The magic was real and Xin could not deny it. Tried as he might, he could not. However, as strange as it might sound, he couldn't deny that it didn't surprise him as much as he might have hoped it would. Deep down, Xin already knew that there had been something supernatural in his life since the accident, since the dreams with Arash had begun.

The last time Xin had seen his father, he had seen him with his chest caved in by the steering wheel, his mouth and eyes full of blood and about to shut down forever, full of fear and confusion. It was the recurring image of his nightmares, and since Xin remembered it so clearly, he also remembered the golden eyes that glowed amidst the darkness, and to which he had called out for help before passing out.

They were terrifyingly calm golden eyes that glowed like fireflies in the midst of death; now that Xin reflected on it, those golden eyes reminded him of those of the goddess from the last dream with Arash... Sandaramet.

"I don't think it'll be the best meal of your life, but it's better to have a full stomach than an empty one."

Amir's voice brought Xin out of his musings. After placing a plate of food in his hands, he sat down next to him.

"Thank you," Xin replied out of inertia, still abstracted.

"No worries," Amir replied as his eyes went from brown to grey in an instant as he lit the campfire in front of them. "But you still owe me five dollars."

Xin looked at him with an angry face ready to protest, but the thief beat him to it and wouldn't let him speak:

"It's a joke. You know what that means, or is there no sense of humour in China?"

"Those kinds of questions are quite offensive..."

"Which ones?" Amir replied provocatively. "Questions like, are all Chinese people as uptight as you? You mean those kinds of questions?"

"Yes, exactly those I mean," protested Xin. "And stop calling me Chinese. I don't like it."

"But if you are Chinese, I don't see what all the fuss is about."

"No, I'm not, I'm from Hong Kong..."

"Agh, patata, potatoes," said Amir moving closer to Xin who instinctively backed away. "Mmmm, I can see it's going to be hard to steal a kiss from you..."

"If you can seriously read my mind, then you know I have a boyfriend" replied Xin defensively.

Amir just backed off as he shrugged his shoulders.

"I've never been jealous, and I have no problem with sharing" he said bluntly. "If you don't believe me, ask Ava over there..."

The thief said that with a cheeky grin. Ava just stuck out her middle finger at him in response.

"And by the way, I can't read minds," Amir continued. "My magic has more to do with the natural elements, in case you haven't noticed already."

"But you said earlier that..."

"I lied to you" Amir interrupted him by popping a piece of unleavened bread into his mouth and then speaking with his mouth full.

"So... how did you know my name?"

"We had your wallet, genius."

Xin couldn't help but feel a little foolish.

"Okay, yeah," he admitted. "But... and about Arash. How did you know about Arash?"

"That was her doing," Amir said pointing one of his fingers at Ava again.

She was playing with the children in the middle of the desert where they had camped after emerging from the underground tunnel

"Ava can pick up people's recent memories and share them with others," Amir explained. "That's why she was so nervous when she saw you arrive with me at the lair, because she thought you were a flea working for the worms, but I knew that wasn't the case."

Xin stared at him.

"I don't know whether to thank you or feel violated by what they did."

"And that's precisely why I knew you couldn't be one of the worms' dogs," Amir laughed. "I can see it in your eyes that you are a good..."

"If you say, kid, I promise I'll beat you."

"Guy. You're a good guy, and partly now I feel kinda bad about stealing your wallet."

"But you said it was Ava."

"Did I? Then forget what I just told you."

"You're...!"

"Handsome, irresistible, a wet dream of flesh and blood," Amir said as he lifted up his shirt, revealing tanned abs covered in delicate dark hair.

"You're a pig, that's what you are" protested Xin heatedly.

"And that's precisely why you like me, isn't it?"

"Don't talk rubbish, Amir. Who could like an airhead like you," Ava reprimanded him.

The girl had approached them with a map in her hand.

"I'm really sorry for all the misunderstanding earlier, but anyway, it's time to be on our way. And excuse Amir and his jerky manners, will you? Sometimes his brain cells don't give him much, but he's good people..."

"That's what you're here for, woman, to take care of me," Amir exclaimed and then winked irreverently at Ava. "What are you doing with that map?"

"It's for Xin, you busybody," she said. "It's my way of apologising."

