The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi

Khayzur flies them to Socotra, and Amina can tell that the pirates are extremely rich. Raksh can sense intense desires among them. They are greeted with spears and brought to a beautiful, orderly court with a polite line of people waiting to be heard, multiple scribes taking notes, and six captains and an elderly local overseeing proceedings.

The youngest pirate captain is happy to hear that Amina actually exists. Another is hostile, claiming that her grandfather robbed him. An older woman chides the rest for not looking into the claim of the local villagers, because now Amina’s arrival confirms their story. Raksh talks about the treasures in the cave, and the pirates are instantly interested. The older woman reminds them of their promise to protect the locals, and another captain suggests scouting for more information, but Amina argues that there is no time. Another pirate, who is even taller than Amina, enters and introduces himself as Magnun. He is upset that he was not informed that the council was convening. He calls them cowards and offers to help Amina; he is the only pirate to do so. Raksh is delighted with the new captain, who has a beautiful, well-run ship with a strong crew that includes many women. Magnun gives Amina new clothes, chainmail, and when she asks, a sacred iron knife that makes Amina think “Transgression” when she picks it up.

Amina and 10 of Magnun’s fiercest pirates sneak down the cliffs to the beach. She sees many of her crew members imprisoned there, and the marid is also onshore, appearing to be either asleep or suffering. Magnun’s boat and archers attack from the sea while Amina attacks from the land. When the first of Falco’s men is killed, a seaweed cord emerges from his chest and then fades. (It was attached to a stinger in his chest bound him to Falco.) Amina fights with inhuman strength toward her bound crew. Falco’s men appear to be fused with sea creatures and are supernaturally strong. When Amina cuts their cords with her supernatural knife, they are freed from Falco’s bonds and lose their strength.

Yazid hits her helmet, stunning her. He is about to kill her when Tinbu, still bound and with a broken leg, hops over with flaming driftwood and distracts him. He yells for Amina to cover her face and Dalila throws all of her poison vials into Yazid’s face. His flesh melts, and the air is hard to breathe. The reunited friends hug each other and cry. Amina and Magnun’s pirates kill the rest of Falco’s men on the beach, but Falco and Dunya escape into the cave. The marid heads for Magnun’s ship. Amina thinks of Khayzur’s statement that “living things liked being free” (421) and runs toward the marid, telling her friends to hide in the cave. She can see that the monster is fettered by many bonds and climbs up one of them. She slices through them with her knife and hears the marid cry out in her head. A bright yellow ribbon connects her and the marid, and she sees images and feelings from its mind. She tries to sever the tie but fails. The marid rushes toward the sea, taking her with it. Her armor pulls her down, but Majed rescues her.

Back on shore, she insists on finding Falco despite Raksh’s objections that there is no time left because the eclipse is almost here. She won’t let anyone go with her, admitting that she now has supernatural powers, and that only she can defeat Falco. She goes into the cave and to the magic door. When she opens it, she finds that she is on the deck of her ship, and Asif is there, begging for help.

Amina tells Asif they had to kill him, as he had killed dozens of men and was going to continue, for his soul was gone and he was hungry to cause death. The ship begins to burn around them. Amina realizes that the tableau she sees is an illusion. She slammed Asif’s head, and he is revealed to be a monster that has been drawing blood from her neck. The monster is shocked that Amina can see it. Amina threatens it with death until it tells her where Falco and Dunya went. It tries to curse her, so she kills it anyway. Amina reaches an enormous cave full of monstrous creatures. Hearing a scream at the far end, she sees Dunya and calls on God to help her navigate the maze of vanishing flooring that separates them. Running desperately through the monsters and over the vanishing floor, she makes it to the far side of the chamber, where Falco tells her that if she interrupts, they will all die.

Dunya is floating in the air in front of a column that looks like the spell tablets. Dunya is blindfolded and writes into the stone as easily as if it were soft. Surprised to see Amina alive, Falco notices that she is changed and calls her a hypocrite for making a deal with the supernatural. Dunya screams, interrupting their conversation. Falco explains that Dunya is calling the Moon of Saba and will help him find magical objects and build a new world. Amina fights Falco until Dunya yells with an unnatural voice and the column explodes. Amina runs to Dunya who wakes up, bleeding, and asks if it worked. Amina sees that Falco is happily holding a silver basin with glowing water: the Moon of Saba. Amina pulls off her boot and throws it, knocking the Moon out of Falco’s hands, but it is too late. There is moonlight glowing in his eyes. Insects suddenly begin to crawl out of every crack of the cave.

