After spending the night thinking about his wife Janna, Ali couldn't forget her face when he saw it in the mirror. He fell asleep to escape from this thought. The next morning, he had breakfast with his grandfather and listened eagerly to hear the rest of the story and what happened afterwards. Ali entered his grandfather's room, greeted him, and sat beside him. The grandfather ordered the servants to bring food immediately and asked Ali, "How was your night, my son?"
Ali replied, "Thank God, grandfather, but something strange happened yesterday. As I was walking to my room, I looked into the mirror beside it, and suddenly, I saw my wife Janna's image appear in front of me in the mirror as if she was blaming me for what I did to her without any guilt. Can you tell me why it was a condition to end my marriage to her before starting the mission? This was very painful and it broke both her and my heart, especially since I love her so much."
The grandfather said to him, "I don't know, my son, why you specifically had to get rid of your marriage as a condition for executing your law. It was a strange condition, but it was necessary for you to be able to receive the book and start the mission. However, I remember that the person who executed the seventh law a hundred years ago wrote, upon receiving the last chosen one to execute the final law before handing over the book, that he must divorce his wife and get rid of his marriage, and he will know the reason during his mission as to why he had to divorce her."
Ali said, "There must be a reason for my divorce from Jana, and it seems to be a serious matter that I don't know about, for it to be a condition for me to receive the book." The grandfather said, "Don't worry, my son. You will find the answer to everything when the time comes. Let's have breakfast now, and then I will continue telling you the rest of the story of your grandfather Khalid and his mission in the city of Washindi."
Ali and his grandfather had breakfast, and then the servant brought two cups of tea. The grandfather settled himself on his armchair and prepared himself to continue telling the story.
alan entered the judgment hall to meet with Tiyam the seer, and upon arriving, Nalan said, "My lord, my mother told me that you need me for a matter of great urgency. What is it then?" Tiyam replied, "Yes, my son, listen to me carefully. You have now completed twenty years of age, and there is an important matter that you need to know. Sit down and let me tell you everything."
Tiam told Nalan the story of his daughter's murder, and how his eldest sister was the one who committed the murder, and how Khaled Al-Mukhtar was the first to implement the first law of the book of laws that he wrote. The laws would only appear with his permission. The way Tiam narrated the story to Nalan made him fill with anger, hatred, and readiness to fight Khaled, with his ultimate goal being to defeat him. The winner would have the tribes sing his name for a hundred years until another person from his descendants completes the series of laws, culminating in the final law after eight hundred years.
Nalan said, "Now I understand, my father, what is required of me. Is it a war with swords and horses, or is it a war of bodies? What kind of challenges have you put forth for us to overcome?" The seer replied that the war Nalan and the grandson of Al-Salmani will fight is a war that includes everything - physical, mental, and psychological - and the strong will be the one who will emerge victorious. The laws were designed to test the character, physical and mental strength, and faith of the winner.
Listen, my son, I want you to win, but I cannot cheat you or tell you what is in the book because you will also receive the same book, and the law will appear to you at the same time it appears to Khaled Al-Salmani. You and he will meet in the great battlefield, and we will give the signal to begin, and you will do what appears to you." Nalan asked, "Do you know what will appear in the book?"
The fortune-teller said, "Unfortunately, I do not know what the rules, challenges, and tasks are, because the one who made these rules is a king among the jinn when I asked him to create a book for me with eight laws to be executed every hundred years, including wars and missions that involve mental, physical, and psychological battles, as well as the power of faith. When I asked him to know what these laws are and how they will be, since I wanted to be aware of everything, his condition was that I should not know anything so as not to be biased towards my tribe, and that the war would be fair and that the winner deserves to win without cheating."
