Aidan frowned and hesitated, then reluctantly released the assassin and shoved him to the ground. The young man crawled back to his feet and rushed to Tachus’s side.
To Kaijin’s relief, Tachus kept his promise and, with a wave of his hand, ordered the guards to lower their weapons and stand back from the group.
Jarial bowed his head. “Thank you for being reasonable, honored Shak’ha.”
Staying silent, Masrah slipped his hand between the front of his jerkin and pulled out a tiny green ball. He held the ball discreetly between his fingers.
Kaijin wrinkled his brow. What does he have there, I wonder? He decided not to dwell on it any further.
Tachus eyed Jarial coldly. “Who are you that you would lay claim that somehow one of my associates is responsible for the assassination attempt on Omari?”
Jarial bowed low. “I am Jarial Glace, acting member of the Council of the Nine, Fifth Seat, Illusion. My claims are based on the fact that we found one of Masrah’s arrows lodged in Omari’s chest. The arrow itself had the Beshara’s symbol etched on its shaft. Moreover, a similar arrow was found on the body of the Citadel Councilmember, Na’val Faulk. The clues have led me here. To you.”
Tachus’s eyes narrowed at Jarial. “Jarial Glace. I have heard that name before. If you are somehow insinuating that I had something to do with all of this, then you are sadly mistaken. Faulk’s death is unfortunate, but is not my doing.”
“That will be for the Council to decide. Both you and Masrah are hereby ordered to return to the Citadel to be tried for the murder of Councilmember Na’val Faulk and the attempted murder of Council prospect, Omari Batsuyou.”
“‘Council prospect’?” Tachus stiffened. “Hmph! Neither I nor Masrah will go with you. And the fact you are siding with this Batsuyou scum is appalling. Hardly Council material.”
Growling, Omari lashed out at Tachus.
Before Omari reached him, however, Masrah tossed the green ball at him. Upon impact, the ball exploded into a cloud of smoke around Omari. Omari gave off a greenish glow, and he shrank. His staff plunked to the ground. With a squeak, Percival fell off his shoulder and landed on top of Omari, who was now a tiny grey mouse.
“Omari!” Zarya exclaimed, rushing to the animals. The guards began to close in, but Tachus held up his hand and stopped them.
“Soddin’ ’ells!” Nester exclaimed. “What’d you do to ’im?”
Jarial scowled and muttered to Kaijin, “I think we might have found our mysterious transmuter.”
Kaijin nodded.
Zarya picked up the mouse that was Omari before he had a chance to flee and carefully cupped him in her hands. “He is frightened, but unharmed,” she said to Kaijin and the others.
“That was unnecessary,” Jarial said to Tachus. “Please dismiss that polymorph spell.”
Tachus gritted his teeth. He lifted his hand, which burst into flames. “I think not. Omari is a foolish boy, and he got what he deserved. And not only are the lot of you helping him, I have no doubt that you are also involved in the attack on my city. You will not leave here alive—none of you!” He cocked his hand back, preparing to unleash a spell on the group.
“We did not attack your city, Shak’ha Tachus!” Zarya shouted. “Stay your hand!”
Tachus glared at the priestess but paused.
“No violence, please,” Aidan said. The giant’s deep voice made Kaijin and everyone else turn to him. He looked back at everyone a moment, then continued. “We have done nothing to you or your city. We have come here peacefully seeking answers.”
Tachus eyed the half-Dragon coolly. “Your words mean little, half-breed. You are helping my family’s sworn enemy.”
Zarya said, “But Aidan speaks the truth, honored Shak’ha. We have reason to believe that the attack on your city was the work of an afriti and a man whom we are seeking.”
Tachus sneered. “Do not lie to me, woman. An afriti would not attack me. Afriti are only loyal to Almighty Ignis.”
“Not this one, sir.” Kaijin met Tachus’s glare and was about to say more when he noticed movement by the exit, out of the corner of his eye.
A lone man had been standing in the doorway, hidden in shadow. He turned to leave and stepped into the light of the hallway.
Kaijin recognized the dark red robes, short white hair, yellow sash around his waist, and the slightly hunched gait. His eyes went wide. “Vargas!”
The man stopped and glanced over his shoulder, and then hurried off.
