“We march, we fight! We march, we fight! We march, we fight!” the Grigori chanted as the wall to their prison completely dissolved. It was the beginning of the equinox.
Chapter Forty-Seven: Party crashers
Henry and Wally followed their escort into the city just as the equinox began, fireworks shot into the sky. Images of dragons filled the sky. They flew and danced and intertwined. It was beautiful and powerful. It was an amazing sight.
They arrived at the carved stone building and stepped inside. There stood the mayor and the boy in green with his dog, along with Hassan and Ahmed, Amirah’s brothers.
“I see you two successfully survived your sky-burial.” The boy in green walked over and shook Henry and Wally’s hands. “I had no doubt that you would.”
Wally had the overwhelming urge to punch the boy and kick the heck out of his dog. They had almost died at the hands of those vultures.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Henry was surprised to see the boy in green. He thought he never left Mount Qaf, but here he was.
“Yoshi, Silas and Amirah will be here shortly.” The boy in green beckoned to Wally and Henry to come to the other side of the room. “The danger that you are currently in is both real and pressing.” The boy in green walked over to a 50” touch screen LCD monitor and pressed his hand upon it. A mandala appeared in the background and then an image of a host of creatures headed to Petra appeared on the screen.
“The Nephilim are only about 15 minutes out. But it is necessary to relax; they will not do anything until the Grigori arrive. It is important to understand that things will happen that you will not comprehend, and they will be both strange and frightening. The last time there was this much Sihr in one place a whole nation of people disappeared into a completely different realm.”
The boy in green looked to the door as Yoshi, Silas and Amirah walked through it. Amirah was caught off guard. She saw her brothers with the boy-in-green and was worried this might be a set-up, but she saw that Wally and Henry were just fine.
“Come here, sis,” her brothers said, in unison, and they all hugged.
Yoshi and Silas ran up to Wally and Henry and hugged and high-fived each other. This was the reunion they were waiting for. Yoshi had food all over his mouth and a giant grin. Silas’s scars had completely healed up all over his body to the point that Henry barely recognized him, he was actually healthy.
“Henry I have to tell you something.” Silas grabbed him by the shoulders, “I think there may be a way to get your family back.”
Henry looked at Silas and they said it at the same time, “Barzakh.”
“How did you know?” Silas was shocked.
Henry looked over at Wally and laughed. He then shared the story of meeting Pharaoh Djoser and how Imhotep had botched one of the earliest “Barzakh” ceremonies. He also explained how Sarah had betrayed them.
The boy in green felt compelled to contribute, “Djoser has made the curse linger much longer than necessary. You see at the end he refuses to take the last marker, the eighth marker. He wallows in his own self-pity. But I am proud that you have completed it, Henry. This will make you valuable within the next 10 minutes.”
Amirah walked up to Henry, “I owe you an apology, Henry, I did not need to, nor should I have tried to have you murdered for something you could not control.”
Henry wasn’t sure how to take that apology, but he graciously accepted it. Then Amirah pulled out the ring.
“While you may have lost the book, the ring is ours. Whatever the Grigori are planning they have only half the artifacts. This will be key in stopping them.”
Henry began to feel hope again. This was better than he could have imagined. The team had pulled through and where one had failed the other had succeeded. This was what being part of something bigger was all about.
“That is perfect, Amirah. We do not have time to spare; we must get to the square.”
“Why the rush?” asked Yoshi, “We have not even really begun to enjoy the equinox. A whole 24 hours of twilight; all djinn cities are touching earth and mount Qaf. This is beautiful.”
“I agree, Yoshi,” the little green boy responded, “but, unfortunately, Ornias is here. His goal is to incite a riot, or worse, a full blown rebellion. We need Henry to show that he can be the King of the Djinn and with the ring he will solidify that.”
