CHAPTER 4

“Take it easy, old man, I get angry easily”, Tydeus responded to the man, his face squeezed like he just tasted an unripe lemon.

“I am sorry, I don't just like it when people call me a wizard. I know nothing about witchery. I am just an ordinary scientist.” Apphathorus the old man said, wearing a look of apology on his face.

“Oh well, that is your problem,” Tydeus responded.

Apphathorus began wondering, “Out of all the people locked up in this cell, why has this man, the one who has been getting everybody's attention so far, come any close to me, let alone having a conversation with me?”

Out of curiosity, he asked Tydeus “What exactly have you come here to do?”

“To do something unusual”, Tydeus said as he rested his back properly against the wall where they were sitting.

“Something unusual? Have you come here to kill me?” Apphathorus asked, his face covered in fear.

“Maybe yes,” Tydeus responded jestingly.

“Huh?! Please, I beg you in the name of all the gods. I don't have anything on me. My family….”

“Shhh”

Tydeus intercepted Apphathorus's plea

“Calm down old man, you are beginning to get me angry already”, Tydeus said to the old man, his voice above whispering.

“Okay, okay, Are you still going to kill me?” Apphathorus asked again, this time with his voice breaking; it seemed he was about to start crying.

“Yes, but only on one condition”, Tydeus replied; this time, his face seemed a little bit serious.

“What is that? Anything. I can give you anything. But I don't have any money.” Apphathorus said, his voice shaking as he began to bow his head gently.

“It's very simple; I only need you to answer some questions for me and… I might not kill you,” Tydeus said to the old man, being serious yet wearing another weird smile on his face.

“Questions? What kind of questions? I don't know much.” Apphathorus said his face like he was about to cry.

“Well, if you answer my questions, we would have no problem,” Tydeus replied.

“Alright, I will… I will answer your questions” Apphathorus said, wiping his face even though there were no tears there.

“Good!” Tydeus replied to the man, this time putting a real smile on his face.

“So the first question. Tell me, what exactly brought you here?” Tydeus asked the man with a straight face.

“Huh?! Okay, okay…. I, I. The Iron Mask, they accused me of stealing a treasure of theirs, Apphathorus said with a look of pity on his face.

“Oh! That's sad. So what exactly did they accuse you of stealing?” Tydeus asked.

“A scroll… it.. it was a scroll. I found the scroll myself but they stormed into the market where I was staying with my friend and dragged me out like a thief.”

“I needed to know more information about the scroll from my friend in the market and they accused me of stealing it from them.” Apphathorus narrated.

“Oh? Okay, so where is the scroll?” Tydeus asked.

“I have given it to my friend who stays in the market to help me keep it somewhere” Apphathorus responded.

Tydeus, massaging his chin, asked the old man, “What exactly is so special about this scroll to the extent that the Iron Mask locked you up for it?”.

“The scroll? It contains a map to a special treasure.”

“Treasure?!” Tydeus intercepted.

“Yes, a treasure in the forest of shadows, a thick forest somewhere after Giza”.

“Wow! The forest of shadows!” Tydeus exclaimed gently. 

“Yes, but can I ask, why are you asking me these questions?” Apphathorus asked curiously.

“I am asking because I'm wondering what an old man like you has smoked that will make you think you can go to the forest of shadows to find a treasure and come out alive” Tydeus said, adjusting himself to the wall so he can sit well.

“My people, they need help and since there's no one ready to take the risk, I'm ready to help them”,

“They say if I can get the treasure in the forest of shadows, I can save my people from the destruction and the civil war taking over Egypt”. Apphathorus explained.

“So how do you plan to survive in such a dangerous forest, your witchery?”

“Not witchery, my science. My knowledge of science”. Apphathorus intercepted Tydeus again.

“All I need to do is to get the treasure in the forest and use whatever it is to save my people. I don't want my village to end up like Malja” Apphathorus explained to Tydeus.

“Malja? What do you know about Malja?” Tydeus asked Apphathorus curiously.

Apphathorus looked at his face and looked at the ground and said

“Decades ago when the civil war took over Egypt, many cities and villages were destroyed. People had nowhere to run to…”

“But Malja, a small village somewhere in Cairo, was like a sanctuary. They had food and lots of resources that could help them survive even though the civil war lasted a century…”

“Malja was everybody's safe heaven; many who had lost hold of their cities and villages would run there to seek shelter…”

“Not until about 15 years ago, when these crazy bastards attacked the village and ruined everything to nothing”.

“Which bastards?” Tydeus asked again curiously.

“The Iron Mask, of course. They stole everything the village had and even kidnapped the people”. Apphathorus lamented.

“Galdashkeh, that son of a bitch.” Tydeus said angrily, taking his eyes off Apphathorus.

“What? Are you from the village?” Apphathorus asked as he noticed Tydeus's reaction.

“No, not at all. I just needed to know more” Tydeus responded with a weird smile on his face again.

Apphathorus, who has been acting like a child since took a breath of relief as he saw Tydeus smiling. He doesn't look like someone who was going to kill him after all.

“So is it true?” Apphathorus asked Tydeus with a straight face.