Until the Stars Burn Cold

by Nicole Hurley-Moore

  “Ah, so you do remember your dear Uncle Kansbar. Cast your mind back my dear, and you will remember that I always win. Now hush, while I bind your lover. You don’t wish me to be distracted and slip, the sword is old but still sharp,” he said as he made a small swinging gesture with the sword before it returned back to Mia’s side.

  “Mia stop moving,” Jinn said as he looked deeply into her eyes and saw the fear and anger reflected back. “Get on with it Kansbar, do whatever you want to do just don’t hurt her.”

  An ugly laugh erupted from Kansbar’s mouth. “You know Jinn, you are priceless. Because of this one woman, you have been bound for more than a thousand years. And here you are still willing to be imprisoned for an eternity, all for Shuri’s sake.”

  “For God’s sake Jinn, run!”

  “Ah, but he can’t. Jinn is so predictably honorable. If he swears an oath he will stand by it. He will sacrifice himself, for you Shuri. It is inevitable.”

  “I love Mia and I will not leave.”

  “See, as foretold, honor rears its ugly head.”

  “Get out of here, Jinn. I won’t let you sacrifice yourself a second time,” Mia said as she implored him with her eyes. “I couldn’t bear to lose you again.”

  “I can’t make that oath, Mia. I can’t walk the world knowing that you are breathing and I can never see you again.”

  “His love for you makes him vulnerable and weak,” Kansbar said.

  “You could only say such a foolish thing if you had never loved,” Jinn answered with a slight smile tugging at his lips as he looked at Mia.

  “Love has always been overrated. If you had experienced life as long as I have, you would realize that sex and power are far more enticing. Now make up your mind boy, leave or be bound back into a ring.”

  “Please Jinn, run!”

  But Jinn stood his ground and slowly shook his head.

  “This whole self sacrifice is becoming tedious. Say farewell to your lover for the final time, Shuri. We have come full circle, he will not turn his back upon you. He would rather die than abandon you. Admirable but very stupid.”

  Kansbar began to mutter strange words in a long dead language. They sounded hollow, dark and menacing.

  “I-n-gub-en, digir gal-gal-gu-nera…”

  Mia stood still staring at Jinn, willing him to run, to try and escape. The atmosphere in the garden became thin and charged with a strange type of power. It reminded her of when she had been almost too close to a lighting strike. A great bolt had hit the old peppercorn at the back of Grandad’s place, she had been standing under the verandah and the noise of the crack had made her shake. But after the strike the air seemed to crackle as the energy began to dissipate. It had made her feel weird, almost sick and on edge.

  Feeling Kansbar’s grip loosen, she prayed that she would be given an opportunity to stop him. Biting down a scream that had formed in her throat, she watched as Jinn’s beautiful olive skin started to take on a metallic hue. Time slowed or at least her perception of it. She felt the slow and rhythmic beat of her heart and the intake and release of her breath. The memory of the first time Jinn was cursed into the ring flashed upon her inward eye. She could hear him calling her name and watched in horror as he rolled down the steps, shrinking with each revolution until he was transformed into a silver ring. Mia felt the determination build within her; she would not let him suffer the same fate again. She loved him too much, to see him be twice cursed for her sake.

  “… digir- gal-gal-gu-ne-ra, I-n-dim-es-dilmun!”

  Mia watched as Jinn’s movements become stiff, as if he was an automaton slowly winding down. Her eyes widened in horror as she watched Jinn’s golden brown skin be washed with a silver sheen.

  “Kansbar sisitu Adar. Kansbar sisitu emqu Jetae Shamsheara! Aarrgh!” Kansbar cried out and dropped the knife. Clutching his chest as if in pain he tried to finish the spell. “Kansbar sisitu emuq Jetae Shamsheara!”

  It was the chance that Mia had been hoping for. And before Kansbar could counter her actions, she twisted her body and using all her strength she pulled the chain from around his neck. Breaking his hold she staggered back, looking down a smile tweaked her lips as she saw that the Jetae Shamsheara Stone dangled between her fingers.

