Chapter Twenty-Nine: Plans within plans
“You two need to drop these hyenas here on the ground.” The black wing ifrit looked disdainfully at the two Hyenas on the ground.
“Why have you fools taken such a ridiculous shape? Someone should kill your ancestors for having stuck you in such a repulsive body.”
Yoshi/Hyena spoke in a gruff voice, half growl half yip, “We honor our ancestors, as you honor yours. Aren’t we on the same side?”
The ifrit started to say something, then seemed to grind his teeth. “We are on the same side, for now.” The Ifrit turned around and walked out of the room.
“You two follow me; you will give a full report to Ornias. I will not be the fall guy for your incompetence.”
Yoshi/Hyena and Silas/Hyena began to follow the ifrit.
“I feel the itch.” Yoshi/Hyena whispered to Silas/Hyena.
This wasn’t good. This meant the possession was weakening. If the original Hyena took over he could alert the court to who actually was here and what was going on.
“Just hit him over the head with that butcher knife.”
The ifrit looked over his shoulder, “What are you two yipping about back there?”
Silas/Hyena lifted his hands and shrugged what passed for shoulders.
The ifrit turned around and mumbled something under his breath.
Silas/Hyena heard the Ifrit’s mumbled word, “moron.” He grinned that toothy grin that only a hyena can and pointed at Yoshi/Hyena and mouthed, “He’s talking about you!”
Yoshi/Hyena nodded his head and laughed lightly.
As they were lead through the hallways, the gravity of the situation began to set in. There were djinn tribes from all over the place. Yoshi recognized some of the djinn from the ocean tribes, tridents and nets in hand. Silas saw some of the djinn from the air tribes, lightning bolts in hand. Djinn from the dark tribes bore the markings of Cain, the first human to survive barzakh. Many of these tribes had not been seen in a millennium or more and never under the same banner. It seemed as if old blood feuds and vendettas had been put away for this event. Yet there were no signs of Silas’s Tribe. This made Silas happy. Even as an outcast of his tribe, he did not want to believe that they would be a part of something like this—bringing about the Armageddon of the earth that they so dearly loved.
At the same time, he felt that his tribe may have taken the coward’s way out like the Marid, watching the death and destruction on the sideline, attempting to do a look-see, to take the leftovers. They were djinn after all, constantly fixating on the leftovers and scraps, as if king of the trash was a valid title.
They walked through more corridors of the castle, seeing a long lost menagerie of djinn animals, some caged, some roaming free, regardless, all meant for one thing—chaos and destruction. No manner of human weapons could stand up against these creatures.
“This is the opening act,” Yoshi said, as he pointed up to the castle towers as shadows crept in and out of the light, multi-legged creatures and blood curdling screams.
As they walked out into the open courtyard, Silas saw the scorched earth he left behind on his departure. It made him feel good to know he had done some damage on the way out. He had hoped he had killed several of these monsters in a powerful backlash.
They headed past that and into the throne room. Ornias had his back turned to them and whispered into the ear of the person sitting on the throne.
“We have the ring, we don’t need anything else. We have our army. I say we leave Asmodeus in dust. He hasn’t done anything for us in all these years and yet he expects us to be at his beck and call.”
Ornias looked over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of the rag tag warriors coming into the throne room.
“I see two of my tribe brothers with you, Ifrit. What have they done that they need be dragged in like children?”
The Ifrit bowed low in front of Ornias, “I am sorry, Sultan, I meant no disrespect. But not too long ago two more of your men were consumed by the Tigon. That makes 13 in total in less than a week.” The Ifrit’s tone implied something else, as they often did.
Ornias spit a plumb stone through the Ifrit’s forehead and he was extinguished instantly. His body melted to sand immediately.
“I guess the Tigon took 13 ghuls and an ifrit.” Ornias laughed and the Hyenas began to laugh as well. Out of the corner of their eyes, the Hyenas saw a massive fist smash down on Ornias’s head.
A voice, like sand and wind melted with fire, spoke up from the throne chair, “Enough.” The figure at the throne did not need to turn around, did not need to yell, it was simply known.