Ava's eyes were almost green, and in the glow of the campfire they looked genuinely distressed. Xin smiled a little at her, and nodded to let her know he accepted her apology.

"If you put it that way, you make us look like bad people," Amir complained but Ava just ignored him.

"From what I could see in your memories, the spirit that is calling you is the spirit of Arash the Archer, a local legend, and according to the legends, his body disappeared after shooting a sacred arrow with which he banished a demon and put an end to an ancient war. The thing is, they say the arrow landed here, in the Amu Darya..."

Ava pointed to a winding river on the map.

"That's where you should go, or at least, I think so," she concluded.

Xin looked carefully at the river on the map and the name echoed in his head.

"Amu Darya — I think you're right, I can... I can feel that's the direction somehow. But the river is very long... How will I know where to go?"

"And that's not the only problem, look, the Amu Daria is here, and we are here" Amir interjected pointing to the distance between the two points on the map. "By land it would be a month's journey, a fortnight in a hurry, and that's not even counting that the Amu Daria is still the white worm's territory, so getting close is practically walking straight into the mouth of the wolf. What a sensible person might call madness..."

"And yet I have to go there," Xin admitted. "That's right, Arash is calling me. And I should know why, and even if I wanted to, it's not like I could just stop dreaming about him and his memories. For some reason I'm feeling this now, and I need to know why."

"But... what if you get caught by the worms?" inquired Ava worriedly.

"I don't know," Xin admitted with a shrug. "But this is the reason I came to Iran in the first place. I don't know who they are, but maybe if I talk to them and..."

"And you explain the situation to them?" interrupted Amir with violence in his voice. "There are some really stupid people..."

"You can't, Xin," Ava interjected, standing up. "If the white worms catch you and find out that you have magic, and more importantly, that you have a connection to a spirit as ancient and powerful as Arash the Archer, they're going to lock you up in one of their labs... And you're never going to escape from there alive."

"What... what are you talking about? How can you be so sure of that?"

"Because that's how our parents died," Ava interrupted him. "All of them, every one of ours. Oh may Allah grant that they are dead, Insha'Allah..."

"Insha'Allah," Amir repeated earnestly.

Xin was stunned to hear this. He could not help but feel terrible to discover the reason why his companions were fleeing from those they called "white worms". And, for some reason, after reflecting a little on the emotion it aroused in him, his own father travelled back to his memories... And his chest ached.

"I'm... I'm really sorry, Ava, but... I still have to get there."

"I think I have an idea," Amir suddenly said. "I think there might actually be a way you could get to the Amu Darya safe and sound. Or well, maybe not so safe, but still with better odds than if you were to face the white worms..."

"What are you talking about now, Amir?" asked Ava in annoyance.

"Of the Airyanəm Vaejah, woman," he said, smiling. "Khwarazm, or Chorasmia... to be more exact..."

"The what?" asked Xin blankly.

"The Airyanem Vaejah, the mythical land of our ancestors" repeated Amir taking the map and looking for something on it. "Here, we are on the outskirts of the Kavir desert, and if I remember correctly, in the middle of the salt marsh, there is an entrance to it..."

"An entrance? But to where exactly? I'm not understanding anything."

"The Airyanem Vaejah is a parallel dimension where the spirits of our ancient ancestors live, and which can only be accessed from certain natural portals, unless you are a mage powerful enough to open one yourself," Ava explained quickly. "If you were to cross the Earth from it, you would still be travelling across the surface of our dimension, but from another point. What Amir's genius is neglecting to mention, however, is that on the other side there are also very dangerous wild creatures, and furthermore, the worms have also placed outposts along the way..."

"True, but they're nowhere near as strong as the ones on this side, and if you're careful, they could be easily outwitted" Amir refuted. "That's not to mention that the magic of the Airyanem Vaejah is much stronger than ours, and that would give me the advantage."

"Wait, you wanna go with me?" asked Xin in surprise.

"But, what — of course I'm going with you," replied Amir arrogantly. "I wouldn't miss meeting the mighty Arash for the world, not to mention the money you're going to give me at the end for being your escort and bodyguard..."

"You're going to charge me?! Are you serious?!" asked Xin shocked.

"Obviously," Amir said grinning mischievously as he gave him a kiss on the cheek out of the blue. "And I'm not cheap at all, handsome."