Sand. It never seemed to end. Between the luscious flows and bustling settlements of the Tygra and the Balza, there was nothing but a great wilderness of sand. Whether it was the pale-tinted dunes, the blood-like pillars stretching up to form imposing labyrinths amid the shifting hills, or the muddy remains of some ancient tributary of the mythical Great Sea, the sand was everywhere. No caravan crossed the wastes lest they have a death wish, no bird flew overhead except when the sun had all but vanished from the sky, and no water flowed except in piteous spurts from springs half-buried by the advancing tide of silica.
One part of this vast desert was known as the Shifting Tide, because the sands flowed so freely over periods of months that it seemed to adhere to an unknown tidal pull separate from the sun and the moon. There, no settlement could stay seated around the one oasis, as all surrounding the trees shifted and uprooted anything that tried to gain a foothold. The remains of at least three way stations were buried beneath the sand’s terrible folds. Few stopped to take from the oasis’s clear waters now, instead choosing to avoid the region entirely. It had become a land of spirits and death, of uncertain roads and travellers’ fanciful tales.
But there was someone there that day. As the sun blazed, and the ground was baked into a film of interlocking grains of sand, two figures appeared over the crest of a dune. One was wrapped close in clothing intended to forestall the sun’s destructive gaze, but the other wore little protection, and indeed barely looked human.
As the cloaked figure slid down the sand, creating a great gouge in its surface, the other danced alongside leaving nary a mark. Their feet, tapering to dagger-like points rather than toes or feet, left the tiniest of scorches where they touched. These traces were soon obliterated by the progress of their companion. When the two reached the water, the hooded figure was about to bow down and drink, but their floating companion raised a four-fingered hand.
‘Wait.’ their voice was that of a woman, but tinged with a subtle rumble from beyond the world of humans. ‘Let me test first.’
The hooded person waited as their companion floated out over the water. This companion, female in rough form as well as in voice, stared at the water’s surface for many long moments. Finally she stabbed down with one of her feet, causing the point of contact to hiss and bubble. There was a trilling sound, and another figure rose from the pool. It had the full and proper form of a human girl, but made of water and glimmering in the strong sunlight. The two floating figures glared at each other.
‘What do you wish, Iblis!?’ snapped the watery apparition.
‘My mistress wishes to drink. You will allow her a portion of your waters for her immediate thirst and her flask. Do this, and I shall leave you with both peace and a blessing of still sands for two months.’
‘And if I refuse.’
‘I shall take the water, and you shall have no rest from these shifting sands for the next thousand years.’
The watery figure seemed conflicted, then vanished after spitting some intelligible invective at its opponent. Iblis turned to her mistress.
‘It is safe for you to drink.’
The figure nodded, then pulled off her head covering and cloak, allowing her to drink without either getting soaked. As she rose, the water glistening on her lips, the sun seemed to lose its heat and become a lantern for her beauty. Hers was an oval face with the dusky hue of the South, her long hair the colour of jet, her eyes the shade of greenest jade. It was a royal face, but marked by a life of wandering and hardship endured by few of her beauty and grace.
‘How long till we reach the next town?’ asked the woman, wiping her mouth.
Iblis looked at the sky. ‘Judging by the stars, I would say we are still some ten days travel from civilisation. These lands do not foster hospitality.’
‘That’s why I came in here. If the Sultan wants me, he’ll have to send his pimps in after me.’
‘Alas, yes. Such is the life of a loyal soldier of the Sultan. I am frankly amazed any survive. Why do they continue to pursue you when you have proven time and again that you are able to hold your own.’
‘Because they’re dead if they say “it’s useless”.’
‘Yes. Indeed.’ Iblis turned to look at the sun once more. ‘Our mother will be past her zenith soon. We should move on.’
‘I know.’