“Stop!” Kaijin rushed to follow.
A guard moved in front of him and blocked his way. “Stay where you are!”
“Vargas! Get back here now!” Tachus yelled, then he pointed to Masrah and four nearby guards. “After him! Do not let him leave this house!”
The four guards rushed to the exit. Masrah drew his hidden daggers and followed.
“This matter with you lot will be resolved,” Tachus said. “But first, I want Vargas brought back to me. I do not trust that man any more than I do Amil at this point.”
“We can help,” Zarya offered.
“And how do I know you all will not simply betray me afterward?” Tachus asked, narrowing his eyes.
Jarial exhaled. “What if we leave something of value behind?”
“Yes ...” Tachus tapped his chin, looking thoughtful. “Your animals. Your ... familiars will make ideal collateral.”
Kaijin gasped. “What? Now wait a minute. We—”
Jarial held up his hand, silencing Kaijin. “You will keep them as safe as possible?”
“Yes, of course. Now relinquish your familiars to the guards, and do not allow them to attack—or else.”
“Very well. We accept.”
Zarya held up the mouse in her hands. “Will you also change Omari back so that he may be able to help, as well?”
Tachus ran his tongue around his cheek. “Very well. But if he attempts to attack me again, he will be turned into something far worse than rodents.”
“Don’t worry, honored, Shak’ha,” Jarial said. “I will see that he does not.”
Nester elbowed Kaijin in his leg. “I dunno, mate, I think I kinda like Omari like that,” he whispered. “’E’s quieter.”
Kaijin arched his eyebrow at the brownie. Look who’s talking.
Tachus uttered words to a spell, and his fingers gave off a soft, white glow. Approaching Zarya, he extended his hand toward Omari. The glow shot from his fingers in thin beams and impacted the mouse, which immediately began to grow in size and shape.
Zarya gasped when the mouse in her hands had become a full-sized man once more, and she released him.
Omari fell on his rear with a thud. “Oof!”
Blushing, Zarya looked at him apologetically. “Sorry about that ...”
Omari looked puzzled at Zarya, and his gaze traveled the rest of the room. His attention settled on Tachus, who, with his arms crossed, glowered at him. Omari opened his mouth.
Before he had a chance to speak, Jarial swept over to him, grabbed him by the collar of his robes, and jerked him to his feet. “Do not say a word.”
Omari looked at Jarial and closed his mouth.
“Enough time has been wasted here,” Tachus said. “Now, your familiars ...” He pointed to three waiting guards.
Jarial gave Kaijin and Omari a stern gaze before picking up Sable and handing her to a guard. “Do as he says, you two.”
Omari gritted his teeth, then relucatantly plucked Percival off his shoulder and handed him over. “If this guard gives you any trouble, you have my full permission to bite his head off,” he instructed the weasel.
“Omari!” Jarial growled, his eyes flashing with a spectrum of colors.
Omari shot Jarial a glare, then quickly looked away.
A guard approached Kaijin, holding his hands out expectantly. Kaijin stalled, glancing at Jarial, who returned a hard gaze. Kaijin sighed and picked Miele from his shoulder. “I promise I will be back for you once this is over. Now, you
be a good bat.”
Miele screeched in protest but didn’t try to escape when Kaijin handed her over to the guard. The guard made a face but took care not to harm the bat.
Tachus pointed toward another hallway at the opposite end of the room and directed the guards, “Lock the animals away in the holding chamber.”
After the guards left, Tachus dismissed Kaijin and his group to find Vargas. Tachus and the last remaining guard followed behind the group. They hustled through the mansion’s massive, exquisite halls and discovered Vargas in the main atrium—one room away from the entrance—surrounded by the guards.
Kaijin hadn’t had the chance to fully admire the sheer beauty of the room when he and his friends first arrived. High above them, light shone through the exquisite stained glass skylight, a mosaic depicting Ignis’s symbol. Red, orange, and yellow-hued images of flames etched on the windows spotlighted the black marble floor, where, in the very center where Vargas stood, was a massive tiled image of a flame. Tapestries of Ignis’s symbol embroidered into the silken red fabrics hung from all four walls.
