On the Western side, a fray broke out as the villagers and bandits fought. Sindbad's men had their hands full with the ones that managed to climb up the tower, however, most of them managed to slip away and ran after Zarqa.
The situation was chaotic that Sindbad couldn't help but glance back every now and then at his men fighting on the wall.
That was a mistake.
Sindbad grunted as a handful of sand was flung his way and blinded him. He quickly backed in time before Najji could land a fatal blow on him, managing only to cut at his robes.
Sindbad rubbed his eyes, but they burned whenever he tried to open them, and his surroundings were reduced to fog and blur. Najji's laughter was as loud as though he might just be standing over his head. " You thought you could stand against us! Fat chance! No one ever fought us and lived to tell the tale!"
With a wave of his hand, the men who stayed by his side raised their weapons, ready to finish Sindbad off whenever their leader gave them the okay. " Number is strength."
Sindbad's mouth pulled into a smug smile at that. " Seems like the only strength you have." A vein twitched in Najji's neck and he ordered his men to attack. They all hauled their spears at the purple head, stirring up a cloud of dust by the quick moves of the hooves of their horses.
Moments later, the sand settled and Najji's eyes went wide in shock and bewilderment at the sight before him. Sindbad was standing still, balancing himself on the intertwined spears, incurring surprised looks from those surrounding him. " That brings back memories of my journey to China."
With his eyes still closed, he held up his sword and flung himself forward at the nearest bandit, using him as leverage and propelling towards Najji.
The man held his sword up just in time to block Sindbad's thrust, the endpoint of the katana inches from his eye. " If I take your eyes too, then we would be going back on equal grounds!"
" Kill him! What are you waiting for!" There was a flurry of swords and spears, but Sindbad nimbly ducked and avoided them all as if he was able to see them, all while keeping dangerously close to Najji.
" How?!"
" Fight on even if you lose an arm, fight on even if you lose a leg, fight on even if your eyes are gouged out. No matter what, don't lay down your sword in defeat. A wise teacher taught me that." Najji was yet struggling to block Sindbad's well-placed hits. " Also…"
Before he knew it, Najji's men were falling down one after the other as they were struck by the arrows launched from above the wall. Sindbad's men managed to deal with their share of bandits and turned their bows back to support their leader. " Don't ever underestimate my men again!"
It was quick, swift, and unblockable. Sindbad flicked his wrist and pulled his katana up, snatching away Najji's scimitar, rendering him defenseless with that.
With his men down, his own sword away from him, and thousands of arrows pointed his way, Najji had very few options for escape. " Then?" Sindbad pointed his katana beneath his chin in a blatant challenge. " What's next?"
Najji's hands rose up, his face scrunched up in a deep angry scowl. Sindbad smirked broadly as he opened one eye. " Perfect."
━━━━━━━༺ *** ༻━━━━━━━
As they ventured deeper into the burning area, the smoke thickened, making it all but impossible to breathe or discern their way. But it was by mercy of the same smoke that none of the bandits were able to find them yet. However, it was only a matter of time before they would be unable to breathe and continue running away.
" Damn it…" Ali Baba coughed while raising his eyes skyward, hoping to glimpse Morjana or hear her but the crow wasn't anywhere in sight. " We can't even return to the market…"
Their path was blocked as a burning pillar fell over ahead of them. Ali Baba looked around before tugging at Zarqa's hand and leading her down another path.
Zarqa's eyes went wide all of a sudden as unfamiliar images flooded before. The burning houses, a group of men, and right in the middle, she was looking down at the bloodied body of Ali Baba.
" No!" Appalled by what she had just seen, Zarqa halted to a stop, keeping Ali Baba from proceeding any further down that path.
" What's up with you?!"
" If we go down there, you'll die!"
" Huh?!" Ali Baba quirked his eyebrow at her words, but the look she gave was enough reason for him to trust her. He was no fool, he wouldn't ignore a warning regarding his own life. " Yet we need to get away from this hell of a place!" He coughed into his turban.
" Then come!" Zarqa took the lead this time, pulling him along. " We just need to get above the smoke, right!"
Ali Baba's eyes widened at what she was implying as far in the distance, the great tower loomed. Truly, if they were to climb the tower, they would be free from fire and smoke.
They flung themselves through the door, climbing the spiraling stairs to get as far away as they could from the swirl of smoke trapped at the bottom. Only when they reached the higher windows that their lungs were able to once again welcome the fresh air. Both gasped and coughed, trying to catch their breath.
" Little kids, little kids where have you gone~!" A voice singsonged from below.
The blood almost froze in Zarqa's veins as she heard that. Together with Ali Baba, they leaned over the railings of the stairs, and there, among the swirl of smoke downstairs, batting at the clouds and coughing, was the same man from earlier. He looked up, his face marred with Morjana's claw marks, and smirked broadly when their eyes met. " Found you!"
Zarqa and Ali Baba took a step back just as a dagger was hurled their way, missing them slightly and wedging its blade into the wall behind them.
" Let's go!" Ali Baba pulled her up the stairs just as the man started climbing, laughing hysterically.
" You're not getting away from me!" He cried brandishing his sword as though to threaten them.
Loud voices came from the outside as the smoke and fire spread further, leaving the bandits with no choice but to seek a vaulted ceiling.
It was just as they passed the doors leading to the battlement that a sharp cry was heard overhead. From one of the upper windows, Morjana came in flying, her feathers glistening with blood, apparently wounded. She began tugging and clawing at the knot of ropes holding a large bronze bell aloft.
" The bell! We can drop it on him!" Zarqa voiced her idea to Ali Baba.
