Beautiful Tortoise

Fosan entered the fencing training building next to the palace, within the castle's inner buildings, and walked through the halls, until he found Amid.

He had known from Wahara what was going on between Amid and (Aynur) on the Golden Coast, so he was not comfortable with him. He saw him waving his precious sword, leaned his shoulder on the wall, and said to him:

"So, (Behruz) is still there on the Floral Throne?"

(Amid) cut a miserable fly whose bad luck wanted it to roam before his eyes, and divided it into two equal halves with a Rokoshta's blade, then stopped to catch his breath, saying to his mate coldly: "And you are still outside (Sewer) for a while."

Ignoring his offensive hint, Fossan asks him, "Why did we bark up the wrong tree with the dwarves? I mean, what are Rokoshta's real abilities?"

"I will satisfy your curiosity, Fossan, though you clearly doubt my usefulness. The great Rokoshta is primarily defensive, and his true power will be revealed to you when the battle begins."

"Is it bewitched like Soma?" Fossan asked sarcastically.

Amid laughed: "King (Kalak) does not derive his legendary reputation from magic. The sword is connected to the spirits of the brave (Washin) heroes and their kings, so it fights according to the adversary. If the opponent was a man, it would fight him like men, and if he was a jinn, it would kill him like a jinn, and if he was a roc, it would kill him like a rocs."

"I don't like your skill, we have to raise your level now so that we can be assured of your fighting ability. What do you think about the manifestation of its abilities here and now?" said (Fossan) maliciously as he climbed an internal staircase, leading to a simple balcony.

Amid's eyebrows get closer in severity, and with a hidden signal from Fossan's hand, two guards entered, pushing a cage on wheels covered with a dirty lid that concealed what was inside, and closed the door of the hall from the inside to prison those inside, blocking it with the cage, and then ascending on it, while they were waiting for Fossan's signal.

Amid stood in front of the cage, excited, and raised his sword sideways, saying to Fossan: "Whatever you bring, will kill by Rokoshta, but you will not escape by your action."

They heard a sudden knock on the door and Aynur's voice shouted, "Open the door, I'm Princess Aynur."

The two guards' hands stretched towards the lock of the cage, preparing for Fossan's signal, and the cage shook vigorously despite its weight, as if the thing inside was very strong and huge, and Amid was stimulated more and more, but Fossan said suddenly: "Stop." Then he ordered them to open the door, and Eynur came in, behind her, Arch, and Wahara carrying a pet cat, said angrily, "Can one of you explain to me exactly what's going on here?"

The two warriors bowed at once on top of the cage, while (Arch) cunningly said: "Lovers' strife." (Aynur) asked Fossan when she saw him at the balcony, and saw Amid tensed up as he aimed his drawn sword at the cage: "Fossan?!"

"I am assisting the commander of your armies in special training, ma'am."

She pointed to the cage covered in a black curtain: "What's in the cage?" He beckoned to the two guards, and they pulled the curtain without opening the lock, and she gasped when she saw a giant tortoise crouching at the bottom of the cage, while Amid, who had never met such a creature, was confused.

The tortoise was two-headed, a head with eyes and a nose without a mouth, a head with a mouth full of fangs and without eyes and no nose, and on its shell sharp horns protruding from everywhere, and Amid did not understand how such a slow reptile could overcome a fighter like him, but the princess exclaimed hysterically:

"Carnivorous tortoise, Fossan? Have you gone crazy?" Fossan exchanged a glance with Amid, then said, "Amid is a ferocious warrior, he will never fear a creature like this, and it is also a perfect opportunity to test his great sword Rokoshta, the legendary sword of King Kalak." (Arch) repeated as if he the one who had told the princess what was going on: "Lovers' strife."

"I will not allow this…" said (Aynur) sharply, Amid interrupted her in a tone that surprised Fossan: "It was I who asked for that beautiful tortoise." It was to everyone's surprise, and for the first time Wahara felt fear for her former master, and her current lover, and said, "Stop, sir, it is no joke."

Amid was already reckless, especially since he was completely ignorant of the abilities of the tortoise, which seemed to him to be slow and heavy, and he would crack it with ease at the first stroke.

Or so he imagined.

***