Jasper was clutching his chest as he awoke, the phantom pains lingering despite the lack of any real damage. With a groan, he rolled onto his knees and, using the tree to support himself, gingerly rose, his other hand massaging his chest. I’ll never get used to that.

When the pain had passed, he took a final look at the sluggish river. The moon had shrunk so that its face no longer spanned the water from shore to shore, and he didn’t get the sense that there was any special presence lingering, but he still bowed his head and murmured a brief thanks to Lady Selene. True, he hadn’t wanted to go to the void, but it had been what he needed, and now… He abruptly cut off the thought that surged through his mind, the wild, almost frenzied, hope that flooded his veins. He would wait to see what Kas̆dael found and until then, he would not let himself believe. Could not let himself believe.

Hardening his heart, he headed back toward camp and, returning to his tent, plopped down on his small cot. And, this time, sleep came quickly.

----------------------------------------

The next few days passed uneventfully. S̆ams̆ādur, as promised, worked with the children to find their relatives. His methods were unusual - telling them stories, playing silly games, feeding them breakfast and lunch - but as their mood lifted and the minds were diverted, albeit just temporarily, from the trauma that had been inflicted on them, S̆ams̆ādur was able to glean tidbits of information from their mind. Slowly but steadily, the list of potential relatives grew until they had tracked down locations for all but three of them. Those three, sadly, did not seem to know anything about their parents’ relatives, leaving the crew little option but to find an orphanage.

All that remained, then, was to deliver the children to their relatives. They were halfway through that task, when a familiar face rejoined the group.

“Ihra!” Jasper dropped the bowl of stew he’d been holding and bolted to his feet as the elfing emerged from the darkness that surrounded their camp. Her face glowed with the warm light of the fire, and he was relieved to see she looked unharmed. Behind her loomed two more familiar faces, Erin and the healer the durgu had recruited, along with someone Jasper didn’t recognize.

“Did the mission go well,” he asked as he darted over to her, though his eyes never strayed from the stranger.

“More or less,” Ihra shrugged her shoulders. “We were able to confirm that Lord Sarganīl is under the control of a mind mage, along with much of the rest of the city.”

“You didn’t run into him,” he questioned sharply, a ripple of fear running down his back at the thought that she might have been unknowingly compromised.

“We did,” she said, confirming that fear, but then she pulled down the collar of her tunic, allowing him to see a thin, green necklace bound around her neck that resembled quite closely the Fey charm he’d once had. “But you don’t need to worry; we got amulets from the temple to protect us.”

“Sorry, just a little on edge. We had our own run-in with a mind-mage,” he said with a grimace. “When we stopped in the town Daḇur to get some supplies, a mind-mage turned a bunch of S̆ams̆ādur’s men against us.”

“Did you get him?”

“He’s dead,” Jasper confirmed, leaving out the part where the mage had wormed his way into Jasper’s mind, even if only for a second. He’d tell her. Eventually. But not now, not in front of this stranger.

“And who’s this? A new member of the team?” he asked, finally getting to the question that had been bothering him.

The man stepped forward into the light, finally allowing Jasper to get a good look at him. Judging from his bulging muscles and massive frame, the man had a warrior class. He wore a finely crafted suit of lamellar armor, which told Jasper he either had money or was high up in the chain of command, as did the elegant sword that dangled at his side, boasting a sparkling ruby in its hilt. He had short black hair and nearly violet eyes that pointed to a troll ancestor lurking somewhere in the background but otherwise looked perfectly human. The man nodded his head politely. “Commander Marīltu,” he introduced themself, followed quickly by a grimace. “Well, I was Commander Marīltu. I guess now it’s just Marīltu.”

“Jasper,” he introduced himself, “And this is S̆ams̆ādur and Tsia.”

The man’s eyes lingered on each one of them slightly longer. “You didn’t tell me you had such interesting friends,” he remarked to Ihra. “I knew of the durgu prince,” he continued, offering a friendly nod toward S̆ams̆ādur, “but I had not heard of any Djinn in the area.” His brow furrowed as he paused, “You are Djinn, aren’t you?” He questioned Jasper. “I know your kind usually have horns, but I can’t think of any other race with skin as red as yours.”

“I am,” Jasper confirmed shortly, offering nothing else, but the man pressed further.

“I imagine you’re with the army, then, that’s marching to the aid of the emperor,” the man added casually as he swiveled his gaze back to Tsia. “I’m sorry, my lady, but do we know each other? I cannot place-”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“We don’t,” Tsia blurted out, shaking her head vigorously. “I’m just one of the party, a mage,” she added as an afterthought.

Marīltu looked unconvinced, but Ihra cut in before he could press the matter further. “Any chance we can get some food? We haven’t had a hot meal in days.”

They regrouped around the fire a few minutes later, with steaming bowls of the durgū’s savory stew. Somewhat to Jasper’s irritation, the commander plopped down between him and Ihra, though he turned his attention to Jasper. “From what Ihra told me, it sounds like you’re the leader of this group?”

“It’s more complicated than that,” he demurred. “I guess you could say I’m the leader of this party, but we’re down to just Ihra, Tsia, and Erin right now; S̆ams̆ādur and his men are temporary allies for this quest, nothing more.”