" How?" He asked urgingly. " I can't reach there!"
" There!" She pointed to a metal rod protruding from the wall right behind him. A rope wrung around it, holding the weight of the bell.
Ali Baba wasted no time as he began cutting at the taut rope. It came loose and seconds later, snapped, leading the bell to tumble down, taking off a good chunk of the wooden staircase in its descent. As it landed, it toppled to the side, blocking the door to the tower and preventing the outlaws from getting in.
Zarqa almost let a breath of relief hadn't it been for the man still on their tail. Even with a part of the stairs crumbled, he managed to build momentum and leap over it, his eyes wide as he made for them.
The two kids climbed further up, pushing open the trap door over their heads, they found themselves on top of the watch tower. Running to the ledge, they could glimpse their town beneath them, one-third of it swallowed by smoke and flames.
Morjana cried out a warning and they looked back just as the bandit pushed himself through the opening in the ceiling. Ali Baba held his dagger up, his hand shaking, as he put himself between the man and Zarqa.
" You gave me quite the trouble. But now, there is nowhere to run, unless you think a jump from over here is a good enough choice."
Ali Baba almost considered it, but one glance at the flames raging down there made him reconsider. Pressed against the parapet as the man closed in on them, they skirted around the roof to keep their distance. The bandit seemed to revel in their fear and anxiety. Morjana continued to circle them and cry, not daring to approach the violent man who managed to wound her before.
" Ali Baba…" Zarqa called out when they were leaning back dangerously over the ledge a small breeze could have toppled them down.
" I have a plan," he said untying his turban with his free hand.
The man stepped forward, and they ran out of space to back into. The man's smirk was wicked, as if he was having the greatest time of his life tormenting two kids. " All I need is Zarqa. No one would miss a street runt as you if I were to kill you." He snorted, his sword's tip pointing at Ali Baba.
" I won't be sure of that!" Ali Baba threw off his turban just as the man lunged, and a pair of claws grabbed into it. With a swift motion, Morjana dragged the cloth through the air and dropped it over the outlaw's face, impairing his vision. He slowed down, Ali Baba and Zarqa flung out of his way as he rushed past them, struggling to get the turban off his eyes and his abdomen bumped into the parapet.
The kids rounded on him instantly, pushing him with all their might from behind he tipped forward and fell down with a shriek before landing on the other side of the wall, eyes rolled to the back of his head.
Seeing the man motionless among the heaps of sand, Zarqa and Ali Baba exchanged smiles at their feat. However, Morjana continued to circle them and cry. Looking over to the Western side, Zarqa saw a few outlaws rushing down the battlement in their direction.
" We should run!" Ali Baba told her as he grasped her hand but she stood still.
" Wait! Look!"
Running on the ledge of the battlement was a man with long purplish hair. He caught up with the bandits, overtook them, and jumped in front of them, blocking their way.
" I won't let you land a finger on Zarqa!" Sindbad held up his sword warningly at them, yet they didn't slow down. So with a firm step, he swung his blade, slashing at them as he darted through their group. Before they knew it, they were too seriously wounded to even lift their own weapons, falling one after the other to their knees in defeat and nursing their bleeding injuries.
" Sindbad!"
The man looked up at Zarqa with a calm smile on his face. " The bandits are almost dealt with. The villagers and my men are taking care of the stubborn ones near the Western gate. But everything is under control now. Al-yamama is once again safe."
Heaving a long breath, Zarqa fell to her knees as a wave of relief crushed against her, and the brunt of the whole night came back.
" Are you alright?" Ali Baba asked, concerned. The girl merely answered with a small smile and a nod.
A loud rumbling suddenly sounded overhead.
It was then that she felt a coldness tapping against her cheek. Bewildered, she looked up at the dark sky void of any light, and something fell on her nose this time.
A drop of water.
Her eyes widened, her hands stretched up as though to make sure. It was raining. Unnoticed as it started, the scarce droplets of water grew into a heavy shower.
" It can't be…" Though he was drenched from head to foot, Ali Baba couldn't begin to believe the phenomenon. It was too good to be true.
The villagers of Al-yamama, having finished their duty of defending their town and their families, raised their eyes in disbelief at the gift bestowed on them.
" A miracle! This is a miracle! It's the first rain in years!".
Jaber let loose the latch of Malik's room and stepped into the yard, letting the tension in his shoulders slip away with the water washing over him, and the dagger he was so tightly clutching fell to his side. " It's over." He breathed.
Unbeknownst to him, someone else was also stirred awake by the smell of the rain and the sound of it rapping on the window over his head.
Jawaher cupped her hands, allowing them to be filled with the long-awaited water. " After hurdles, comes the reward, so long as you have faith." She looked over to Aisha who seemed as though she was a lost kid searching for her parents. Droplets of water slid down her front, whether they were tears or rain was unclear.
" I wish Salma could have enjoyed it for one last time…" she mumbled seeing the kids racing and jumping into each and every pond in their way.
The whole of Al-yamama relished in the wake of the rain, children raced and splashed puddles, women danced and trilled, men cried out in joy and all were grateful for the miracle as the flames slowly subsided and died off.
With her sparkling eyes, Zarqa watched over all of that as Sindbad joined them on top of the tower, making sure they were safe and sound. A feeling of satisfaction settled in her chest. She was able to save it, to save this village she cared for.
Her village.
However, her eyes went wide as something flashed before her, as if it was a memory, but it was something far from that.
" Sindbad…" The man blinked when the blunette girl turned around and looked up at him, seriousness written all over her face. " I have a favor to ask of you…"
It's not over yet…