Chapter Forty-Eight: Troublemaker
The sky over Petra was lit up with beautiful purples, reds and oranges, similar to the Aurora Borealis. It was beautiful. This was the beginning of 24 hours of twilight. Children, Adults, djinn, immortal humans, were all looking skyward. This was the beginning of the time of freedom. It was reminiscent of the beginning of time, when everything was new and wonderful.
“Everyone gather around. I am Ornias, leader of the Al-ghuls and I am here to enlighten and intrigue.” Ornias stood upon a box, flanked by four guards—two white winged Ifrit and two black winged ifrit, all four of whom looked like they wanted to kill Ornias, but they tolerated him for the moment.
“I stand here with the Ifrit, my brethren, to tell you that the end of times is upon us. In moments, the Nephilim and the Grigori will come pounding at the gates of Petra, just as they did at the rock cliffs in the Americas at the Anasazi equinox festival a thousand years ago. But you do not have to die or disappear like they did. It is time to rise up, find your strength. The humans have plagued our existence. They have been the bane of us and the earth.”
Someone in the crowd yelled, “Yeah”.
“We were told to bow to them, to serve them and they have caused nothing but death and destruction. The Earth is spiraling head long into global warming. They mine the earth of precious minerals and then use poison to separate it from the earth.”
The crowd became louder in their agreement.
“They are so foolish as to poison their own food with chemicals, force their livestock to be cannibals, abuse their sustenance, and then treat their cities as havens of disconnection. Concrete, steel, glass and asphalt have replaced the earth they were made from, the grass that was meant to protect them, and killed the trees that feed them the oxygen they need to survive.”
The crowd was in full frenzy. Dotted throughout, the human immortals were silent. Many of them internally agreeing, but knowing that this could lead to no good.
“The sad but true reality is that we need to call forth the four horsemen. In order for this to end, we need to start that which we know, Armageddon, to end of all of this. They had their chance. We must let HIM sort them out. We have shepherded the earth, but we can no longer share.”
“Their corrupt watchers stand outside poised to destroy us just for existing; it is time to bring an end to the madness. This is the day, the equinox where all points meet, where all times meet. It is time for us to rise up, and just the djinn to rise us up are here today—Asmodeus and Iblis!”
Half the crowd clapped with thunderous applause the other half gasped in shock and surprise.
Asmodeus lifted his hand up to calm the crowd. Iblis was standing next to him, strong and powerful. Iblis had decided to use the form that he wore at the beginning and the people were in awe.
“Our father and I have come today because the time is at hand. We must stand united in the face of all of this human and Grigori adversity. We must find the strength to be more than the whipping children of history; we must write our own destiny.”
“Stop this, all of you.” Henry walked from the back of the crowd, Yoshi, Amirah, Silas and Wally protecting him on all sides.
Henry looked back to the crowd as he stepped onto the makeshift platform, his green eye aglow. Glowing more so powerfully because of the equinox flowing through his veins. He could feel his Sihr surging inside of him.
“I am Henry Bayman. I am djann. My mother was a high priestess of the djinn and my father was a descendant of King Suleyman.”
A hushed whisper rolled through the crowd.
“I speak to all djinn ev
erywhere on this equinox, we need not be afraid. In the city of Uber, Petra, and in the Alhambra, humans and djinn have lived side by side. Yes there are things wrong, but to turn on one another now, particularly with the Grigori and their children, the Nephilim, at the gates, it would be a grave mistake. We are better than this.”
The crowd went silent. As if everyone was making up their minds or reconsidering the options before them. Asmodeus was frustrated. He did not come this far to be stymied by a confused audience.
“Are you really going to believe that this whelp is the Suleyman, the fabled King of the djinns?” Asmodeus laughed and nervous laughter washed through the crowd.
“Prove it, boy. Do you have The book of Suleyman? Do you have the ring of Suleyman? Iblis looked at the crowd and laughed even harder.
“So you see, there is nothing to fear. He is not who he says he is.” Iblis turned his back on Henry.
“Wait!” Amirah rushed over to Henry and handed him the ring of Suleyman. Henry took it and held it up over his head.
