The legend of the siren of the desert had been Maria’s favourite bedtime story as a child. According to legend, there existed a creature that dwelled in an oasis in the heart of the Arabian Desert. This creature manifested itself as a woman of exceptional beauty and charms. The creature had possessed a siren-like voice that it had used to lure lost travellers and passers-by alike to the oasis, where it would fill them with a sense of bliss, then drown and devour them at night.

She stood before that very oasis’ watering hole, collecting water for her house. It was said that the Walled Town of Malamar was founded around the siren’s oasis. Curiously, the watering hole had remained pure and uncontaminated over the passage of time as if it had just burst from the ground; most ponds, lakes and other water bodies in the desert were known to be quickly contaminated. For this very reason, many believed it to have a touch of magic.

Maria brushed away her musings and concentrated on the errand at hand. She’d been sent out to fetch more water for a patient Maria’s adoptive father was treating.

When she arrived at her house, where her father operated his clinic out of, she discovered that the ‘patient’ was none other than Sheikh Aziz, the town’s governor and sheikh.

She inwardly groaned.

In spite of already having one foot in the grave, the old man was a lecher and a pervert whom she regularly and often witnessed harassing young girls and older women alike throughout town indiscriminately. The repulsive man already had three wives! On top of this, she constantly heard rumours of a relatively large harem as well. Although her father and the sheikh were old friends, she was not spared from his unwanted advances. He often visited (by often, Sheikh Aziz came around their home at least three times a week) and when he did, Maria made herself scarce. Or at least tried. He had a way of surprising her when she least expected it.

Sheikh Aziz and her father appeared to be deep in conversation. Furthermore, the good sheikh looked absolutely fine. Then why had she been sent away to fetch more water when they already had enough drinking water for the day?

“—still a little girl!” She heard her father protest weakly. “Nonsense! She’s already a fully-grown woman.”

What and who were they talking about? What little she had overheard made no sense to her.

As soon as they spotted Maria at the entrance, their mouths clamped shut. She frowned and placed the pitcher of water on the ground. Clearly, whatever it was the two men were talking about, they did not want her to hear it.

“Ah! Maria, dear! You look as splendid as ever.” Sheikh Aziz flashed her a yellow smile that he must have thought was the epitome of charisma but only worked to repulse her to the bone. She resisted the urge to gag. The sheikh’s bald head caught the sunlight coming through the window and all but glowed. It was almost impressive.

Before she had even realised it, Sheikh Aziz was standing right in front of her and was gripping her hand with both of his. The old man’s only impressive feature was his remarkable height. He towered over everyone in town.

He dwarfed Maria. “My dove, it is good that you have come. I have a proposition for you that I would like you to seriously consider.” He patted Maria’s hand. She tried to pull her hand out of his iron grip, but the perverted old man only gripped it harder. “I have already discussed this with your father.”

Maria wasn’t sure if it was the dangerously lecherous glint in his eyes or the way he edged closer to her that caused warning bells to sound in her head. Instinct told her to flee.

“You are now in the right age to found a home—”

“No.”

“What?” Dumbfounded, the sheikh blinked a few times at her. “You’re proposing, I assume?”

“Y-Yes.”

“I am refusing your proposal. Thank you for your visit, Sheikh. Come again soon.”

Both the sheikh and her father stared at Maria with stunned or rather stupefied expressions.

After a minute had passed, Sheikh Aziz’s shock seemed to dissipate. He sputtered angrily, turning red, “B-But you have not even considered it!”

“I need not.” Maria gritted out in irritation, ultimately failing to contain her rage. She was beginning to shake from the force of the anger welling up inside her. She was ready to erupt at any second now. Regardless of Aziz’s indiscretions against her, he was still Sheikh of Malamar. She had to control herself for her sake as well as her father’s.

The older man nearly squashed her hand in his. Wincing, she started to struggle to free her hand.

“I am sheikh here! I am the richest man! How dare you refuse me?!”

Fear started to crawl into her heart. Sheikh Aziz’s face had morphed into a malicious expression, and his eyes had suddenly grown wild. It quickly became clear to Maria that she needed to escape his grasp.

“Let go!”

“Aziz!” Her father’s alarmed voice did not seem to reach the enraged sheikh. “Calm yourself!”

Sheikh Aziz continued with his outburst, “Who do you think you are? You are nothing! You are no-one! I will have you, you hear?”

Maria felt and heard her knuckles crack.

She raised her leg and kneed the old bastard in the groin. Instantly, he dropped her aching hand and cupped himself as he slid to the ground, groaning, his face contracted in pain.

She did not wait for him to try something again. She raced out of her own house like she had dogs nipping at her feet, knocking down and breaking the water pitcher in the process.

Night had fallen by the time she decided to return home. The old fool should have already left. By now the streets were devoid of people. Malamar was a bustling, noisy place in daylight, but a ghost town at night.

Could men die from a hit to their nether region? She hoped they could. Huffing angrily, she kicked a stone on the ground and sent it skipping. Four hours later, she was still furious. Her anger and shock had not subsided in the least. How dare he manhandle her like that? The audacity! And the worst part was that she could not even report him to the authorities; she doubted exposing the town’s most powerful man would go by without repercussions. She may even be accused of lying and fabrication; it had certainly happened before.

She was also mad at her father; who had not really intervened on her behalf. Amjad, her adoptive father, was the town’s only hakim —well-versed in Unani medicine— and one of its renowned physicians. In spite of this, he was such a timid, quiet man that it was a wonder how he’d befriended that immoral miscreant Aziz. She owed Amjad everything. He’d taken her in when she’d been orphaned as a child and had given her a home and a family. Still, she felt a slight heaviness in her heart. She was disappointed.

A loud sound made her halt in her tracks. Her ears pricked up. It was a familiar sound that she’d heard a million times before; the sound of the town’s gate’s wheels turning. The gate was not far off from where she was. Maria’s forehead creased in thought. She’d heard the gate being closed for the night more than an hour ago, hadn’t she? Her heart started to thump rapidly against her ribcage. The fine hair on her nape stood on end, and she doubted the cold night air had anything to do with it.

Her instincts told her that something was very wrong. Another sound wafted to her ears. It was coming from the direction of the gate. Her stomach plummeted. There was no doubt as to what that sound was. Unconsciously, Maria took a step back, as if she’d been struck. Her entire body tensed.

Hide! Hide! A voice in her heard roared.

It was undoubtedly the rumbling sound of over a dozen horses galloping as they charged into the Walled Town of Malamar. From a distance, a horrific scream pierced the silence of the night, and that was when all hell broke loose.