It was drizzling at Ayn. The temperature had dropped to 14 degrees Celsius, and clouds had completely engulfed the sun. Leaves hung motionless as tiny rain droplets caressed them, making a noise as quiet as the creep of time itself. The scent of rain filled the air, its soft rhythm settling in the ears as the Zeta Squad prepared for their next mission.
With closed eyes, Hugo whispered, "Petrichor," as he sniffed the sweet scent.
To his squad, he asked, "Ready to go?"
A circle had been drawn using sand, eight feet in diameter.
"Yes, sir," Gina replied.
Everyone moved into the circle. Marcus dragged Vincent along. As the bounty hunter stepped inside the dust circle, he muttered, "Greeks were good with transportation…"
The enchantment was an old one – devised by ancient Greek Seekers, masters of early Ki Manipulation. Unlike more elaborate methods, this one was efficient. Simple. Reliable.
A circle of sand marked the boundary. The caster stood at its edge, one foot touching the grains, drawing a link to the Ki within them. From there, the connection extended outward into the air and the elements, forming a contained pocket of energy around the group.
A Ki bubble.
Everything inside it would move as one.
Hugo stepped on the edge of the sand boundary. His Ki flowed and swayed around the group.
Camille felt it first.
The Ki around them flowed as expected, steady and responsive. But around Vincent… it faltered. Not violently, not enough to alarm anyone else. Just a slight distortion, like something the spell could not quite settle around.
She frowned.
Hugo glanced back.
The distortion settled.
He turned ahead once more, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.
The spell demanded precision. Visualization was key. The destination had to be known – not just in name, but in memory. Every detail sharpened the path.
Once the link was set, the caster would release a burst of Ki displacing energy at the target location. For a fleeting instant, the world sought balance.
And in that instant – they were pulled through.
Hugo chanted, "TILEMETAFORÁ-PORFARA-PETRICHORA," and smashed his Ki charged fist on the ground.
The group immediately teleported away to their destination – Lahbab, a village in the Emirate of Dubai, about 50 km south of Dubai city.
Much harsher conditions welcomed them in the desert.
"Cover your heads, guys," said Hugo. "The sun will fry you otherwise."
Clear skies, temperature soaring at 40 degrees Celsius, and a humid and sweltering feel – they needed a change of attire.
Ella opened up her Umro bag – an ingenious little charmed pouch created by the Seekers of Persia which could even hold an entire closet but still feel light as a handbag and look just as small. She pulled out some local wear saying, "Plenty for everyone."
They had to travel to the big city and needed a disguise to blend in, and robes, the local common wear, was perfect for blending in while hiding their peculiar martial art clothing.
The men wore white kanduras and traditional keffiyeh headscarves, while the women slipped into black abayas and niqabs, leaving only their eyes exposed. It was the perfect cover – respectful, concealing, and unremarkable amidst the region's desert communities.
They flagged down a shared transport van operated by local labourers heading toward the outskirts of Dubai. From there, they switched to a city bus, blending in among migrant workers and day travellers. By dusk, the group had arrived in Mirdif – a quiet residential district in eastern Dubai. The Keeper's Post, a discreet villa tucked between high walls and tall palms, awaited them there.
Much to their astonishment, when they arrived, they found the villa mostly intact. Only the garage and a room above it on the first floor were burnt.
'Not only did they attack and abduct a Keeper without alerting anyone,' Hugo thought, 'They even covered their tracks.'
Unleashing a camouflaging scent, the captain ushered his team to move in. The girls climbed in through one of the windows in the back on the first floor, while the boys came in through the kitchen door on the opposite side of the garage. After analysing the media van outside and knocking out its driver and his technician partner, Hugo moved in along with Vincent.
There were two police officers inside. One reporter with a cameraman was shooting on the scene for a local news channel.
Schools at Ayn, and then even their Martial Arts academies taught many different languages to their students. Arabic was one of them. None of the members of the Zeta Squad had any trouble understanding what the news reporter was saying.