“Here is the ring of Suleyman!” Henry said triumphantly.
The crowd gasped. A wave of belief flooded the audience.
“If you are the Suleyman, boy, then put on the ring.” Iblis stared at Henry.
“I have faced the sky burial, I have been to the white Haoma tree, I have battled Pharaoh Djoser at the steps of the first pyramid and won, I am the Suleyman, King of the Djinn.”
Henry put the ring on, a ring of bronze and copper, a ring with four jewels representing the four elements, a ring with the knot of Solomon reinforcing its power. Then he fell over dead.
Yoshi, Silas, Wally and Amirah rushed to his side. Wally tried to perform CPR and was pushed aside by Iblis. Iblis removed the ring from Henry’s finger. A gasp from the crowd poured out like a hot air balloon.
“You see, you cannot trust false prophets. There is only one Suleyman, the one who wrote the book, the one who taught King Solomon about the Djinn, which has and always will be Asmodeus.”
Iblis put the true ring on Asmodeus’s finger to a silent crowd. A wave of energy poured over Asmodeus and the ability to see the true names of Djinn, humans and Nephilim once again washed over him. After thousands of years, he now knew the names of every djinn and other in the audience. Now all he needed was the book to be able pronounce and manipulate the names fully and to be able to enslave them all, once again, to the ring.
Then Asmodeus felt a familiar buzz in his head and an almost imperceptible voice came to him from the back of his mind. The ring was once again speaking to him. Asmodeus turned and looked at Henry’s friends and grinned. This had gone better than he had expected. These four, Asmodeus not only knew their names, but because Henry had worn the false ring, he could pronounce their true name. Asmodeus had not known this would happen, but he would not pass up the opportunity. This was more than he had hoped.
“Silas, I know your true name.” Asmodeus pushed a wave of symbols, images and colors at Silas. “I now re-name you “Conquest”, the first of the horsemen. Come forth.”
Without any ability to control himself, Silas changed, his face and countenance morphed and he became Conquest, and a white eight-legged steed appeared beside him.
“Amirah, I know your true name, I now re-name you as “War”, the second of the horsemen. Come forth.”
Amirah came forward with little to no control and she became war, and a red eight-legged steed appeared beside her.
“Yoshi, I know your true name and I now re-name you as “Famine”, the third of the horsemen. Come forth.”
Yoshi’s giant frame shriveled up until his ribs were showing and a black eight-legged steed appeared beside him.
“Wally, I know your true name, child of the Nephilim, I now re-name you as Death, the fourth of the horsemen. Come forth.”
Of the four Wally struggled the most, but in the end he succumbed to the Sihr at work. He stood next to the others and a pale green eight-legged steed appeared beside him.
Asmodeus grinned from ear to ear; Iblis stood next to him enjoying their handiwork.
“You all see now that it is and has always been inevitable; now is the time for us to be free of these humans.”
The crowd began to scream, some attempted to throw fireballs, waves of water, boulders, but they were all stopped by Iblis and turned to nothing.
“Bow before the new King of the Djinn.”
Some in the crowd bowed, yet the majority of the crowd dispersed into chaos.
“Now go forth you four horsemen of the apocalypse, lead the way for the seven brothers and pierce the thin veil to end the world.”
The four horsemen jumped on their steeds, took off into equinox night air and flew through the beautiful lights and began their destruction of the human world.
Chapter Forty Nine: Barzakh
Henry opened his eyes. He felt like a truck had hit him. He sat up on his elbows and looked around. There in a rocker sat Aunt Sadie with Mable standing beside her. They were both humming. Aunt Sadie was knitting while looking down.
Henry’s mouth felt like cotton. He slowly got up and began to walk towards her. He felt like he was walking through thick molasses. He tried to shout her name but no words would escape. It was if sound could not travel. It seemed like ages, but he finally got within a few feet of them and the molasses curtain was lifted.