Filling her flask, the woman donned her cloak and hood and set off once more. After bestowing her blessing on the surrounding sands as promised to the keeper of the oasis, Iblis drifted over to rejoin her mistress as she began clambering up the opposite slope. At the top of the slope, the two gazed out across the sandy wastes. In the far distance, the Midgal Bavel could be seen reaching into the sky and vanishing from sight, rock formations around two hours distant cast few shadows under the near-noon sun, and the dunes ebbed and flowed like the waves of an ocean. Adjusting her hood, the woman nodded.
‘This is fine. I’ll get lost in here.’
‘And when you run out of food and water?’
‘I won’t. I’ve got you, remember?’
The woman held up her left hand meaningfully. On the middle finger of that hand, a circle of gold inset with a blood-red gemstone. On that gemstone was a single character in the Old Tongue, the mark of the Mother’s hand on the world that all things held as an invisible cartouche across their soul. Iblis bowed her head slightly upon seeing the word. That name, that Emblem embossed for all to see, the revelation that bestowed service on any who wore the ring and spoke the world.
‘Yes. You have me, mistress. For as long as you hold my Emblem on that tiny trinket, I am your servitor.’
‘You know I’d release you if I could.’
‘So say all humans who hold one of my kind. So said Ala-Ud-Din when two of my brethren came into his hands. He built the Old Empire upon their power.’
‘But the legends say he found out the methods of capture and dismissal, and set out to take them. I took you out of ignorance and necessity, not greed.’
‘Fortunate for you. The Mother still gives me free will. Had you taken me for selfish ends, I would have turned you into ashes the moment you touched my emblem.’
‘Perhaps you’d like to go back to my father’s treasury. Be an ornament gathering dust on some shelf. I didn’t think you were so eager to be a spoil of war. Or a mere object to be commanded like those jinn you so fondly remember from the Old Empire’s founder.’
‘Barely together five weeks and you already abuse your humble servant. What else can I expect from a human. You enslave your own kind and the Mother’s children.’
‘If you want real abuse, you should talk with my warder of robes. She says my tongue is like the barb of a cuttlefish. Besides, have I actually commanded you to do anything yet? And I certainly haven’t used my wish.’
‘No. You found my ring and spoke the word upon it without knowing its true meaning, and did take me without knowingly asking for my power. And your tongue may be sharp, but barbed it is not.’
‘Then pray forgive any insult I paid you. Five weeks on the run will strain anyone.’
‘I accept the apology. And while human concerns of strength and energy are foreign to me, I have heard it described by others.’
‘Shouldn’t we press on? We need to find some shelter before nightfall. It gets too cold for my liking here.’
‘Agreed. Jinn are made from flame, not eternal fonts of it. The night would chill me beyond my liking. We may find shelter in that place where the rocks grow. There, the stone will give us warmth where in daylight they provide a cool relief.’
‘Then let’s go.’
‘As you wish, mistress.’
‘Didn’t I ask you to use my name?’
Iblis seemed to think for a moment. ‘As you wish... Aisha ibn Abdulla ibn Faris al-Ala-Ud-Din Rasalased.’
And so the trek began anew. Aisha slithered down a dune before surmounting the next, her dark cloak billowing in the wind she created through her movements. And next to her, Iblis danced and floated beside her, keeping an eye out for any traps the desert might spring upon them. Such feints and ploys were commonplace in this ruined world, where jinn lingered and would relish their chance for revenge against the race that once enslaved them.
As they slid down one particular dune, there was a humming sound in the distance. It took some moments to distinguish it from the slither of sand beneath Aisha’s feet. She clambered up another dune and scanned the horizon. It took her little time to find the sound’s source. Swooping across the horizon, its crystalline wings flickering in the intense sunlight, was an Island Ship. Iblis looked at the monumental ship with barely-cocealed disgust.
‘Sickening, twisted trumpery. People who believe the world our Mother made is not good enough, who insist upon reaching for the firmament. Twisting our inherited artes to serve their prideful mummery. When those travesties fall from the sky and their citizens die screaming as they plummet into the desert, I shall welcome it. I should gladly witness it.’
