Published at 16th of February 2024 2:23 pm

Chapter 2.13 Interlude: The Embers of Creation

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“Whose there?” Joey asked, eyes darting from wall to wall. He backpedaled into a shelf carrying daggers, bucklers, and other enchanted weapons. Despite the unintended push, the wooden case felt like a brick wall and didn’t budge.

“Would you like a hand?” The voice repeated.

Joey hesitantly looked at the immobile guards, hoping to use the frozen time to slip around them. An invisible force kept him from advancing.

“Time has frozen but only in your mind,” the voice said. “I can let things return to normal. You’ll find yourself standing where you were before I spoke to you.”

“Who are you? I know better than to accept help from invisible voices. It always comes at a price.”

“Would you rather get arrested and taken to prison?”

“It’s better than selling my soul to a shaitan,” Joey replied, clutching what remained of his left hand's little finger.

“I’m no shaitan, young one.” The voice laughed. Smoke burst from Joey's satchel, carrying gold, pink, and blue hues. They didn’t diffuse but coalesced, deepening and solidifying, eventually forming the top half of a rather rotund man. He wore nothing but solid metal bands around his wrists. Broken chains dangled from them.

“You’re a djinn!” Joey exclaimed, eyes darting between his satchel and the entity. “You’re the Embers of Creation.”

“Djinn, yes. The latter, no.” The djinn guffawed, his smoky body jiggling like pudding. “I’m a lot more than embers, child.”

“I think I’d rather accept help from a shaitan than a djinn. I hear your kind’s twisted sense of humor makes your lot worse.”

“Did you trap me in a container to extract wishes?”

Joey shook his head.

“Am I offering you three wishes?”

Joey shook his head again.

“Then you don’t have to worry about my twisted sense of humor, do you? I’m offering you help, child. Without my assistance, this will either end with you dead or in chains.”

“What do you want in exchange?”

“Freedom,” the djinn answered. He uncrossed his arms and continued in a pantomime fashion, clutching his left breast and looking into the distance. “I wish to be free of my prison and return to my home dimension. Unfortunately, I can achieve neither alone with my bindings and current strength.” The djinn held up his arms, and the bands around his wrists shimmered gold. His upper arms wobbled, and the chains jingled as he moved. “So you scratch my back, my handsome, fleshy friend, and I’ll return the favor.”

“I don’t know.” Joey hesitantly glanced between the djinn and the guards. He worried the djinn would betray him at the first opportunity, leaving him in a worse state than a prisoner. Tales starring the mythical creature always ended in their companions meeting terrible fates. The lucky met swift deaths. The rest ended up losing their sanity, senses, organs, or limbs and spent the remainder of their lives in agonizing misery. Djinns were creatures of chaos and not to be trusted.

“That’s a misconception, you know?” The djinn shrank down until his torso was no bigger than Joey’s. He met Joey at eye level before continuing. “First of all, I’m Nar. It’s nice to meet Jitendra Pal.”

“Where did you hear that name?” Joey’s chest tightened as he studied Nar’s ever-changing eyes. He attempted to flee again, but the same invisible force stopped him. “You can read my mind?”

“Your blood birthed a temporary bond between us. I feel your pain. I see your memories. I know what you’re thinking.” Far leaned against the neighboring display case. His face morphed again. His brow wrinkled, and the skin around his eyes creased. Suddenly, the djinn—an already ageless being—appeared older and wiser. “Either way. Agents of chaos is a misconception. Tell me, Jitendra Pal—”

“I prefer Joey.”

“Tell me, Jitendra. Would you be happy if someone ripped you from your home and trapped you in a tiny, uncomfortable cell? If they then enslaved you and demanded you use your life essence to fulfill their shallow demands, would you have any incentive to do it well?” Nar sighed. “Djinns aren’t agents of chaos. We’re frustrated individuals who know they’re never going home. So, we look for the little joys in life.”

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“I suppose that makes sense. But why me? I’m sure hundreds of thousands have been through this room. Why would you want to make a deal with me?”

“Besides you being the first person in a long time to touch my cell?” Nar asked. “Your blood gave me a glimpse of who you are. I can trust you with a warlock pact that doesn’t end with me becoming an enslaved Wishmaster. If I don’t get out of here soon, my previous masters will recover my container and think of insane methods of recharging my powers. They’re inefficient and cause more agony than pleasure.”

“The cults capturing mages for sacrifice was for your benefit,” Joey whispered, studying the guards at the entrance. Now that he thought about it, the clothes they wore didn’t completely match the city and Inquisition supervisors. “Wasn’t it for their All-Father?”