“You have made a grave mistake, Ornias. The old ways of infighting and anger must end. I know you Ghul’s and the ifrits do not get along, but a war cannot be started amongst yourselves, before the equinox comes to fruition.”
“You two. Put together a party of ifrits and ghuls, hunt down the Tigon. You have 1 hour.” The djinn stood up from the throne seat and he was massive, the largest djinn either Yoshi or Silas had ever seen. They knew instantly who it was. They both bowed as Ornias stumbled to his feet.
Ornias walked over to Silas/Hyena and Yoshi/Hyena.
“I am Iblis, father of all djinn. My will be done.” A blue flame surrounded his massive body, at least 2 stories tall. He raised his arms, to the dismay of both Yoshi and Silas—without saying a word to each other; they both saw the ring was already on his hand.
Chapter Thirty: Joy of Hebsed
Henry had never been in a corridor quite like this. The columns ran floor to ceiling representing big bundles of wheat or tree trunks. Between each column there was a door, but none that anyone could walk through. And still Henry could hear voices everywhere. He could tell there was a party going on behind the walls, just out of reach. Plus there were shadows moving and running in the corner of his eye.
Then he saw it, a shadow lingering over a door a little longer than the rest, he could sense that this wasis the door he was looking for. Henry tapped on it, looking for a trick button, or block. There was none to be found, then he remembered, this was built by a djinn. He made himself mass-less and weightless and walked through the wall.
Henry entered a long corridor leading from the entrance. The music and revelry increased in volume; more human like shadows began to accompany him.
“Hello?!”
Nothing. The shadows seemed to look at him from the wall then continue. From what little Henry knew about the djinn he had yet to see this ability, but he was open to the possibilities. The revelry increased as he entered. The shadows moved along the walls and a few of the shadows veered left and entered what appeared to be the western court yard. Henry began to head that way and a thousand little voices whispered, “No, this way.”
Henry veered to the eastern courtyard and the shadows began to increase and pick up pace. They went from blurry to more distinct. Henry could make out children, women and men running on the wall. He began to pick up pace as well. Then the corridor opened up and the colors flooded in, the people morphed from shadows and Henry stood in an open court. To the east, he could see the entrance to a temple, a rectangular building with ornately carved columns similar to the ones he’d seen coming in. Set in to recessed wall, statues of various Pharaohs lined the wall between the columns. A door sat slightly ajar.
In the open court yard sat two thrones.
A bull sat in the courtyard, along with special markers showing up along the walls, representing a race. A feast was laid out and the people milled about. Henry could sense that this was similar to some of the djinn cities he had visited, but there was something different happening here. He looked down as a little girl held his hand. She beamed up at him.
“Are you enjoying the pharaoh’s party?”
“What is this for?”
“Every thirty years he is reaffirmed as the pharaoh of upper and lower Egypt. But now we are reaffirming him as uniting the Heavens and the Earth. We all come to celebrate.”
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The little girl smiled so happily up at Henry, then, for an instant, Henry saw something else, then it was the little girl again. Henry shook his head. The little girl began to tug at him, “Come on, let’s get closer.”
Holding Henry’s hand, she dragged him in front of the crowd. From the crowd someone shouted out, “Here comes the Pharaoh!”
A huge procession came down the corridor; twelve men carried the pharaoh in a special canopied chair. The entire crowd was in awe. A hushed silence fell as he was brought down in front of them. Henry could sense the importance of this event. The pharaoh, Djoser, stepped out and the crowd went wild.
Henry recognized him, but didn’t. He reminded him of some of the men he would see in Aunt Sadie’s old photos. At the time she had told him they were her uncles, but after seeing her twice, after she had long since passed away and receiving her help, it was hard to tell what she really meant by uncles.
Djoser stood next to the bull and raised his hand to quiet everyone down and, for a moment, Henry thought Djoser was staring right at him.