“Leave me!” Vargas demanded, his entire body giving off a thin layer of fire. He hugged his stomach and slumped forward, rocking slowly. “This is ... your last ... warning....”
His tone had changed to something sinister.
“Masrah!” one guard called to the assassin, who had gone into hiding.
An arrow shot from amongst a group of guards and through Vargas’s arm. The arrowshaft burned to ashes, and the cleric fell to his knees with a grunt, clutching his wound.
The fire encircling Vargas blazed larger, hotter, and brighter, and Vargas fell over on his side, still holding his injury with his now-bloodied hands. The flames around him left and burned beside him and reshaped into another being.
An afriti. Za’thaak.
It stood over Vargas and towered over everyone around it—including Aidan, who only came up to the middle of its torso. Flames coated its crimson body without burning it, and its piercing turquoise eyes glowered down at its surrounding assailants, who took a collective step back.
“You have been warned,” Za’thaak said, voice guttural.
“We must contain that creature,” Jarial muttered, readying a glowing ball of colorful energy in his hands.
Nester gulped. “Contain? But ’ow? That thing is ’uge!”
“There’s many of us, but only one of it. Let’s attack from all sides,” Jarial explained. “We can try to give Aidan an opening to attack it with his ice breath.”
Aidan grimaced. “Aidan will do his best.”
“There’s no room for doubt, Aidan,” Kaijin said.
Jarial began moving in and Nester, Omari, and Aidan followed. Kaijin took a step but felt Zarya’s gentle touch on his shoulder, and he paused.
“Kaijin, I have a feeling that none of us will be able to contain this creature.” Her lips thinned. “No one but you, Firebrand.”
Kaijin blinked. “What? What can I do?”
Zarya didn’t take her eyes off the afriti. “Do you remember what the Mistress said? Afriti always serve a master.”
“Are you saying that Za’thaak serves Vargas?”
“Perhaps.” She pointed to the creature, who continued standing over the still-prone Vargas. “Have you noticed how it has not strayed from Vargas?”
Is Za’thaak trying to protect Vargas? Kaijin wondered, tilting his head at the scene.
“Perhaps there is a way for it to serve you instead.” Zarya rushed off to join the rest of the group.
Me?
Kaijin watched the battle of magic, swords, and fire.
“By the Almighty Firelord! An afriti!” Tachus’s voice exclaimed from behind him.
Kaijin whirled and found the shak’ha staring in awe at the creature.
“How did that creature get here?”
Kaijin frowned. “Vargas. And that afriti is no servant of the Firelord.”
The shak’ha’s awestruck face darkened. “Yes, there is something different about that one. Well, we will send it and Vargas to the abyss.” He extended his hand toward Za’thaak and spoke a prayer. A chain of fire extended from his palm and wrapped around one of the creature’s legs. At the same time, Zarya shot a chain of golden light around the creature’s other leg.
All the guards grabbed hold of the chains of light and attempted to pull the creature off its feet, but the afriti’s fire turned the chains red hot. The guards promptly let go.
Jarial hurled a ball of colors at its face.
Upon impact, the ball exploded in a blast of multicolored light. Energy surged through the creature’s body. Snarling, the afriti held its clawed hands over its eyes. It swayed and stumbled about in a daze. It left Vargas and crashed into a wall, causing it to shake and crack upon impact. The sound of glass cracking was heard above, as well.
The guards rushed in and attacked its legs—the only areas they were able to reach. Their weapons penetrated Za’thaak’s tough skin, eventually tearing through to tendons and muscles. Nester moved swiftly, attacking vital points in Za’thaak’s legs and feet with his daggers. Za’thaak dropped its hands from its face and let out a painful roar. Amazingly, it remained on its feet by bracing itself on the wall.
Omari held his staff aloft, and lightning streaked from the tip and through his eyes. After he uttered a single command, bolts of lightning shot from the staff and toward Za’thaak’s face. The lightning enveloped the creature, and it howled. Flames erupted from Za’thaak’s body, and fizzled out the lightning.
“Fall back!” one of the guards shouted to the rest of his comrades as an array of fire and lightning displayed before them, and the men cleared.
