Chapter 299: Djinn, a master of disguise
The city of Ctesiphon was abuzz with rumors of Shah Burzin's return and the gathering of forces to take on the fanatics. Many people in Ctesiphon were fleeing, fearing that the city would become a battleground. Meanwhile, Rufus and his friends were holed up in a tavern discussing their findings from the burned-out Temple of Cyrus, where they had discovered texts praising a wise and kind djinn who had aided the god.
"You guys just keep living as if nothing happened after almost dying?!" Suomi said, still shaken from the experience.
"You'll get used to it," Liana said, who had the appearance of a child and causing Suomi to question the sanity of the group.
Rufus explained what they had found and talked about a djinn who had aided Cyrus. The texts praised this djinn for his wisdom and kindness.
"Did they mention the name of this djinn?" Doreen asked.
"No, but it was clear that it was always the same djinn who was aiding the god. If a great god like Cyrus was happy with the djinn's help, I think he could help us too," Rufus explained.
"But how do we go about finding a djinn?" Amala asked.
Just then, a group of fanatics entered the tavern and started pushing around the owner, yelling profanities and telling him to leave. The female sassan felt threatened and to avoid aggravating the zealots, the rest of the customers left the establishment.
"We shouldn't draw any unwanted attention," Doreen whispered, aware that they were also outsiders and not Sassanids.
Suomi stepped forward to face the fanatics.
"What's the problem here?" Suomi asked them.
The fanatics were surprised that a human would intervene, but the leader warned Suomi, "Get away from here, foreigner. This doesn't concern you. I'll only warn you once."
Suomi stood his ground and replied, "It does concern me. This is my bar, and I won't stand by while you bully innocent people."
The rest of the gang sighed as Suomi said a bluff, that was clear as day. They shook their heads at how utterly stupid Suomi's plan was.
"Get the human girl too. We'll burn them both at the stake," the fanatic said.
As one of them went to grab her, she hit him with her kantele. More fanatics came, but Rufus stepped in.
"You humans, stay out of this or we'll burn you all at the stake," the leader of the group yelled.
Pema walked behind Rufus, who was over two meters tall with broad shoulders and grey skin. Edward joined them, ready to unsheathe his long sword.
In the eyes of the fanatics, Rufus, Pema, and Edward were a terrifying trio, despite their limitless faith in their dead god. The fanatics slowly backed off and left the tavern.
After they left, the Sassanid they had attacked thanked Suomi and her friends, "Thank you. That could have ended badly without your help."
"No worries. Why were they targeting you? Aren't you a Sassanid?" Rufus asked.
"Oh no, I'm not a Sassanid. I'm a djinn," the person said casually.
The group was in shock as they had never encountered a djinn before.
"How did they know you were a djinn in the first place?" Suomi asked. "You could have easily hidden from them."
"Well, as you saw, I have a loud mouth and tend to easily blurt out my secrets," the djinn replied. "And besides, it wasn't always like this. Not many years ago, the Sassanids and us djinns lived happily together. But now, the zealots are calling for purity among the Sassanid people."
"It's sad," the djinn continued. "Cyrus, the one they worship, was a benevolent leader and kind to us. He made sure that his sons would respect us and ensured that the Sassanid nations in Isra wouldn't interfere with the continent of the Djinns."
"But with the rise of the fanatics and their hatred towards djinns, it's become increasingly difficult for my kind to live among them," the djinn explained. "They have been hunting us down, forcing us to reveal ourselves or hide in plain sight. It's become quite dangerous for us. This was the final straw, and I am going to flee this city soon."
"Where will you go?"
"To the continent of the djinns, to the land of the red desert," the djinn explained. "It's the time of year for us djinns to make our pilgrimage to the city of secrets." The djinn then changed the subject. "You wouldn't happen to want to buy this tavern from me? I heard you say you were the owner."
"No, but you wouldn't mind helping us get there, would you?" Rufus asked her.
"Oh, the city of secrets is only for djinns. No one else is allowed in there, despite how friendly they may be towards us djinns," she explained.
At that moment, rocks were thrown through the window and torches soon followed. The zealots had returned with a large number of followers, determined to take the djinn to the stake and root out any other foreigners.
"On second thought, I wouldn't mind being your guide," she said, quickly changing her mind.
The entire city had become a hotspot of anarchy. The zealots started burning houses all over the city of Ctesiphon, forcing the normal population to flee.
As the fanatics began burning the tavern, Rufus blasted a hole in the wall with his divine powers, and they all ran out through the exit towards the gravity ship harbor, attempting to flee the city.
The zealots gave chase, but they were not fast enough to catch up with the companions of Rufus. Both Suomi and the djinn struggled as they tried their best to keep up.
"Get to the ship. I'll take care of those slackers," Satifa said, summoning her divine power.
Locusts appeared from the sand beneath her, swarming the zealots and stopping the chase, but not causing harm. Satifa then commanded the locusts to form clouds underneath, carrying both Suomi and the djinn.
"Gross, gross, gross," Suomi yelled, swatting at the bugs that were carrying her to safety.
Satifa, irritated by this, swarmed Suomi's mouth with locusts, causing her to instantly pass out, her having clearly a phobia of bugs.
"That was kind of mean of you," Rufus said as she saw what Satifa did.
"Yeah, but it worked," Satifa replied and winked," And the djinn doesn't seem to mind them."
"Rather locusts then killer mob. By the way, you can call me Zara, as I think it would be wise to knoe each others names since we will be traveling now together," the djinn said casually.
"Lets try and have the introductions when we are in the clear!" Doreen yelled.
~~
The group finally reached the gravity ship harbor where their ship was waiting for them. They quickly boarded and took off, leaving the burning city of Ctesiphon behind.
They saw a large host that was sent to quell the fanatics marching toward the city. A massive army, made of spearmen and heavy cavalry. Even siege weapons were being pulled by massive monsters.
"Well, this was a fast visit," Yosef noted as they flew away.
"Which way is the red desert?" Doreen asked Zara.
"Look ahead. You can't miss it even from another continent," Zara said, pointing toward the east.
A large red storm was shown blowing in the distance, not moving but stationary.
"Not sure if the Golden Hind can survive through that storm," Yosef said.
"That is a storm built by the djinns, a storm that doesn't allow gravity ships to fly over the continent. We have to dock at a harbor near the coast," Zara explained.
Weekly Power Status
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