Ring of Aandaleeb: The Hidden Ones (The Djinn Chronicles Book 1)

by Hutchins, S. S.

  At about 1,000 feet, a whirling dust devil was fast approaching; 500 feet, 250 feet and then it halted in front of them and began to lazily wind around in a circle. After a moment, familiar faces began to appear in the sand, almost like a hologram. They could see Yoshi and Silas in view.

  “A lot has happened; we need you guys to meet us in Petra. We have the ring and we have someone new helping us out.” Amirah’s face popped into view.

  Henry’s jaw dropped, this was the same lady who had just tried to kill him the day before. He definitely needed to get to Petra, because this was all coming to a head, and they needed it.

  Armageddon was on its way and they needed to be there.

  Chapter Forty-Three: Something wicked

  “How could you let them get away with the ring?” Asmodeus was agitated by this recent turn of events. He had been putting the pieces of the puzzle together for quite some time. He had directed Henry to Djoser’s Pyramid, he had guided him every step of the way, and now a key component was missing.

  “Calm down, son.” Iblis sat relaxed in his chair. He was much smaller, a little frailer. This time he wore a light grey wool suit. His shirt was a white collar button down, open at the top. He looked more like a banker than the all great “Shaytan” that had corrupted creation.

  Asmodeus began to pace, getting more irritated as the moments passed.

  “What you do not understand is that you cannot open the book. It has been sealed and locked to you. Even if you were to go to the desert and wrest the book from Henry’s hand you would fail. Suleyman has put his lock on it. Only a child of his blood can open and use it now.”

  Asmodeus heard Iblis and understood, yet it still made him furious that this portion of his plan had been deviated from.

  “I wanted to force Henry to open them in front of me and I would snatch it up and place my seal on it once again, reclaiming that which I created.”

  Asmodeus's clothes began to smolder.

  “As I said, relax, they will find it difficult to use the ring themselves. I have put my own Sihr on it. They will have to be capable of more than just existing.” Iblis was relaxed and cool, calm and collected.

  “The festival of Petra will be a good time and place to win over the crowd and to bring more than just the human haters—the ghuls and the ifrits—to our way of thinking. We need all of the Aamaar tribes to come to our side, so that when you claim your place as the King of Djinns they will all bow before you.”

  Asmodeus liked what he was hearing, but he also knew that his father was the prince of lies. Who knew what his real motivations were?

  “I really don’t believe they will just lie down, the leaders of various tribes may be ready to stand against us. The Marid will never join us; the Sila Tribe just because of blood ties will go with Henry. Then that just leaves us, the mountain folk, the sea folk; some of the Aamaar may jump ship.” Asmodeus was tallying in his mind what it was going to take for a majority vote.

  “Plus you have to remember you will be holding on to that which is most vital—their true names.” They both smirked.

  “This is true, I can make them join and, if they fight it, they’ll burn up in flames.”

  Lilith walked into the throne room and observed these distant, yet close relatives, the strong and bold Asmodeus, the frail and weak looking Iblis. Yet Lilith clearly knew who the more dangerous one was. As always, Lilith enjoyed making an entrance. She wore long dresses, deep plunged necklines. Bright oranges, yellows and lime greens were scattered all over her clothing. She also liked being accompanied by two dwarf-like children. One wore green and was called “envy”, the other wore all black and was called “spite”; they never spoke, but were always close at hand. Nevertheless, Asmodeus was uncomfortable with them. Maybe it was their eyes or maybe their drawn-in skin. It was said that these were the only children that Lilith and Adam had. It was most likely true, particularly since they never left her side.

  “We have a complication.” Lilith strode forward and put her hand in a basin of water, sitting in the middle of the throne room. Black ink flowed from her pores into the water. Then an image appeared. There were all types and manners of creatures beginning to converge on Petra. Some were flying, some running, others were hopping or limping along. But they all glowed with the mark, the mark of the Grigori.

