Angels and Djinn, Book 3: Zariel's Doom (3 page)

“How is she? She had the baby, I assume?” Iyasu asked brightly, hoping for some flicker of happy news, of a diversion from all the talk of the murderer Jevad.

“They’re both fine,” the healer said. “Talia seems to be adjusting well to her new life as a human, and a woman, and a mother. And her little girl, Nadira, is… fine.”

Iyasu saw how Veneka’s lips tightened on that last word.

So that’s what it is. The baby. Their baby. She and Zerai still haven’t been able to conceive. Even with her healing arts, even with the Angel of Life living beside them, they can’t conceive. And it’s torn them apart, slowly and quietly.

“I can send a bird,” Zerai said, looking at Iyasu. “Nyasha can be in Odashena sometime tonight, and Samira can be here by morning.”

“Actually, I was thinking we should go to her,” Veneka said. “It’s on the way.”

“On the way? To where?” Zerai glanced at her with a frown.

“Back to Shivala.” Veneka nodded to Adina and Kiya. “We were talking last night, and now that the refugees are all safely here, I think we can do the most good if we go back to Shivala and help the clerics there. At the very least, they do need healers.”

Zerai grimaced. “And you want to go through Odashena?”

“The djinn have been very welcoming to me,” Veneka said.

The falconer pressed his lips together and said nothing.

Iyasu watched their strained, tired eyes and he could feel the weight of everything that wasn’t being said. Zerai’s mistrust of the djinn, Veneka’s need to help those in need, Zerai’s frustration at always being overruled, and Veneka’s frustration at always needing to overrule him.

“I think that’s a good idea,” the young seer said. “You should go to Shivala. And you should see what Samira and her people can tell you about the eastern djinn. It’s a good place for you to start.”

“But, we’re talking about Shivala. Your home.” Zerai turned his frown on the seer. “Aren’t you coming?”

“Well, I was just thinking about that. And, well, no.” Iyasu shook his head slightly as he looked up at Raziel. “Rael and I may not have heard anything about Jevad Tafir in our travels, but we did hear about something else. A djinn relic called the Book of the Sun. People say that the Book of the Sun has some sort of power over the djinn, djinn secrets, ancient knowledge written by a djinn. Maybe it even says where we can find the lost city of Ramashad. And I was wondering if you knew anything about this book.”

The angel Raziel rippled his fingers along the spine of his ancient tome as he gazed thoughtfully at the seer. “I know the book is real.”

“Really? You’ve seen it?”

“No. But one of my sisters has. If you can find the angel Simurgh, then perhaps you can find the Book of the Sun.”

“Where is she?” Iyasu asked.

“I don’t know. Her home tends to move.” The angel smiled thoughtfully with a faraway look in his icy blue eyes. “But she is not a shy person, nor a subtle creature. To say that she moves in mysterious ways would be to vastly oversimplify her methods. She plays games and speaks in riddles, but always with the best of intentions. She is a strange one. But I suppose if a keen-eyed seer went east beyond the White Desert, he probably could find her.”

“Wait.” Zerai turned to Iyasu. “If you think that’s the right way to find the djinn and stop them from attacking Shivala again, then we should be going with you.”

“I wish you could,” Iyasu said wistfully. “But Rael and I have a way of traveling. You, uh, you wouldn’t be able to keep up, I’m afraid. She may be able to fight a whole army by herself, but she can only fly with one passenger at most. Funny thing, really, angels. Strong arms, weak wings. But there it is.”

The falconer nodded, clearly unhappy about his answer but not willing to challenge it. “All right.” He looked up at the dark-haired angel. “You’ll take care of him? I mean, I know you will, I just… Take good care of him.”

Azrael smiled and rested her hand on Iyasu’s neck. “I will. I always do.”

There was more talking, more planning. Veneka began assembling a small group of the young healers that she and Raziel had been training, and Adina found several of the Shivalan elders to oversee the refugees during their stay in Naj Kuvari.

And during all the talking and planning, Iyasu quietly slipped away from the crowd and found himself a shaded little lane where the cobblestones were carpeted in soft green moss and the walls were draped in thin, delicate vines covered in brilliant violet blooms.

“What are you doing?” Azrael asked as she stepped into the lane behind him.

