Sinbad Heist of the City of Brass

A Jinn with a beard as long as a mountain guarded the City of Brass. Sinbad and his twelve-year-old companion looked like ants in front of it.

“Who are you?” said Sinbad. His voice got lost in the whistles of blowing sand. He waved his hand, and the black-skinned Jinn huffed his white moustache.

“What do you wish?” his voice echoed in the empty desert as though every grain spoke for him.

“We wish to enter the city, your grace,” said Sinbad.

“Hear me, and enter,” said the Jinn. “We made the most beautiful garden, but then the flowers grew, and with them came needles. So, we cast them in gold.”

The Jinn pulled out his scimitar from the sand and revealed the door. They stepped inside, and the black castle gawked at them. The dark dome covered the sun, casting a perforated shadow. The door of the castle opened, and the fragrance of roses kissed their noses. The sky-blue walls were embroidered with golden flowers. Green veins with white flowers spread over the walls. The flowers waved as they passed. A grave stood in the distance, with an inscription carved on it.

“Where the hell is the treasury?” said Sinbad.

“Is that all you care about?” asked Aisha.

“It’s all we should care about. This place is brimming with Jinns like that thing outside. I don’t know how, but the Greeks sure had a good relationship with them. Maybe it’s the reason they gathered so much wealth.”

They raced through the dropping trees and floral vases. No speck of dust or sand on them, frozen in time. Paintings of the wise but terrible Zeus adorned the roofs. He looked down from the clouds to the humans below. His eyes dripped with envy, and his hands clutched something non-existent. He wanted the high palaces of the humans, their vast gardens, and the clean streams that flowed between. Even the Sun, Helios, smiled at them. Tulips danced in their vast gardens. The breeze was always cool, and their women, always beautiful. Perhaps he has given them too much freedom. Perhaps they don’t need him anymore.

They exited the castle and stepped into the market. The red, green, and brown lanterns still emitted golden light. But the lanterns weren’t the only source of golden light. Statues of gold stood inside the stalls; their hands stretched out in a cry for help. Aisha stepped close to a dusty cloth shop and touched the shopkeeper’s finger. His finger wilted and fell.

“Sinbad,” she whispered.

“What?” he said.

She glanced at the broken finger. Blood dripped from the golden finger. Black skin lined the blood vessels like a book’s leather cover. The golden man’s cry held a whole new meaning now. He inclined back and stretched his hand as he tried to get out of the shop. His cheeks melted, and cracks on his forehead showed the death on his face. His eyes were numb, and even a tear froze beneath his left eye. Aisha’s eyes widened like his, and her mouth hung open.

“Aisha, let’s go,” said Sinbad as he grabbed her hand. He dragged her through the long bazaar. From silk to diamonds, everything glittered in the grand bazaar as they walked through the night sky. But the people never left. They stood there and stared at them. Their eyes bulged, and their mouths cried for mercy. Sinbad winced each time he glanced at one of them. He heard their screams and cries as gold consumed them. But he also never missed a chance to grab a valuable gem, diamond, or ruby, much to the dismay of Aisha. He also gathered many maps of other lost kingdoms with potential treasures.

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They entered the castle again. A chandelier hung in the centre of a great dome. It reflected the light from the arched windows surrounding it. A girl in her twenties lay on a long sofa opposite the entrance. Her red ring twinkled, so Sinbad walked toward her. She lay with her right hand behind her head, and her eyes closed. Her lips were as soft as a rose's petals, and her skin glowed like the moon. She held a note in her hand. Sinbad took out the ring as Aisha grabbed the note.

“Here lies the princess of Alexander, the son of Zeus. Princes from all over the world came to take her hand. She thought they all came for her beauty. That they came only for her. No, they came for the kingdom that God has blessed her father. She rejected all who came for her, saying none was worthy of her. So, here she lies, still waiting.”

Something dropped from the chamber to the right. A golden light emitted from below the ivory doors. Sinbad pushed the door open, and he grinned ear to ear. The chamber was a sea of gold, gems, diamonds, and every other wealth one could imagine. Sinbad fell to his knees, a first for Aisha. He grabbed everything in sight and cried to her, “Aisha, help me.” But something dark needed her worry. Cloaked figures floated in the chamber. They held black spears in their hands. Their cloaks and spears groped as though they came straight out of the roof paintings. She ran back to Sinbad and whispered, “Sinbad, they are here.”

“The Jinns!”

“Someone’s dwelling there,” a sneer came from the outside. Sinbad increased his gathering speed.

“What are you doing?” she said. “We need to leave!”

“No, I need more,” he said. A growl came from the outside, and the light of gold diminished. His hands became snacks as they consumed everything. His hands never stopped. He grabbed everything. His eyes shined with the glamour of gold, but the darkness spread into all of the things. Spears clanged, and cracks appeared on the walls.

“Sinbad, we need to leave!”

“Who's in there?” said the Jinn. Their voice was a mix between a lion’s roar and a snake’s sneer.

“Sinbad!” she said.

“Okay, okay,” he said, and he stood. The door flew open, and its two halves shattered to pieces. Four Jinn with groping cloaks stared at them. The front one threw his spear, but Sinbad leaned to the left. It passed an inch away from his neck. The others also lifted their spears. Sinbad picked a piece of the door as a shield. He blocked their spears and charged at them. He cut a line through with Aisha following him. They exited the chamber and entered the bazaar. The domes melted, and dropping creatures spawned out of them. The coins and jewels chimed in Sinbad’s bag. Sweat wetted his chest, and ached his foot. A coin dropped from his bag and turned to dark mist. They threw spears at them, but rarely did any of them scratch them.

“Either they have very bad aim,” said Sinbad.

“Or they don’t want to kill us.”

Sinbad looked at the people frozen in gold. Their cries turned from calls of mercy to warnings. Their cries warned him of his fate. He looked at Aisha running beside him. What had she done to deserve this? Is this how I end? A surge of energy ran through his legs. He grabbed her hand and seized the strip of the bag with his other hand. He winced his eyes and slid the bag off his arm. He gained a burst of speed as he headed for the entrance.

“My good Hazart, please open the pathway,” he shouted. The dark guardian growled, and the sand shifted. The earth trembled as it pulled its sword out of the ground. Sinbad ran through the same gap like a cat. He looked back, and the darkness reached the sky. It was as if the city flew; the guardian cemented his sword in the sand, and the darkness crashed. He sat on the cool sand as the sun drowned behind the dunes. Aisha drew near him and punched him in the stomach.

“Never do that again!”

“Okay,” he said and smiled. “But we still have this.” He took a coin out of his pocket and examined it under the sun's light. An image of a king with long robes and two horns lay carved on the coin. He grinned, and the coin shined. The shining extended to his ring finger. Slowly, his nail turned to gold, then his finger. He stood and threw the coin on the ground, but the process didn’t stop. His first finger also turned to gold. His eyes widened, and a chill crept through his spine. He shook his hand, and gold-like water splattered on the sand.

“So, that’s how they all turned to gold,” said Aisha as she smirked. “Want to go back?”

“What? No!”

She lay on the sand. “Good. Let’s just go back to Baghdad.”