“Thank you, thank you. My people, I love you all as I know you love me. Once again we celebrate the Heb-sed. The Heb-sed of all Heb-seds, the first and the last. On this night, as we do every night, we look to the North Star, “ Djoser pointed to the North Star, directly above the court, “ and we celebrate my union with the holiest of holiest. Where I transcend the flesh and achieve true immortality, given to me by Imhotep, Chancellor of the King of Egypt, Doctor, First in line after the King of Upper Egypt, Administrator of the Great Palace, Hereditary nobleman, High Priest of Heliopolis, Builder, Chief Carpenter, Chief Sculptor and Maker of Vases in Chief.”
The crowd roared, at first Henry thought it was with excitement and joy, but he could sense hostility. He also began feel eyes on him, a few in the back of him, but he dared not turn around, then to the left of him. Then he looked down at the little girl and she was looking at him with a face of disgust. She then bit his hand and took off into the crowd.
“Ouch!”
Then Henry looked up and Djoser was staring right at him and he began to talk.
“I remember my long walks with Imhotep. He had lived a long time. He had seen civilizations rise and fall. That’s when I realized that the djinn had seen it all. To them we are nothing but children. They’ve seen all the ceremonies, sunsets and songs for ten lifetimes. They’ve seen weddings, births, deaths, friends, parties of all parties, and they have learned little.”
A wailing sound began to roll from the back of the crowd. He couldn’t quite see where it was coming from.
Djoser continued, “Constant observers, spectators of life, only participating when the stakes are high enough and the odds are in their favor. But you have changed all of that, Henry.”
Henry’s head snapped back and he looked at Djoser. How had he known Henry’s name?
Djoser began to change in front of Henry’s eyes, the bull that had been standing nearby had gorged Djoser from behind and blood was pouring down the front of his cloak. Then the bull began to be absorbed by Djoser, until only the bull’s hind quarters remained.
“While they have been content with being “the hidden ones, the invisible ones” for all of these years they can’t stand complacent anymore.”
Djoser’s head snapped back and forth rapidly like his neck was broken, then it swung side to side and, in its place, a Jackal’s head remained.
“They must choose a side that scares them and when any one of them is scared they do one of two things. They kill it or they control it, no in between.”
The crowd had changed into a testament of the grotesqueness of the flesh. Had they looked like mummies Henry, could have bared the site better. But the amalgamation of fly limbs and inside out organs, plus the blood and oozing from sores of everyone was becoming too much.
Henry tried to call up the warmth inside, but it would not come.
Djoser shook his head at Henry. “This is my domain, no djinn commands power here. Many have learned at their peril.”
Where there had once been a banquet table, lay a pile of bones. Obviously djinn bones. Amongst the pile of bones, lay the book.
“As you can see, my subjects get famished.”
Henry gulped. Djoser sent two of the monsters down to fish the book out of the pile and they handed it to him.
“This is of no use to us.” Djoser flipped the pages open and showed them to Henry, they were blank, but Henry was sure this was the book of Asmodeus. “But the djinn that left it here was quite delicious.”
The crowd laughed. Henry wished that he was not quite so alone.
“But if you wish to have this book, you are going to have to race me.”
Chapter Thirty-One: Running out of time
“This body is burning out.” Yoshi looked at Silas through hyena eyes. They were both worried, it had been hours since they had possessed these bodies and there was no turning back. The ifrit with them was a white wing, but no less of a jerk than the black wing that Ornias had killed.
“I know. But we have bigger problems, how do we get the ring from his finger?” Silas said, with clear frustration in his hyena eyebrows.
“It won’t matter if we spontaneously combust along with these bodies we are riding. Shh. Here comes Alesteros.”
The white wing ifrit, Alesteros, walked up with three beasts on leashes in tow. Silas had not seen this type of griffin for at least fifty years. They were small, about the size of a medium sized dog. What made them unique was their ability to track. Their mastery of air and land was unparalleled, but they were feral and intelligent, they enjoyed their freedom. So, while not able to control Sihr, griffin tended to be able to resist magic. Silas could already see the Sihr bonds wearing thin. He thought to himself that he may be able to use that to his advantage when the time came.
