“Yes, Effendi!”
“And here is my blossom with the flame-colored hair. See, Kiber, she wakes at the sound of my voice. Don’t be frightened, Blossom. Don’t scream. Gag her, Kiber. Cover her mouth. That’s right.”
The trader drew forth a black jewel and held it over the three figures on the ground.
“In the name of Zhakrin, God of Darkness and All That Is Evil, I command you all—sleep. . .”
The trader waited a moment to make certain the spell had taken.
“Very well, Kiber, you may proceed.”
Turning, the trader walked away.
Their task completed at last, the soldiers threw their burning brands into the numerous bonfires blazing around the camp. Springing onto the backs of their magical horses, they soared into the air, flying back to the west toward Kich. Kaug had long ago departed, bearing in his mighty hands the main body of the Amir’s troops, the Amir, and all those who had been taken captive.
The desert night was alive with the sounds of death: the crackling of the flames; the wailing of an old woman; the groaning of the wounded; the snarls and vicious snaps of carrion eaters, fighting over the bodies.
The survivors who could stand did what they could for those who could not, dragging the wounded back to the fires that would—at least—keep them warm during the chill night. Tribesman helped rival tribesman—shepherd carrying horseman in his arms, horseman dabbing cool water onto the parched lips of a shepherd. No one had strength enough to bury the dead. The bodies of the nomads were hauled near the fires, thwarting the jackals and hyenas, who howled their frustration and made do by feasting on the corpses of the Amir’s soldiers.
Majiid, weary and wounded, looked at the bodies as each was brought in. He recognized here a friend, there a cousin, but never the one for whom he searched in vain. He questioned the men. Were there more dead out there? Had they found everyone? Were they certain?
His men only shook their heads. They knew whom the Sheykh both longed and dreaded to find. They had not seen him. No, as far as they could tell, these were the only ones who had met their deaths.
“But I have his sword!” Majiid cried, holding out Khardan’s notched and bloodstained weapon. “I found it on the ground beneath his fallen horse’“
Averting their faces, the men looked away.
“He would not let himself be captured’“ Majiid thundered. “He would not have surrendered his sword! You are blind fools! I will go look for myself!”
Torch in hand, ignoring the pain of his wounds—and he had taken several—the Sheykh went to conduct his own search of the area around the Tel.
The carrion eaters snarled at him for disrupting their feasting and slunk away, skulking about in the shadows until he and his fearsome fire had gone. Majiid grimly climbed among the rocks of the Tel, turning over the bodies of the soldiers and the dead horses, peering beneath them, dragging them to one side. Only when he grew too weak and dizzy from loss of blood to stand did he finally admit to himself that he would have to give up, at least for the night.
Sinking to the sand, he looked back on the ruins of the camp, on the smoldering fires, the smoke curling into the starlit sky, the figures of his people—what remained of them—silhouetted against the flames, walking slowly with bowed heads.
Tears came to Majiid’s fierce old eyes. Snorting, he fought them back, but the fires blurred in his vision, the bleak hopelessness of despair overcame him. Refusing to give way to such womanly weakness, the old man struggled to rise to his feet. His hand brushed across a cactus, growing in the blood-covered ground.
“Curse you, Akhran!” the old man swore viciously.
“You have brought us to ruin!”
Grasping the cactus, oblivious to the thorns that gouged his flesh, Majiid took hold of the Rose of the Prophet and tried to drag it out of the sandy soil.
The cactus didn’t budge.
Time and again Majiid tugged at it, drove his foot into it, hacked at it with his sword.
Stubbornly the cactus refused to yield.
Majiid sank, exhausted, to the ground and stared at the Rose in wonder until the coming of the dawn.
Glossary
agal: the cord used to bind the headcloth in place
aksakal: white beard, village elder
Amir: king
Andak: Stop! Halt!
ariq: canal
arwat: an inn
aseur: after sunset
baigha: a wild game played on horseback in which the “ball” is the carcass of a sheep
bairaq: a tribal flag or banner
Bali: Yes!
Bashi: boss
bassourab: the hooped camel-tent in which women trave
batir: thief, particularly horse or cattle thief (One scholar suggests that this could be a corruption of the Turkish word “bahadur” which means “hero.”)
berkouks: pellets of sweetened rice
Bilhana: Wishing you joy!
Bilshifa: Wishing you health!
burnouse: A cloaklike garment with a hood attached
Calif: prince
caftan: a long gown with sleeves, usually made of silk
chador: women’s robes
chirak: lamp
couscous: a lamb stuffed with almonds and raisins and roasted whole
dhough: ship
divan: the council-chamber of a head of state
djinn: beings who dwell in the middle world between humans and the Gods
djinniyeh: female djinn
djemel: baggage camel
dohar: midafternoon
dutar: two-stringed guitar
Effendi: title of quality
‘efreet: a powerful spirit
Emshi besselema: a farewell salutation
eucha: suppertime
eulam: post meridian
fantasia: an exhibition of horsemanship and weapons skills
fatta: a dish of eggs and carrots
fedjeur: before sunrise
feisha: an amulet or charm
ghaddar: a monster who lures men and tortures them to death
ghul: a monster that feeds on human flesh. Ghuls may take any human form, but they can always be
distinguished by their tracks, which are the cloven hooves of an ass
girba: a waterskin; four usually carried on each camel of a caravan
goum: a light horseman
haik: the combined head cloth and face mask worn in the desert
harem: “the forbidden,” the wives and concubines of a man or the dwelling places allotted to them
hauz: artificial pond
Hazrat: holy
henna: a thorn-shrub and the reddish stain made from it
houri: a beautiful and seductive woman
Imam: priest
jihad: holy war
kafir: unbeliever
Kasbah: a fortress or castle
kavir: salt desert
khurjin: saddlebags
kohl: a preparation of soot used by women to darken their eyes
madrasah: a holy place of learning
Makhol: Right! (exclamation)
mamaluks: originally white slaves; warriors
marabout: a holy man
mehara: a highly bred racing camel
mehari: a plural of mehara
mehariste: a rider of a mehara
mogreb: nightfall
nesnas: a legendary, fearsome monster that takes the form of a man divided in half vertically, with half a face, one arm, one leg, and so on
palanquin: a curtained litter on poles, carried by hand
pantalons: loose, billowing pants worn by men
paranja: a woman’s loose dress
pasha: title of rank
qarakurt: “black worm,” a large species of deadly spider
qumiz: fermented mare’s milk
rabat-bashi: innkeeper
saks
ul: a tree that grows in the desert
salaam: an obeisance, a low bow with the hand on the forehead
salaam aleikum!: Greeting to you
saluka: a swift hunting dog
satsol: a desert-growing tree
seraglio: the quarters of the women of the harem
Sheykh: the chief of a tribe or clan
shir: lion
shishlick: strips of meat grilled on a skewer
sidi: lord, sir
sirocco: the south wind, a windstorm from the south
souk: marketplace, bazaar
spahi: native cavalryman
Sultan: king
Sultana: wife of a Sultan, queen
surnai: a traditional folk reed instrument, generally conical and made of wood
tamarisk: a graceful evergreen shrub or small tree with feathery branches and minute scalelike leaves
tambour: similar to a tambourine
tel: a hill
tuman: money
wadi: river or stream
wazir: an adviser to royalty
yurt: semipermanent tent
Table of Contents
Introduction by Margaret Weis
Foreword
The Book of the Gods
The Book of Akhran
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
The Book of Promenthas
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
The Book of the Immortals
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
The Book of Quar
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Glossary