The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, home to djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, are at the boiling point of a power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon Prince. In the midst of this brewing rebellion a series of brutal supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Kingdoms. It is up to a handful of heroes to learn the truth behind these killings: Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, “the last real ghul hunter in the great city of Dhamsawaat,” just wants a quiet cup of tea. Three score and more years old, he has grown weary of hunting monsters and saving lives, and is more than ready to retire from his dangerous and demanding vocation. But when an old flame’s family is murdered, Adoulla is drawn back to the hunter’s path. Raseed bas Raseed, Adoulla’s young assistant, is a hidebound holy warrior whose prowess is matched only by his piety. But even as Raseed’s sword is tested by ghuls and manjackals, his soul is tested when he and Adoulla cross paths with the tribeswoman Zamia. Zamia Badawi, Protector of the Band, has been gifted with the near-mythical power of the lion-shape, but shunned by her people for daring to take up a man’s title. She lives only to avenge her father’s death. Until she learns that Adoulla and his allies also hunt her father’s killer. Until she meets Raseed. When they learn that the murders and the Falcon Prince’s brewing revolution are connected, the companions must race against time—and struggle against their own misgivings—to save the life of a vicious despot. In so doing they discover a plot for the Throne of the Crescent Moon that threatens to turn Dhamsawaat, and the world itself, into a blood-soaked ruin.

Revolution has come to Dhamsawaat. The Falcon Prince, whose coup had aimed to feed the city’s poor, now sits on the Throne of the Crescent Moon. But he quickly learns that stealing a kingdom is much easier than running one. Doctor Adoulla Makhslood forces himself to ignore the political turmoil boiling around him as he prepares for his long-awaited wedding to Miri Almoussa. His old friends Dawoud and Litaz in turn prepare to travel back to their homeland in the Soo Republic, accompanied by the tribeswoman Zamia Banu Laith Badawi, who hopes to put distance between herself and memories of her dead kinsmen and the warrior dervish Raseed bas Raseed. Meanwhile, Raseed has left Dhamsawaat and his apprenticeship to Adoulla to journey back to the Lodge of God, hoping to purify himself of religious doubts and his troubling attraction to Zamia, and in the course of his journey he crosses swords with the master assassin and disgraced dervish Red Layla. But the heroes’ paths cross again when the enigmatic Queen of the djenn herself appears with a dire warning for the world of men, and Adoulla and his old friends again leave peace and happiness behind as they set out to make things right in a world gone wrong.

Originally appeared in Intergalactic Medicine Show. _Layla bas Layla’s breath came raggedly and her blue silks were soaked with sweat, but she was pleased with her performance. Ten beheaded in threescore water-drops. She lowered her forked sword._ The clay-and-rag dummy skulls littered the packed-dirt training yard of the Lodge of God. Boulder-faced Shaykh Saif kicked one aside. He wore the same habit of silk blouse and breeches as she – he had been a member of the Order for thirty years longer than she—but even smiling, his craggy features somehow made the bright blue garments seem muted. “Only seven-and-ten years old, and you’re better with the forked sword than I was as a Dervish in my prime. And I was the best, God forgive me my boasts!” Layla bowed and sheathed her sword. She ran a hand over her stubbly head and wondered idly how it would feel to have long hair like the women outside the Lodge of God. As if he sensed her thoughts, Shaykh Saif’s smile faded. “Almighty God willing, someday perhaps your soul will be as disciplined as your sword arm!” There was a reprimand in his eyes as well as his words. Layla fingered the red silk scarf wound around her blue scabbard, the only difference between her garments and her teacher’s. It was the cause of the discord that was tearing the Lodge of God apart. She said nothing. Rated PG.