Chapter 1

Amina al-Sirafi, narrating to Jamal al-Hilli, recalls a night in Salalah when two unnamed Adeni youths hired her to row them to ruins rumored to hide treasure. She suspects their map is forged but takes the job. Fog closes in, the wind dies, and an ominous stillness settles over the lagoon.

The youths perform a ritual, revealing a carnelian “payment,” and a towering, foul sea-foam mass engulfs Khalid. The foam glows, sprouts fanged suckers, and turns violent. Amina hesitates, then acts, seizing her blessed iron knife—inscribed and nightly sanctified—to confront the supernatural threat.

Amina wrenches Khalid free and commands the possessing force to leave, scorching him with the iron. The sea-foam entity attacks her, revealing a scaled, winged demon with needlelike teeth. Pinning it with the iron blade, Amina recites ayat al-kursi until the demon shrieks, sprouts wings, and flees into the night.

With the fog lifting, Amina confronts the boys, learning they tried to summon a daughter of Iblis, Bidukh, to gain secrets of love. She throws their forged map and carnelian into the lagoon, forces them to row, and drops her disguise, revealing her strength and arsenal. Rumors of the “fisherwoman who fought a demon” spread through ports and households, ultimately reaching a desperate grandmother in Aden, foreshadowing Amina’s next call to adventure.