Nalan was shocked by this and felt anxious that he would enter a war and challenges he knew nothing about, and that he would enter a war he did not know anything about except now. Why did the fortune-teller not tell him this before so he could be prepared enough? However, the fortune-teller still had the pain of losing his daughter in his heart and still thought of revenge against the Salmani tribe through their son. But how could all this happen after he raised him and made him his successor to represent his tribe and the city of Washendi? Would the fortune-teller intend for Nalan to be killed in this war by his own brother? He also did not know what type of challenges were outlined in the book of laws, so no matter what his intentions were, the king who made the rules in this book did not inform him of anything. Therefore, he does not know if the end will be for Khaled or for Nalan.
Khaled woke up in the guesthouse and was waiting for someone to come and tell him what the next step was and when the mission would appear in the book. While he was thinking and asking himself, a man entered with breakfast and told him to eat and after finishing breakfast, open the book and follow the instructions that would lead him to the Great War Square where he would meet King Ashendy Ti'am Al-'Araf and his son Nalan, who will be facing him in this war, and he will receive a book with the same rules as him in the battlefield. Both of you will execute what appears to you. Be aware that Nalan does not know the rules like you, and he will execute what appears to him exactly like you, even the king himself does not know what kind of war it is, as the rules were set by a king of the great jinn. You will execute what appears to you, and one of you will win.
The man left Khaled to have his breakfast, and Khaled was still in a state of shock and confusion about what was happening around him, and anxiety began to fill his heart when he learned that the rules were set by a jinn king, so what kind of war is it then?
When Khaled finished his meal, he prepared his things, put his sword in his bag, and took the flask with the drink his mother made for him. Then he opened the book, and the words began to appear to him: "O chosen one, now you will head to the battlefield. Leave your place now and go straight ahead. Do not look at anyone or be distracted by anything you see. Just continue on your way until you find a huge obelisk with the face of a tiger and a lotus flower.
Approach the obelisk, place your hand on it, and when you get there, count and open the book. Khalid walked directly to the obelisk without looking at anyone until he reached the massive obelisk, which had the head of a tiger and a lotus flower on it. He placed his hand on it, then turned and opened the book. "Now, O chosen one, repeat this phrase three times (O obelisk, take me to my destiny)." Khalid repeated the phrase three times and then found himself inside the obelisk. Suddenly, he was in the great battlefield, where the arena was huge and Nalan was waiting for him in the middle of the arena. Khalid looked at Nalan, not knowing what this feeling was that he felt when he saw him.
The same feeling came to Nalan, and each of them began to look at the other. Suddenly, the seer approached them until Nalan handed him his book and said to Khalid, "Welcome, O Khalid, to the city of Ashandi. Welcome, O first chosen one. Now, each of you will begin to carry out the task that will be revealed to you." Nalan took the book and was about to open it, but the seer pointed to him and said, "Not now. Each of you will only be on standby, and when the sun sets and the red twilight appears in the sky, each of you will begin to open your book and carry out what will be revealed to you." The sun approached the horizon, and the red twilight began to appear in the sky. Tiam gestured with his hand for each of them to begin opening the book. Each of them opened their book, and the same words began to appear: "O chosen ones, strike the ground with your foot three times." Khalid and Nalan executed the words, and suddenly they disappeared from the arena and found themselves in a strange place. Everything around them was just mirrors reflecting their images, and they did not understand what was happening or where they were. Each of them approached the other and opened the book.
"In these mirrors, there are two persons, copies of yourselves. You must know who they are, and they are not your reflections but two copies of yourselves. You must find them among these hundred mirrors, and whoever finds them must defeat and triumph over them, and not let them overcome you. The first one to succeed will have completed the first task and can move on to the second one. Khaled and Nalan began searching for the two persons in the mirrors who were not their reflections, but it was difficult since the mirrors reflected their every move. Both of them had to reach the two persons and eliminate them. Khaled and Nalan spent more than an hour trying to find the two persons, but without success. They could not differentiate between the persons and their reflections. However, there must be something unusual that would help them distinguish between them. Khaled and Nalan became exhausted from the task, but they continued searching and would not leave until they completed the mission and one of them succeeded. Exhausted, Khaled and Nalan came closer to each other and found themselves falling asleep from the fruitless search."
© Doaa Khaled
Washindi laws