Just out of curiosity, who is your type?" asked Ameer.
When I see her, you will be the first person to know," replied Omru sleepily.
The next day, they made a stop at the village, as suggested by the girl. They found the snake charmer, just like she said.
He had little to no hair on any part of his body, and he didn't look older than 50. Both of his eyes were milky white.
He was sitting outside his little grass hut on a large stone, busy in meditation.
They approached him cautiously.
It was Ameer who decided to talk first.
"Are you the blind Sapera (snake charmer)?" he asked tentatively.
He turned his sightless eyes in their direction.
" Yes. Pray, what do you want from me?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly.
"We want to know how to enter the midnight forest," Ameer said
"Why do you two want to die young?" He asked them
"How do you know we are two and young? "You are blind," Omru said. Ameer shushed him.
"I am blind, young master, not deaf. And I know that you two are young because no one old would be stupid enough to think of entering the forest," he finished.
"Well, we are told you know of a way. Can you please guide us?" Ameer began politely.
"And what will I get in return?" he asked.
"We can pay you a hundred gold coins. Those will be enough to spend the rest of your life in comfort," Omru said, jingling his coin bag.
"Tempting, young master, but no thank you. I do not want gold," he replied.
"Well, you must want something. Name your price?" said Omru.
"I want a promise, young masters. I need something from the forest. I want your word that you will get it for me," he replied.
"We will get you whatever you want," Ameer began. But Omru cut him off.
"That depends on what you want," he said.
"What I want is very simple and easy. I require a special kind of herb. Bleeding herb, it's called. It grows in abundance in the middle of the forest. When you cut its leaves off its stem, it bleeds red." He finished with relish. He was beginning to look excited.
"I thought you knew how to enter the forest. Why didn't you get it yourself?" asked Omru.
"Because I am blind, young master. As you pointed out earlier," he said.
"You weren't born blind. Why not get it before?" asked Omru.
"I did not know what it looked like. I searched for knowledge of its appearance almost all my adult life." He replied with a sigh.
"What happened then?" asked Ameer, interested.
"My search led me to the midnight forest. But it had so many snakes that even I, with all my expertise, couldn't search through it without being bitten. I then began to look for something that would either stun or repel the creatures. After many trials and errors, I created the oil. Snakes were repulsed by the smell of it. With its help, I began my search for the herb in the forest. It took me many days before I found some, growing near a stream. " He told them
"Why did you take it there and then?" asked Omru.
"I got bitten. And I began to lose vision. I had to exit in a hurry. All my efforts got wasted." He sighed
"How could you be bitten? Had snake repellent stopped working? Asked Omru.
"No, young master, it did not. However, just make sure that when you enter the forest, there is no chance of rain that day. And always carry extra oil," he replied solemnly.
"How will we find the herb if it took you that much time?" We mean to enter only once," Omru said.
"I will tell you exactly where to look. And it is the price you must pay. Otherwise, find another way into the forest," he said, turning around.
"Fine, we will do it. Tell us how," Ameer said.
"You give me your word for it, young master? Do you promise?" He turned around.
"Yes, we give you our word," replied Omru.
"Not him. You. I want your word." He said to Ameer:
Omru scowled but stayed quiet.
"Fine, I give you my word. Now tell me about this repellent." Ameer said.
He told them of two plants that usually grew in fields. Farmers throw them out because they are parasitic on the crop. Those were to be mashed and mixed with equal parts olive oil and melted lamb fat. The resulting ointment would protect for up to 12 hours if undisturbed. He then told them the whereabouts of his mysterious herb, in the forest.
From there, they went straight to a farmhouse. They bought some food like fresh butter, milk, goat's cheese, and flatbread, along with a little honey and brown sugar. They also asked the farmer if he knew where they could find the two weeds. The farmer had weeded his crop earlier that week, so he took them to the stack of discarded plants. They both fished out the plants they needed to make a substantial amount of ointment.
They went to the market and bought some olive oil, a stone mortar, and a pestle. They also bought lamb's fat from the butcher, along with a lamb's leg, for that night. Instead of an inn, they set up their little camp right outside of the village. The rest of the day was spent grinding up weed. Omru placed a clay pot on the fire and melted the lamb fat. Most of it was reserved for the repellent. The rest he saved for roasting the leg. Soon, the ointment was ready. It had a very strong smell, but it wasn't unpleasant.
They cooked their food on an open fire and ate to their fill, leaving a little for the morning.
They started at the crack of dawn the next day after a hurried breakfast of milk and leftover meat. It didn't taste bad.
Before noon, they were at the border of the forest. They got off their horses and secured them outside the tree line. They then covered themselves with the repellent, leaving enough for a second application if needed.
When everything was ready, they finally entered the forest.
It was so thick that it seemed that sunlight never reached the floor of it, which itself was covered with countless snake holes. Every branch and every surface was covered with the crawling reptiles, some big and some small. They never saw any other animal other than these creatures; their collective hissing sound was so loud that they had trouble hearing themselves speak. Thankfully, the snakes stayed clear of them both, indicating that their repellent worked.
"I say there are no other animals. How on earth do these creatures survive without food?" wondered Ameer out loud.
