Just keep one foot in front of the other. They’d only been walking for two hours, but Erin was already beginning to drag. The last few days had been a rollercoaster of horror and hope, coupled with barely enough food and water to survive.

When the lady from the royal guard had reappeared and began opening their cell doors, he’d been ecstatic - at first. When she placed that key in his door, and turned the rusty lock, his heart had swelled with so much emotion that for the first time in his life he had finally understood why someone might cry from joy. Granted, he still hadn’t cried, but he sort of got it now.

But then, when he’d stepped out into the hall, his legs shaky from nerves and lack of food, his joy had been tempered by fear. She had no backup, no other soldiers, nothing. She’s going to get us all killed. The visceral images from the aftermath of the scouts’ attempted escape flooded through his mind again. Of the escapees who had lost their heads, and the innocent scouts who were executed simply because of them. To send a message.

Erin’s body had begun to shake uncontrollably. Stepping backward, he’d fumbled desperately with the door to his cell, trying to pull it shut again. The guards could arrive at any moment, and what good could one warrior do?

But then the Djinn, who was busy unlocking the cell opposite to him, had turned her head. Her long hair was pulled tightly behind her horns, and most of her face was hidden in the shadows, but he could still see the kindness in her eyes. “What’s wrong, aḫurrû?” She'd asked, pulling at the cell door, which screeched noisily as it rubbed against the stone floor.

“Th-the guards…”. He’d tried to explain, but words failed him.

Gūzu stepped out of his cell, and spoke softly to the Djinn. “The scouts who tried to escape were executed right in front of us. The boy is…well, he’s new to this world. Got dragged over somehow.” the man explained. “He’s had a hard time adjusting, but he was doing well in the scouts.”

A momentary flash of interest sparked in the woman’s eyes. “Really? He’s a summoned? Do you know what world he came from?”

Gūzu shrugged and looked to Erin, who was watching mutely. “Where were you from again, boy?”

Erin wrestled with the door, trying to shut it. “Earth,” he responded shortly. Preoccupied, he didn’t see the Djinn’s eyes widen. His efforts to close the door were thwarted as the woman grabbed his arm and dragged him out to stand beside her. “Come, aḫurrû, stick close to me, and don’t worry about the guards. My fri-…my lord has dealt with them and their lord. They won’t be bothering us now.”

He didn’t entirely believe her, but his half-starved frame was in no shape to resist her.She slowly worked her way down the hall, making no attempt to hide the noise she made as she freed the prisoners.When they reached the end of the hall and all the scouts had been freed, plus a variety of random travelers who had had the misfortune to be snatched, and there were still no sign of the guards - the overwhelming joy crept back into his heart.

This time he really did cry - only a tear or two though which he carefully brushed away while pretending to yawn.

The Djinn had led them through a labyrinth of passages, up and down, from left to right, that completely destroyed any sense of direction he had before leading them into a large hall filled with shelves. “Your weapons and armor should be in here, if they haven’t taken it for themselves. Spread out and search.”

The other scouts had quickly dispersed, and Erin had started to stumble after him, only to be arrested by her hand again. “You can stay with me,” the woman said. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out one by one the pieces of exquisitely crafted leather gear and shoved them toward him. “Put these on for the time being.”

Erin had hesitated, stealing a glance toward his fellow scouts who were currently rummaging through the shelves looking for their stuff. “Shouldn’t I, uh, just get my own armor? These, uh, look pretty expensive.”

She shrugged. “They were, but I’ve got a much better set now.” She ran a hand down the beautiful lamellar armor she wore in a way that accentuated her curves rather distractingly, and Erin’s gaze lingered a second too long, before he quickly glanced away, his cheeks burning. She laughed and shoved the armor in his hands. “Put it on, aḫurrû. I have a feeling my lord will want to meet you, and until then I want you as well protected as possible.”

Her words sent a chill down his spine. My lord will want to meet you? Erin hadn’t exactly been a bad kid growing up, but with a name like his, he’d gotten in trouble on a pretty regular basis.Authority figures weren’t exactly friends in his book, and try as he might, Erin could not come up with a single good reason he might have attracted her lord’s attention.Hell, he hadn’t even met the man, had he?

His mind went into overdrive, imagining a litany of increasingly worse possibilities. Was he going to be punished for trying to save that woman? It had seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but it had gotten them all in trouble. It was his fault they'd been taken prisoner, after all. Visions of being fined, flogged, forced into servanthood flashed through his mind - along with fleeting fancies of trying to run away - but Erin knew there was nothing he could do. Even if he wasn’t half-starved, there would be no escaping from this Djinn. She was just too powerful.

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Reluctantly, he accepted the leather armor she’d offered him and fastened it on. Then it was just a matter of waiting and fretting as the rest of the scouts retrieved what they could find of their gear.

The Djinn’s patience ran thin quickly; clapping her hands, she called the scouts back together - with or without their gear. “Come on, we need to get going,” she shouted over the hubbub. “I don’t expect a fight ahead of us, but be prepared.” She led them back into the maze of halls and headed deeper into the dungeon.

