Flameseeker (Book 3) (27 page)

Kaijin slowly backtracked down the stairs and
stood next to Jarial, who appeared to be in a deep state of concentration as he
focused on the holding spell.

“Goodness, what has happened to the
shak’ha?
Is he all right?” Zarya asked, looking worried.

Before Kaijin could respond to the priestess, he
heard Jarial grunt. Jarial appeared to be straining. “Master?”

Jarial gritted his teeth. “He ... is ... resisting
...”

Kaijin heard a growl from near the exit, and
spotted Percival darting at Jarial. He bared his fangs, then nipped Jarial’s
ankle.

“Ouch! Damn it, you little rat!” Jarial cried,
reaching for his ankle and breaking the spell. His glowing eyes went back to
normal, and Omari was freed from the holding spell, but one of the attendants
rushed in to stop him from proceeding further.

Sable hissed and bounded from her spot at
Percival, but the weasel darted out of the way. Her back arched, and fur on end,
Sable faced Percival, ready to pounce.

From above, Miele swooped down on the two animals
before they could engage. She screeched and flew in circles around them both,
making them confused and flustered.

Sable stood on her hind legs and tried to swat at
the bat, but Miele was too fast for her.

“No, Sable. Leave her alone. Come here,” Jarial ordered.
He winced and rubbed his ankle, which began to trickle blood from the small
bite wound. He swore under his breath.

With her ears flattened and her tail lashing
about, Sable reluctantly slunk back to her master’s side.

Percival squeaked in victory until Miele began
swooping at him. The weasel bolted up the stairs to Omari and climbed up to his
shoulder.

“That’s enough, Miele.”
Frowning, Kaijin
pointed to the stone ceiling and dismissed Miele back to her perch.

Zarya approached Jarial and knelt beside him.
“Allow me,” she said, then placed her glowing hand over the injury. Aidan and
Nester also gathered around.

“First th’ crazy fiddlin,’ now th’ crazy animals!
What in th’ soddin’ ’ells is goin’ on?” Nester asked.

Aidan shrugged. “Aidan does not think it is any of
his business,” he replied, not taking his eyes off the commotion in the
summoning circle.

“Master! Are you all right?” Kaijin asked Jarial.

Jarial smiled warmly at Zarya as he watched her
mend the wound, but as he looked up at Kaijin, his smile quickly faded. “Yes, I
am fine. Please stop Omari before something serious happens. He must
not
disturb the
shak’ha
.”

Kaijin nodded and bounded up the stairs to the platform,
where Omari had shoved the assistant aside and gone to his father.

“Young master!” one of the attendants exclaimed,
putting his hand on Omari’s shoulder. “You must not—”

Omari shrugged off the hand. “Enough! You two are
taking too long! My father is stronger than this!” He knelt down, propped Amil
up to a sitting position, and shook him gently.

Amil’s body moved limply.

“Father! Father! Wake up!” Omari shouted, sounding
panicked.

“Young master! Stop!” The two attendants grabbed
Amil and tore him out of Omari’s grasp.

Kaijin rushed to Omari, grabbed his arm and attempted
to pull him away. “No, Omari! Don’t disturb him!”

Omari snatched his arm away and glared at Kaijin.
“You do not understand, Kaijin! My father’s spells have never done this to him before!
Something must have happened, and I
must
wake him up before—”

“
Leave him be
!” Jarial’s voice boomed loud
enough to catch even Omari’s attention. Jarial hurried up the stairs to the
circle and grabbed Omari by the back collar of his robes, jerking him to his
feet. “Fool! You must not disturb him while his consciousness is on the
ethereal plane! Doing so can have fatal consequences for him! His mind must
not
be distracted in any way! He must return to us on his own. Do you understand,
boy?” His eyes glowed a spectrum of colors.

Omari held in his breath, looking at Jarial. He
fell silent and nodded curtly, and Jarial released him.

Jarial’s eyes returned to normal as his demeanor
calmed. “This particular scrying spell he performed was greatly enhanced, and
thus, the risks involved are also increased. Give him time to return. It can
sometimes be a slow process because the spell is so demanding.”

Omari repeatedly wrung his hands and chewed on his
bottom lip as he stared at his father, who lay as still as a corpse.

Several minutes later, Amil’s eyes fluttered open.
He gazed blankly toward the ceiling and then slowly moved his head. His eyes
swiveled to each of the attendants, who each held one of his arms. One of the
assistants beckoned Omari forward, making a ‘quiet’ gesture.

“Father,” Omari said softly as he went to Amil’s
side.

Kaijin noticed Zarya and Nester slowly ascend the
stairs, but they stopped a few steps away from the top. Aidan remained at the
foot of the stairs, watching silently with his arms crossed.

Amil’s mouth fell open, and he took a breath. He
then said in a weak, almost inaudible voice, “I ... found him.”

Omari blinked. “The murderer?”

“Perhaps ...” Amil replied. His eyes focused on
Kaijin. “He is ... searching for you on claims of ... deceiving the Ignan
clergy, and ... Ignis himself.”

