And He Ran

From above, Zarqa watched as the people scurried away, fearing for their lives. She then looked over her shoulder at the other side of the wall, where the thieves were gathered. The moment the gate was damaged enough for them to get through without being burned, they rushed ahead, holding their weapons aloft. " Take everything! Leave nothing behind! Today we feast!"

Zarqa's heart skipped a beat as she saw them wading through her town, her eyes swept around for a way down. She was surrounded by fire and flames a rope couldn't do, and was too high for her to try and jump.

" Zarqa! Find that woman and bring her alive! Najji wants her!" A man cried out. Having heard that, an idea crossed her mind.

" Over here!" Her cry prompted the bandits to look over their shoulders at the wall they had left behind.

There on top, with her dark blue hair swaying with the wind, Zarqa looked down at them as though daring them to come get her. A man cried, all of the bandits turned around and made back towards the wall. Zarqz quickly spun and ran down the path towards the southwest tower.

As she looked over her shoulder, she could glimpse some of the bandits running towards the tower she left behind, so running back was never an option for her because they would be blocking her way. All the same, if she doesn't get off the wall, she will be eventually caught when she reaches the next tower.

Keeping close to the parapet, she ignored the cries rising from below and the wave of heat blowing against her face as the fire spread through the houses of the suburbs. Instead, her eyes were focusing on something not too far from her, a way out.

A few meters forward, there was a rather close and high house that wasn't badly damaged by the flames, yet. With proper preparation, Zarqa knew she could jump onto its roof safely and easily disappear among the smoke and flames.

Unwrapping her veil, Zarqa cast one last glance at the bandits following her through the streets, making sure she managed to give herself enough distance between them before hopping onto the rampart. Zarqa then proceeded to throw herself into the night, holding both sides of her veil wide apart.

A hot wave of air blew, buffeting the green fabric and slowing her descent. She landed on the roof and rolled off a couple of times. With a pending ache at the back of her neck, she managed to climb to her feet and push at a door, throwing herself inside the building…

━━━━━━━༺ *** ༻━━━━━━━

The market was crawling with the people who managed to escape the suburbs in time.

Ali Baba bent down, trying to catch his breath after towing the carriage with both his mother and Aisha so far. His mother was tending to the younger woman, trying to comfort her.

" The fire is spreading! It won't be long before it engulfs the whole village!"

Ali Baba looked back, taking the waves of flames crawling through the buildings. His mind however nagged at something else. No bandit was in sight. None of them followed after the villagers.

" Keep the women in the middle of the market and try to stop the waves of the flames!"

" While Zarqa is luring them away, we should build some barricade against the thieves!"

" Zarqa?" It wasn't only Ali Baba who caught on to that part, most of them turned back, expressions ranging from worried to curious.

Jawaher's eyes trailed over the heads and back at the sea of flames. " Don't tell me… Zarqa is still…"

" The bandits are after her… she is keeping them away from us…" An old man murmured, his look lost amidst the burning village.

" We should do something…" Jawaher spoke, but no one ever answered to her, their eyes trailing away, away from the woman, away from the lost girl among the flames. " Don't any of you feel ashamed of yourself… a young girl is risking her life for yours…"

" What do you want us to do, woman!" A man cried out loud. " Those are armed outlaws who have no mercy whatsoever! And we're a handful of men with no weapons to our names!"

" You're safe there so shut up your mouth and be grateful! Don't go sticking your nose where it might get cut!" Another woman beside hushed her.

Jawaher pursed her lips, having no strength to stand up against them, she looked back at where the shouts of the bandits rose.

Before he knew it, Ali Baba sprung down the path again, flinging himself against the columns of fire and smoke and disappearing from their sight. His mother called after him but he was already away from earshot.

Ali Baba wondered as he ran in between the teetering houses and shacks razed to the ground, why he had moved in the first place. Why did he leave the safety of the market and plunge back into the horror of the flames and outlaws?

He could not find an answer. All he could do was curse at his own feet for dragging him back, for sprinting on their own despite his mind screaming at him to go back to safety. Why was he doing this? No answer.

Above him, Morjana flew across the sky, crying out as though leading him through the safest route. Pondering on whether trusting a crow was the appropriate thing to do in that situation, Ali Baba had very little he could do and so followed after her anyway.

The smoke impaired his vision, so in the end, all he could rely on was Morjana's cries. As he rounded a corner, a blur of blue and green passed him. Ali Baba blinked his eyes twice and looked at the girl running down amidst the smoke, her veil clutched to her mouth.

Just as he was about to call out for her, he glimpsed a large shadow phasing through the smoke at the end of the path. A bulky man stood out, blocking Zarqa's escape.

The girl skidded to a halt and whirled around in an attempt to run back, yet with a swift move, the man swept her off her feet and hauled her over his shoulder.

Zarqa thrushed and cried but her build was nothing compared to the large man's, it was like a rabbit thrushing against an eagle's claws.

Ali Baba pressed his body hard against the wall, his shaking hands clutching the hilt of his dagger tight. His heart rapped against his chest as he held his breath, cold sweat running down his back.

He was trembling in fear.

Why am I here in the first place? What can I do against a gang of outlaws?!

Gleaning his courage, he peeked around the corner as the man walked away with Zarqa, and he wished he didn't.

Their eyes met.

The girl looked at him, silently begging him to help her. He couldn't. He didn't think himself capable of doing so. He looked away, biting on his lip, hand still on his dagger.

He could turn back, no one would ever know, there was no need for him to act like a hero.

A cry above him snapped him out of his thoughts. Up on the roof, Morjana was looking down on him as though blaming him for being a coward.

Darn it! Gritting his teeth, the boy sprang away from his hiding spot, unsheathing his dagger and pelting towards the thug.

The man turned away just as he caught the flash of the blade by the side of his eye, but he was late to react, and it sank into his shoulder, forcing him to let go of his hostage.

Zarqa fell to the ground, only to be pulled up again by a strong tug on her arm. " Hurry up!" Ali Baba pulled her to her feet and dragged her through the clouds of smoke. Ignoring the cries of pain and threats spewed by the bandit left behind.

They tore across the narrow alleys of the suburbs, more than once changing direction upon the appearance of a shadow or the smallest sign of movement. Ali Baba clutched Zarqa's wrist tightly, not allowing her to fall behind.

Not before long, Zarqa found herself at the furthest part of the suburbs by the wall where a small canal was dug through it, blocked by an accumulation of logs and leftover panels of wood. Zarqa looked behind her, thinking they were cornered. Ali Baba though let go of her hand and started pushing away the barricade blocking the small canal.

" You get away through here!" He told her sternly as he pointed at the small cavity. " This was used to lead dirty water outside of the walls, but it hasn't been used since the draught started. It's big enough for a you to crawl through so use it to get out."

" You're telling me to run away!"

" Do you see any other way!" He grasped her by the shoulders, his eyes piercing hers.

" I would never run and abandon Al-yamama!"

" This is not your village! Why bother!"

" This is my village!" She stomped, leveling his glare. " I would never dream of turning my back on its people when in need!"

" Maybe you should consider lowering your voices. Someone might find you."

They both turned around to see the bandit from earlier, his right arm covered in rivers of blood from his wound as he shakingly held up his sword in his left.

Ali Baba placed himself between him and Zarqa, dagger held aloft. The man approached, anger visible on his face. " You're gonna pay for what you did brat!"

A loud cry caught them by surprise as a large black bird swept down, assaulting the man using its beak and claws. The man swayed his sword angerly, but he was far from hitting Morjana with a shaky hand.

Ali Baba took the chance and dragged Zarqa away, concealing themselves among the clouds of smoke once more.