- Kadir was born to a very small clan of Si'lat in a remote oasis. There he lived with two older brothers, his mother, and his father. Their life was peaceful and uneventful. The young Djinn spent his days lazing in the sun, bathing in clear pools of water, and reading from his father’s scrolls. While his nights were spent memorizing the positions of the stars and hearing his father tell the stories of the constellations while they sat around the bonfire outside their home tent. At this time Kadir, lovingly called Shihab by his mother, was only two-hundred and forty years of age. A teenager of about fifteen years of age. Though, to the Djinn, he was still considered an infant.
On a night when the sky was obscured by clouds, his family went to bed earlier than usual. Because of the strange feeling in the air Kadir woke and left the tent to go sit by the small pond just a short walk away. Playing beside the water, chilled by desert moon, he heard a sound coming from the direction of the dunes. Staring out at the sand he remained still as the thundering grew closer. The cloud cover shifted and revealed thirty horsemen galloping in the direction of the oasis. Staring in horrified fascination the young Djinn was rooted to the spot he stood.
When the horses crossed into the grass of the oasis the boy turned to flee, but it was too late. One of the horsemen reached down and grabbed him by his hair, dragging him for a time before the horse slowed and the man dropped him, squalling, to the ground. A few of the men stopped and spoke angry words at the man who had hurt him. But it was in a language he didn't understand. They seemed to argue for a few moments before another rider came back to see what the problem was.
Rising from the ground where he had fallen he began crying and trying to crawl away in desperation. Sliding off of the horse the most recent man came over to him and gripped his shoulder tight, stopping him from moving farther. Speaking the same language as the rest of them he said something in a jovial tone and the others laughed. For a moment he thought that they might have made a mistake and where apologizing. Shyly he tried to move away but the man's hand just dug into his shoulder tighter, until it began to hurt. Wincing he tried to pry the man's hand off of his shoulder to no avail.
From that point he can't remember exactly what happened. He remembered being struck and then nothing. Not until two days later when he woke tied to a pack horse so that he wouldn't fall off. Scared, and not knowing what had happened, he tried to babble at the nearest person. After a glare and a loud bark from the man the young Djinn decided it was better to stay quiet. One of the men yelled and Kadir finally began looking around. While sitting on top of the horse he could see for quite a ways. Sweeping his eyes from the front to the back he realized he was in the middle of a Caravan train.
This is where our story begins: a young Si'lat Djinn, taken from his home in the middle of the night, and kept captive by the Commander of, what he believes, to be a vicious horde of raiders.
