*Sequel to Golden Storms
The great gates of Tridari have closed behind Falaq and Hudayfa. Secrets hide in the shadows and relationships are built and broken throughout the Palace' catacombs. What awaits will test the young warrior's resolve and the...
A/N: Assalamualaikum Stormers! I hope you are all doing well in lockdown and taking care of yourselves. Here we are with another chapter. This chapter is more descriptive, but please bear with it because it's the first time Falaq will have set foot in Tridari since she was an infant. Just sit back and enjoy.
ALSO I wasn't sure which titles to use (islamically). I settled for Amir and Amira, but these are usually used with something else like Amir-Al-Mu'minin...so I'm not sure if I have used it correctly. Let me know if you guys have any ideas.
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"O Ever Living, O Self-Sustaining One, by Your Mercy do I ask for your support in setting my affairs right. Do not leave me to my soul for so much as the blink of an eye" - Dua'a of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W)
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F A L A Q شَوَّال T R I D A R I
It was a day of destiny.
Falaq could feel it in her soul.
The mountains stood as silent observers, tall and strong. The clouds whispered amongst each other, withholding snowfall as though they withheld their very breaths. The air cackled with anticipation. Even the sun emerged briefly, an eye of glory between two mountains. It cast the world around Falaq in a wonderful display of light and darkness, warmth and cold, mystery and clarity.
The foot of the mountains merged into a rocky, broad path, carved from years of travel. To Falaq it seemed to be the only way in or out of the city, which was separated from the land by a cliffy chasm. The path led to a bridge, connecting Tridari to the mountains. And over the bridge stood Tridari itself, concealed behind monstrous stone walls that stretched in either direction and disappeared into the horizon. In all her travels over the past months, Falaq had never, ever seen walls like these. They were so tall, and so large, that she simply could not see any way a foreign army could breach them. Remembering Ustad's grim recount of Tridari what felt like a millennia ago, she wondered if those walls were there to keep its dark secrets locked away inside.
She scanned the walls with interest. The tops were covered from the mist of early morning, but if she squinted hard enough she could see statues erected in a uniform fashion. Statues of hooded men...Hashshashin...it seemed. A shiver ran through her spine, and it had nothing to do with the cold.
As the procession grew near, a pair of guards rode forth from the gates to the Army. They exchanged words with Taimur, then rode off. She experienced déjà vu – the last time a messenger approached the Army it had been to attack Taimur. The spear had missed the Crown Prince however, and almost hit Falaq instead. She'd caught it out of reflex, and it had been the first time Hudayfa had shown interest in her. She glanced at him now, a strange feeling in her stomach. That felt like years ago now.