The local authorities had been trying to get a hold of the owner of the house but were unable to find them. According to the neighbours, a fire had erupted in the house early in the morning. The family was up early and noticed smoke coming from the garage. The residents of the place were seldom home and when they were, it was usually for a party or a large gathering. So, the smoke was not alarming. It was not until flames became visible that they called it in. But by the time the fire fighters arrived, the entire garage, and the room above it, had already burned.
The squad moved cautiously. Ella quietly crept up close and stood pressed up against a wall. On the other side was one of the policemen. Upon Hugo's nod, she released a tiny energy surge to disrupt the Ki flow in and around the brain of the young man disturbing his entire cognitive system. The following whispering request, he could not deny and walked straight out of the house. Gina did the same with the other one and soon, the two lawmen sat in their car, and left.
Once the camera stopped rolling, the girls moved in on the news team and gently put them to sleep.
Satisfied they were now alone, the group shed their head and face coverings, allowing their features to breathe after the stifling heat. Vincent, however, went further and removed the entire robe to reveal a sweat-soaked shirt and trousers. He even took his shoes off and left them at the entrance.
The group made their way into the burnt section of the house.
"Look around, guys," said Hugo as he moved deeper into the area. "And watch your step. The place is literally falling apart."
"What exactly are we looking for?" Marcus asked, looking at the captain.
"Anything that gives a residual Ki signature that is both blue and green simultaneously."
Marcus turned around and asked, "What, sorry?"
Hugo glanced at him then looked back ahead. "Who's gonna tell me the difference between blue and green Ki?" he asked, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Oh, that one's easy," Camille said with a smile. "Blue Ki, which pulses within beings with souls like us or the animals, and Green Ki, which exists in nature – the soil, the trees, the air we breathe."
"And the elements," Neil added.
"Right," Hugo nodded.
Marcus smirked. "I would've read up on concepts too, man, if I knew this was gonna be a test."
Hugo stopped momentarily and stared at the red-haired young man who quickly looked away and began going through the debris.
The group kept looking through the garage but could not find anything useful. Ella and Neil jumped up onto the first floor through a hole in the ceiling. The room there was also similarly burnt. Smoke was still rising from some of the broken, burnt furniture.
"This place is giving me the creeps," said Ella, hugging herself. "It feels like I'm being watched…"
Neil looked at her with a smile and shook his head. "You're a Mystic, El," he said. "You people are supposed to be the best of us… fearless."
"Yeah, but still… it feels like there is a lingering presence here. Almost like a soul within the structure itself."
The junior Zaatsu shook his head. "You're being paranoid."
Downstairs, Camille, Gina, and Marcus had all but given up. They were unable to find what Hugo was looking for. Marcus was standing arms akimbo. He was unable to come to terms with two different natures of Ki coexisting and eventually asked Hugo about it. "But isn't that impossible, Master Baylis?" he asked.
"What is?" Hugo reciprocated.
"How could two different natures of Ki coexist?"
"These people are one with nature," the captain explained as he turned to look at the young man. "The Keepers are indeed peculiar beings. Just keep looking. There has to be something here."
Camille walked a bit closer to him and said, "Bro, we've looked all around the place. There's nothing here except for the few burnt pieces of furniture. We can barely sense any Ki. Everything's dead."
"Hmm… I expected at least one of you to pick it up…"
Hugo called Neil and Ella down then slowly moved out of the burnt region of the house.
Ella rushed ahead and caught up with him. "Master," she said, gaining his attention. "Do you feel anything... odd or... maybe suspicious?"
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Like... I don't know..." She gulped.
Neil too walked closer. Smiling, he said, "She thinks this structure has a soul."
"I feel like someone's watching me," Ella explained. "Like someone's here…"
The Zaatsu stopped and pointed at her. "There we go," he said with a smile. "You felt it!"
"Felt what?"
"The Keeper's Post…"