  “None of these things are my children. They are the Nephilim, Grigori offspring. A gathering has been called and I believe we all know by whom.”

  Iblis stared at the pool of water for a moment, “Why are we still using scrying technology, haven’t the traders of Petra made an app for that yet?”

  Asmodeus and Lilith looked at Iblis in bewilderment.

  “What are you talking about?” Asmodeus.

  “I’m just acknowledging that we live in age where technology can do some things better than Sihr.”

  Iblis walked over and waved his hand over the water and five drones appeared over the menagerie of creatures, each one releasing two missiles in successive order. Creatures and monster body parts flew everywhere. Sand, dirt, and blood filled the images in the bowl. Iblis waved his hand and the image was gone.

  Asmodeus grinned. “That should slow them down quite a bit.”

  Iblis whipped around, staring angrily at Asmodeus and Lilith, “You fools, you really have no idea what this means. Who was missing from that cadre of creatures?”

  Lilith look slightly bewildered, then it dawned on her, “I didn’t see any of the gargoyles or the grotesque.”

  “Exactly. That means another game is afoot. The last war for the princes of the Grigori set them back, who knows where either of those two groups’ loyalties lie.” Iblis walked back to his throne. “Who else was obviously missing?”

  Lilith and Asmodeus shrugged at one another.

  “The Grigori themselves, they have not made it through yet. The last time I saw Samyaza and the others, it was at the equinox festival of the Anasazi, in an Aamaar djinn and human settlement in North America, a little over a thousand years ago. Needless to say that did not end well. My brothers do not play kindly. As it was then, so it is now—they look to eliminate us, and if Henry somehow sides with them, they will succeed.”

  Chapter Forty-Four: Getting your bearings

  Sarah had been repelled by the Sihr emanating from Petra. It was to be expected. Moving into Petra was going to be impossible. She had been told by Samyaza that the city would be well fortified through a combination of Sihr and technology. Yet she had hoped not to have to walk directly into the city and come face to face with the guard while trying to explain Legion. She could sense the other Nephilim bearing down on them. She had to get answers and she knew that Legion would be her best bet.

  Legion had shrunk down to a manageable size, a little under 9 feet tall, though his five faces could still be seen, but this time they were cascading one on top of the other. He was in half-trance, half-wakefulness and Sarah felt she could exploit that to finally gain some answers.

  They hid underneath a rock cropping the desert, not too far from the entrance. Sarah helped Legion sit down. She then reached out with her senses and found the water about 300m under the sand. She called forth her sword. She then pulled it out and tapped the ground where she stood. Water bubbled forth and she cupped it in her hand and drank.

  She couldn’t help but think to herself, Water is life.

  She collected some in a small flask and then turned it off with her sword. She let the beauty of the desert sink in, the warm dry air, the soft breeze seeping into her skin. She had to make things right with Henry. She knew that Henry had thought she betrayed him, but she felt she needed to do something to get Legion out of there. Or was she still being controlled by Samyaza, was this his plan, a plan that she thought she had given up?

  She walked over to Legion and gave him a sip of water from the flask.

  “Thank you.” The five part vocal harmony of Legion echoed lowly across the desert.

  “I’m not Samyaza’s daught
er am I?” Sarah asked Legion, straight to the point. No mincing words, no confusion.

  In that same five part harmony voice, “No.”

  “Who am I to him?” Sarah felt emboldened.

  “You are his protector, you are our protector, you are our one and only sister.” Legion’s face had a faint smile on it, as if he, they, were remembering something.

  Sarah was not shocked at the revelation; she guessed she already knew it. She knew it before the White Haoma Tree; she knew something of it when she awoke. But what exactly did it mean, she was their protector? What was she protecting them from?

  Legion had anticipated her questions because he began, “You carry the sword of justice, but you are an angel of mercy. You protected us, you protected our mortal wives, you protected the Nephilim, the children of the watchers. In you is the best of us all.”