“Odin? That fool fell long ago and perished. The cults might not know the truth, but my master did. He hoped to recharge me using the cores and essences of fallen mages.”

“So what do you want me to do?”

“I’ll grant you the power to conjure and control Djinn Fire. In exchange, you’ll take me to divine domains and slay their inhabitants so I can absorb the dimensional energy. With my help, you’ll become a powerful mage with a core unlike that of any living human. You can leave behind this life you hate and become something more.”

“How do I know you won’t betray me?”

“You’ll need to be smart about the terms of the warlock pact, I suppose.” Nar smiled. Joey saw no malice in the djinn’s gaseous face. He looked like a molded storm cloud with lightning dancing just below the surface. “I have no reason to betray you as long as you treat me as a person and not a tool for fulfilling your ambitions.”

“Ambitions.” Joey snorted. “I haven’t had any besides survival for a long time.”

“That’s a lie,” Nar replied. “You protect the little urchins and use most of your earnings to feed them. You might be a thief, Jitendra, but you’ve got a decent heart.”

“That’s not my name anymore. I—”

“But it's the one I’ll use. Joey is your mask, but it's not who you are. Make a pact with me, and I’ll help you become the man you once hoped to be.”

“Fine.” Joey sighed. “I suppose warlock is a better future than one in chains.”

Djinn fire wasn’t what Joey had imagined. One moment, he was less than a novice with nothing but a cloud of rotating mana in his core. The next, a protostar system replaced it. The surrounding swirling energies boiled and rotated furiously, adopting otherworldly forms, creating and breaking down structures, emotions, entities, and more. Nar guided the clouds as the star grew, gathering it all into a planet.

The mysterious arcane energy was the essence of Nar’s existence. Now that Joey felt the magic, he understood why his employer wanted the ‘Embers of Creation.’ They could truly warp and reshape reality to create whatever the djinn desired. However, every such act consumed Nar’s life essence and weakened him.

The Djinn Fire Joey conjured was similar but not nearly as potent. Azure flames danced in his palm as time resumed. Meanwhile, Nar's true container, the glass spearhead, floated over his left shoulder. Gaseous wisps flowed from it into the wound on his left shoulder. The crossbow bolt froze and remained firmly in place. Joey’s flesh stung, but he bit his tongue and withstood the pain.

Joey launched the flames at the guards while simultaneously casting Cold Snap.

Bathe them in frostfire!

Nar's voice sounded distant and echoed in Joey's mind. He obeyed, reveling at the volume of mana in him. The frostfire danced and moved as he willed it, following his mental image. His arcane reservoirs depleted faster with every heartbeat he conjured the Djinn Fire. His breath turned into white vapors as the ambient temperature dropped.

That's enough.

The guards screamed, clutching and clawing at their faces. Frost coated their armour, and their exposed skin had turned blue, grey, and black. Frostfire clung to their hair, and parts of their body appeared covered in ice.

Joey didn't spend long marveling at his new power. He raced past the writhing and panicking guards into the hallway beyond. Using the hole in the wall would only put him in the crossbow wielder’s path. Kneeling and crawling would also stress his shoulder wound.

The spearhead glowed red and pressed itself against the stump of Joey's left pinky. He winced. It took immense restraint not to scream. Pain wracked his body, but he also felt stronger and more energetic than ever before. All the mana running through Joey's body had invigorated him. He felt like a new man.

More guards appeared in Joey's path as he approached the west wing. He sent another blast of frost fire at them before taking a left toward the stairs. He hopped the banister, skipping a flight, and then raced to the floor below. It took him to the section of the building he wanted.

Much to his disappointment, the heavy doors to the balcony were locked. Nar filled Joey's mind with images, and an idea formed in his mind. He grabbed the floating spearhead, holding it by the broken handle.

The Blaze Touch cantrip fed the Djinn Fire its essence, and the glass spearhead glowed a bright orange. When Joey slashed the glass and wood, he cut through it like butter. The dip in his new star's mana stores alarmed Joey. He released the spell as soon as the lock was sufficiently damaged to force the door open.

Finally, Joey cast his final cantrip. Feather Weight momentarily made him light as dandelion fluff, and he leaped, floating to the stone road below. Crossbow bolts clattered around him as soon as he landed. One grazed his cheek, and another scratched Joey's thigh. He shot a blast of orange djinn fire over his shoulder before taking off. He hoped April had made it out, too. Joey would never forgive himself if the job got the girl captured or killed.

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