“Yes, she mentioned something about a contract with the men of Mut-La’is̆. Bad business, that,” the man muttered.

“They’ve struck four times already,” he confirmed. “With any luck, the contract’s one of the shorter ones, and we’ll only have one more time to worry about.” Of course, Jasper wasn’t exactly optimistic about that, but it didn’t hurt to hope.

“What about you,” he asked, turning the question back on the man. “You said you were a commander.”

The man smiled bitterly. “Aye, that’s right. I was the commander of Dūr-Biḫurtu, the second most important garrison in Birnah. Now...I’m nothing.” He fiddled with his spoon, slopping some of the soup over the edge.

“You know, back home we have a saying. ‘As long as there’s life, there’s hope.’ Maybe, with a little luck, we can save Birnah and get back your old position.”

Marīltu nodded absentmindedly. “Ihra certainly seemed to have faith in you, but Birnah is a tough nut to crack. The lords of Styrn have sought to conquer us for centuries but always failed. But now? Unless we act soon, that damn mindworm will just open the gates for them. If Sapīya loses Birnah…” he shook his head. “We’ve always been weaker than Styrn, relying on the strength of our fortifications to allow us to hold onto this sliver of land in the west, but once Stryn’s forces are in the walls, it’s over. We’ll never reclaim the city.”

“So that’s the mind mage’s plan, then? He's going to turn the city over to Stryn?”

“Those were the final orders I received," the man sighed, "Before my refusal to obey got me stripped of command. I’m not sure what he's getting out of it, but he has Lord Sarganīl and the other commanders wound so tightly around his finger, that I doubt there's any hope of stopping him. If I hadn’t been paranoid enough to dig out this old relic,” he fingered a bracelet dangling from his wrist, “I’m sure I would have met the same fate.”

“I tried to confront them; I thought if I could only arrest the mind-mage, we could free Lord Sarganīl from his influence and save the city. But the mage out-foxed me. Even though I’d distributed charms to my men, I was too late. He’d anticipated my move and swapped out the Fey relics for fakes. I would have died if it wasn’t for Ihra,” he finished, nodding appreciatively at the blond sitting beside him. She didn’t respond, however, unless one counted the faint sound of snoring that wafted up as she slumped over her bowl of stew, her hair dangerously close to falling in. With a chuckle, the man reached over and set it on the ground before continuing.

“Are you really going to try to save Birnah,” Marīltu asked. “From what Ihra said, it sounded like your mission was to protect the durgu, not our city.”

“That's not why we’re here,” Jasper admitted. “Our goal was to protect S̆ams̆ādur from the men of Mūt-La’is̆, but his mission, on the other hand, was to keep an eye on Sarganīl. From what I’ve gathered, your king realized that something wasn’t right with him, though I don’t think he suspected a mind mage.”

“No, I doubt he would have sent his daughter into such danger,” Marīltu agreed. His face was blank as he spoke, but his eyes searched Jasper’s face closely, looking for a reaction.

Jasper didn’t bother to hide it. “So you figured out where you remembered her from?”

“I’ve been to Yas̆peh a time or two,” Marīltu replied wryly. “I was the second most important commander in Birnah, after all. Granted, the last time I saw her, she was still a wee little lass, but her face hasn’t changed that much. Plus, Ihra kept talking about someone in the party she called ‘princess.’ I’d assumed it was a nickname, but once I saw her, it clicked. Is there any reason she’s in hiding? With her support, we might be able to get the guards to open the gate to us, at least as long as the mindworm isn’t waiting for us.”

“Eh, it’s her story to tell, if she wants to,” Jasper shrugged. “But I don’t think Kabāni knows she’s here. She’s part of my team, not S̆ams̆ādur’s,” he explained.

The man grunted. “So she did run away. I’d heard rumors, but I’d dismissed them. Still, her help could make a difference - if you’re planning to help us, that is?” He glanced back at Jasper. “You didn’t answer my question.”

That hadn’t been an accident. In truth, Jasper was reluctant to get involved with the conflict at Birnah. While he felt some attachment to Sapīya, as it was the province he’d first found himself in and Tsia was, even if she tried to hide it, the daughter of its ruler, it wasn’t like he was a native of their land. Ultimately, this wasn’t his conflict and he knew they needed to return to the Djinn army sooner than later.

Yet, he wasn’t entirely comfortable letting Stryn win. At least in the game, Stryn had been a province full of cultists, Gemlirian sympathizers, and followers of dark gods. It was a province rotted by corruption, yet so populous and wealthy that it wielded an outsized influence on all the surrounding provinces. He didn’t want to get involved in the conflict, yet letting Stryn conquer Birnah felt a bit too much like letting the bad guys win.

“I’ll have to ask my team,” he finally replied. “I’m not going to promise to help you and risk their lives without talking to them. But if I know them as well as I think I do, we’ll do our best to save Birnah.”

“Good,” Marīltu grunted. “But if we have any hope of success, we have to strike quickly.”

“We’ll discuss it tomorrow,” Jasper promised. “In the meantime, why don’t you tell me more about Birnah’s defenses? If we’re going to save them, we’ve got to do what Stryn couldn’t, with far fewer soldiers.”