‘But would you participate in it?’
Iblis frowned. ‘You always ask the most difficult question. No, I should not. I may see them as disgusting, but ordinary people still walk through their halls. Should I attempt to bring it down, I would allow them to escape first.’
‘A merciful jinni indeed. Ai!’
Aisha raised her hand, shielding her eyes from the intense reflected glow coming from the Island Ship’s wing. It was turning slowly, following the long-dried course of the Qasmirn. Many who lived on those floating monstrosities liked to hail themselves as descended from the lineages of the Old Empire, before the Emblem War, when all was green and plentiful. Now they cultivated great terrace gardens in their ships of gold and crystal, shining peacocks floating above the desolation.
Iblis blazed briefly, sparks flying into the air. ‘Such arrogance. They think they can blind those who walk on the earth with their brilliance?’
‘Enough.’ Aisha rubbed her eyes, recovering from the glare. ‘Let them strut. They’ll know hardship sooner or later.’
Turning away from the pretentious monster, Aisha slid down the dune once more and continued on her way. The sand flowed beneath the soles of her boots like water, brushing against her cloak and making a low-pitch singing sound. Iblis danced along behind her, tongues of flame flickering from her forearms like the sleeves of an exotic dancer’s dress. The walking was hard, but slithering down the slopes from their peaks relieved their boredom and fatigue. An hour seemed to fly by, halted only by Aisha taking sips from her water bottle once or twice.
It seemed no time at all by Aisha’s reckoning when they had reached the rocky outcrop where they could safely shelter for the night. The sun had passed away from its zenith and slowly descended towards the irregular horizon. For Iblis, the time had passed at the pace it always did, and she felt the two hours that they had traversed the sea of dunes to reach here. The sun had caressed her during their journey, and she felt the chill of shadows thrown by the rocky pillars more acutely for it. Glancing about her, she reached out for any sign of others who might occupy this place.
‘We are alone here.’ she said after a while. ‘No human or jinni has set foot in this place for many a year. But that in itself is strange. Perhaps something else here hides from our view.’
‘Could anything hide from your view?’
‘There are more things in land and sky than your poets can dream of. I knew of at least seventeen abominations that no jinni could sense until it was upon them and tearing their soul apart.’
‘Then we’ll be careful.’ Aisha sat down in the nearest shade. ‘I’ll keep my eyes pealed, and so should you.’
‘We shall be most in danger when you sleep. My eyes see as little as yours without the Mother’s light.’
‘Then perhaps we should move on?’
‘No. We have little enough shelter here. Out there, we have none.’
‘Then we stay. And we’ll be careful. Think we’ll find anything useful here?’
‘You mean to explore?’
‘Best do it in daylight, when we can both see.’
‘Very well.’
Aisha rose again and began walking deeper among the sandstone pillars, carved from the actions of wind, sand and waters long-since dried. Iblis followed close, her eyes darting left and right, her every sense on the alert. If an ambush came, it would be in some narrow crevasse or awkward corner, when they had little opportunity for a good defence. As they explored, Aisha got a feel of the structure. Ten or twelve pillars of varying heights, some of the gaps between them submerged in sand, others clear and allowing the biting desert wind to blow freely. Its heart, a clear area where a central column had once stood, was free of wind and the worst of the sun.
Slowly but surely, the pair explored their surroundings, and they seemed assured of their safety. The day wore on, and Aisha began to feel safe again. Safe, satisfied, and best of all free. Free from the constant incense, the sycophantic courtiers, the wiggling dancers, the suitors which ran the gauntlet between tepid and flaccid. If there was a hell for each person’s soul, that would be her own. Trapped in that forever, chained to it, unable to escape.
The sun was approaching the horizon when Iblis suddenly pricked up her tapering ears. Something was close. Something unpleasant. Rising slowly from where she rested on the sand, she snapped her fingers and generated a bright spark which illuminated the darkest corners near them. She sent it flying out, peering into each crevasse, listening at each pile of sand. Aisha saw Iblis, and both nodded. No words were needed. Aisha’s hand reached for her one memento from the palace, slung about her belt and ready for combat.