  “Run Mia!” Jinn called out. “Smash the stone! Smash the stone!”

  Glancing up at Jinn, she saw that the silver was receding from his body. Turning to run, Mia saw Kansbar eyes widen as he madly clawed for the chain that now hung between her fingers. He muttered some words and his hands began to circle and sway in the air and Mia dove for cover.

  She ducked behind the fountain, just as Kansbar threw a bolt of energy towards her. It exploded and Mia was showered in busted concrete, mosaic tile and water. She was lying next to the base of her once beautiful fountain. Her head hurt and she felt water trickling down the side of her face. She brushed it with her hand and only then realized that it was blood.

  She heard Jinn cry out in pain. Pushing herself up into a squat, Mia peered over what was left of her water feature, the Shamsheara stone clutched to her breast. Kansbar had tossed a bolt at Jinn, and it had exploded near his feet and sent him through the air. He landed sprawled on the ground. Desperately Mia scanned the ground until her eyes spied a fist sized chunk of cement. Quickly she picked up the cement and brought it down as hard as she could on the amulet. She expected it to shatter into dust but it didn’t. The rock seemed to just bounce off it! She hit it again with greater force, and again, and again, but still it wouldn’t break.

  “Come on, damn you. Break!”

  “Aarrgh!” Kansbar doubled over in pain. “Give me the stone!”

  “Like that’s going to happen,” Mia shouted. Hitting the stone again she saw that Kansbar staggered. The realization rocked her; hurt the stone, hurt Kansbar.

  Peeping out from her hiding place she saw that Jinn had just staggered to his feet. He swayed but managed to stay upright. Again she hit the Shamsheara, Kansbar grunted in pain but the stone still didn’t break. She needed something heavier.

  Another bolt of energy hit what remained of the water feature, Mia threw herself to the ground and a wave of rubble and dust fell on her. Her shoulder began to throb but as she looked down at her bleeding and cut hands she saw the amulet still clutched between her fingers. She couldn’t stay where she was. If Kansbar attacked again, she doubted that there would be enough cover to hide behind.

  “Fuck!” Mia desperately scanned the garden for some sort of protection. She saw the heavy mallet leaning against the old barbeque by the side of the garage. Maybe if she was really lucky she would be able to kill two birds with one stone. She bit her bottom lip in determination as she pushed off the broken pieces of concrete, like a runner pushes off from his blocks. Not daring to look back, Mia ran as fast as she could towards the garage clutching the amulet so tightly it hurt her hand

  Mia leaned against the corrugated iron of the shed, trying to catch her breath. In one hand she held the rough wooden handle of the mallet. Peering around the corner she saw that Jinn had collapsed by the house and Kansbar was staring in her direction.

  “Shuri… give me the amulet and I will let you live.”

  “Like I believe that! Your strength is weakening Uncle, can’t you feel it? I’m going to destroy you and the stone,” she shouted back with a whole lot more bravado that she felt. She saw the anger contort his face and he started to chant once more. Kansbar’s voice became louder as he murmured the strange words, his arms swirled in flowing elegant movement in the air. With deliberate slowness he turned around and rolled his hand into a tight ball of swirling blue mist.

  She saw Jinn launch himself at Kansbar in an attempt to stop him, but it was too late. The energy ball was already sailing towards her.

  Mia anticipating the explosion ran to the far side of the garage and hunkered down behind the recycling bins.

  The blast hit the side of the garage, it blew the barbeque apart and ignited the little gas that was
left in the bottle. A great hole was ripped in the metal wall and the noise was deafening. Mia covered her ears and prayed that she would be safe from the blast. For a moment she lay huddled behind the bins, before cautiously standing up. A small voice in her head told her to hurry; if there was any chance for Jinn and her to survive she had to destroy that blasted Jetae Shamsheara stone now.

