As the crowd settled in below, no doubt for the oncoming night, with tents going up and camp fires were being made, I continued listening and observing. All of the people definitely had some common features including black hair, black or brown eyes, and light brown skin. If I had to compare them to a group on Earth, the physical characteristics seemed to be closest to some of my old friends from the Middle East. It was a bit bizarre to find such similarities between the two worlds, but their language, unfortunately, was not one of those similarities.

However, even though the language barrier was annoying, it was something I had a solution for. It would just take picking the right target and time. Finally finding those that looked like the leaders of the group, I saw a hook nosed, bearded man with a broad forehead gesturing around and berating some horsemen, who had dismounted and had been busy lounging in the shade of some palm trees while munching on some malpa fruits.

The sullen looks on faces of the lamellar and chain mail armored men said enough about how they felt about the haranguing, but after a short discussion, a couple of them mounted their nearby horses and took off riding back out into the desert. I picked one and followed quietly in the air, waiting for the right moment. The man below me seemed to be in a bad mood, as he whipped his horse into a gallop, eliciting a painful neigh from the creature.

A while later, we were a far enough distance away from the oasis, that I could barely the greenery in the distance. The horseman lazily lounged on the back of his horse, as he looked around while fiddling with a crude looking spear with an iron head. I considered my options before deciding for the easiest.

Descending, so I was almost behind him, I got a closer look at the man's equipment. The lamellar armor was in poor shape as some of the small plates of iron seemed be missing or misshapen, and its loose fit on the man spoke volumes about its origin. That wasn't all as the man's cotton clothes were frayed and dirty and his saddle had cracks, most likely from its age or poor maintenance. Even the man's headscarf/human skull combination headwear looked questionable in its assembly.

The man must have sensed something, as I saw him twitch and begin to quickly turn around, while lifting his spear from where he had it resting horizontally in front of him. I didn't give him much of an opportunity as I grabbed him by his armor and yanked him backwards out of his saddle, dragging him up in the air as I floated backwards. He lost his grip on his reins and his spear, eliciting a shout of terror. “Ahhhhh!” His desperate flailing while being pulled away caused his horse to rear up and scream, no doubt in sudden shock, and the mare immediately galloped off back towards the oasis.

“Laa ma Dunnn!” Ignoring the gibbering and thrashing burden, I threw the Beacon onto the ground as I waited for the [Form Portal] spell to be finished back in my throne room. I can't say I cared what the man I was holding was going through, but watching him try to twist around and grab at my arm that was holding him, I figured I could at least let him know who was taking him captive. It was professional courtesy, after all.

Lifting him up, so his head was parallel to mine, I turned him enough, so he could look at my face. The man reached out, grabbing at my chest, shoulders, and face, and his dust smeared, bewildered face began to twist in fear, as his sense of touch most likely told him he wasn't dealing with something human. To clarify his doubts and curiosity, I dropped the invisibility spell.

There was a moment of silence... before the man passed out with his eyes rolling backwards and with him going limp in my grasp. I heard the sound of water dripping onto the ground below and looked down to find that he had pissed himself as well. I wasn't sure what reaction I had been hoping for, but it at least told me that my 'look' had been well crafted. As the Portal finally formed, I floated near it and tossed the man through before heading back towards the oasis while recasting [Invisibility].

In the throne room, two skeletal summons caught the body that was tossed through and dragged him over to my throne by his arms. They propped him up before me in a kneeling position, and following my command, they slapped him a few times with their bony hands, making the man groan. However, he remained knocked out, until one my skeleton summons twisted his right arm enough for him to yell as he gained consciousness. “Gahhhhh!” With wide, unfocused eyes, his gaze fell on me.... and his screams echoed in the throne room. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”