He sighed. “I needed some air.”

“Air. Hm. Do you mind telling me why we’re going off on our own to look for a djinn relic?” Azrael put her warm hands on his shoulders. “We should be going to Shivala with the others. If the eastern djinn are starting a war, then lives are in danger. Lives we can save.”

“I know, I know.” He stepped away from her and rubbed his eyes. “But you heard them. Shattered walls. Thousands dead or injured. They need healers, and they need builders. Yes. Absolutely. But they don’t need a seer.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t heal anyone or build anything! Those people are already suffering, it’s already happened, it’s already over! And there’s nothing I can do to help them now.” He looked back at her, curling his small hands into fists to stop them from shaking. “All I can do is
see
, and remember. And I don’t need to see my home in ruins, or my people being buried. I don’t need that.”

The dark angel gazed at him. “Do you really think we can find the Book of the Sun, and that it will help us stop another attack?”

He winced. “You think I’m making excuses to avoid going back.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Look, Raziel said the book is real, so it’s
real
.” He stabbed his finger at the ground for emphasis. “And there’s nothing I can do in Shivala right now. The attack is over. Damage done.”

“But there may be another attack.”

“Exactly. There may be. And maybe I can do something about that. Maybe I can find the person who did this and stop the next attack before it happens. This djinn woman ran away. No one can find her, no matter how hard they look. So we need to find her.” Iyasu managed a tired grimace. “And that, well,
that
I can do. That sounds like a job for a seer.”

Azrael’s stern eyes softened. “I suppose it does.”

He took her hand in his. “You know I want you to be with me, but I’ll understand if you want to go to Shivala. The angels of the holy mount could be in danger, and maybe if you’re there defending the city, you can catch this djinn yourself. I don’t know. I really don’t. With me or at the city, either way you might save countless lives. It’s up to you.”

“Everyone dies,” she said quietly. “I felt the deaths in Shivala. I saw them. Each and every one of them. They were terrible deaths, and I wish I could have saved them from their suffering. If I had understood what I was seeing, I might have told you. I’m sorry now that I didn’t. But for all we know, this djinn warrior will attack another city altogether next, and it won’t do any good to have me standing on the walls of Shivala at all. Even if she does return to Shivala, it could be weeks or even months before that happens. So if you’re going to find this killer, then I want to be with you.”

He smiled in spite of himself. “In case I actually do find her?”

Azrael nodded seriously. “Exactly. And while it’s possible that you’ll be able to subdue this warrior with your sharp eyes and charming words, if you can’t, if by some remote chance this terrible meeting falls into violence… well, then, I’ll just have to save you again, won’t I?”

“I love you.” He leaned in and kissed her lips gently, and she took him firmly in her hands, shoved him back against the wall, and kissed him with equal measures of passion and impatience. Iyasu gave himself over to her, trying his best to keep up but knowing that she was far too strong, too completely in control. So he did his best to pour his love for her into each kiss and hoped it was enough for her.

She pulled back and smiled at him so brightly, a smile she never shined on anyone else, a smile that cried out to him that for just one moment, that one precious moment, she was truly with him and only him, and the endless parade of deaths marching swiftly through her heart were no longer troubling her, because all she could see was him.

The moment passed all too quickly, and her smile faded to a more strained expression of her happiness. He touched her cheek and was about to speak when he saw a tiny shift in the shadows and looked up at a white falcon perched on the roof above them. The bird stared down at them intently.

“Hello, Nezana,” the seer said.

“He missed you.” Zerai Saqir stepped into the narrow lane with a sheepish look. “Sorry for the intrusion.”

“Missed me? I had no idea Nezana even liked me,” Iyasu said. “He’s never paid any attention to me. He did bite my finger once, but it didn’t seem like a gesture of affection at the time.”

“I know, I remember. I suppose if I’m honest, I’m the one who missed you.”

Iyasu let go of Azrael, walked over, and wrapped his arms around his old friend. “Are you all right?”

“Yes and no.”

Iyasu let him go. “I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do?”

Zerai shook his head. He had let his hair grow longer and it now hung in a thick black mane around his shoulders. His arms seemed even stronger and leaner than before, criss-crossed with taut veins and the white scars from his many birds of prey perching on him, and taking their food from him. But despite all his apparent health and strength, his face seemed tired and wasted. “It’s fine.”

