Time passed quickly with Khaled and Nalan, and it was time for them to move to the battlefield for the third mission. Khaled and Nalan arrived at the battlefield along with the fortune-teller, and it was time for each of them to open the book and read the third mission. They stood in the middle of the battlefield, and each of them began to read the words that appeared for the third mission.
The Third mission
"You, the chosen ones, must advance to the northern gate that leads to the big mountain. There you will find a gate that leads to a cave. Inside the mountain, you must go there and once you arrive, open the book again."
Khaled and Nalan mounted their horses and headed quickly towards the northern gate that leads to the big mountain. It took them half an hour to get there.
After they arrived at the foot of the great mountain, Khalid and Nalan found the gate that led into a cave. Inside the mountain, they had to go there and open the book again once they arrived. Khalid and Nalan rode their horses quickly towards the northern gate that led to the great mountain. It took them half an hour to get there.
After they arrived in front of the great mountain, they found the gate that led inside it and approached it. They found themselves inside a dark cave, but the light of the lamps started to shine inside the cave on both sides, where there were groups of olive oil lamps on each row. Khalid and Nalan started to take steps inside the cave until they remembered that they had to open the book to know what the next step was.
Khalid and Nalan opened the book to complete the rest of the third task. "Walk until the end of the cave, then you will find a ladder that descends below it until you find a man sleeping on a bed. This man is sick and has been in a coma for more than fifty years. The task is to cure this man of his coma and wake him up. Success in this task is considered significant, as the winner will receive twenty points, but when the man wakes up from his coma, he will reward the winner with a large reward... Execute the mission now."
The words in the book came to an end and Khalid and Nalan had to awaken the man who had been in a coma for fifty years. However, they were not doctors, so how could they awaken him? And what would happen if they failed this task? That meant they would not be able to leave this place if they failed. Nalan asked Khalid why each task was harder than the last one and what the final task would be like. And now, how could they awaken this man when they did not yet know the reason that put him into this coma?
Khalid approached the man's bed and began to examine his face and heartbeat. His vital functions were working well and his heart was beating normally, but how could they make his mind respond and awaken him? Khalid began to talk next to the man as if he could hear him and said, "Oh, sleeper, isn't it time for you to wake up from this deep sleep? Don't you miss your family and loved ones? They are waiting for you."
Nalan stopped Khaled and said to him, "What are you doing? Do you think he can hear you? Even if his ear can hear you, do you know if someone is already waiting for him or not? Perhaps someone among his loved ones caused what he is going through. We need to know the reason so that we can find a solution.
Khaled and Nalan began to search the room thoroughly for something that might explain why the man was in a coma. However, the room was empty except for the man lying on the bed, a chair, a water bottle, and some white honey and bread. Khaled and Nalan asked why there was water, bread, and honey in the room, and why this man was in a coma. However, there was a note next to the bottle stating that the water, honey, and bread were their daily sustenance until they finished their mission.
The note also said that no matter how much they ate, the water and honey would not run out, and the bread would always return to its original state whenever they ate from it again. It seems that this mission will take a long time and will not be completed quickly like the previous two tasks of waking up a man from his coma that doctors were unable to do for fifty years.
No jinn or human could do anything for him. How can these two young people succeed in this task so that they can enter the next one? Khaled and Nalan began to study the matter carefully and the man's condition. They continued to search the room for the reason that caused the man to be in a coma. Khaled approached the man and examined his head for any wounds or injuries, but he found none. Nalan also examined the rest of his body but found nothing either.
But who will tell them about the coma? The book didn't tell them anything about it," Khaled said to Nalan. "Have you read anything in the books you've read about such cases? Maybe we can learn from them and make him wake up," he continued.
"I've read a lot about strange cases in medical books, but we need to know the cause in order to diagnose it. We must have something to know about the cause of this man's coma. Let's search this room again carefully, maybe we'll find something that will help us. Listen, Khaled, it's true that whoever wins this task will get twenty points and be rewarded by this man, but I don't care about these points or winning as much as this man's case has piqued my curiosity.
We must cooperate and work together to make this man wake up, and not see winning as the bigger goal. Our real victory will be if we succeed in bringing this poor man back to life. He has lost fifty years of his life and has been sleeping in this coma like a dead person in his bed, with no one with him."
Khaled was greatly affected by Nalan's words and admired his thinking. He no longer saw him as an enemy, and winning and triumphing were no longer important to him compared to waking this man up from his coma.
Khaled told Nalan that he agreed with everything he said, and they would work together as one until they succeeded in this mission. The night passed for Khaled and Nalan, and both of them felt like they were a part of each other. They forgot the animosity between them, and they became grateful for this book because it brought them together and made them friends, and even made their humanity grow more than the war, hatred, and malice that were the main goal in the book and these rules, between the two tribes, the Salmaniyah and the Araf tribe. But the hearts here differed, as hatred could not triumph over their white hearts, and the blood bond between Khaled and Nalan appeared in the situations, where this thing bound them without either of them knowing that they were brothers and twins.
Khaled and Nalan didn't succeed on the first night to do anything for this man to wake up from his coma, but their collaboration agreement would help them later to find a solution and a treatment.
On the following day, Khaled and Nalan continued their attempts to wake up the man, and the search was still ongoing inside the place for something that would make them understand the cause of this coma.
Khaled and Nalan sat next to the man, looking at his face and contemplating it. Khalid asked Nalan, "Don't you notice something strange about this man?" Nalan asked, "What strange thing do you see in him?" Khaled replied, "Look at his face carefully. What do you see?" Nalan looked at his face, and suddenly he said, "Do you mean the resemblance between him and your father?" Khalid said, "Yes, exactly. This is what I see. This man looks like your father, Tiam."