Iblis’s spark was lost to their view, but Iblis saw what it saw. And she saw the slight movement that retreated into a gap. The spark followed it inside, and instantly Iblis felt the pressure of something huge and hungry grasp it as prey. The spark expired with a flash of flame, and in the distance something let out a bestial hiss. Aisha was on her feet, and drawing her memento from within its baldric; a saif blade with a straight edge and ornate guard, its damascened blade flashing with intricate patterns only known to come from the smithies of her homeland.
Slowly but surely, the sound of the thing approached. Aroused from its hunger-induced torpor by the spark of magic it had mistaken for prey, its long-dormant nostrils had scented two equally desirable morsels; a human and a jinni. It slunk from its hole after who knew how long, its feet delicately hoisting it up above the sandy ground, dancing along the walls of the pillars that had been its home for over a millennium. It would feed on those that had destroyed its master, rendered it mute, banished it to these putrid rocks in the midst of desolation.
It was the next minute when it launched its attack. A spinning ball of silk swung down from the monster’s elongated abdomen. Aisha barely dodged the blow and swung with her blade, slicing at the ball as it swung back up out of range. Iblis also ducked and swooped across to be near her companion. Balls of fire materialised about her, ready to launch themselves when the thing came into view.
The two stared up at their attacker, a silhouette against the darkening sky. It had a form like some freakish spider or scorpion, though it was truly neither. Its two all-black eyes stared down at them, serrated pincers snapped about its slobbering maw, its ten legs bristled with great hairs that had caught generations worth of flies on their sticky surface. Its mandibles twisted apart and roaring words poured from the mouth, causing Aisha and Iblis to avoid gobbets of foam and spittle.
‘FOOD! I.....MUST.....FEED. YOU.....WILL.....FEED.....ME!’
Aisha grimaced at the thing, while Iblis felt a momentary pity for the monstrous thing one of her brethren had become over a millennium of isolation and brooding over the Emblem War’s humiliations. Another attack from the monster’s silk, but this time it was several small strands that might have entangled those caught. The two avoided them, and one that almost caught Aisha was burned into ash by Iblis’s fire. The monster let out a slobbering roar and scuttled towards them.
Aisha skittered back as its front legs stabbed at the ground, sending billowing clouds of sand into the air. Iblis also had to dart left and right to avoid the weaving strands of silk that poured from the thing’s behind. It weaved through the air, attaching to any surface and becoming a taut wire that could cut flesh with a touch. Iblis easily weaved around these tripwires and sliced through several of them, creating holes for her companion to slip through. The monstrous beast gave a roar of rage as its pray danced out of reach.
‘FOOD! I....MUST.....FEED! EAT! CONSUME! DESTROY! DEVOUR!’
Iblis’s face momentarily registered pity. ‘Soon, lost and mad sibling, you shall know death’s sweet kiss.’ then to Aisha. ‘Are you ready to deliver it succour?’
Aisha’s answer was to brandish her blade, then ready for a killing blow. The monster had scuttled round to stare at her, its eyes almost shining in the residual sunlight. Iblis understood. She would draw it in for the killing blow. Iblis swooped in to taunt the monster, flicking her flaming missiles past its face to taunt it.
‘Well? Why do you wait? We are here. Feed on us.’
The thing’s mandible’s twitched. ‘FEED! I MUST FEED!’
It charged, its legs scouring deep gouges in the rock and throwing up sand as it slid down and clattered towards them. Aisha readied her blade as it rushed towards her, its mandibles snapping, its jaws flailing. Finally, it pounced. But instead of landing on top of its prey, it sailed over it. Aisha dove underneath, then righted herself into a crouching position and slashed upwards. The edge of her sword cut through the weakened seam of the chitinous armour.