"The answer to your question is cannibalism, my friend." Omru replied mildly, "The larger ones eat the smaller ones. I say I now understand why Sapera never saw the rain coming. You can barely see the sky in here at all," he said.
"Midnight Forest is a good name for this area," said Ameer.
They soon reached the area marked on the map.
It was a flat piece of land free of vegetation and snake holes. Omru confirmed it twice with the map. They then took out their spades and started working. The hole was barely a foot deep when Ameer's spade collided with something that wasn't earth but metal.
He brushed the soil off it and realized it was a metallic handle embedded in a stone. They quickly cleared the rest of it of soil to reveal a flat stone trapdoor.
With much grunting, they both got it opened. Ameer lit his oil lamp and carefully lowered it into the newly opened pathway to reveal rough stone stairs.
"Right, let's go," Ameer said, determinedly lowering himself through the trap door.
Omru followed. After descending for about 20 or so feet, they felt level ground.
Ameer raised his lamp to reveal a passage that looked as if it had been made by either a giant rabbit or a mole.
They started moving forward gingerly. To their relief, the passage itself was completely devoid of reptiles. After 15 minutes, they came to a halt near yet another stone door. This one, however, had no handles. It was completely flat.
After pushing on it for quite some time, they both gave up and sat down, panting. Omru again took out a map. It showed the door to the entrance with one of its areas very faintly highlighted. He got up and pushed on that area. There was a loud click, and the door swung open to reveal a large room.
Omru gasped. The entire room was filled with every kind of treasure imaginable.
There were mounds of gold and silver coins, heaps of precious stones, diamonds, rubies as big as pigeon eggs, emeralds, gold goblets and dishes, necklaces, armbands, tiaras, strings of pearls, ornaments made of elephant teeth, and dresses of silk and velvet. There was a little velvet box lying near them. Ameer picked it up and opened it to reveal a silver ring in the shape of a claw holding a large piece of emerald in between its fingers. Something tiny was written on it. Ameer took it out and put it on his finger, next to the one with his father's ring on it. Omru located a large, rather plain-looking leather bag. He picked it up to fill it with things. He started picking up random things and stuffing them in the bag.
"Help me, will you?" he said to Ameer. Ameer started picking up things, but he was a little picky.
"Surely the bag must be full by now," he called to Omru in surprise.
"No, it still has space," replied Omru.
As they roamed the room further, Ameer saw a raised podium. Lying on it was a huge sword clad in a leather sheath that was decorated with chains of gold and silver. It had a border of diamonds. Ameer picked it up in awe. He pulled the sword out of the sheath to reveal a most magnificent blade. It was hard yet light, shiny, and razor-sharp. It looked like it was carved out of one big diamond. The hilt was decorated with the biggest ruby that he had ever seen. The handle fitted his hand perfectly, as though made for him. He heard Omru gasp.
"Where did you get that?" he asked.
"Right here," he showed Omru, who hurried forward to examine the podium more closely.
After a few seconds, Ameer heard a click, and Omru rose triumphantly, holding two smaller swords. They were similar to the bigger ones, but their blades were black. They were slender, and both their hilts and sheaths were encrusted with various jewels.
"These are beautiful," he said, gazing at them. He swished them around in a circle, both at the same time, in each hand.
"So light-weighted," he continued.
As they stepped further, Omru's foot fell on a slightly raised surface on the floor. There was a loud noise, and the walls of the room started moving in.
Ameer and Omru stared in alarm as the treasure started moving in on them. If they don't get out quickly, they will be crushed to death. They both sprinted back as quickly as they could. They had barely exited the room when the walls closed in completely.
"That was close," Ameer panted.
"Everything is gone," wailed Omru.
"Be thankful you are alive. Now let's get out of here before the whole tunnel collapses." He had barely finished talking when the tunnel around them started to shake as well.
They sprinted towards the entrance, covering the entire pathway in just two minutes. They were almost out when the tunnel gave way. Omru's foot got caught in the rubble, and Ameer had to pull him out. Thankfully, he remained unharmed.
They both collapsed on the floor, panting.
"That was close," Omru said.
The sun is not down yet. Come on, we have to search for the plant as well," he said.
Omru got up, groaning.
He carefully put the swords on his belt. Ameer did the same.
"Do we have to?" he said grumpily.
"We promised," he replied, shrugging.
"You promised!" Omru said
"Fine, I promised." Ameer sighed
They were lucky. The plant was easily found as per Sapera's instructions. And it bled red when cut.
Ameer gathered a substantial amount of it as well.
Now the sun had started going down. They applied a fresh coat of ointment and tried to walk as fast as they could. Ameer wanted to leave the forest before nightfall.
Thankfully, they made it out in time.
Their horses were still tied to where they left them. Ameer sighed in relief as Omru sat down, panting heavily.
"I wish I knew about that booby trap. There was so much left. We could have taken a lot more with us," he groaned.
"We still have a lot, dear friend. I am more happy about the weapons," replied Ameer, taking it out again. It now shone bright silver in the moonlight.
"Let's see what we have managed to salvage other than weapons," said Omru, taking the leather bag off his shoulder. He turned it upside down. It was empty.