  Sarah felt a weight sink on her shoulder, a weight that she hadn’t felt before, but was all too familiar. Of all of the Grigori, the watchers, she understood that they needed to be watched themselves. This was the job she had given herself. That’s why she had never been stripped of her wings, never had been stripped of her sword.

  Now she understood, she comprehended it all so much more clearly. It had never been Samyaza’s plan to destroy the djinn. It had been hers all along.

  “Samyaza, listen to me, it is very simple. You, me, all of us were never meant to live as mortals.” Sarah was face to face with Samyaza. He had begun to change, scales had taken over his ebony skin and for the first time Sarah could see a yellow tinge to his pupils. His nose had become broader and flatter and she could see the hair loss on his head had become severe.

  Sarah had not begun the change, but she knew it was a matter of time. She had traveled around the encampment and she had seen the change first occur in the children, some becoming half goat, others gaining fangs, some growing tentacles and others developing ulcerous flesh.

  It broke her heart to see the light extinguish in the eyes of several of the children as they simply forgot who they were and ran off into the night. Many of the mothers had run off long before. They did not realize the price they had paid for gaining immortality, but flesh was not meant to remain forever, particularly flesh that was cohabited by blood and shade.

  Samyaza stood up, unsteadily; Sarah could only guess that the upper flesh of his thighs had begun to fuse already.

  “Sarah, we gain nothing by committing genocide. We become that which we were condemned to be—monsters. To kill our brothers, the djinn, in order to gain atonement would be foolish. Did we learn nothing from Cain?”

  “You are the fool. Sacrifice is required. The djinn have turned their back on her; they have disobeyed the law far more than you have. The al-ghul’s actually consume human flesh, the ifrit torture and enslave entire encampments, pretending to be us with their black winged and white winged ifrits. Do you not comprehend? They have forfeited their place.”

  Samyaza sighed. This must have been the hundredth time that they had had this conversation. Each time ended like the last with him refusing and Sarah walking away frustrated. Samyaza knew that God would forgive them for intermarrying among the humans. They had done so much good after the garden—medicine, fire, art, the ability to protect themselves, technology. They had watched the suffering and they had delivered on God’s request to educate. It could not be helped that they had fallen in love.

  “Samyaza, the last the wives that you all so dearly loved fled days ago. The children are changing and, even worse, many of the Grigori are changing into monstrosities because they cannot be made whole. You have destroyed yourselves.”

  Sarah began to weep, a deep in the soul, gut wrenching weep. She had not protected them all to see it fall apart so completely. She had never asked if she could go back; she had never even tried. It was her duty to protect them and she was failing.

  “Oh little sister, do not weep. It is not your fault. I can sense that us Grigori will not die, but we cannot stay here on the earth. We will become the monsters that we are thought to be. We will rampage and devour even our own children if we are not locked away. So I must ask you two favors.”

  Sarah knew that she did not wish to honor the favors, but she also knew she could not refuse them. She had been here at the beginning, she must see it through. As tears ran down her face, she nodded for Samyaza to go ahead.

  “The first favor is that, no matter how I might behave, I want you to remember me as I am and my opinions as they are. I will not participate in the genocide of the djinn. No matter what the madness may bring, no matter what your feelings are, promise me that you will not help me do the unthinkable.”

  Sarah thought that it would be a start to get on HER good side, but she also knew that she could not betray Samyaza’s trust in this way. Sarah nodded her head and said, “I promise”.

  “The second favor I must ask is that you bury us as far as you can in the depths of the Earth. We cannot be allowed to harm those whom we love.”

  Sarah knew that this would be the harder of the two requests, but she also knew that it had to be done. She reached over and touched Samyaza’s scaled bronze face, softly kissed him on the forehead and walked away.