The monster let out a pained scream as it crashed into the narrow space like a carpet rolled oblong driven through a door. Its back cracked as it rolled and drove itself into the narrow crevasse between two pillars, and its foul-smelling innards began pouring out. Aisha’s and Iblis’s eyes met, and Iblis sent her remaining missiles into the flailing creature. After a moment of flames and screaming, the monster lay still, its tormented life snuffed out. The two looked at its burning corpse for some moments, then Aisha flicked the slime from her blade and sheathed it.
‘Friend of yours?’
Aisha shook her head. ‘No. But I sensed its origins. A jinni from the Emblem War. Imprisoned in this place in that form as a perverted punishment, and driven to insanity by regret and pain.’
‘Then I’m glad we could free it?’ Aisha was uncertain how to sound, and looked at her jinni companion. ‘Would you rather move on from here? I wouldn’t be the first time we’ve had to walk at night.’
‘No. We can remain here. This thing is no longer a jinni. It is merely a monster that we put out of its misery. Besides, it will soon be gone. Look.’
Aisha looked. Before their eyes, the monstrous creature was turning to dust and disintegrating. Its form was lost into a flow of sand, shimmering in the dying daylight. Soon, all that was left was a mound of sand, which itself was being blown flat by the gentle breeze. Iblis nodded.
‘It is best. Best for us all. Come, we should rest.’
That night, both were quiet. The fight had drained Iblis of her spark and Aisha of her strength. They contemplated their camp fire, maintained by Iblis’s energies, until the stars shone overhead. There was no moon visible, causing the nearby glories of the Island Ship to be lost in the gloom. Even the luscious surfaces of that great folly could not shimmer in the modest brilliance of starlight.
Soon the only clear light was the fire, and as the time for sleep advanced, Aisha wrapped herself in her cloak. Before lying on the ground, she took off her ring and gave it to the waiting Iblis. With a final smile, she closed her eyes and was soon in a deep sleep. The warmth of the rock and Iblis’s flame kept away the night chill, and Iblis herself remained awake and alert.
As she patrolled the area, she looked down at the ring resting in her hand. If she wanted, she could fly away and leave her charge now. Without the ring, Iblis could not be commanded. But that was not their agreement. Aisha did this as a sign of trust. She trusted Iblis to stay by her side as long as was needed. When she as safe as she could be from her father’s pursuit and retribution, Iblis could depart as a free jinni. Iblis still did not trust her entirely. She could easily revoke their deal and Iblis would be powerless to prevent it. But she had yet to make a single command, or even use her wish for anything.
One person, one wish. One riddle, one answer. That was the rule of the jinn. While they could be commanded any number of times, they were only allowed one wish. A command was limited in power, but a wish could alter the fabric of reality. It needed to; some wishes were so terrible that they could have crippled reality had it not been bent by its jinni to accommodate it. Aisha could have commanded Iblis to protect her for her lifetime, or wished herself free forever from his pursuit. But Aisha had neither wished nor commanded. Iblis’s power was being gifted. It was almost idiotic, farcical even, that a jinni would behave in this way.
What had her old master told her? She was the most cynical and utterly pessimistic being he had ever met in his life. What would he say now if he could see her now? Guarding a human who had not commanded or wished, not used or abused her power beyond their initial connection when she grabbed the ring and felt its power. All those years sleeping in that tacky band of metal, all but deaf and blind to the outside world, had ended with a young girl’s thoughtless action. A desperate grab as a treasury guard came upon her. She remembered glancing at the inscription beneath the ring’s plinth after knocking the guard away.
Here lies the ring of the jinni. Do not touch, lest it take your soul.
Flowery and interesting, but utter garbage. Not that she would say so. The myth of a curse was more effective than a curse itself. And did less harm. She smiled, thinking in amused contemplation of all the jinn who would have loved a true curse placed upon their prisons, that any human touching them would feel their sting. She had seen too much bloodshed in her time to wish for more. And humans could not help who or what they were. They always lusted for what they did not have. As jinn did. It was what made them the Mother’s favoured children.