Aidan, who had shielded himself from the clash of elemental magic with his wings, lowered his wings and tipped his head back, assessing the creature. He took a deep breath, his chest expanding. He clenched his fists, and the rippling muscles in his chest tightened as he exhaled white, crystalline air toward Za’thaak’s torso. Ice formed over its skin, extinguishing the flames burning there into hissing steam. The ice traveled downward, encasing its legs.
Unable to move, Za’thaak howled louder. Its eyes began to glow white, and Kaijin could sense its rage building. Bright yellow, almost white flames burst from Za’thaak’s hands, the heat quickly melting the ice around its torso. It hurled the flames at Aidan and the rest of its assailants. Everyone scrambled away as some of the tapestries caught fire, and areas on the ground began to burn.
The ice soon melted around its legs, as well. Once freed, Za’thaak tried to walk, but its weakened legs buckled, and Za’thaak crashed to the ground on its belly. The ground shook and more cracks formed on the walls. One of the stained glass windows shattered, and multicolored shards rained down on everyone, including Za’thaak. The glass melted as soon as it touched Za’thaak’s burning skin, and the fire in the room intensified, making the room an inferno. There was nowhere to escape; everyone was trapped.
Kaijin heard the screams, smelled the smoke, and heard the past he so desperately wanted to forget. His family’s voices. The cries of innocent Easthaven victims before they were consumed by death. Tears stung Kaijin’s eyes, but he refused to let them fall.
I cannot let this happen again.
The cries of his friends mixed with the guards’, and even Tachus’s voice became clearer as his mind went back into focus. Unharmed by the fire burning all around him, Kaijin faced Za’thaak, who weakly tried to stand but could only make it to its knees. Za’thaak’s turquoise eyes bore deep into him, as if the creature were staring into his own soul. The image of Za’thaak looked all too familiar, like in Kaijin’s dreams—his nightmares, his worst fear. That image that had remained branded into his mind for so long.
Kaijin felt his heart sink into his stomach. Za’thaak! It is he who has been my greatest fear! The one who has haunted me in my dreams! But why?
A voice spoke from the burning flames. “Za’thaak is a rogue flame, and must be contained.”
>
“Ignis! Is that really you this time?” Kaijin muttered aloud, but the voice didn’t respond.
Za’thaak broke its gaze from Kaijin and looked elsewhere. Was he really scared? Kaijin thought.
Kaijin took a step forward and stood within arm’s reach of Za’thaak. He slipped his hand through his robes, touching the hot charm at his breast. He seized the charm and pulled it out.
I am yours, Almighty Ignis. Give me strength.
Za’thaak’s gaze shifted back toward Kaijin, and it hissed. “You will not succeed, Firebrand!” it spat, its turquoise eyes narrowing to small slits.
Kaijin smiled. Za’thaak is afraid. His fingers gripped the fiery charm so tightly, they grew numb. He felt a sharp pain in his upper back and winced.
The brand. Is this—?
The area around him turned a bright white. He no longer saw his friends. He no longer saw the world.
The charm’s heat increased, burning his flesh, and the sensation traveled throughout his body. His vision was pure white, and for a moment, he felt at peace.
Za’thaak’s silhouette was outlined before him, and Kaijin reached toward it with both hands. He seized the silhouette with his hands, and Za’thaak’s full body—now standing—came into view. He heard a cry, a growl, and his nose was assaulted by the stench of burned flesh. Za’thaak was much smaller, or had Kaijin become bigger? Around the two of them, pure, white, fire burned brighter than any star. Za’thaak held its hand to its face.
Kaijin observed the afriti. Vulnerable. Helpless.
Kaijin put his hands on Za’thaak’s shoulders. He cringed at the feel of the afriti’s rough, bumpy skin. He dug his fingers tightly into Za’thaak’s flesh. The afriti roared and lifted its clawed hand, which shook.
“We are alone now, Za’thaak,” Kaijin said. “Just the two of us. Why don’t you face me?”
Za’thaak kept silent and didn’t unshield its eyes.
“Or are you afraid of me?”
Za’thaak grunted. “I do not fear mortals.”
Then, Kaijin said something he’d thought he would never say to his own fear. “Then look at me.”
“You will not have me,” Za’thaak retorted, still keeping its eyes averted.
Flameseeker (Book 3) Page 29