“Alright you fools, show me where these attacks occurred.” Alesteros glided up behind Silas and Yoshi, griffin on leashes. Word had spread quickly about what had happened at the throne room, since Iblis had not killed Ornias on the spot both Silas and Yoshi were expecting retaliation, in some form. The old lines between the ifrit and the ghuls were beginning to resurface and this time it looked like it would stay.
The griffins screeched behind Silas and Yoshi as they descended down the trail through the fog towards where they had first caught a glimpse of the castle city.
“You were there when he died.” Alesteros was making more of a statement than a question. Yoshi was about to turn his head. “No, don’t turn around, it would be better if you didn’t,” Alesteros stated quietly. “Iblis has orchestrated all of this to prove a point, to make up for a point that was decided long ago.” Yoshi and Silas heard the release of the chains from around the griffin’s neck.
“Listen, we didn’t have anything to do with his death…” Silas could not finish his statement.
“Shh. We know who killed him and his time will come. Right now is your time. You ghuls need to relearn your place. You try to consort with your betters, but we have been told that we can kill you two with little reprimand.”
Yoshi whispered to Silas, “I can’t hold possession much longer.”
Silas knew it would be difficult to cast a possession spell for the ifrit, but maybe they could play it off as one of them had captured the other. It would be a long shot.
Silas called up the Sihr and thought of the pattern that would bind a soul to be possessed by a djinn. He whipped around, ready to throw the binding spell, simultaneously Yoshi’s Hyena head began to cough uncontrollably, then he began to hack and wheeze. Then he began to throw up Yoshi and a thick stream of smoke.
Where originally there had stood one Ifrit, there were now five ifrit, black wings, white wings and wingless, flexing their might.
Then one of them shouted, “Possessed!” The ifrits immediately went on the attack going after the Hyena headed djinn. Before Silas could push the new possession spell on the djinn he lost his concentration and was attacked by
the griffin, claws and beak rending flesh. Silas decided to give up the possession and poured forth from the Hyena’s nose and mouth.
Yoshi’s host had been pinned down by two of the ifrit who were trying to calm him down from his disorientation. Meanwhile Yoshi was gaining his form back, but two of the ifrit were steadily waiting for him, sword arms out.
Then it happened, a massive cat, not quite a lion not quite a tiger, leaped from the fogged woods and drove the two ifrits waiting on Yoshi to reform. It then slashed its huge paws into their chest and turned them to dust, then vapors. The Tigon turned around quickly and bit the head clean off one of the Hyena Ghuls, the one that Silas had just left.
Silas broke the spell bonds on the three griffons and told them to attack the Tigon. The Tigon waved its massive paw and the griffins were frozen in mid-air, along with the three remaining ifrits. The Tigon slowly padded over to Silas, Yoshi rushed to his side to aid him against the massive Tigon.
The Tigon stopped a few feet short of them and began to pour smoke from his nose and mouth. The smoke swirled and formed a shape.
Silas and Yoshi looked at each other, “Amirah? Weren’t you just trying to kill us?”
Amirah flashed a grin, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Chapter Thirty-Two: Let the race begin
“What do you think my subjects? The Heb-sed race, the race to see if this boy is worthy of becoming the Suleyman of the Djinns! Otherwise if he loses,” Djoser looked at Henry, “We can use his flesh and djinn energies to feed the never ending thirst that Imhotep left us with.”
The crowd roared in glee.
“Just to show that we are impartial, let us call forth our pet djinn.” Djoser waived his hand and a pus filled, slug-like creature sloughed over to him carrying a lamp.
“You see we are not heartless, not in the same way as Imhotep was when he left us here to rot. He failed at the barzakh ceremony and failed to give me and my loyal subjects everlasting bodies for our ka, instead he mangled our bodies and left our ka to rot. He did this all with no witnesses for our punishment. We will not do the same for you. You will have a witness.”
Ring of Aandaleeb: The Hidden Ones (The Djinn Chronicles Book 1) Page 11