Feros and the Underworld Prince (49 page)

“
Night vision is a good foresight; jinn have excellent natural night vision so there will be few, if any, lights on when we reach the Shehar metropolis.” Naia commentates as Natasha slings the four-foot rifle over her back. Cheza and Natasha proceed to strap on their goggles and grab the scopes while I slip a scope into my pocket.

“
Alright Naia, where to?”

…

Chapter 42: Duniya al Jinn

My boots sink into the sand after I port us to the scene from the picture. Majlis al Jinn, or the meeting place of the jinn, is a gigantic cave in Oman that is quite adept at making you feel small when you stand in it. The only light is that of the moon streaming in through the entrance of the cave that is over three hundred feet above me. Naia walks up the pile of sand and rocks that have fallen from the entrance, towards the beam of moonlight that hits the peak of the pile. Cheza, Natasha, and I follow her up the pile and watch as she cups her hands and dips them into the moonlight like it’s a liquid.

The beam of moonlight becomes very liquid-like as it fills up her cupped hands and overflows down onto the sand. The liquid moonlight envelops all four of us in a giant yellow-white bubble. I feel the ground shift beneath my boots and the bubble suddenly pops, revealing us to be in a large sandstone gazebo. Various Persian spires and tear-drop domes stretch off into the distance as I look around at the large city that is devoid of light with the exception of the moon.

“
Welcome to the city of the jinn: Shehar.” Naia says, shaking slightly once we step out of the gazebo.

“
Are you okay?” I ask as Natasha and Cheza turn on their goggles.

“
I am fine, but I am a little nervous. It has been over a decade since I was last here… since my parents…” Naia trails off.

“
It’s alright, Naia. We’re right here with you and I’ll make sure you get back to Ryuji.” I say with a smile. Naia breaks into tears and wraps her arms around me.

“
I’m sorry Cole! I’m so sorry… for everything.” Naia bawls.

I stand there, wrap an arm around her, and let her work through it. It’s at around this time that I notice that the streets around us are completely empty.

“
Hey Naia… Is there a curfew in place or something?” I ask with a hushed tone as I activate my helmet.

“
*Sniffle* Not that I can remember.” Naia replies as Natasha tenses up and starts breathing heavily.

“
COLE! Trouble!” Natasha gasps out and I see a ball of fire headed straight for her. I push her out of the way as the fireball chars the sand.

“
Where did it come from!?” Cheza asks.

“
Three of them, ten o’clock.” I reply while looking at the three silver and vermillion auras hovering in the sky; the ifrits that the auras belong to are about seven feet tall with tan skin, red hair, red wings, and a red tail. Their wingspans reach about fourteen feet and they’re wearing modern combat vests that must have been altered to allow for wings.

“
Where!?” Cheza asks again.

“
Ten o’clock! In the sky!” I answer.

“
WHERE!?” Cheza screams and then the answer hits me: normal people can’t see jinn.

A metal canister hits the ground and explodes on impact. My helmet protects me from the effects, but Naia, Natasha, and Cheza aren’t so lucky. The flash-bang grenade stuns them badly as the three jinn advance on our position. I distance myself from the girls and charge the jinn. The ifrits swoop down and slice at me with scimitars. I block with my left arm and swing it back at them, causing them to be forced back a few feet and shredding my jacket’s sleeve in the process. I quickly pull my gun from its holster and take them out before they have a chance to regroup. I walk back over to the girls, who are still incapacitated from the grenade; reinforcements are going to arrive soon…

“
Sorry Cheza.” I think as I push the three girls together and use Cheza’s hand to touch my Haglaz rune. Luck appears to be on my side as the three girls port back to Niflheim (hopefully), leaving me alone in Shehar.

“
Cole! Dammit Cole!” Cheza shouts through our connection. Good, it looks like she did land in Niflheim.

“
Airi, please block all calls for the time being.”

(Yes Mr. Treyfair)

“
What’s the status on my blood levels?”

(4.6 Liters)

“
Shit… I’m going to need all of it for my plan to work. Looks like it’s time to try out that blood vacuum theory.”

(6 o’clock. Eight winged enemies)

A squad of eight ifrits, four armed with FAMAS assault rifles and four with scimitars, approaches me. I switch my gun to my right hand and launch myself at them when they are about thirty feet away and ten feet up. My guess is that when these ifrits woke up this morning, they weren’t expecting a being without wings to shoot into their domain to fight them head on, and that’s exactly why I did it. I spear my left hand through an ifrit’s stomach, grabbing ahold of his spine while I blow holes through the heads of three of his comrades as I pass by.

The ifrit in my left hand screams in pain as I hit the rooftop below. I begin swirling the blood inside my left arm to build a cyclone for suction as I hear the thud of three bodies hitting the rooftop behind me.

(Move forward five feet)

Diving out of the way to narrowly dodge the three fireballs that had been launched at me, I turn to fire on the remaining four ifrits. At fifty feet away and alert, they are able to swoop out of the way and the one remaining ifrit with an assault rifle returns fire.
(4.8 Liters)

Damn! Airi wasn’t kidding when she said this would take a while! I take five rounds to the chest and drop to a knee, feigning injury. The gunner drills a dozen more rounds into my chest, shoulders and head to make sure I stay down and gets a headshot on his comrade in the process. I fall backwards, pulling my… blood bag? On top of me.
(5.0 Liters)

The ifrits take the bait, land on the rooftop next to me, and cautiously move closer to confirm their kill. When they’re within six feet of me, I bolt upright and put two rounds through each of their skulls. I drop my current blood bag, switch my gun into my left hand, eject the nearly empty magazine, reload with JHP rounds, switch it back to my right hand, and pick up a new blood bag. With the amount of speed these ifrits possessed, faster bullets will definitely be beneficial.

