Samir with his wife three paces behind him and his sons next to him talked to the fennec
man standing at attention what was a giant map of the city, that shifted even before
Samir's eyes. Sure it was just a trick of the light, Samir asked,
"Excuse me sir, my family and I just arrived in the sanctuary city, and we'd like to know
where the members of our clan have located to within."
The apparently guide merely looked at Samir with bright eyes and grinned, “You do not
need to worry about such things anymore friend. You are among friends now. We are one
tribe, one people, one family, one clan, we are the fennec kitesune.”
Samir stammered, feeling strangely violated where his change in form had been merely
odd. “Now you see here. I and my family agreed to have our bodies altered for the Amir's
protection. But we are still our own clan and family thank you very much! Now can you
direct us to the rest of our real clansmen or not?”
The bright eyed smile on the muzzle never left. “They are here, to your left, to your right,
in front of you, all around you. Can you not feel it? The wholeness of it all?”
Getting a little fed up with this fellow Fennec’s odd questions Samir replied, “Of course I
can feel it! They are our clan after all! Our family! Our tribe!” Samir’s family all nodded to
his words at the exact same time. “Now can your direct us to where we are to weather out
the attack of the evil dijinn we left our homes in the first place or not?”
“Weather out?” His fellow Fennec asked, “My friend I believe you are mistaken, we shall
withstand the dijinn assault, here in our city, under the protection of the Amir and his
legions. After all, this is our home, our city, our land, our kingdom. We shall beat them
back! They shall see even their terrible might is no match for the Amir of all kitesune.”
Samir wished he had been picked someone else to talk to, “You think I doubt our Amir’s
power? Or the strength of our city? Don’t be absurd. We shall beat them back! They shall
see even their terrible might is no match for the Amir of all kitesune. And we shall
celebrate in our victory!”
“Yes we shall celebrate in our victory.” His fellow fennec replied finally saying something
intelligent. “I believe you got lost and want directions back to your home?”
“Of course that is what father said!” The bigger of the two fennec kites said.
“Mohammed be still.”
“Yes father.”
“Now can you give us directions back to our home or not?” Samir said humiliated enough
that he had gotten lost in his city to have to ask for directions back to his own home.
“Of course,” The fennec nodded, “Just fellow this rout.” He pointed to a house on the map
that had of course always been there.
Samir managed to politely thank the fennec and he and his family moved back to their
house.
Jasmine was honestly wondered why she didn’t throw off this disguise this instant and
begin to free the victims of Karther right and left! Still, they were Allah’s devoted, and if
they could be rescued by the swift execution of that cursed fox then all the better. Jasmine
had no desire to see any of the devoted die prematurity, but he, she, whatever, had no love
for the ‘delicate touch’ method the Nazarenes had become strangely fond of more so and
more over the centuries. Jasmine was fully aware the blind over eagerness of beheading
was a mindless western stereo type... but seeing two fennecs (a man and a woman) calmly
walking down the main street wearing nothing but tucked in loin cloths and not getting so
much as an eye blink from those around them, it was a true test of her self control not to
break out and start shattering the enchantments around her by force.
Erica was agasp seeing the changes to Samir’s spiritual aura and through him his family.
“How... I mean I saw how but... how?” It wasn’t like anything when she had been Eric and
changed into one of her sisters and Karther’s toy.
Jasmine instructed the younger angel, being sure to keep their voices down, “The most
effective forms of brainwashing are those that trick the mortal mind into brainwashing
itself.”