Morning light settled softly over the abandoned hut.
It slipped through gaps in the mud walls and rested gently on a still figure lying on a woven mat.
Duniya lay unconscious.
Bandages wrapped his shoulder and back.
His breathing was slow. Quiet.
Beside him, a young woman knelt.
She hesitated before speaking.
“Thank you… for saving my brother.”
Her voice was soft. Unsure.
She waited.
There was no response.
She shifted a little closer, awkward in the silence.
Duniya tries to stand up,
“Ei!! Even men who are not blind rest after such a night, you should not move.”
She cleared her throat as she put him back down
“My name is Zainab. Who are you?”
Her eyes stayed on him, studying.
“and I don't mean to pry, eh…
But how does a blind person stand against strong men, from the way my brother described it?”
Still, he did not move.
His breathing remained slow.
Zainab leaned in slightly—
Then paused.
“…Kai.”
She squinted at him.
“Eh, he has slept again?”
A breath left her, caught between annoyance and amusement.
“Wallahi… this one.”
She rose to her feet, shaking her head lightly.
The darkness of a mud-brick compound replaced the quiet of the hut.
The air inside felt heavier.
Two men sat within it.
The same raiders from the night before.
One was badly bandaged.
The other paced restlessly, anger sharp in every step.
“Damn it,” he spat. “Who is that boy, sef?”
The second gripped his head tightly.
“How can a blind kid fight like that?”
His eyes shifted—
The injured man barely held himself upright.
Footsteps approached.
Five men entered.
At their front stood a young man dressed in wealth and ease.
Gold rings caught the dim light.
His robes were clean.
His hands, untouched by labor.
A smile rested on his face.
“So… where are my goods?”
The two raiders scrambled up at once.
They dropped to their knees without hesitation.
The smile faded slightly as he looked around.
Then he bent down to their level.
“Where are my goods?”
His voice came low.
Something cold sat beneath it.
The raiders trembled.
“We can explain, Mai-Kudi—”
The injured one forced his voice out.
“We get the child… but this man came from nowhere.”
“Yes. Yes,” the other nodded quickly. “He was tough. Trained.”
The young man straightened slowly.
A sigh escaped him.
“So two of you could not handle one rogue fighter?”
He began to circle them.
“Why I no just send my own men?”
His eyes fell to the bandages of the injured man.
Without warning—
THUD.
His foot drove into the injured man.
The body collapsed, gasping.
“You are raiders.
Must I dirty my hands before work gets done?”
“No sir. No sir.”
The second bowed lower, voice shaking.
The young man turned away.
“Call your whole group.”
He paused briefly.
“This time… I want double.”
He began to walk out.
Then—
“Damn that blind warrior—”
The words slipped out.
Too fast.
Too late.
The second man’s eyes widened in horror.
The young man stopped.
“…Blind?”
Silence fell heavy across the room.
Sweat gathered on the raider’s face.
Shiit.
The young man turned slowly.
A sharper smile returned.
“Tell me everything.”
He stood still.
“…What do you mean, blind?”
The injured man lowered his head further, shaking.
“He was blind, sir.”
A blink.
Then—
A slow smile spread wider in a narcissistic manner
“Wait.
You are telling me the man who shamed you…
could not see?”
The second raider stared at his companion in panic.
Just shut up.
Shut up. He used his stare to relay those words
The young man straightened fully.
He tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling.
He inhaled.
Exhaled.
Silence stretched.
Two fingers pressed gently against the bridge of his nose.
Breathe in.
Breath out.
When his hand lowered, calm had returned.
He stretched his arm out casually.
One of his men stepped forward at once.
A gilded knife rested in his palm.
Elegant. Expensive.
He began to walk toward the injured raider.
Slowly.
He knelt beside him.
His voice softened.
“How is your wound?”
Relief flickered across the man’s face.
“Sir… it is—”
The motion came without warning.
The blade sank in.
Fast.
Precise.
The man’s eyes widened.
His body fell backward.
Still.
The second raider froze completely.
Breath caught in his throat.
Blood spread across the clean robe.
The young man stood again.
“Tsk.
See now… I am dirty all over.”
The body lay unmoving on the ground.
He stepped closer to the remaining man.
The raider dropped fully, pressing himself into the dirt.
“Kai! Don Allah!
Mercy, my lord! Mercy!”
Tears streamed down his face.
The young man knelt once more, bringing himself eye-level.
The man trembled violently.
“Wallahi, I will not fail you!”
He was studied in silence.
The moment stretched longer than it should.
Then—
The young man leaned closer.
“Do not fail me this time.”
The smile disappeared.
“I want double.”
The raider nodded frantically.
“Yes.
Yes, Mai-Kudi.”
His forehead touched the ground.
The young man stood, wiping the blade clean.
Daylight waited outside.
He stepped into it without pause.
Behind him, the compound held what remained—
One corpse.
One broken man.
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