“
So Airi… I don’t suppose you come with a built-in GPS that can tell me where to find Horus?”

(Jump off the roof and head west)

“
Seriously?”

(Horus will most likely be in the palace, which is most likely at the point with the highest elevation. Reinforcements are coming so head west)

“
Uh…”

(That’s to your right)

“
You know me so well!”

I follow Airi’s instructions and jump to the ground while keeping up the slow drain on my blood bag. I start running to the west, getting deeper into the city as I head uphill towards the most concentrated area of tall buildings. The hills in Shehar would break natives of Seattle or San Francisco with their steepness.
(5.4 Liters)

(Sentries. Take cover around this corner)

I press my body up against the adobe wall in an alleyway as a flying ifrit patrol team passes overhead.

“
So what are we searching for?” a sentry asks while stopping above me; I hold my breath.

“
Dunno. Reports coming in say that ten are confirmed dead, and one is unaccounted for.” The other sentry says.

“
Do you think it was the MGFC?” the first sentry asks while pulling out a pack of cigarettes and slipping one between his lips. He snaps his fingers and a flame appears on the tip of his index finger. He lights his cigarette before shaking his hand to extinguish the flame.

“
Who else could it be? Those damned ghouls would be the only ones to take a snack with them as they left anyway.” The second sentry replies nonchalantly.

“
Yeah, I suppose… so, how’s the wife?” the first sentry asks.

“
She’s good. The baby is due soon so the mother-in-law is staying with us, which sucks of course. I’m trying to convince her to get out of the city, it’s getting too dangerous.” The second sentry replies.

(5.8 Liters. Restoration complete)

“
Yeah, but it’s not exactly safe outside the city either. Did you hear what happened last week? A member of the forty-fifth lost his wife and kid after some ghouls raided a group of refugees that were leaving the city.” The first sentry says.

“
Weren’t the forty-fifth one of the most outspoken regiments against Horus?” The second sentry asks.

“
Yeah, well, not anymore. Makes you wonder if Horus might be the one behind it…” the first sentry says while finishing his cigarette. The second sentry hits his arm.

“
What a preposterous thing to suggest! That is completely impossible! Hehehe!” The second sentry laughs nervously.

“
You’re right! What was I thinking! Hehehe!” The first sentry repeats and then they both fly off.

So it looks like there is some kind of conflict going on and not everyone is on Horus’s side. I may be able to work with this. I quietly lower the body to the ground now that I’m finished, and a gun barrel is suddenly pressed into my right side.

“
Well, it looks like we’ve located the missing body. You’re coming with us.” A gruff voice says behind me.

I consider fighting back for a moment before I realize that this is the quickest way for me to get to Horus. The jinni behind me gives me a push forward and we start walking. Judging by the sounds of the footsteps behind me, I’d say that there are only three jinn. We walk for about three blocks before I’m led down a narrow alleyway. I’m stopped in front of a blank wall as a tan man that is about six feet tall with light blue hair, and devoid of wings or a tail, steps in front of it; this has to be a marid jinni, a water-related jinni that is described as having the strongest magic.

He puts his hand on the wall and mumbles “Olutus-say,” as his silver and periwinkle aura flares, before stepping back. I notice that there is now a two-foot square hole in the wall as a jinni that is around 5’8” tall with green hair and grey-ish skin steps forward; he must be a ghoul, a type of jinn associated with the desert and described as shape-shifting carrion eaters. He transforms into a hyena and trots into the hole. A few seconds later, a slab of stone to my right lifts up, revealing a staircase.

The jinni behind me gives me a directing push towards the stairs. I head down the stairs as I start to realize that these guys aren’t with Horus. At the base of the stairs are ten jinn, all with FAMAS assault rifles trained on me, guarding a large steel door. The jinni behind me starts frisking me and starts to pull my gun from its holster.

“
Here, just take the whole pack.” I say as I quickly yank off the pack and hand it to him before he has a chance to respond. Several of the jinn in the room tense up in response to my helmet-altered voice… or maybe it was just my quick movement.

“
No funny business once you’re in. If you move in a threatening way, we will put you down without hesitation.” The jinni says as I get my first good look at his green hair and grey-ish skin.

The steel door slides open and I walk into the room, slightly startled by what I’m seeing. Instead of the secure war room/bunker that I was expecting, there are froths of silk dangling from the ceiling that border a path leading up to a sitting area with dozens of plush, brightly colored, silk pillows. Lounging on top of the pillows is a beautiful marid woman that is about five and a half feet tall with long periwinkle hair, wearing a black cocktail dress and smoking a slender foot-long pipe; I swear that I’ve seen this woman somewhere, but I just can’t place it. Her light blue, cat-like eyes study me as I come to a stop about ten feet from her ‘throne’.

“
My Queen, we have brought one of the perpetrators of the event.” The ghoul that had been leading me says.