“Aunt Sadie, where am I.” Henry was frantic. He could remember being in front of the crowd, then he was here.
Aunt Sadie and Mable shared a glance with one another. The type of glance that conveys an eternity of information in a moment. Aunt Sadie put down what she was knitting and looked at Henry with sorrowful eyes.
“Henry you are on the edge of barzakh, neither with the living or with the fully dead.”
Henry took a moment to take it in. He couldn’t comprehend where it all went wrong.
Mable cleared her throat and handed a toffee to Henry. Henry took it hesitantly. Then she began to speak.
“We made a mistake Henry. None of this is your fault. Aunt Sadie and I really thought it could work.”
Aunt Sadie stood up, all four foot ten inches of her, and she walked over to Henry, lightly placed her hand on his shoulder. Looked into his eyes.
“Henry you are not real.”
Henry recoiled from her.
“What are you talking about?” Henry shouted.
Mable looked at Aunt Sadie with a scoldful expression. “ Listen Henry, Aunt Sadie, she isn’t explaining it right. You are very unique type of creature, you are something like, but more than a qareen.”
“You’ve confused the boy even more.” Aunt Sadie, looked at Mable in frustration
“Just let me finish.” Mable shooed Aunt Sadie away.
Henry dropped to his knees and let the toffee fall from his hand. What was going on. He just learned that he was djann, now they were calling him a qareen, and he was stuck near the same type of afterlife that had ruined Djoser. Henry was beginning to fill overwhelmed.
“You see Henry everyone is born with a companion, a guardian angel, or an imaginary friend some people call it. For us djinn we call it a qareen. Some djinn are sensitive to their qareen, some are not. Sometime the companion disappears when you are a child, or sometimes it stays with you until your old. Like I did with Aunt Sadie.”
Imaginary friend, Henry thought to himself. She had called him an imaginary friend. Impossible. He felt real. Who was he supposed to be a friend of? Wally, Sarah, Yoshi? None of this made any sense.
Aunt Sadie chimed in, “Sam’s parents called me when they brought him home. He was a beautiful baby boy, but after a few days both his eyes had turned an emerald green, the eyes of a djinn. They were frightened. I packed my bags immediately to get to Long Beach to put a hoodoo fence of protection around him. When I got to the door, they both had solemn expressions. My nephew walked me to the crib. In the crib were two babies, identical in every way, except for two things. Each baby had an emerald eye, on opposite sides, and
one baby kept fading in and out.”
Henry could sense that they were telling the truth. In his gut he knew.
Mable cleared her throat, “Sam had used some powerful Sihr. He had shared a piece of his soul with you, his qareen, to naturally protect himself. He essentially made you, his brother, his real brother not just a qareen. The same way that Aunt Sadie did with me.”
“That didn’t help him any.” Aunt Sadie spat. “They still took him along with my nephew and his wife.”
“That’s why we are here” Mable glared at Aunt Sadie.
“You died Henry. Or at least that’s what Asmodeus thinks. We have an ace up our sleeve. You are going to find Sam and your family, and together you and Sam will defeat them.”
Henry got to his feet. Stunned by all of the information he had just received. In his heart he knew, nothing had changed. He needed to find and save his family and he would let the rest sort itself out; djanns, djinns, qareens, etc. He was going to find his brother.
“Where do I begin.” Henry looked at both Aunt Sadie and Mable
“You died, that was the first step, now you are here that was the second step, the final step is to find out where your family is trapped in this place and take them home.” Aunt Sadie walked up to Henry and handed him what she was knitting.
“This is the mandala to escape, barzakh. No one has done it before, you have done some amazing things. I suspect you will be the first.”
Mable walked up to Henry and gave him a big bear hug.
“It was great meeting you. This is the last time you will see us.”
The little protective bubble they stood in collapsed in on them and the molasses ether of barzakh sucked them all away.
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Ring of Aandaleeb: The Hidden Ones (The Djinn Chronicles Book 1) Page 16