Screams in the storm part 1

During the evening, the crew decided that they were wasting their time on Isra and should just return. Rufus was silent, still pondering the meaning behind the message he had gotten, but he didn't resist the idea.

The group had decided to give up and travel back to the golden hind.

"I am sorry. You seem like trustworthy people, but it is not up to me to whom to let inside the city," Rustam said, as the gang was ready to depart.

"Don't worry. You helped us enough," Rufus thanked as they were setting back to the coast.

~~

"It will take probably about a week to reach the coast. Luckily we are close," Doreen said, who had been given coordinates of where the city of secrets had been before they had departed.

Rufus was deep in his thoughts, but in the eyes of the others, he seemed like he was feeling down.

"Do not worry buddy. Those djinns seemed stuck up anyway," Edward said, trying to cheer Rufus up.

"Have patience, Rufus. I am sure, if not on Isra, but somewhere else we will find solutions to save your sister," Gadaric tried to join in.

"Yeah, I know. Just, kinda lost in my thought now. Don't mind me," Rufus said and kept on going.

~~

A couple of days had passed since they left the city of secrets. They were all sleeping, but Liana then woke up. She saw Gwon, staring into the dark of the night like he was listening to something.

"What are you doing?" Liana asked, still drowsy and rubbing her eyes.

"Shh," Gwon hushed her to be quiet.

Liana tried to see what he was trying to spot. The swiftly Gwon turned his right arm into that of his Seng form and swatted away an arrow. Without Gwon, the arrow would have hit her.

Gwon immediately turned into the complete seng form and rushed in the direction where the arrow had been shot from.

"Gwon! Wait!" Liana yelled.

Just as Gwon was rushing toward the attacker, another arrow flew at Liana from another direction. Before it could hit, a flash of purple came in front of the arrow. It was Rufus, with his divine wings.

He then summoned a divine sphere and threw it at the dune, evaporating it completely, and the attackers.

Satifa summoned and sent her locusts around the area.

"Are there any more of those attackers?" Rufus asked her.

"No, you evaporated one group while Gwon is dealing with the other," Satifa said, her locusts working as her eyes.

Gwon dodged the arrows and rushed at the attackers who were behind another dune. He clawed one's stomach open while with his powerful jaws, bit off the arm of the other.

The attackers were sassans, wearing grey gowns and almost nothing else. The one who was still alive but had no left arm anymore scooched back as Gwon, in his Seng form, eyed the attacker hungrily.

"Gwon. Stand down," Rufus said who had flown to his location swiftly.

Gwon didn't. Instead, Gwon eyed hungrily at the sassan attacker as he smelled his blood. He lunged at him, with Rufus too slow to react.

Gwon bit down on the shoulder, but it wasn't the shoulder of the sassan. It was Pema's who had come in the way and covered his body with his carbon armor. He then chop-punched Gwon in his neck, making him pass out.

"What the hell got into him?" Rufus wondered looking as Gwon turned back to his grey skin form.

"He was an abandoned child. He was for a long more of a beast than an intellectual being. Must be hard to erase such nature from once self," Pema said.

They then stared at the sassan assailant. He was shivering but decided to still try and defend himself, by taking out a knife. Rufus and Pema were not that worried, that he would be able to hurt them as he held on to the knife with a shaky hand.

He then took the knife, and plunged it into his own throat, to the shock of both Rufus and Pema. The sassan didn't commit enough to commit suicide, and the cut was shallow, not killing him instantly.

Quickly Rufus and Pema started to mend the wound, trying to hold back the blood.

"Shit, why would he do that," Rufus said swearing.

~~

They carried him quickly to the others.

"Someone, save him, now!" Rufus yelled.

None of them were healers or had much knowledge. And blood came gushing out as the sassan was dying slowly.

"Suomi, try to use your sorcery to save this man!" Rufus yelled to Suomi.

Suomi hesitated, frozen because of all the blood.

"SUOMI!"

She quickly inspected the wound and started to play a melody on her kantele. The divine winds were gathering, to be controlled by Suomi. She was concentrating and trying to use her sorcery to close the wound. But it wasn't easy. One wrong note or understanding of what she was doing would doom the healing process.

She bit her teeth together as she tried her best. The pace of the melody increased as sweat flowed down her face.

Then the throat of the sassan exploded. The sorcery of Suomi had failed.

Blood got spilled all over her, making her feel oozy.

"Shit, no way we are getting info from him," Edward said casually.

Haley was petrified.

"Someone get her a towel," Joan said.

Rufus examined the corpse. The gown he was wearing looked similar to the fanatics of Ctesiphon.

"What do you think Rufus? These were not any average bandits if any would live in this desert anyway," Satifa asked him.

"No. He is a sassan of the Qajar shahdom," Rufus said as he examined the body.

"Should we go and warn the djinns?" Amala asked.

"Rustam said that the city of secrets can not be reached unless a djinn is with them. Just like us," Rufus explained and reassured everyone, but then just in case asked Gadaric," Go and scout ahead. You cannot be spotted. See where these fanatics are and how many of them are there."

Gadaric then nodded and started to sprint away.