The expedition made its way to the boundaries of the no-go zone. Mehmed could see the group slowly down behind him, but he could not determine the cause. As the leader, he led the way with Basil by his side as they passed into the zone. There was little indication that such a boundary existed, for any two places in the desert looked highly similar. Basil claimed that he could tell where the border lay, but no matter how hard he tried to observe the sand, he could notice no changes.

Seeing the two leading members being unscathed from their entry, the rest of the group members followed behind them. A couple of hundred metres in, the other members began to relax and chatted amongst themselves as if everything was fine. They teased members who expressed abject fear of coming here and made fun of those who still could not control their nerves. Mehmed observed those who could not keep control of their nerves; there was an unexplainable glint in their eyes as if they knew what was to come.

“You made a mountain out of a molehill. It’s just endless sand.” Mehmed remarked. Basil turned to face the source of the voice and smirked.

“Let’s just continue, and we shall see.” Basil cautioned before turning around to face the front. Basil wrapped a cloth around his mouth, tying a knot at the back of his head, completing his Shemagh.

A feeling of a horrible mistake that he had made welled up within Mehmed, but he continued forward, curious about the area’s contents. He followed Basil and wrapped his face, thinking that it was probably best to follow his actions.

The group stopped on one of the highest dunes to take a short break. Basil dismounted from his horse and unsheathed his blade, attracting strange looks from the others. He stood there as if he was waiting for something. After a while, the group left him be and grabbed their supplies from some of the camel’s backs. Mehmed unsheathed his blade as well and clumsily held it in his hands. “You look like a kid playing with something you shouldn’t touch,” Basil commented.

“Explain yourself.” Mehmed pointed the blade at Basil. Some eyes looked towards the two’s confrontation, but they looked away as they thought Basil could easily take care of things.

Basil’s feet began tapping the ground rhythmically as Mehmed approached him. Not meeting the boy’s gaze, Basil looked downward, and his feet suddenly stopped tapping. “Now.” Basil pointed out, and a strong gust of wind blew by. Basil dropped to the ground, and the strong winds blew a couple of members to the floor. The strong winds also brought large quantities of sand, creating a miniature sandstorm. Temporarily blinded, Mehmed raised an arm to shield his eyes and crouched to steady himself. But the winds continued to blow and the sounds of objects scattering about circulated around his surroundings. Mehmed dropped to the ground, landing on the sand with a thud, displacing the sand around him. Clenching his sword by his side while shielding his eyes, the boy held on for his dear life as the winds spread chaos among the group. The animals wailed and neighed as they panicked due to the sudden change in the environment. Their owners tried to scurry to their animals to calm their steeds down, but the strong gusts forced them to the ground, and they could watch in horror as their supplies scattered to the winds.

As the gusts of wind came, they dissipated about a minute later, allowing Mehmed to pick himself up. He scanned his surroundings, watching the group salvage whatever supplies they could from the ground. Dusting the sand off his clothes, he shook some of the sand off his blade. He looked around and found Basil looking unscathed from the sandstorm. His eyes were looking behind Mehmed, so Mehmed turned to see a couple of black dots by the horizon. They stood on a dune. The black dots leapt, and they began sliding down the dune in a couple of seconds.

“What is that?” A scout hurriedly fished for his binoculars as he looked around for his superiors’ orders.

“Not again…” Another member commented as he unsheathed his blade.

“The supplies! Quickly, scavenge them!” A member in charge of the supplies wailed.

As the black dots grew closer and closer, a humanoid shape could be gleaned from the naked eye. They wore dark hoods that covered their entire bodies from head to toe, allowing none even to glimpse their features. They slid on the sand, treating it like ice, providing no friction to their movements. Mehmed bit his lip and looked toward Basil. Basil sent a benign smile his way and said,” Whatever comes next depends on you, young master.” The explorer began taking steps forward to meet the newcomers, and Mehmed followed behind him, unsure of his words.

