Widowmaker
When crossing the sand, one must always be wary of bandits
Ahead of the wagon path a bunching of shadowy figures stood, their backs to the horizon. The first rays of dawn were beginning to shine through, seeming to outline the figures in an ethereal glow not unlike Hashem’s holy arrows. Sadie counted at least fifty of them, more numerous than the Ikitan had been. The bandits were armed with bows, scimitars, and spears, glinting in the dawn sun’s hesitant light. Many of them were astride horses.
The sight of their ragged silhouettes against the early morning canvas brought a chill to Sadie’s spine, reminding her of the demon attack she had borne witness to less than twenty minutes prior. Her gaze drifted to her father’s back. The sight of him filled her with confidence and banished most of her fear. She had seen firsthand just how powerful her father was, having dealt with the Ikitan and sandstorm so easily. Compared to that, how bad could mere bandits be?
Hashem folded his arms. “They have the highground. What do you want to do?”
“Even if we were to abandon the wagon, with all three of us mounted I don’t think we could outrun them,” Executioner said.
Hashem smirked. “Be honest. It’s because you and your sword together are too heavy, isn’t it?”
Executioner grunted.
Hashem chuckled. “Shall we go through them, then?”
“Seems to be the only way.”
“Let’s try the same approach as in the Stonelands? Maybe they’ll listen to reason.”
Executioner grimaced. “I doubt it, but you’re welcome to try.”
Their wagon rolled forward another two dozen meters before coming to a stop. The bandits were close enough now that Sadie could see the predatory glint in their eyes.
“Stay here,” Executioner warned her. “Take cover behind the barrels if they begin firing arrows at us.”
She nodded. “O-Okay.” Why was she so nervous? Hashem and Executioner were more than strong enough to deal with simple bandits, yet there was a nagging feeling in her gut that she couldn’t seem to shake off.
Hashem dismounted and took a few steps forward. “Ho there! Salam, my friends!”
“Leave the wagon and walk away!” one of the bandits shouted.
“There’s no need for things to get ugly,” Hashem replied. “If it’s supplies you’re looking for, we’ll happily share a barrel with you and be on our way.”
Another of the bandits sneered. “Or we could just kill you and take everything you have, old man. What do you think of that?”
Hashem threw off his cloak, revealing a gold breastplate and pauldrons beneath. The armor seemed to glow independently of the rising sun, forcing Sadie to shield her eyes.
“An Aspbad Paladin!” one of the bandits exclaimed. Nervous murmurs passed through the line of silhouettes. “Hmph!” the first bandit who had spoken to them huffed. “There are more than five dozen of us here. You really think you can take us all on?”
Executioner stepped up next to Hashem and threw off her cloak as well, revealing her own armor, as well as the massive sword she kept sheathed on her back. The harsh whispers renewed.
“Th-that’s Executioner!”
“Arash Shara...”
Some of the bandits began to back up.
Hashem held up his hands, still unarmed. When he spoke his voice was strong, confident. “Come now. The gods have decreed that all of our lives are sacred. Let us pass. No one needs to die today.”
The bandits fidgeted in place, clearly agitated.
“Hold the line, you damned idiots!” a new voice shouted from the back of the group. “What the devil are you all so afraid of?”
“P-Paladins, sir!” one of the bandits answered.
“Paladins? In the desert?” The crowd parted, making way for a lanky man around Hashem’s age. He had a cropped, gray beard, and wore a black shalvar robe parted at the center in a deep V, exposing a muscular chest covered in runic scrawl. Sadie guessed that this was the bandit leader. He passed rows of armed men, making his way down the hilly sand dunes until he stood only ten meters away from the two Paladins. His eyes widened as he caught sight of them. “Well I’ll be! Is that you, Hashem?!”
Sadie’s heart began to race. How does he know my father?
Hashem stiffened. “Ali Reza.”
The bandit leader grinned. “No wonder my Ikitan scouts didn’t come back. Fate really is a crazy thing, isn’t it?! How long’s it been? Ten years? I see Kanna’s with you, too.” He regarded the Arash Shara woman. “I hear they call you ‘Executioner’ these days.”
Sadie shuddered. This was the man who had sent those demons into the sandstorm?
“What are you doing here, Ali Reza?” Executioner growled.
Ali Reza’s grin widened. “It really has been a spell, hasn’t it?”
“Answer the question.”
“Straight to the point, same as ever, eh, Kanna?” The bandit leader put his hands to his hips. A pair of knives were sheathed at his belt, though he didn’t draw them. “Provost Jaffar wasn’t too pleased when you defeated us at the Battle of the Pass. He exiled me from Gen for my failures.”
“So what? You want revenge?”
Ali Reza laughed. “Hardly! This is just a coincidence. We had no idea we’d run into you here. Besides, life these days is a whole lot better than it ever was in the caste system!”
“Heresy!” Executioner exclaimed.
“Apologies,” Ali Reza said mockingly. “I forgot how religious you are.”
“You still haven’t told us what you’re doing here,” Hashem said. “What are you doing so close to Tel Kellah?”
Ali Reza’s eyes glinted dangerously. “We heard a rumor that your crown princess was kidnapped by some Scarlet prince. Figured they’d make a good ransom to either of their fathers. We’ve been scouring the sand looking for them. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about their whereabouts, would you?”
“Even if we did, I’d sooner kill you than let you take them,” Executioner hissed.