Kaijin widened his eyes slightly at the mention of
Ignis, and he involuntarily fingered the warm charm of his necklace.
What?
“But that’s impossible! I did not deceive anyone. On what grounds do they make
such claims, Uncle?”

“Ignis has apparently been speaking to Vargas
about this matter.” Amil briefed the group of his experience and the location
of the secret underground cavern as best he could in his current exhausted
state.

Kaijin paled when Amil finally finished. “An
afriti
?”
Za’thaak!

Omari growled. “And once again, we must face those
confounded creatures!”

“That makes no sense,” Aidan broke in. His voice
sounded close, and Kaijin turned in surprise. Aidan, his arms crossed, suddenly
stood on a step behind Zarya and Nester, who also stared at him.

How does that big guy manage to get around so
silently?
Kaijin wondered.

Aidan frowned at the group. “Aidan remembers
Kyniythyria once saying that afriti are not chaotic beings. They do not kill
for sake of killing. They have sense of order amongst themselves, and they
always serve a master.”

Zarya nodded. “That’s right. I remember her saying
that, too. So why is this afriti different?”

“Why does a calm flame sometimes suddenly rage out
of control?” Jarial mused aloud.

“Maybe it’s not really an afriti?” Nester
suggested with a shrug.

Jarial rubbed his chin. “No, I believe it is. And
I believe its master is Vargas ... for now, anyway. There is a reason why he
has clung to the cleric all this time and not killed him outright.”

Kaijin stayed silent and listened to his friends.
His thoughts returned to his harrowing encounter with Ignis.

Amil gave a long, tired sigh. “Rest ... must ...”

“Do not worry, Father. My companions and I will resolve
this.” Omari turned to the attendants. “Take my father to bed. See that he is
not disturbed.”

The attendants bowed and helped Amil by providing
themselves as supports as Amil slowly walked off.

Kaijin bit his lip as he watched them leave. Then
he looked back at his friends and finally said, “It’s the orb.”
This is all
my fault.

Everyone looked at him.

“What about it?” Omari asked.

“There was an afriti living in there, and he was ...
inadvertently freed when I brought it to the Pyre. I ... I did not know or even
realize that ...” He lowered his head. “I thought it was the will of Ignis, but
...”

Zarya shook her head. “None of us would have
known.” She pursed her lips, looking as if she wanted to say something more.

Jarial looked thoughtful. “Perhaps once the afriti
was freed, it recognized Vargas as a suitable victim to become its ‘master’. It
probably overlooked Kaijin because it knew he was a Firebrand.”

Nester stroked one of his sideburns in thought.
“Oh! Now
that’s
rich! You think that bloke’s scared of Kaijin?”

Scared? Of me?
Kaijin quickly shook his
head. “I don’t think so. I’ve encountered enough afriti to know that is not the
case.”

“Well, in any event, my father will be unable to
help us now,” Omari said. “That spell has drained him—or perhaps it was something
else that has caused him to become so unresponsive. That has never happened to
him before in all my years I have ever witnessed him perform a spell. It is up
to us to deal with this problem now. My father mentioned that Vargas and the
afriti were headed to Zebi.”

Jarial nodded. “We should have a look at the circle
of sand, first. It may provide further clues.”

Omari sighed and strode toward the exit. “Very
well. Let us make haste. We can borrow some dromedaries from the stables.”

Kaijin was the last to follow Omari out of the chamber.
His thoughts were jumbled, but one thought stood out above the rest.

Could an afriti
really
be afraid?

XXVIII

The mages at the Harran saw Kaijin and his friends
stocked with enough food, water, and supplies to last them for about a week.
The attendants outfitted all but Aidan, who was far too big, in clothes that
would resist Ankhram’s harshest desert climate.

The clothes were light, but more comfortable than
Kaijin’s robes, which he had folded and tucked away in his haversack. Zarya
wore her Celestran-tabarded chain shirt over her gifted clothes, and Kaijin worried
how she would fare in the heat with the extra armor. Jarial’s set of colorful,
lightweight clothing made his youthful disguise look even younger. Nester
complained about not having any pockets, and Kaijin wondered if the mages had
purposefully given the brownie a special set of clothes.

Once Kaijin and the rest of his group had gathered
their belongings from their rooms, they headed to the stables, where they
discovered four dromedaries already tacked up and tied to hitching posts outside.

Omari’s brow wrinkled, and he turned to the attendants.
“Only four? Could you at least not find one for Aidan?”

One of the attendants shook their heads. “Forgive
us, Young Master. There is none that would be able to bear his weight.”

“Do not worry,” Aidan spoke up. “Aidan is content
with walking. He could use the exercise.”

Omari gave the giant a sour look. “So be it. Are
our guides on their way?”

Before one of the attendants could reply, two
robed men wearing sashes that denoted a high rank exited the stables’ entrance
with their own tacked-up steeds in tow. The two men stopped before Omari and
bowed.

“Greetings, Young master. I am Jahi,” said one of
the men.

“And I am Haas,” greeted the other.

Omari looked over the two briefly and nodded.

“Young master,” the attendant said, “Jahi and Haas
are your father’s most trusted guides. They are not only highly skilled
arcanists, they are also survivalists and know their way around the desert very
well.”

