18 – Azzah Zahawi

During a trek across mountains in Afghanistan to escape the coming Winter, a young Azzah Zahawi encountered an old man who Donkey had broken a leg.  The man seemed to be in despair, for all his possessions were upon the Donkey, but he couldn’t take them.  As a gentle soul, Azzah relieved the Donkey of some of the weight, allowing the donkey to be able to move enough to get back to the old man’s shack.  It was treacherous, and three times the old man suggested she could leave him and continue with her own journey, but she assisted anyway.  Eventually they reached the old mans hovel, and in gratitude he provded her with a strange object.  It appeared to be a shield – intricatly carved from white-gold wood, and with an inner warmth and glow.  The man said that she had proven worthy of such a gift, and having finally found someone to pass it onto, he could leave this world easy in the knowledge  that it was in good hands.

The shield, it was revealed, is made from a piece of wood from Paradise, and as such, contained within is immense power for goodness.  Even having born it for 8 years now, Azzah does not claim to comprehend the shield, for it seems to know some greater purpose – it heals the sick, rests the wearyand sooths the suffering. However, evil cannot bear its presence, looking into it seems to stare into the soul of evil, and people find themselves unable to lie in its presence.   In the occassional extreme case it has been known to do more radical things demons are burned by its presence, and on at least one occassion it has struck a man mute for trying to decieve his way out of a great crime.  Azzah suspects it of having even greater capabilities, but she has no  desire to test them, for such things shouldn’t be toyed with.  The way that is guages these things seems is impenetrable however – though Azzah herself is a Muslim, it does not seem to adhere to the specific trappings of hers or any other faith that she can tell – it tends to act most decisively on clearcut sins where one person does evil unto another.  She partially suspects that the shield forces people to judge themselves by their most deep values, as well as those of some greater power…

Category: 2011, Fantasy