When Khaled mentioned Tiam's name, the man's fingers moved. Khalid said to Nalan, "Did you see what I saw? His hand moved when he heard your father's name." Nalan was surprised by this, as if the man wanted to confirm that there is indeed a connection between him and Tiam. Every time Khalid mentioned Tiam's name, the man's hand moved. Khalid and Nalan realized that there is a link between this man and Tiam.
Khaled said to Nalan: "What is the connection between him and Tiam ? Do you think he is his friend, relative or who is this man?" Nalan said to Khaled: "Let's ask him some questions as long as he hears us and reacts when he hears the name Tiam " Nalan said to the man, "If the answer is 'yes', move your right hand, and if the answer is 'no', move your left hand." Nalan began to ask the man some questions. "Is Tiam your friend?" The man moved his left hand, meaning the answer is "no". Nalan asked again, "Is Tiam your cousin?" The man moved his left hand again.
"Is Tiam your brother?" The man moved his left hand again.
Nalan said to Khaled, "If he is not his brother, his friend, or his cousin, then who could he be?" Khalid asked the man, "Is Tiam your son?" The man moved his right hand this time, indicating that the answer was yes. Khalid and Nalan were shocked to learn that the man was Tiam's father and Nalan's grandfather.
The shock was particularly strong for Nalan, as he could not believe that his father was involved in the events that led to this man's fifty-year coma. Khalid calmed Nalan down and said, "We still don't know the whole truth, Nalan. Perhaps your father doesn't know anything about what happened to his father. There must be a secret that we need to uncover. We need to wake the man up so we can learn the rest of the truth - why he's here and how Tiam left him in this cave all these years." Nalan asked, "What should we do now to wake him up? What's the next step?" Khalid replied, "I don't know yet. Let's think about it so we can find a solution." Khalid then said to Nalan, "Don't you feel hungry?" Nalan replied, "Yes, I do." Khalid then placed honey, bread, and water on the ground, and they both sat down to eat. Whenever they ate bread, it didn't decrease in quantity, and when they returned to it later, it was still complete.
Khaled asked Nalan, "How did this man survive all these years without food? Did he never eat during all these years?" Nalan replied, "You are right. Did this man eat? Let's feed him. Maybe if the food enters his stomach, he will wake up from his coma."
Khaled and Nalan got up and approached the man. Nalan sat the man up on the bed and Khalid brought honey and began to put a little on the man's lips, but the man's lips didn't move, and he didn't taste the food. Nalan said, "Let's give him some water. Maybe the water will go down into his stomach, and his other organs will start to work if the food enters his stomach." Nalan brought a water bottle and began to give the man some water, but it just ran out of his mouth, and it didn't go into his mouth. There was no response. Khalid put a little honey on his finger and rubbed it inside the man's mouth. Maybe the taste of honey would activate the man's sense of taste.
Khaled and Nalan placed the food in its place and Nalan said, "What now? This task is useless. We won't leave here until this man wakes up from his coma." Khaled said, "I'm also tired and sleepy. Let's sleep, Nalan, and think about something else tomorrow." Khaled and Nalan approached the man. Nalan sat on the right and Khaled on the left. Nalan rested his head on the man's shoulder, and Khaled did the same on the left shoulder. Both of them fell asleep.
While they were sleeping, the man began to taste the honey placed in his mouth and on his lips, and his eyes began to move left and right while he was still asleep. After a while, the man began to open his eyes slowly and felt a weight on his shoulders. He looked to his sides and saw two young men sleeping on his shoulders. The man started shaking Khaled and Nalan to wake them up. Khaled and Nalan couldn't believe that the man had actually awakened from his coma.
The man started asking who they were and why he was there. Khalid and Nalan said, "You were in a coma for fifty years, and our mission was to wake you up from it. While you were in your coma, we tried to find out who you are and what caused your coma, but we found out that you know Tiam the fortune-teller, isn't that right? And that you're his father?" The man replied, "Yes, Tiyam the fortune-teller is my son, and there is a long story behind this. But who are you, and what do you want from him?" Nalan said, "Khalid is the son of the Salmani tribe, and he is Tiyam the fortune-teller's son. But the story also goes on."
Suddenly, the being who was to announce the result of this mission appeared. The being stated that in this mission, Khalid and Nalan had tied and that the points would be divided equally between them. The goal of this mission was to wake the man up from his coma, and this was achieved only through cooperation, which was the stronger goal that made both of them succeed in this mission. Now, they will take the man, wash his face and body, dress him in these new clothes, then give him a drink that will restore his health. He will be ready to travel with them to the battlefield, where the ultimate confrontation between the man and Tiam the soothsayer will take place.
And there, you will know the truth and the reason why the man was in this coma and why it happened after the confrontation. After knowing the truth, you will receive the instructions for the fourth and fifth missions, as these two missions are related to each other. Khalid and Nalan did as the creature told them and dressed the man in new clothes after cleaning him. Then they gave him the drink that made him regain his health. Now they are ready to return to the battlefield, with Khalid and Nalan taking the man with them. They all left the cave and found themselves in the battlefield. Tiam rushed to them to know the result and did not realize that there was another person with Khalid and Nalan. He asked them what the result was, and Nalan said it was a tie. Tiam looked at the man and started to stare at his face in disbelief that he was seeing his father in front of him after all these years. The man said to Tiam, "Why did you think you got rid of me forever, and you would never see me again? I have returned to you, and the time has come for the reckoning." Tiam stood frozen in place, not believing what he saw and heard, that his father had returned and woke up from the coma in which he was placed for all these years. He began to worry about what would happen after his father's return.
© Doaa Khaled
Washindi laws