Fire Maiden

Part 2

Rafig paused to add more wood to the fire, and for a moment I gazed up at the stars. Lady Moon was still bright, and around her sparked the familiar constellations – Coney Night Caller, Shadad the Hunter, the Wide-Eared Fox. The glow of the fire created a magical island of light in the darkness, and, just beyond its perimeter, the camels grunted and chewed.

‘So what happened?’ I asked.

Rafig took a breath. ‘Well, when Alia returned with her lost sheep the sun was going down, and Kais was nowhere to be found. His goats and sheep were scattered far and wide, as were her own – he had been keeping an eye on them for her. Like any young nomad would, the first thing she did was trace his tracks. She followed them a short way and saw that they ended suddenly. There were no other tracks around apart from those of the flocks, and it looked as if Kais had simply been swallowed up by the desert. Alia could not believe that, but what other explanation was there?

She rounded up the animals and took them back to the camp, where she told the clan what had happened. They sent search-parties to look for Kais but without tracks to follow there wasn’t much they could do, and nobody could explain how come his footprints ended so abruptly. If he had been carried off by men or attacked by animals, they said, there would have been some sign, but there was nothing. Someone suggested that he might have been taken the Giant Roc – a huge bird capable of lifting a bull camel in each. Since the Roc was known only in stories, though, the idea didn’t gain much sympathy.

Days passed then moons, and there was no news of Kais. The clan began to believe that he would never return – that God had taken him unto God.

Alia missed him terribly. He had been awkward in recent days, but she had forgiven him. He was her friend. They had known each other since they had been infants. She could not and would not accept that he was dead. ‘I know he is alive,’ she said.

One day as she was herding the animals by some low rocky hills, a coney came hopping up and sat down by her. She realized suddenly that it was the same coney that Kais had once caught in his hoop snare.

‘Because you were kind to me, I shall tell you what I know,’ the little animal said. ‘Your friend is not dead. He went off with the caravan of a beautiful lady - the Fire Maiden - who invited him into her camel litter. I have no idea where they went, but I am afraid he has forgotten you.’

Alia was distressed, but she said, ‘why were there no camel tracks?’

‘The Fire Maiden's camels are no ordinary camels,’ the coney replied. ‘Her caravan leaves no tracks.’

‘Then how can I find out where she has taken Kais?’

‘Do you really want to find him? I think he is in love with the Fire Maiden now, and can think of nothing else.’

Alia didn’t care – she would not be put off.

‘All right,’ said the coney. ‘Travel in a straight line from here towards the sunset, and in seven sleeps you will find a great hole in the ground. At the top of that hole, you will see a drum hanging by its sling from a standing stone. Beat the drum and an old woman will come to meet you. That woman can tell you where your friend has gone.’

Alia thanked the coney, but he replied that the thanks was only to the Great Spirit. Then he hopped off. Next morning, while her clan was asleep, Alia left the camp riding an old she-camel, taking with her some bread, dried meat, sour camel’s milk, and a skin of water. She set off west towards the sunset, riding in the day and resting at night. Six sleeps passed, and her food and water were gone. By that time the she-camel was so weak from hunger that she could no longer carry Alia, who had to dismount and lead her. Soon the she-camel sat down and would not get up. Alia removed the head-rope and told the camel that she could go haamil – she was free to roam and graze where she wanted in the desert. Alia gave the animal a sad pat and a friendly nuzzle, then continued alone. The girl herself was very hungry and thirsty by now and it was all she could do to put one foot in front of the other. Then, after sunset, when the desert sky was so heavy with stars that it seemed to press down on her, she happened upon a great hole in the desert.

At the top of the hole she found a drum hanging by a rope from a standing stone, and, remembering the coney’s words, she picked up the drum and beat it. Almost at once a flock of goats and sheep came rushing out of the hole. They were big, bony animals and they looked fierce, with pointed horns, long, sharp teeth, and wicked dark eyes. Their bodies were covered in cuts and sores. Alia took the drum and ran away as fast as she could, till she came to a tall acacia tree. She slung the drum from her shoulder and climbed the tree. The goats and sheep gathered around bleating angrily, and she felt that they wanted to kill her. They could not climb the tree, however, and she thought if she gave them the drum they might go away. She threw the drum down to them, and sure enough, they picked up the sling dragged the drum back the way they had come.

When Alia was sure they had gone, she slipped down from the tree and followed their tracks to the hole. Inside, she found a tunnel descending steeply under the ground, leading to an archway framing fiery red light like the light of the setting sun. Alia followed the tunnel and went through the archway, finding herself in a place where everything was hidden by a red mist. There was someone there, just inside the archway, though – someone who spoke to her in a cracked old-woman’s voice.

‘I have been waiting for you,’ she said.