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When he finally reached Abbas, he confirmed that the man was indeed unconscious. Moreover, he saw that his reaper, Worwal, was right there alongside him, reduced to a formless puddle on the floor.

He knew it was not typically a good idea to move people with unknown injuries, but this was a servant and reaper, and he was worried that this environment could have been draining their soul power or something.

‘Sucking their souls out of their still-living bodies’ was how Abbas had once described it to him.

So he grabbed them both. With some vigor from Garovel, he hoisted the Lord Saqqaf over his shoulder and brought him and Worwal outside, where he laid them both down on the open grass.

He looked over and saw Raheem taking care of the fire as requested, having bounded up the tree like a leopard in order to smother the flames with the thick robe that he had been wearing.

Huh. Did the man not have a better way of dealing with fire? Ah, wait, no, that made sense. He recalled that Raheem’s power was also materialization, but it was potassium. If he’d tried to use that, it might’ve set the whole tree ablaze.

The man seemed to be managing just fine, though. Only a bit of smoke remained, and Raheem was already patting his blackened robe down. More Saqqafs were running up to the tree as well.

They’d set up an encampment for themselves not terribly far away, concealed by the edge of the Imara Forest. Abbas had wanted to stay close to the Candle but also remain hidden from any unexpected visitors.

The various Saqqafs divided themselves between the tree and Hector. He recognized one of Abbas’ granddaughters, Ghaliya, approaching first. She was a mature woman with only a few lines among her smooth features and a bit of gray in her otherwise brown hair. All in all, she looked older than Abbas, which must have been a strange feeling.

She asked after her grandfather’s well-being, of course, to which Hector had no real answers. She bade him carry them both over to the encampment, and Hector did so.

He did not stay long, however. Abbas seemed to be out cold, and judging by Worwal’s visibly concerning condition, the two of them would not be waking for a while.

For now, he wanted to check on the Candle’s condition. When he returned to it, he found the Saqqafs gathered outside, discussing their options.