Dunya tells Amina to wait. Falco begins to scream and writhe and Dunya claims to have used the eclipse to reverse the spell. Now, instead of Falco controlling the Moon, the Moon will control Falco. Dunya claims that they need to speak to al-Dabaran before the eclipse is over so he can tell them how to release him. For this to work, however, he must see the moon and they are now in a cave. Al-Dabaran is trying to use the insects to destroy the basin, and when Amina addresses him, she is covered in bugs. Falco, now possessed, attacks Amina and calls an enormous white snake. The cave wall collapses in a few places, and Amina senses the marid’s presence. Amina can smell the breeze and begins to hack at the rocks. The white snake attacks Dunya, and Amina mentally reaches for the marid, which responds and begins to beat down the wall from the outside. Moonlight spills through. Al-Dabaran runs to it, and Amina grabs the basin and throws it toward him. Everything disappears in a blinding flash of light, and the cave begins to collapse around them. The marid goes back to the ocean, and Amina feels the bond between them break. Falco is still alive, pinned beneath the rubble. He offers to reveal the many things he saw in al-Dabaran’s mind, but she stabs him through the heart and leaves the cave and finds Dunya, declaring that the ordeal is over.

Amina can’t relax, for she desperately wants to be home. Magnun wanted her to stay and lets her keep the magical dagger for awhile, saying that he will find her to retrieve it someday. Amina thinks she will need it in her quest for the remaining four magical objects. Raksh is excited about the upcoming search, saying he will make her a legend now that she is a supernatural warrior tracking down magical treasure. She realizes that instead of going home to be a good mom, she truly wants to go exploring and to live a life of adventure. She wants to share that world with her daughter rather than hiding it, so that Marjana will be able to experience it herself. She is worried about Raksh, knowing that she has become what he craves most, and yet she’s also worried about Marjana. She puts her arms around Raksh and tells him to close the door.

Because they have no boat, she chains Raksh to a raft. (After they had sex, she bound him as he slept.) Now, she releases him into the sea. He yells back that he could make her a legend. When Majed asks why she won’t just divorce him, she says that other things hold them together, and that she still doesn’t know whether Marjana might need him one day. When her companions ask if they are done with magic, she shows them a peri feather that was left in her cabin and tells them her story about the magical job she now has. Her friends discuss it, and she realizes that they are planning to go with her. Majed says they can find a way to visit their children, which makes Amina hopeful. They note that Dunya is learning to sail and has been accepted by the men. They ask if Amina has decided what to do with Dunya, and Amina says she has.

Salima is not pleased. She has read a letter from Dunya, telling her grandmother that Amina saved their life but that they are not coming home. Salima says that she and Amina will part enemies, but since Amina saved Dunya, Salima promises not to hurt Amina’s family. At the exit of Salima’s house, a small magical creature gives Amina a bag for Dunya. The creature is the family djinn, who has been bound to help the family. Amina realizes that she can now see magical creatures and returns to the ship. Amina can see her mother and Marjana before she gets to shore. They embrace, and Marjana notices her mother’s new strength. Her mother asks questions, but Amina deflects them, saying she is home for now and that’s all that matters.

The scribe says that there was a nakhudha who sailed the Indian Ocean looking for magical treasures, but there was also a scribe named Dunya who was reported to have short hair, new clothes, and a new name: Jamal.

Marjana is on board the Marawati and asks Amina whether a story that Tinbu told her about one of her scars is true. Amina offers to tell the whole story, and Jamal gets their parchment and stylus, which makes Amina roll her eyes. Jamal comments that if they write Amina’s story, Amina can become a legend. Amina pauses, asking if the story will be in her own words. Jamal, previously Dunya, assures her that it will be in her own words, even if her words are rude. Amina begins to tell her story.