Alnihayya

||K a s h f||

F i f t y
This one is for prncs_of_islam
:)

"I am not this hair.
I am not this skin.
I am the soul within."
-Rumi-

☆

Mashal
Zeyara gathered all the fighters, both male and female in the cavern, two days after everyone had chosen their weapons.
No one had the slightest idea of what he was going to talk about, not even Saddia.

Once everyone had been seated, he began speaking in his inspirational, rhythmic manner.
"Assalam o alaikum. The war is nearing brothers and sisters....and my wife."
Giggles spread across the cavern and heads turned to see me. Zeyara was no longer hiding our marriage. In fact, he mentioned that at every chance he would get. My face flushed red as his eyes met mine.

"In case you're wondering why I only called the fighters and no no one else, it's because you are the ones who are going to suffer the most. You are the ones who are going to be face to face with death. I hope you all have learned to conquer fear by now because, let's face it, fear is your strongest weapon against your opponent. Either make him fear you, or pretend that you don't fear him."

"Your husband is a great speaker." Zara mumbled in my ear, our eyes still fixed on the stage where Zeyara was speaking.
I wanted to reply to her but my lips preferred to be sealed, rather than speaking and missing even a single word that Zeyara uttered.

"MZS was going to lead the male forces and from the females, the woman who would've defeated MZS in a one to one fight would've lead the force. Unfortunately, MZS isn't among us anymore. He's at a much better place and now we will have to select new leaders, one male and one female who will lead the fighters." Zeyara paused, his eyes darting around the cavern, inspecting his audience. His face was covered by the balaclava mask which also extended to his head so not even his hair were visible. "We will use our old infamous way to select those two leaders. Kashf. Whoever desires to lead the forces will go through Kashf, including myself. The last man and woman standing will be the ones to lead the fighters in battle."

"Kashf?!" Zara cried in disbelief, next to me. "He can't be serious."

Not only Zara, the entire audience was glancing around at each other, gasping and ear whispering at the mention of Kashf.

I recalled Kashf to be that hall I had heard someone screaming from, the hall Zara had told me about when I first went to halba. I swallowed the horror in my veins remembering the explanation Zara had given.

"I know why you're all concerned but the truth is that the real battle is going to be twice as worse. Kashf will not only test your fighting skills but also your time management, ability to make decisions and to lead. So whoever is willing to lead the Alnihayya forces, be prepared. Today after isha in sha Allah."

Saying this, Zeyara walked away, leaving the crowd stunned and distressed.

"How can he do that?" Soha dejected, eyes full of anger as we all walked back to Zanjabeel for our regular training session.

"He can." Saddia let out an exasperated sigh. "But I don't think many people will be up for it."

"Why does everyone think of it as difficult?" I finally moulded the courage to ask Saddia once we were back in Zanjabeel. "You can't die there... Right?"