Ali Reza laughed again. “Gods, Kanna. I guess that’s how you got your new name, eh?”
“Let us pass,” Hashem ordered. “I don’t want to hurt you, Ali Reza.”
The bandit leader pointed at Sadie. Instinctively she stiffened. “Who’s that in your wagon? Since she’s not standing with you, I’m guessing she’s a civilian.” He frowned. “Hm. She has your nose, Hashem! Don’t tell me that’s your daughter!” The way he spoke sent a new wave of shivers running along Sadie’s spine.
Hashem reached into his pocket. In a flash of cyan light he withdrew a long, silver polearm with twin prongs at the end - a bident.
“Ha!” Ali Reza chortled. “So quick to draw your weapon. You always did pretend to be the patient one, but the truth is you’re as bloodthirsty as Kanna.” He pointed at Sadie. “You there! Girl! You know what they used to call your father during the war?”
“Don’t speak to her,” Hashem snarled.
Ali Reza continued as if he hadn’t heard. “They called him Hashem the Widowmaker! Back in Gen there are hundreds of widows left behind by the men and women he killed. Of course, compared to Kanna’s achievements, a few hundred kills isn’t much, is it?”
Hashem leveled his weapon toward Ali Reza. Sadie’s heart thundered in her ears. The Widowmaker? She had never heard anyone call her father that. Had he really killed so many people? Seeing him now, holding that silver weapon, she realized how little she actually knew about him.
“Tell me, Hashem,” the bandit leader said. “Even with the two of you, do you really think you can fight all of us and protect the girl simultaneously?”
Hashem’s eyes widened.
“Don’t worry,” Ali Reza assured him. “I’m not interested in harming a civilian.” He glanced at Executioner. “I’m not too keen on fighting Kanna either, so how about a compromise? You and me, Hashem, Munafasa.”
A contest? Sadie thought. But he has so many men. Why would he give up an advantage like that?
“Don’t do it, Hashem,” Executioner warned. “If we fight together, I can strike down all of this heretic’s men.”
“I’ll bet you could!” the bandit leader exclaimed, laughing. “But fighting so many people and protecting a civilian at the same time? That I’d like to see.”
“Executioner, stay back,” Hashem said. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What are the terms?”
“We’ll make it a duel,” Ali Reza replied. “If you win, we’ll let you leave unaccosted. If I win... I want your glass eye.”
The color drained from Hashem’s face. “What? Ali Reza, you...”
My dad’s eye? But why? What did a bandit leader who had once served a Shah want with some glass orb her father wore for appearances?
“Come on, Hashem,” Ali Reza chided her father. “Do you think I’m an idiot? I know what you’re keeping in the eye.”
“What are you playing at?!” Executioner demanded.
The bandit leader smiled sheepishly. “Well, see... I wasn’t completely honest with you before. We were hoping to find the crown princess, but that’s not why we’re here.” He grabbed the inner lapels of his robe and pulled it further askew, exposing more of his chest. Over his heart he bore a three-dimensional tattoo, a dozen snakes coiled in a ball around one another. The tattoo seemed to pulse like a heartbeat.
Hashem sucked in a breath. “You pledged yourself to the laughing snake?!” Upon hearing the name, Sadie’s skin began to prickle with cold, like being pierced by icy needles. She realized that the figures blocking their path were far more than mere bandits.
The bandit leader’s expression hardened. “The laughing snake is wiser than you know.”
“Fool!” Executioner shouted. “You’ve betrayed everything you once stood for!”
Ali Reza shrugged. “I don’t expect a zealot like you to understand.” He returned his gaze to Hashem. “The laughing snake is the one who told me to come here. He said that I’d meet a man with a glass eye, and that I should take it from him. I never realized that it’d be you, Hashem!” The bandit leader chuckled to himself. “Azhi Dahhak sure has a sense of humor.”
Hashem stared, dumbfounded. “But Ali Reza... Your soul!”
The bandit leader’s expression was unreadable, his earlier humor hidden behind a stony mask. “None of us will be spared from damnation, Hashem. We’ve all committed atrocities. Or have you forgotten?”
“That was war,” Executioner said. “We acted in accordance with the teachings of Susa.”
“Really? Was what happened in Qaruk a part of what the warrior goddess demands?”
Executioner didn’t reply.
“See, that’s the problem with the Covenant Faith,” Ali Reza said. “Our rulers demand one thing, the gods another. And that’s not even getting into the issue of family. Sooner or later our oaths and pledges start to contradict each other. Everyone demands all these promises from us, and in the process our souls become sullied one way or another.”
There was a bitterness to his voice, a strength of emotion Sadie hadn’t expected. Then there was that look in his eyes; distant, haunted. She had seen the very same look on her father’s face. She saw it anytime Abed or Beg asked him about the Long War. He always said he’d tell them when they were older, but Sadie got the impression that Hashem was just making excuses so that he didn’t have to talk about it.
“We’re all just pawns,” Ali Reza spat. “To the Shah, and certainly to the gods. I pledged myself to the laughing snake because he understands all of that. He isn’t a hypocrite like you Paladins, pretending you’re righteous just so you can look at yourselves in the mirror.”
Hashem remained quiet while the bandit leader spoke. Were his shoulders shaking? Sadie couldn’t tell for sure. Finally he stiffened, seeming to decide something. His grip on his weapon tightened until his knuckles were white.
“Alright,” Hashem said. “You’ll have your duel, Ali Reza.”
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