It was a shorter walk this time; soon a crowd of voices echoed ahead - only to be quelled by a loud, booming voice whose speech was too distorted by the twisting tunnels for Erin to understand. He guessed, though, that it might just belong to his rescuer’s lord, and a pulse of anxiety pierced his heart.

They reached their destination a few moments later. Under normal circumstances, it was probably some sort of dining hall, but it was currently filled to the brink with a sea of their captors. The S̆addu’â. Erin’s heart seized - and he wasn’t alone this time. The other scouts shrank back, looking to their rescuer with a mixture of fear and betrayal.

The Djinn only laughed.Shaking her head, she pointed to a man standing at the front of the crowd - a Djinn dressed in the armor that only the royal house was allowed to wear.“You’re fine,” she reassured them.“My lord is right there.”

True to her word, neither the villagers nor the guards assembled toward the front of the crowd made any move to seize them, and Erin’s heart began to calm. Maybe they really were going to be okay.

He watched curiously as one of the guards stood up and walked over to the noble. Erin hadn’t been in this world for long, but the noble scion wasn’t quite what he was expecting. He’d quickly learned that most Djinn looked roughly human at birth, only changing in appearance as they gained levels. Usually, the first thing they’d gain was horns - which would slowly grow with power - and, if they were strong enough, the red skin that indicated they’d become immune to fire.

But this lord was different. His skin was a much darker shade of red than most, but there were no horns sprouting from his head - not even a hint of nubs. Almost absentmindedly, Erin’s hand ran over the small stubs that had sprouted from his own scalp, despite his still quite pale skin.

The guard knelt on the ground before the strange noble, and the Djinn lifted his hand, allowing blue flames of essence to flicker to life along his fingers. So he’s a mage. A pang of envy gripped his heart as the man’s voice swelled again to fill the room.

PURGE, the man thundered. The flames blossomed along his hands in a fashion that, despite his own inability to successfully cast spells, Erin knew was unnecessarily theatrical, and he frowned, curious to see what the spell would do.

Nothing happened, and the guard began to stand to his feet with a relieved smile on his face. I wonder what that was about. Then the guard paused.His hand shot to his throat and fear filled his eyes.Erin watched in horror as the S̆addu’â writhed in agony across the floor, his body collapsing in upon itself until nothing but a withered husk was left.

There was a small, ignoble part of his heart that rejoiced to see his captors slaughtered, but that was quickly overridden by the fear. This was the man who would be interested in him? Suddenly, the worst-case scenarios he had imagined seemed frightfully optimistic.

The noble frowned but said nothing as two of the villagers came forward and, with silent tears streaming down their faces, dragged the body away. But when the body had been removed, he waved another guard forward.

This guard’s legs were shaking so badly that she almost fell on his face as she tried to kneel before the mage. The noble raised his hand, letting the flames flare forth, and spoke the spell again. PURGE.

Holy hell - he’s executing all of them? Even the women? Erin wanted to avert his eyes, wanted to avoid seeing the guard’s grizzly fate, but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to look away. Again nothing happened at first, but Erin knew what was coming. But the seconds ticked by uneventfully.

The guard slowly began to rise on legs that shook like a sapling in a hurricane. Her hand brushed the side of her neck, almost speculatively, and a look of pure joy flooded her face. “I’m - I’m okay?”

The noble smiled. “Looks like it. You coming with me?” The noble’s unusually informal speech struck Erin as odd, but the guard barely noticed. Bobbing her head enthusiastically, she practically ran to the left where a large group of S̆addu’â made room for her.

What the hell? Erin watched the scene in utter confusion, struggling to make sense of what was happening. His distress must have been evident on his face as Gūzu leaned over and whispered in his ear.

“The royal scion must be an inquisitor,” the scout whispered. “Only those who are guilty will be punished.”

He's an inquisitor? Which means...an inquisitor wants to see me? Erin’s heart froze with terror as he suddenly realized why the noble wanted to meet him. He must know I don’t worship their gods. They don’t kill people for that, do they? Terror laced his veins again, but he could do nothing but watch.

A dozen more guards were tested by the inquisitor. Only one of them died, but their fate was just as horrible as the last. Erin watched through averted eyes, unable to tear himself away from the spectacle. And then, when there were no more S̆addu'â left to test, the noble decided to leave. They were all herded out of the prison together - not just the scouts, but for some reason beyond comprehension, their captors as well. Erin could only imagine what fate must await them in the capital, and he worried his own life might be in danger too.

An hour passed on the road without trouble, and then his fears came true. His rescuer spoke to the noble for a few moments, pointing him out, and the mage’s gaze fell on him. The man waved him over and Erin reluctantly obeyed.

Trotting over, he was surprised when the noble flashed him a wide grin. “So, Annatta tells me you’re from Earth? You from the greatest country on Earth, or one of those other places?” The man winked, and stuck out his hand. “Just kidding. It’s great to meet someone else from home. I’m Jasper.”

Erin’s mouth fell open. Home?