Sometimes the danger is not in the raised sword, but in the morsel offered with a smile.
In a dense forest of the mountains of Saba,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVAo1uTUM7t
where trees interlocked like green walls guarding what must not be discovered,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ15UhXTU0i
Aram and his companions sat in a tight circle,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpvWrwdGf4F
a faint fire between them,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡifmiyb9Dcf
barely visible to anyone who did not know exactly where to look.
The faces were exhausted,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7OB3O9vE30
but the eyes… alert.
The place was far from roads,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcBiW8LWD84
far from eyes,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3AtoDN4cn
far even from the wind that usually carried secrets.
During the day,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhfxAnnk2H
every step had been planned.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYM76P4ZYw4
Paths were reviewed.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrLvyqaFHa4
Upcoming roles were assigned with the precision of those who knew that a mistake here would not be forgiven.
And at night…37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZSJ1d5cf9e
they slept.
The sleep of warriors who do not surrender,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGz7AwKaKd6
but sharpen their spirits.
The first night passed quietly.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1jnZmonoJ
Then the second.
No sign of pursuit,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWoIp39va5V
no suspicious movement,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzEndPq4yYS
no whisper suggesting they had been discovered.
The food they had brought from the Valley of Fire would last them37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmdjYm1k6VP
three days,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFE2vEeTRHf
perhaps four if rationed carefully.
On the morning of the third day,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8nowMycaf
before the sun began climbing the treetops,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkI8VFXO9rz
something moved at the forest’s edge.
It was not an animal.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7Erzip46f
Nor the wind.
Three djinn appeared.
Their clothes were cleaner than they should have been,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjebJlBJxg
their faces neutral to the point of unease,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6asMnB53Y
and in their hands baskets of food.
One of them spoke in polished calm:
“A gift from the Sage of the Valley of Fire.”
No one moved.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFJxtuyD9L
But… no one objected either.
The baskets were placed in the center.
They all sat.
Hands extended37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6g2F1fzrW
then…
The ring flashed.
Not a blazing light,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9BTg3z4Kg
but a brief flicker,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTrUxepKBLE
like a warning that did not shout.
Aram lifted his head at once,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8hWGxGZ2aP
his eyes meeting those of Nehram.
No words were needed.
Nehram spoke in a single, decisive tone:
“Stop.”
Hands froze in midair.
The three djinn faltered.
One of them said cautiously:
“Is there ”
But before he could finish,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqny8H8lzck
one of them lunged backward.
He turned, trying to flee between the trees.
In an instant…37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡva05kbUea8
one of the ten elite djinn moved.
His name was Zehyar.
He did not run.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9KBsCPjYpD
He did not leap.
He simply extended his shadow.
A shadow that detached from him,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVabTWNCeR
as if it were another being entirely,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqLLFPdBpA5
wrapped around the fleeing djinn,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuExz0MIoQf
and became an invisible restraint.
The djinn was dragged back37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDOH7liIcl
as a thought is pulled from its owner’s mind.
The three now stood…37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MjJ3BC9Jy
exposed.
Nehram said coldly, without mercy:
“Eat.”
They hesitated.
Then they understood.
One of them spoke in a broken voice:
“We were… ordered.”
Nehram raised his sword37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj5VA09GTHi
but Aram placed a hand before him.
“Do not kill them.”
Then he added calmly:
“Question them.”
The interrogation began.
Who sent you?37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIdvhOPTjIN
Who knows our location?37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdkM4vYiHhw
Who ordered the food poisoned?
But the answer was one:
Silence.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmlTnzf51cW
Stubbornness.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO3ETNnyAXe
Empty stares.
Then another of the ten stepped forward.
His name was Mirath.
He carried no weapon.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡabpLyoQDRS
He raised no voice.
He placed his hand on the wrist of one of the three djinn.
Suddenly…37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡryVrODOt7x
the voice changed.
It was no longer his own37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXJWhpND09
but the voice of the captive djinn himself.
He spoke with his tongue,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjT0YXHO9Z
his memories,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZiqcFEN3VC
his fear.
Thoughts spilled like water.
Images surfaced.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMlv0YgHL0
Orders echoed.
They learned the names:
Naher, the massive djinn accompanying Ronen.
A direct command: confirm Aram’s death.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNnDv5C09C
If he was found alive poisoned food.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfCWc0jK7v
Then an urgent report to Saba.
The process was repeated with the other two.
Nothing differed.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7RLDhymN8z
Nothing failed.
Silence settled.
Then Aram said in a voice deadly calm:
“Now… we plant our deception.”
He intended to send false news.
But Nehram said:
“There is a more precise way.”
He ordered the three djinn sent to the Valley of Fire,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5DglVPdBe
bound,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLT8zvMLlR
cut off from any chance of return.
Then he turned to one of his soldiers.
His name was Siyar.
Nehram said:
“You.”
Siyar smiled.
Within moments,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsImZgSUAAn
his form changed.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVBJchyxVU
His features.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1uBDb69F2
His aura.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZHdgwxGGwH
Even his voice.
He became an exact replica37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVkIeIaABV
of one of the three djinn.
Mirath stepped forward again,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7j6EgOAJbR
placed his hand on Siyar,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLvmdnFBIIJ
and transferred to him37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI3aPBgCQwv
everything that had been in the original djinn’s mind:
The route.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgThwnNy5UD
The words.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3qCBUFuXqc
The manner of bowing.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXPfBzaAoD
The tone used when speaking to Ronen.
Aram said to Siyar steadily:
“Go to Saba.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTlCqTK5ze2
Meet Ronen.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwMkyinOPwy
Tell him the mission was completed.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4QjAT0HM0Z
And that the food… finished the matter.”
Siyar nodded.
Then vanished among the trees.
Aram drew a deep breath.
He turned to Nehram and said:
“Now…37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSKsA3k3X1
we are the ones pulling them into the next move.”
And so37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7iskK4cADB
between a faint fire,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYQrNsGTO6s
food that was never eaten,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZJVpzov0r
and a deception planted with care37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNLqWGewNN
the balance37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjIzBUAkKw
began to tilt once more.
and then Add to home screen.