  Placing the amulet on the paving stones she lifted up the metal headed mallet and swung it in a wide arc, before bringing it down on the stone. She felt the mallet bounce off the amulet, just as the lump of concrete had. Scooping the bauble up, she rolled it in her hand it see if she had managed to inflict any damage on it at all. Inside the glass sphere what looked like a storm boiled, a cloud like vapor swirled within its depths and little shots of energy, like white lighting struck at the glass. It was then she saw it, the faint hairline crack that zigzagged across the belly of the stone. Another energy strike, but this time a little leaked through the crack, hitting Mia’s hand. She cried out in pain and dropped the amulet. It burned as if she had put her hand over an open flame. With renewed determination, Mia picked up the mallet and swung in a high arc for the second time.

  Looking over her shoulder saw that Kansbar had Jinn trapped in a green light. He was suspended in midair, but Mia noticed that the light flickered, like a television with bad reception, it blinked and crackled. Kansbar’s power was failing.

  “Come Child, this is your last chance. You may not value your own life but what of your lover’s?” Kansbar called to Mia.

  Jinn shook his head as Mia stepped away from the garage. “No… don’t!”

  “Shuri, I will trade Jinn’s life for the amulet but you must hurry for I fear his time is running out.”

  “It’s you that’s run out of time… dear Uncle,” she said as she walked forward.

  “Just give me the stone!”

  “Very well.” She held it between both her hands, the boiling mist inside had turned a black. “But I don’t think it’s going to do you much good, you see, I seem to have had a little accident.” She separated her hands and the amulet broke apart and the swirling cloud was released into the night air.

  Jinn looked at the sorcerer’s face, his eyes were opened in disbelief and for the first time he saw fear etched over the man’s face.

  “No!” he screamed as a spinning mist advanced towards him. Both men were caught up in a twirling mist that resembled a twister.

  Jinn felt Kansbar’s hold break as they spun around and around. They were being lifted high above the ground in a spiraling motion – 2 feet, 3… 6 feet… 8 in a matter of seconds. He felt the sorcerer’s hand catch onto his arm, he tried to shake it but the fingers bit into his flesh with a vice like grip. Turning his head he saw the look of terror on his face. His mouth rounded in a scream but Jinn couldn’t hear it as the sound of the wind sucked it away. Before his eyes, Kansbar began to wither, his still youthful face started to line and crease as if it was a piece of rumpled paper. Reaching over, Jinn tried to pries his arm away from Kansbar’s grip. Looking down he watch in horror as the hand became dry, shriveled and claw like. With great strain Jinn wrenched at the claw, and it broke off in his hand and before the shudder had traveled fully down his spine, the twisting winds vanished and Jinn began to fall.

  In the time it took to fall to the ground, Kansbar disintegrated. Jinn crashed hard onto the paving stones with only a cloud of dust and a pile of clothes to break his fall. The fall winded him and the ancient dust blew into his eyes, nostrils and mouth. He coughed and wiped his face with his hand, trying desperately not to think about what he was breathing in. Pushing himself up to sitting position, he coughed again as Mia ran towards him carrying the mallet over her shoulder.

  “Mia, are you all right?”

  Throwing the mallet to the ground, she squatted down next to him. “I’m fine. God, Jinn, I was so frightened that I was going to lose you.” Reaching out she took his hand and pulled him to his feet. “How about you?”

  “I’ll live, I think.” He said as his arms encircled her waist and nodded towards the discarded mallet. “Nice.”

  “It was the only thing that I could find to break the amulet. I think I’ve developed a fondness for it, maybe we should mount it over the fireplace.” Wrapping her arm about his shoulders, Mia stared up at his face. “Is it really over, Jinn? Are we free?”

  “Yes, we are. Kansbar is dust upon the wind,” he said as he dropped a kiss onto her forehead. “Finally, we can have a life together… the one we always should have had. The one we started all those years ago.”

  “You are the keeper of my heart, Jinn and I will always love you.”

  He cradled her body next to his. “And I love you, my beloved. You are mine, now and for all time. Until the stars burn cold.”