Iyasu knew perfectly well that it wasn’t fine. The falconer had wanted so badly to have a family of his own, and apparently not even Raziel could help him and Veneka to conceive. Wishing he could offer some comfort, all he could think to say was, “Maybe you just need to give it more time.”

Zerai’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve given it time, and more time. I think maybe it’s time for…” He grimaced, unable to finish.

Iyasu glanced back at Azrael, who nodded and faded back into the shadows, moving farther down the lane, giving them the privacy they needed. “I think you need to be honest with yourself, and with her. I’ve only been here half an hour and I know you’re not happy, and she’s not happy. That’s not a crime, Zerai. You didn’t fail or anything. It’s just… things happen. Things change. Or they don’t change enough. That’s life.”

The falconer nodded. “I shouldn’t even be here. I’m no cleric. I spend more time with Nyasha and Nezana than actual people. Nothing’s the way I thought it would be. I want…”

“What?”

“A normal life.”

Iyasu smiled wistfully. “So do I. You could have that, you know. You just have to make it happen.”

“I know. But it’s hard.”

“I know.” He embraced his friend again. “Promise me you’ll do something about it. Maybe not right now, in the middle of all this djinn business, but soon. For everyone’s sake, yours especially. All right?”

Zerai leaned back and smiled a real smile. He still looked tired, but now there was relief in his eyes as well. “How did you learn so much about these things?”

“Oh, you know.” Iyasu nodded his head back toward the distant figure in the lane.

“Right.” Zerai’s unease returned. “How’s that going, by the way?”

“Rael and me?” Iyasu grinned. “Wonderful. Just… fantastic, in every way.”

“In
every
way?”

Iyasu blushed. “Yes.”

They laughed together.

“So, you’re going east? Beyond the desert?” the falconer said.

“That’s the plan.” Iyasu nodded.

“All right. And you’ll be careful out there?”

“No, he won’t.” Azrael called from the end of the lane. “He’ll be reckless and silly and naïve and over-eager. But I’ll make sure he comes back in one piece.”

Zerai nodded. “I know you will.”

“Hey, I’m not the one you need to worry about,” Iyasu said. “We’ll be far to the south of Shivala, heading east across the sea. What could be safer?”

Chapter 3

Iyasu frowned at the sea. “I don’t think it’s supposed to do that.”

Azrael stood next to him on the sandy shore, staring out across the black waves at the huge white masses of ice sailing south across the sea. A chill wind howled across the whitecaps, filling the air with gusts of snow and ice. The angel shook her head. “The sea can be… fickle.”

“Not this fickle.” Iyasu started walking along the water’s edge, nudging the occasional chunk of ice with his shoe. “Something’s wrong, something is seriously wrong. But how can there be something wrong with the sea? Unless… there’s something wrong with the world?”

“I don’t know.” She trailed behind him. “Whatever it is, I don’t like it. The wind. The icebergs. It’s too dangerous for me to try to fly with you through this weather.”

“Probably.” He smiled back at her. “Too bad we didn’t bring a healer of our own along, just a little one, just in case I happen to fall into a freezing ocean. Or something. Wish I’d thought of that.”

“I know. I’d prefer if you didn’t freeze or drown any time soon.” She smiled all too briefly as though struggling to show that she was joking, but the bleak horror of her words painted a weary and miserable look in her eyes. She stopped and stared down the strand. “So, a ship?”

“A ship.”

They walked on down the shore.

Since leaving Naj Kuvari, they had flown mostly, hour after hour, racing just above the tree tops to find the coast somewhere south of the Sapphire Sea where they could continue east without striking the shores of Imaya, without having to cross the White Desert at all on their way to its far side, by skirting it along its southern shores.

But all that planning was unimportant now. Instead of a wide open road, the storming sea was a deadly barrier, one that would consume far more time than he had anticipated. Iyasu shuddered in his travel-worn robes as the cold and the wet pelted the side of his face. Azrael didn’t seem to notice the ice that salted her long black hair, but her eyes flashed with golden fire and her magnificent black wings swept out from her back and then curled forward around her lover to shield him from the elements.