Sidratul Muntaha

Chapter 13🔥

Bismillahi Rrahmaani Rraheem•

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu•

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Muntaha finished his tahajjud and had conversed with his Rabb for sometime. He raised his hands to the heavens and prayed for the success of his missions and prayed that he fulfills all his duties. His eyes which normally stayed strong in front of the people started flowing with tears. This place right here in front of his Rabb was the place he loved to cry at. He loved to ask favors from Him and to tell about his fears, confess his sins and share his weaknesses. And he knew that this was the best and the safest place to do it, because there was no judgement or hatred here. This was a place that belonged to each human privately and also to the whole world.

Muntaha stood up after his nightly prayers and turned to walk back inside the safehouse when he heard it. A far away scream for help. He suspected that it came from the camp. He rushed to the door of the safe house and called out loudly to his men. The men guarding the house rushed towards him and the ones sleeping woke up hastily. He didn't wait to explain anything to them as he turned.

His heart was pounding as he started running in the direction of the scream. He didn't understand the urgency with which his heart beat but his Amm had told him to trust his instincts and the instincts warned him of something terrible. He could hear the pounding of the footsteps behind him, but didn't slow down. He was carrying just a dagger and wished he could have brought a sword, but there was no time.

There is just something about a woman's pain that brings out the strength within a man. The scream Muntaha heard was pained, frantic, pleading and helpless, yet there was strength in it. He couldn't understand how that could be. The screams had abruptly come to a stop and he feared the worst, pushing himself faster than before. The trees rushed past him and he weaved his way around the trees as he ran towards the camp.

He had reached the camp at a record speed. He could see the people accumulated around a pole and he could hear that they were talking, but couldn't understand what they were speaking about. He pushed himself to run faster. Suddenly, the crowd went silent and he could see smoke from the centre of the commotion, where the pole was. He feared the worst had come to pass and his fears were confirmed when a woman screamed.

"ALLAH!"

The scream was a prayer and pain mixed into one. It felt as if the one who shouted it in pain couldn't help but mix the reverence she felt for the name in it. It was a distress call, a call that could bring the rain of mercies and invoke her Rabb's wrath.

Muntaha tore through the camp like a crazed man and pushed everyone out of his way. He reached the front and the world went silent for some minutes as his eyes landed on the scene before him. Adara stood tied to a pole as fire burnt at her feet. She was trying to move away from it. Her feet were bouncing from one to the other in quick succession to escape the embers. She was trying to free herself. She looked at him and he could feel her eyes tearing into his soul. His heart lurched as he saw that the clothes she had worn had already caught fire and were burning freely now, as she screamed in anguish. He shrugged his shock off and jumped towards Adara in haste. He removed his dagger and made a quick work of the ropes tying her. He pulled her out of the fire and away from the pole as he tore open her clothes and removed his own robes, covering her, before the people could even make sense of what was happening.

His men had entered the clearing behind him and had freed the captives. Rushi had ran towards Adara and handed the shawl she had worn around to Muntaha, who wrapped it around Adara. He held her in his arms as his eyes searched her face. Her lips were parched and her eyes half lidded, as tears were flowing from her eyes. Soot covered her fair face and her legs suffered from burns. She looked him into the eyes and fainted in his arms, as he lifted her. Her head cradled on his shoulders and he began to make his way urgently through the crowd which was going crazy. He didn't care. Nothing mattered at that moment except getting her to a safe place and getting a healer to look at her. His men held the crowd and made a safe way for him to pass through, along with the three girls.