haider's camp and saw the man sitting around a campfire, eating dinner and drinking.
They sat with Haider at the campfire, and Daghir sighed in relief.
Haider glanced at them and said, "You prefer outdoors over indoors?"
Taz crossed her arms and said, "We came across unfortunate events in the village."
Haider looked at Taz in confusion and asked, "What happened?"
Taz threw the medallion to Haider, and he caught it.
He inspected it, looked at Taz and asked, "Where did you find this?"
"Two arrows disappeared in that village; the owner of the medallion is dead, but the other disappeared," Daghir said.
"That doesn't explain how that arrow reported to Qutaibah false information, only to return to that village and vanish," Taz said.
"You don't need to visit Qutaibah to report; a blood-stamped letter is sufficient," Haider said.
Daghir looked at Haider and asked, "I heard of that method, but isn't it rare?"
Haider looked at Daghir and replied, "Rare or not, it's still used today. In some cases, it's the only option you have."
"How do you know all of that?" Taz asked.
Haider looked at her and said, "I was an arrow long ago."
Daghir smiled at Taz and said, "His partner was Qutaibah."
Taz furrowed her eyebrows.
"Do you know the names of those arrows?" Haider asked.
"No, there's no way to find out unless we contact Qutaibah," Daghir replied.
"There's a faster method," Haider said.
He used his free hand to whistle, and a blue Jinn appeared before him. Haider looked at the Jinn and said, "Go into this medallion and find the name of its owner."
The blue Jinn turned into mist and slipped into the medallion. Shortly after, it returned, kneeled before Haider and said, "The owner is truly dead, and I have known his name."
"Who is he?" Haider asked.
"Josef, son of Tariq," The blue Jinn said.
Taz furrowed her eyebrows and said, "I have no idea who that man is."
Daghir, on the other hand, sat there with an empty look on his face. He seemed like he was shocked. Haider looked at him and asked, "Do you know him, Daghir?"
Daghir rubbed his face and said sadly, "Yes, he's an old friend of mine."
The End