  ~* * *~

  Mia looked up and shaded her eyes against the sun. She had been planting the garden beds that surrounded her newly installed fountain. This one was a three tiered dish creation that flowed into a mosaic square pool, and once the plants had grown it would be a thing of beauty. It had been four weeks since they had defeated Kansbar in this very spot, but to Mia it was beginning to feel as if it was a far away dream. Sitting back on her heels, she watched Jinn approach.

  “How was work?”

  Bending down he gave her a quick kiss. “Different and yet familiar, I was a merchant once and it looks as if I am a merchant again. It was good and your grandfather sends his love.”

  “I only saw him yesterday at the shop,” Mia said with a shake of her head.

  Jinn ran his hand down the side of her face and smiled. “I know but he loves you and only wants the best for you. Anyway, the container that was delivered yesterday has been unpacked and all the antique furniture is stacked very neatly in your warehouse.”

  “And you and Grandad?”

  “Are fine, we’ve had a long talk and everything is okay. We both love you Mia and want the very best for you. In fact he’s been helping me with something,” he said as he pulled her to her feet and led her over to the wooden bench. “Come over here and sit down for a minute, I need to talk to you.”

  “That sounds ominous,” she said as brushed the dirt off her jeans. Sitting down she stared up at Jinn expectantly. “So what’s up?”

  Jinn hesitated for an instant before he sat beside her and took her hand in his. “I asked you this question long, long ago but I thought I should ask once more. This isn’t the way I envisioned… I mean I… well, you see, I think that we have waited long enough,” he said with a grin.

  “Jinn, what’s going on?”

  He brought her hand up to his lips and Mia felt her heart catch as he slipped a ring onto her finger. “I owe you a ring.”

  Mia looked down at her hand. The ring was old, from the early part of the 19th century. It consisted of nine rose cut diamonds in the shape of a flower, set in subtle rose gold. Her vision began to blur and she realized that it was from unshed tears. She kissed Jinn, and it was a kiss filled with happiness and all the love she felt for him. Pulling back she smiled at Jinn as he brushed away her tears.

  “Yes, I do believe you do.”

  Snippets & Bibliography

  Akinaka = A short Persian sword.

  Arvo = Australian slang for afternoon.

  Galiya = Precious

  Ifrit = A supernatural creature in Arabic and Islamic cultures. An enormous

  winged creature of fire. Can be good or evil.

  In a jiffy = Australian slang for as quickly as possible.

  Khanum = Lady or Princess (Farsi)

  Khoshaf = Fruit salad made of dried fruit.

  Kismet = Destiny, fate, a predetermined course of events (Persian)

  Mate = Australian slang for friend, buddy, chum.

  Naïve = Naïve art/style is an art classification of what is often characterized as a

  childlike simplicity in its subject matter and technique

  Potter about = To be gently active doing various things in
an almost aimless manner

  Tuk tuk = Motorized rickshaw popular throughout Asia

  I found some ancient Sumerian words and phrases which I used for Kansbar’s chants and spells. As I am not well versed in the language or its grammar, so please forgive me if I’ve botched the order. My only hope is that I haven’t inadvertently summoned something!

  I-n-gub-en = I stand, I-n-dim-es = I create, digir gal-gal-gu-ne-ra = For all my great gods, Dilmun = silver, Sisitu = summon, Emuq = power, Adar = Star of Ninasu, Girru = Fire.

  Berriedale-Johnson, Michelle. The British Museum Cookbook. The British Museum. London, 1987.

  Hattstein, Markus & Delius, Peter. Islam – Art and Architecture. Koneman. Germany, 2004.

  Khansari, Mehdi. The Persian Garden. Mage Publishing, Washington. 2004.

  World Kitchen – Morocco. Murdoch Books, Australia. 2008.

  About the Author

  I live in a country town about an hour and a half from Melbourne in the Central Highlands, which is old gold mining country. I’m married with three teenage children. I love history, particularly the medieval kind; myths, legends, fairytales and the paranormal.

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