The stranger withdrew the sword from the boy's forehead, and the boy felt immensely relieved. But he still couldn't flee.
'Be careful with your prognostications,' said the stranger. 'When something is written, there is no way to change it.'
'All I saw was an army,' said the boy. 'I didn't see the outcome of the battle.'
The stranger seemed satisfied with the answer. But he kept the sword in his hand. 'What is a stranger doing in a strange land?'
'I am following my destiny. It's not something you would understand.'
The stranger placed his sword in its scabbard, and the boy relaxed.
'I had to test your courage,' the stranger said. 'Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World.'
The boy was surprised. The stranger was speaking of things that very few people knew about.
'You must not let up, even after having come so far,' he continued. 'You must love the desert, but never trust it completely. Because the desert tests all men: it challenges every step, and kills those who become distracted.'
What he said reminded the boy of the old king.
'If the warriors come here, and your head is still on your shoulders at sunset, come and find me,' said the stranger.
The same hand that had brandished the sword now held a whip. The horse reared again, raising a cloud of dust.
'Where do you live?' shouted the boy, as the horseman rode away.
The hand with the whip pointed to the south.
The boy had met the alchemist.
*
Next morning, there were two thousand armed men scattered throughout the palm trees at Al-Fayoum. Before the sun had reached its high point, five hundred tribesmen appeared on the horizon. The mounted troops entered the oasis from the north; it appeared to be a peaceful expedition, but they all carried arms hidden in their robes. When they reached the white tent at the center of Al-Fayoum, they withdrew their scimitars and rifles. And they attacked an empty tent.
The men of the oasis surrounded the horsemen from the desert and within half an hour all but one of the intruders were dead. The children had been kept at the other side of a grove of palm trees, and saw nothing of what had happened. The women had remained in their tents, praying for the safekeeping of their husbands, and saw nothing of the battle, either. Were it not for the bodies there on the ground, it would have appeared to be a normal day at the oasis.
The only tribesman spared was the commander of the battalion. That afternoon, he was brought before the tribal chieftains, who asked him why he had violated the Tradition. The commander said that his men had been starving and thirsty, exhausted from many days of battle, and had decided to take the oasis so as to be able to return to the war.
The tribal chieftain said that he felt sorry for the tribesmen, but that the Tradition was sacred. He condemned the commander to death without honor. Rather than being killed by a blade or a bullet, he was hanged from a dead palm tree, where his body twisted in the desert wind.
The tribal chieftain called for the boy, and presented him with fifty pieces of gold. He repeated his story about Joseph of Egypt, and asked the boy to become the counselor of the oasis.
*
When the sun had set, and the first stars made their appearance, the boy started to walk to the south. He eventually sighted a single tent, and a group of Arabs passing by told the boy that it was a place inhabited by genies. But the boy sat down and waited.
Not until the moon was high did the alchemist ride into view. He carried two dead hawks over his shoulder.
'I am here,' the boy said.
'You shouldn't be here,' the alchemist answered. 'Or is it your destiny that brings you here?'
'With the wars between the tribes, it's impossible to cross the desert. So I have come here.'
The alchemist dismounted from his horse, and signaled that the boy should enter the tent with him. It was a tent like many at the oasis. The boy looked around for the ovens and other apparatus used in alchemy, but saw none. There were only some books in a pile, a small cooking stove, and the carpets, covered with mysterious designs.
'Sit down. We'll have something to drink and eat these hawks,' said the alchemist.
The boy suspected that they were the same hawks he had seen on the day before, but he said nothing. The alchemist lighted the fire, and soon a delicious aroma filled the tent. It was better than the scent of the hookahs.
'Why did you want to see me?' the boy asked.
'Because of the omens,' the alchemist answered. 'The wind told me you would be coming, and that you would need help.'
'It's not I the wind spoke about. It's the other foreigner, the Englishman. He's the one that's looking for you.'