The night wore on, and Iblis continued watching. No form was seen on the sands, and Aisha continued to sleep soundly. She fingered the ring she now kept safe, her ring, her bond to this world. If it were gone, she might be able to escape into her Mother’s embrace once again, as many other jinn had done. She longed for that soft light, the humming of eternal music, the safety of that plain where none but the jinn could find shelter, a place of flame and wind where they were unbound and free. Just as they had been in the beginning.
But that was not to be. She was here, now, tied to this human. Or at least, travelling with her. She could not truly claim that they were tied as previous masters had tied her. She held the key to her freedom. She could just abandon her. And Aisha knew it full well. She accepted it, placed her faith and trust in a jinni’s judgement and heart. That was why Iblis stayed. A prankster and cheater and fighter, all these things she was. But she was not a turncoat or a liar. She would stay as long as was needed, until Aisha told her otherwise.
After an age and in no time at all, the first light of dawn appeared, the Mother’s rays gently caressing the wasted land. Iblis sailed up to the top of one of the stone pillars and watched the sun’s rise. She smiled. A truer sight she had never seen. None could taint this pure expression of the Mother’s love. Not clouds, not the Island Ships, not the sand beneath nor the hubristic cities of humanity. This beautiful orb, rising through the firmament to light and warm the world, was a truth none could corrupt, that none could defile. At least, none now.
Her skin crawled at the memory. The legends of Ala-Ud-Din seeking to touch the Mother, and the Month of Endless Eclipse. That had paved the way for the unrest, for the Emblem War, for the wasting of the land. It was a legend little told. Who would wish to remember a hero of legends as a tyrant who sought to touch the very fabric of the world for their own aims. Truly humans reached too high and fell. But in falling, they caught a ripple of creation’s fabric, and brought it crashing down about them in a bonfire of war and destruction.
The land may yet recover, Iblis thought as she watched the sun disk’s advent, but not now. Not for some little time to come. And that is all beyond my ken.
Sensing her mistress’s awakening, she sailed down to be near her. Aisha had slept deep, untroubled by bad dreams or further night terrors. She got up, stretched, yawned wide and deep. As she rubbed her eyes, Iblis floated up to her and held out the ring.
‘You will want this back.’
‘Oh. Thanks.’
Aisha took the ring and slipped it onto her finger. At once Iblis felt its bond strengthen, the yoke of her Emblem’s enthralment weighing upon her like a lodestone on the back of a prisoner. Aisha seemed to see this and frowned.
‘Would you rather carry it?’
Iblis frowned. ‘You do understand what it is to be mistress of a jinn, do you not? You do not offer them freedom so openly or compassionately.’
‘I’m not your mistress. That’s what you call me. Besides, I don’t like seeing you in pain.’
‘No. I suppose you do not. Shall we leave? I have cast my senses wide, and it seems your father’s minions are but twenty miles distant. If we hurry, we shall be free of their direct pursuit for at least another day.’
‘How far away was the next town again?’
‘Ten days. We could take another route and risk discovery, which would cut our journey down to a mere three days.’
‘Should we take it?’
‘Perhaps so. We can hold our own if ambushed. Shall we?’
‘Yes.’
‘Very well, Aisha ibn Abdulla ibn–’
‘Iblis, couldn’t you just call me “Aisha”? It’d be easier on both of us.’
Iblis thought for a while, then smiled. ‘It would indeed. Then shall we take this shorter route, Aisha?’
‘Yeah. Let’s. Come on.’
With a smile, Aisha pulled her cloak and hood about her, and strode off into the sun. Lingering for a moment, glancing at the pile of sand which had been her monstrous brethren, Iblis nodded to herself. Yes, this was a very different mistress indeed. Almost too different. It would be worth staying just to see how she faced this cruel world. With a last glance at the pile of sand, Iblis floated after Aisha, leaving the rocky outcrops alone once again in the vast desert.
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