  “I will gather them up.” Samyaza walked outside and began the beginning of the end. Those twilight children who were hundreds of years old, but didn’t look a day over ten or eleven, walked away from the encampment, along with their deformed and odd looking brethren. Sarah said a prayer for them. Then the Grigori, at least the ones still in their right minds, gathered peacefully in the pavilion; those not in their right minds were held down, all two hundred accounted for. Sarah then pulled out her sword, made it blaze as brightly as possible and punctured the ground. They all plummeted into darkness.

  It all came flooding back to Sarah, the times they had awakened, during crucial points in history, how she had fought to honor Samyaza’s wishes in spite of her own feelings. This was how it had been for millennia. Now it was all coming to a head. Sarah had finally gotten “The Book of Asmodeus”. It was in her grasp to end all of this. She opened the book and the pages were blank.

  Chapter Forty-Five: Get back on the horse

  Henry was very proud of himself. Although he had suffered the loss of the book, he still had the ability to fold time and space at a whim. Anka had left and told Henry to simply whistle when he needed him. He was off to do whatever simurgh birds do after they are resurrected.

  The mandala had closed up behind them very softly. They were in front of the city of Petra. He had been a little nervous; Amirah was with Silas and Yoshi, he had not expected that, but more importantly he was attending a djinn festival. Just thinking about that was odd. Here he was in the country of Jordan walking into a city built into stone by djinn and their friends. He could not hope for a more fun and exciting experience regardless of the circumstance.

  “Be careful, Henry, we have to first be identified at the entrance.” Wally walked with Henry up to the post.

  “Mongrel, mongrel is that you?” The guard instantly recognized Wally.

  “Abbadi, my goodness, my old friend, how did you get guard duty? “ Wally slapped Abbadi on the back and hugged him.

  “A couple of hundred years back my cousin asked me for a favor, wanted me to come help him out in Petra. I settled down and got married to a pretty djinniyah with the prettiest cat like eyes. “

  Wally turned to Henry, “You should have seen this guy in France in the 1700’s, he was a ladies’ man. He sported a great big wig and was quite the dancer.”

  Wally did an imitation of a pirouette. He and Abbadi laughed heartily.

  “On a serious note though, I can’t let you into the city.” Abbadi’s face went from laughter to somber instantly, “and if he’s with you, that goes for him too.”

  “Come on, Abbadi, there has got to be a string you can pull, somebody you can talk to on my behalf. You know me.” Wally tried to put on the charm.

  Abbadi rolled his eyes, “That’s jus
t it, I do know you and that’s all the more reason to stick with banning you from the city.”

  Henry looked at Wally and wished that he could be surprised, but to be truthful, nothing surprised him about his protector anymore.

  “Listen, it’s important. Our friends are inside…”Henry trailed off as Wally made a slicing motion across his throat.

  “Your friends are inside?” Abbadi asked in a forced voice.

  “I mean, I think our friends are inside.” Henry tried to backpedal, but it was obviously too late.

  Abbadi was tapping away at his iPad furiously.

  “Wally, you know you are not supposed to be here, festival or no festival.” Abbadi shook his head. The other guard walked up to him and whispered something in his ear.

  “Are you sure? “ Abbadi asked the guard, who nodded his head.

  “The mayor wants to see you two.”

  Chapter Forty–Six: Time to go

  Samyaza was ready, the Grigori had spent almost a millennia trapped in their graves after the Ananzasi disaster. This time it would be different. They had the book, or at least Sarah had the book. He knew that there would be no stopping them now. It would not just be a full frontal assault; it would be a stealth attack. Sarah would use her connection and the book and she would right the wrongs of the Grigori in one fell swoop. They would be brought back to the light, stronger and better than ever. They would walk the earth again as princes and the humans would bow down to them once again.

  Samyaza could feel the fever of power. He was excited to bring back himself and his guard to rule the earth once more. This was what he was meant to do. He looked behind and saw one hundred and ninety-four Grigori ready to storm the city of Petra; one hundred and ninety-four Grigori, ready to succeed at destroying the blasphemous djinn that had ruined it all; one hundred and ninety-four Grigori who had come to their purpose.