There are powers the eye cannot see… yet they subdue all who enter their reach without a single sword being raised.
The hours passed slowly,
as if time itself had paused to watch them,
hesitating before allowing the next step to be born.
Aram and those with him remained folded within the mountains,
moving only as caution demanded,
waiting for two pieces of news that would decide the fate of everything that remained:
Seraph…
and Siyar.
The waiting was heavier than any clash.
In battle, you know where to strike.
Here…
the blow could come from nothing.
Yet no one sat idle.
Each person reviewed their tools,
their skills,
their limits.
Because the smallest detail
could mean the difference between salvation and massacre.
Aram sat with Nehram and Ghaylas leader of the freed Ghouls
in the shadow of a broad rock,
speaking in low voices,
neither softening the danger
nor disguising its edge.
Nehram said in a tone Aram was not used to hearing from him:
"Do not underestimate Ronen…
nor Naher."
He paused,
then added, as though placing a stone at the heart of the matter:
"Naher is no ordinary djinn.
He is the bearer of the Aura."
Aram lifted his head at once.
"The Aura?"
Nehram answered slowly:
"Naher can create a field around himself…
a wide aura.
Any djinn who enters it
loses their will.
They cannot harm him,
nor disobey a command he issues."
A heavy silence followed.
Ghaylas spoke in his rough voice:
"Even we…
must be careful."
Only then did Aram understand that the coming confrontation
would not be merely a clash of blades,
nor the breaking of sigils,
but a war of wills.
And whoever broke first… would lose.
After a brief arrangement,
they decided to move closer to Saba,
without entering it.
Close enough to see,
far enough to stay alive.
Leading them was that strange creature
that had not left them since the Valley of Fire.
Its form resembled a dog,
but in its eyes lived an awareness the soul could not mistake.
Aram watched it and said:
"It cannot remain without a name."
The creature approached,
touched the ground with its claws,
and released a low sound like a whisper.
Nehram said:
"From the lineage of the ancient guides…
its name is Rakkan."
And from that moment,
it was Rakkan.
Rakkan led them to a mountain position
overlooking the palace
and the sacrificial square,
while rocks and dense trees
shielded them from every eye.
Nehram pointed to one of the ten elite djinn.
His name was Azmir.
"Seal the area."
Azmir closed his eyes
and slowly extended his hands.
Within moments,
everyone felt the air change.
It grew heavier…
then calmer.
As if the mountain itself had held its breath.
A silent aura.
Any approach,
any hostile intent,
would be sensed before it could become action.
They waited until evening.
With the first thread of darkness,
Siyar returned.
He stood before Aram,
the borrowed voice fading away,
his true voice returning.
He said only one sentence:
"It is done."
Then he recounted everything.
He told Ronen and Naher
that Aram alone had survived,
that his companions had scattered,
and that the threat was over.
Ronen laughed according to Siyar
and grew complacent.
He immediately began preparing the altar.
The caravan…
was close.
Less than an hour later,
Seraph returned from the opposite direction.
His face was tense,
his eyes carrying no easy news.
"The king is alive," he said.
"But the guard has been reinforced."
Then he added:
"A deep cell.
A single gate.
Guarded by Naher's strongest sentinels.
No human,
no djinn,
reaches it without his consent."
Aram looked at the faces around him.
He saw no hesitation.
No fear.
He spoke calmly, decisively,
drawing two lines in the dirt:
"Then… we split the path."
He pointed to the first line:
"A path to the cell."
Then to the second:
"And a path to the caravan."
He raised his head and added:
"If either fails…
everything falls."
A heavy silence followed.
But no one stepped back.
In that moment,
the true plan began to take shape.
One single night
stood between them
and the most dangerous gamble they had ever made.
And Saba …
was holding its breath,
waiting for the scene
that would rewrite its history.
-----------------------------------------
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