The hooded individuals divided themselves into two as they skid to flank the group. Surrounding the group in seconds, they whipped sands into the air, forcing the group to shield their eyes. The members unsheathed their blades and dropped everything that they were doing. They huddled together into a tight formation, surrounding Mehmed and Basil. Archers stood behind the frontline and pointed their bows at the newcomers. Basil gave a stoic look as he waited. A short brief period of silence passed between the two strangers, and neither dared to make the first move.

“Look at the rats who entered our land.” One of the hooded individuals declared with a feminine voice.

“My apologies. Our supplies are running low, so we must pass directly through your lands.” Basil spoke in an extremely humble tone that made Mehmed feel a little indignant. Basil had never talked to him like that before, and his family is his employer!

“Pfftt. Just hand over your belongings or die.” The hooded leader demanded and took a step forward. Some armed members began dropping their weapons, causing Mehmed’s eyes to furrow.

“Are you all going to submit to a bunch of bandits! Attack!” Mehmed demanded, causing those who dropped their weapons to pick them up in response immediately. Mehmed clenched his teeth and glared at the lone individual robbing them in broad daylight.

“Young master, while you’re from my employer’s family, I highly recommend that you shut up.” Basil walked over and whispered into his ear. Mehmed bit his lip.

“How can I, the future lord, submit to mere bandits! I won’t shut up! Attack!” Mehmed ordered, causing Basil to rub his forehead in agony. Members of the expedition clenched their blades and huddled in their defensive formations, waiting for the enemies to strike first.

“A feisty one. Very well, take care of the trash.” The feminine voice ordered, and the hooded individuals rushed forth. In mere seconds, they were in their enemies’ faces, causing them to bring down their blades in response. The hooded individuals raised daggers and parried the edge to the side, causing the armed swordsmen to stumble. The bandits used another hand to shove them, causing them to fall. Archers took the opportunity to fire their bows, but the bandits shifted their bodies to the side, dodging the arrows. Landing on the ground, they leapt and lunged at the archers. The archers quickly drew their short blades, but with their superhuman speed, the bandits closed the gap and brought down the handle of their daggers onto their foes. Knocking the archers out, they rushed back and knocked out the sworders trying to get up from the ground, leaving Basil, Mehmed and some stranglers. The other bandits picked off the stranglers, leaving the leader to close the gap between the group’s two core members.

Unlike her counterparts using superhuman strength, the leader slowly walked and stopped a couple of metres away from the two. “I’m sorry?” Mehmed weakly muttered, and Basil scowled at the boy but put on the most amicable smile he could towards the leader.

“I’m sorry, madam, we will never do it again.” Basil dropped his knees to the ground and bashed his head onto the floor in total submission to her. Mehmed watched in horror as the explorer lost all will to resist.

Mehmed tightened his grip on the blade and stared at the hooded individual, trying to distinguish any features from them. It was complete darkness; the hood provided full shade from the sun, not letting one get even a glimpse of their identity. Mehmed raised his blade as his arms shook and pointed it towards her.

A sneer could be heard as she slowly walked closer and closer to the boy. His arms shook with even more uncontrolled fervour as each step grew ever so close. Within the range of his blade, the boy strengthened his will and slashed at her. She ducked and let the blade pass overhead and caught Mehmed’s sword arm with a single hand. Mehmed tried to shake her off, but her grip was iron tight. Pulling on that hand, Mehmed stumble forward towards her. Then, the bandit struck a hand towards his chest and pushed him upward, flinging him into the air before plummeting onto the ground. Mehmed groaned as the pain welled up in his abdomen, slamming on his belly. He rolled and looked upwards to see the individual standing over him.

“Any last words?” The leader seemingly mischievously asked.

“Fuck you,” Mehmed uttered before a strong force struck against his head, sending him out cold.

