DEMON OR WITCHCRAFT

"Face me, bastard! It is me speaking." The wounded bandit roared back.

"Nah, you are already a dead dog, I can't waste my time with you. At least let this other coward who ran away knows a real man when he sees one." Abu Bin Zayyid continued mocking the bandit.

"I can kill you hundred times with my eyes blindfolded. Who cursed such a pathetic dead dog like you to become a highway bandit? I think it could have been much better if they cursed you, to be a whore to these Sodomite Christians." Abu continued mocking.

"Cursed be your mother, she is the one who was a Sodomite prostitute to the Christians, no proper Muslim man could love her that is why she produced such a wicked and beastly man such as you." The injured bandit insulted Abu Bin Zayyid where it mattered.

As if this was not enough, the bandit added, "am sure she mated with a pig to conceive you, have you looked at yourself properly? There's no difference between you and a pig wearing human flesh." The bandit added insult on insult.

Abu Bin Zayyid was annoyed and infuriated beyond measure, he grabbed the spear and pointed at the bandit, "Kess Ikhtak (fuck) your mother, sisters, and daughter!"

Hearing what Abu Bin Zayyid said, the bandit had a wicked smile as he adjusted the club in his hand before insulting and challenging him. "Ya Ibn el Sharmouta (son of a bitch) speak with your fist, not your ugly mouth."

"You will die for this, I will kill your mother, and sisters and defile your daughters I swear, castrate and slave your sons and other family members unless my name is not Abu Bin Zayyid!" Abu was incensed beyond measure.

"So what if your name is Abu Bin Zayyid? It can even be Abu the pig or Abu camel shit and I will not care even a small bit. Me, Zamilu son of Abdallah has never shied away from a challenge more so from a loudmouth like you." The bandit who called himself Zamilu pointed at Abu with his club.

***

From a distance, Buluhani Ashraf watched as his perfectly laid plan of ambushing this lone traveler turned upside down. How he looked forward to acquiring some loot to buy food for his group.

It was meant to be a simple job; surprise, strike down and loot completely, he was watching what he had trouble believing. If it was told to him by one of his juniors, he couldn't have believed it. One lone traveler faces off against five armed bandits and kills most of them without getting any scratches.

What sort of demon or witchcraft was this?

It started with his arrows missing the mark as if they were jinxed. The first arrow landed in the mud having missed by a few inches, the same happened to all his arrows.

At first, he blamed it on the wind, arrows from a distance were highly susceptible to being blown off course by the wind.

But this! Didn't explain why the arrow he shot at that traitor Amuza who wanted to spill secrets about him to this stranger had struck true. Silencing him for good in this life.

Watching how he toyed with Amuza and Farouk had unnerved him. This lone traveler who was now identifying himself as Abu Bin Zayyid was a real sadist.

How do you break another man's balls like that, it was an action without any honor as a warrior. To make matters worse he was using their weapons to kill them.

For a lone traveler to turn the tables on five armed bandits single-handedly, totally unnerved Buluhani Ashraf, they had ambushed the wrong person this time around. But why now?

Could this Abu Bin Zayyid be a member of that rumored and feared secretive sect hidden in Masyaf called Assassin's Order. But those fellows only killed high-ranking officials, also they had uniforms with specialized weapons like daggers from what he heard from the myth spread amongst the common soldier and traveling merchants.

This Abu was wearing an ordinary and moreover cheap civilian robe, fought barehanded until he stole the scimitar from Amuza and used it on Farouk before turning to wound Zamilu on the shoulder. Not counting the spear that had killed Sharif in the most gruesome way.

Zamilu even though he had a faulty of insulting others is a brave individual and a master at killing with the club. He enjoys bashing in the skulls of his enemies, breaking ribs or arms so that they could feel the pain before he delivered the killing blow. Most times the travelers out of sheer pain could plead for their lives, and hand over monies they had hidden in secretive places Buluhani and his men could never discover.

This time, Buluhani Ashraf could feel the pain Zamilu was enduring with that nasty shoulder wound, despite that brave face he was putting on & the insults he was exchanging.

That thrown scimitar strike must have broken Zamilus' shoulder bone and done other untold damage in there seeing from the blood he had lost, how he was wincing, and the way he was holding onto that club. The upper right side of the robe, he was wearing was already soaked in his blood.

Buluhani admired his courage to keep on standing and face the enemy unlike Khalid the spear wielder who had run off when could see through his bravado.

Zamilu's wingman Sharif had already been killed in a brutal manner by this demon Abu Bin Zayyid.

Had the other coward Faraj not run away despite losing his spear; they definitely could have stood a chance of taking down this demon when Buluhani Ashraf joined them.

But now the situation was not looking promising, two against that demon Abu was suicide.

He cursed the coward Faraj for running away and putting him in such a delicate position. Even if he intervened now, he could not save Zamilu from that demon Abu. He was out for blood, the way he was smiling & looking invigorated whenever he spilled blood. This demon lusted for the blood of his enemies, Buluhani could even see it in his eyes. This was a demon-possessed man who delighted in killing others just because it made him feel powerful.

Buluhani Ashraf contemplated what could happen if he intervened, and the likelihood of losing his life was high. He liked Zamilu for his courage & brutality but he wasn't ready to sacrifice his life for a subordinate not now or ever.

With the thought of intervening, his heart clenched in fear, legs became heavy from fear.

This annoyed Buluhani to admit, but he feared dying otherwise he could not have deserted Sultan Saladin s army with these men.

"I maybe am a coward who fears dying but I am a special coward who knows what it takes to survive, sorry Zamilu I will not intervene for you. Your widow and children will be taken care of." Buluhani said in his mind as he picked up the last arrow.

Apart from today, he had never missed hitting his targets.

That's why he always carried a few arrows. He always bragged to his men that he was a 'one arrow, one kill' specialist and they had never doubted him.

Slowly, Buluhani Ashraf picked up his last arrow, he placed it in the bow and took his sweet time aiming at the demon Abu as he faced off against the injured Zamilu.

Deep down in his heart, Buluhani Ashraf had already lost faith in this arrow striking the demon Abu, however, he had to try. He believed that even the luckiest man favored by Good Luck could be abandoned.

He aimed at the back of Abu, where the arrow could strike through the ribcage and penetrate the heart. Killing him instantly, washing away the shame he had wrecked on his group of bandits.

Buluhani remembered all the lessons he had ever received from his late father on archery before he enlisted in the army.

He felt the chilly late evening wind and calculated how to mitigate its effect on the arrow hitting the demon Abu having considered the weight of the arrowhead.

All the arrows in Buluhani s possession were having hooked arrowheads. They did the maximum damage to skin tissue, very few people hit by them could survive.

This reminded him of when the coward Faraj copied from him, usage of hooked arrows because of the damage they delivered, he also acquired a spear with a hooked spearhead and had never gone back to an ordinary spear ever since.

Now the demon Abu had the spear, the thought of it being used against him, sent shivers down Buluhani's spine.

He aimed, confirmed his target, and then released the overstrung bow.

The arrow arched in the darkening night sky, headed towards the demon Abu Bin Zayyid.

Buluhani did not wait for it to reach the designated target.

He had begun fleeing away from this failed ambush using the cover of trees and the darkness of the approaching night.