Nasash woke up to the sound of heavy footsteps above the cave and woke up Dan.
So he asked:
What's that?
Listen!
And the two of them listened carefully, and Dan asked:
Is it deer or cattle?
They are human footsteps.
Dan was afraid that the people of the middle villages had discovered their presence, and thought they were spies for their enemies in the upper villages. He preferred predatory animals over humans!
And Nasash took out his dagger, placed it between his teeth, and crawled out of the cave with the awakening of the wolf and the flexibility of its body, followed by Didi.
They stealthily moved among the short trees, disappearing under their shadows from the light of the blue moon.
From the cave's opening, they saw the ghosts of armed men struggling to climb the mountain. Their appearances were bent from exhaustion and fatigue. Some of them carried wounds, wrapping their heads or arms in bloody bandages. Nasash whispered to Dan:
"They are warriors returning from a battle. They must be defeated..."
Before Nasash could finish his words, Dan leaped out of his hiding place, shouting:
"Shoran! Shoran!"
Nasash grabbed his foot to stop him from leaving, saying, "He is our friend Shoran! There is no danger. Come."
A boy about Dan's age stopped and turned around, searching for whoever called him by name. When Dan saw him, he was overcome with fear and tried to flee, screaming, "Ghost! Ghost!"
Dan grabbed him from behind, shouting:
"Shoran, it's me! I'm not a ghost! I'm not dead!"
Shoran surrendered to his inability to escape due to fear and exhaustion.
Dan held onto his arms to reassure him of his physical presence, saying:
Look at me! Touch me! I am alive, I am Dan! Some of the fighters heard Dan's voice and they returned to see what was happening. Nasash joined them, introduced by Dan as a friend who came with him from the plains.
Nasash noticed that Shuran could no longer speak, and an arrow, broken from its quiver, pierced his left shoulder.
So he asked Dan to bring him his bag from the cave, and he sat the injured boy on a nearby rock and pulled out his knife, cutting the cloth around the arrow.
Dan returned with bandages, and Nasash produced a flask, from which he poured a strong drink made of date wine and honey, then he applied a wooden splint, powdered with a camphor-colored substance, around the wound and its surroundings.
They waited until the boy regained some of his strength, then Nasash swiftly and forcefully removed the broken arrow from his shoulder, filling the wound with a large cotton pad saturated with powder, causing Shuran to lose consciousness from the intensity of the pain.
All this while the warriors looked on in amazement, and the wounded among them approached to receive treatment.
And when Nasash finished dressing the wounds, he carried the boy Shuran on his shoulder, and walked with the group in their direction.
They climbed slowly until the moon disappeared and dawn approached. As they ascended, the paths became narrower and more rugged, and they began to crawl on their hands and knees.
Antelopes and wild oxen watched them from atop high rocks, and monkeys pelted them with stones and sticks.
They climbed in a single file, led by a strong-bodied fighter carrying a shield in front of him.
Nasash asked Dan, "Do we expect an attack?"
"No! just be cautious of rockslides and boulders that suddenly come down like a flash flood when the mountain moves!"
Nasash remembered those vibrations they called mountain shivers from the intense cold in the heart of winter.
As if recalling something important, he paused to say to Dan:
"Don't tell them my real name or who I am. Tell them my name is Imad." Whispering, Didi asked:
"Why?"
"If they find out who I am, they'll kill me!"
But why?
Did you forget what I told you about my escape with my grandmother from the village? They never forgive violating traditions and customs. And my punishment will be to be thrown off from the cliff in her place!
And Dan thought for a moment, and asked:
"What will they do to me, since I was the reason for breaking the rituals and customs?"
"Don't worry, it wasn't your fault."