A bumpy ride could be felt underneath him. Shaking his head, Mehmed reached for his scabbard but did not feel his blade. Opening his eyes, the endless dark sky of the night greeted him. “Where’s my blade?” He demanded and slowly raised his upper body. The bumpy ride stopped, and an individual bringing over a lamp shone it in his face. Mehmed’s eyes narrowed as he adjusted to the sudden change in brightness.

“Looks like you’re awake.” The man grinned. Mehmed’s eyes furrowed as he looked at the man greeting him. “Regarding your blade, we lost all our weapons and armours. Half of our supplies are gone as well. So, we’re in a bit of a rush.” The person in question hurried away, and the ride continued. Mehmed scanned his surroundings and saw others on horseback sending him piercing gazes. He sighed, laid back down on the wooden floor, and closed his eyes, hoping to wake up from his horrific nightmare.

“It was a complete disaster; a sandstorm scattered most of our belongings. But at least we are alive.” Basil made his report to some administrative officials, who scowled at the disaster of the expedition. Basil weakly smiled before turning around to get some rest. Mehmed, who followed behind him, uttered,” Why didn’t you tell them about the mmph….” The explorer placed his hand on the boy’s mouth.

“What’s the use of telling them? Could the local militia take care of them? I don’t think so.” The explorer increased his pace, putting some distance between the boy and him. Mehmed remembered the piercing gazes sent by everyone during their trip back; he had never felt so humiliated before in his life. There was no way he was going to let those bandits scot-free. Plus, that excuse Basil gave? That sounded like bullshit! He ran back to the administrative official, handling some other paperwork.

“Sir. The truth is that some bandits ambushed us.” Mehmed declared in a voice full of conviction, causing the official’s eyebrows to be raised.

“Where exactly are the bandits located? And why didn’t Mr Abbas report it? “Doubt was depicted on his face as the official sent a pitiful gaze toward the boy.

“Right here.” Mehmed unfurled a scroll onto the table and pointed toward the no-go zone.

“Alright… I will write a report, and the local militia will handle it if there are any other reports.” The official politely replied with a tinge of annoyance. Mehmed felt that he was being flattered and quickly ran off back to his home.

“Poor Basil, having to cover for this little brat.” The official sighed as he wrote a simple report on the matter, placing it onto the low priority pile. He purposedly slotted into the very bottom of the bank, where some of the most absurd reports lay.

Books were strewn all about the tiny library. The flipping of pages echoed throughout the room as Mehmed scoured the literature for any hints of the zone. There was little to no reference to the area in the small array of books he had. Sighing, he closed the current book he held and turned back to gaze upon the map. Circling his finger around the area, he observed the land’s surroundings for any notable landmarks. It was not depicted on the map he currently had, if there were any. Furrowing his eyebrows, he turned to grab another book.

As he flipped through the pages of his current book, a thought settled in his head. The humiliation that the bandits landed on him was something he could not shake off. He constantly touched his sheath, filled with another blade he borrowed from the armoury. Dropping the book on the table, he unsheathed the sword and took the time to admire his reflection on the handle. Returning the blade to the sheath, he decided to put his study session on hold. He ran out of the room and encountered a hooded individual.

He reached for his blade by instinct and wrapped his fingers around the handle. While pulling it out, a familiar voice came out,” Mehmed? What’s the problem?” The hooded individual tilted his head to the side and gestured with a hand that was full of a book.

“Steward Wasifi, nothing.” Mehmed calmed his hands and rushed away from the steward.

Frowning, Wasifi headed into the library and placed back the book in his hand. Looking at Mehmed’s mess left behind, Wasifi grumbled as he put the books back in their proper places. However, Wasifi stopped by a desk, which contained a map. It had scribbles on it, and an X was labelled with “bandits?” in the middle of an annotated area, “Do not enter”. In big capital letters, the X was circled with the word “Why?” by its side.

Inspecting the parchment, Wasifi grasped it. Scoffing, he rolled it up and slotted it into a pocket of his hood. Wasifi then returned the books to the right places, but he ensured to flip through them to scan their contents. Nodding his head as he looked around the tidied up library, he took his leave from the area.