Omari smirked. “Excellent. Then we should have
nothing to worry about.”

Kaijin gazed up at one of the tall, shaggy
hump-backed dromedaries in curiosity and awe. He’d only seen and read about
them in books and never thought he’d actually see one in person. “You really
know how to ride these things, Omari?”

Omari rolled his eyes. “Of course I do, Kaijin. I
learned to ride them when I was a boy.”

Zarya smiled and rubbed her fingers through the
thick, tannish fur of one animal’s elongated neck. It gave a strange “moof”
sound. “They can’t be all that different from riding a horse, right?”

Omari untied his dromedary and held its reins.
“There are some similarities. I will let Jahi and Haas explain.” He gestured to
the two guides, who began explaining the basics of mounting and riding the animals.

After the instructions were given, Omari packed
his spellbook in one of the saddlebags of his selected steed and dropped
Percival into a small basket secured to it. He covered the basket with a white
cloth. Kaijin and Jarial also followed suit with their belongings and
familiars.

Zarya carefully climbed onto her mount and held
the reins lightly in one hand, while she petted the back of the animal’s neck
with the other.

“Uh ...” Nester tugged at Omari’s robe just as the
man was about to climb atop his mount. “What about me, mate?”

Omari paused and looked down at the brownie with a
sneer. “I will not waste my father’s precious mounts on one small brownie.”

“Well it ain’t like I take up much room!” Nester
said, returning a scowl.

“You can ride with me, Nester,” Kaijin offered.

Nester’s eyes lit up and he ran to Kaijin. “Aw!
Thanks, mate!”

“No, Nester, you should ride with Omari, instead,”
Jarial said.

Nester’s expression quickly dropped. “What! Why? I
don’t wanna ride with ’im!”

“And
I
do not want you riding with me.”
Omari said.

Haas cleared his throat. “With all due respect,
Young Master, it would be better for him to ride with someone more experienced,
such as you.”

Omari grumbled as he shot the guide a glare, and
then he climbed atop his mount. “Get up here, Nester.”

Kaijin gave Nester an apologetic look, and Nester
shrugged back.
I tried.
Kaijin carefully mounted his dromedary and sat
upon the soft, blanket-covered saddle. He held the reins stiffly, trying to
remember all that the assistants had explained and demonstrated to his group.
He tugged once with his left hand, and the dromedary turned that way. He looked
over to Jarial, who was already seated and secured on his mount, and walking it
behind Omari’s. Kaijin admired how effortlessly Jarial handled his mount. On
Jarial’s mount, one of the saddlebags had a basket attached, which was covered
by a small white blanket. The blanket lifted slightly, and Sable poked her head
out, meowing.

Nester gingerly approached Omari’s dromedary. In
an amazing display of dexterity, Nester had managed to scramble up the animal
and secure himself behind Omari in seconds. Nester wrapped his arms as far as
he could around Omari’s waist and held on tight. “I ’ope you’re as good at
maneuverin’ this thing as you say you are. I don’t wanna fall off!”

Omari grunted. “Confound it! Stop squeezing so
hard! You will not fall off!” Aidan approached Omari and Nester and looked up
at the two perched high on the dromedary’s back. “If you fall, Aidan will catch
you.” He gave them both a slight smile.

“You
better
!” Nester wailed. “I might break
my leg or somethin’ from fallin’ off this thing!”

“Enough of your complaining, Nester,” Jarial snapped,
glaring.

Zarya steered her dromedary and fell in behind
Jarial. Kaijin lined up behind Zarya. Haas rode to the head of the line, while
Jahi brought up the rear.

“Are you and your friends ready to go, Young Master?”
Haas asked, looking over his shoulder at Omari.

Omari nodded. “We are.” He turned to the assistants,
who stood by, watching the group. “Tell my father when he wakes up that my
companions and I have gone off to Zebi. He need not worry, nor follow us. We
will take care of everything.”

The assistants bowed. “Safe travels, all of you,”
they said, and then left with haste.

Jarial looked over his shoulder at Zarya and
called, “Zarya, are you well-rested?”

Zarya nodded. “I am. I don’t know if I will
discover anything, but I will do my best.”

Jarial returned the nod and smiled. “I know you
will.”

* * *

The group traveled for several hours through the
sea of rippling sand. The dunes went on as far as Zarya could see. Other than
occasional insects and small animals, there were very few traces of life. And
yet, these barren lands held a certain natural beauty that Zarya adored.

Her dromedary was obediently following the others
ahead of it. She loosened her grip on the reins and took the opportunity to rub
the back of its soft furry neck. The animal groaned in response to her touch,
and she chuckled.
He must like it.

She looked over to Aidan, who, with his hands
behind his head, had been walking up ahead alongside Omari and Nester’s
dromedary. His burly legs trudged through the sand with little difficulty. His
muscles strained, but he didn’t appear to be tired. Zarya worried, however,
about how much stamina and endurance the half-Dragon would need to be able to
venture the rest of the way to their first destination, the mysterious circle
of sand.

“Aidan, do you need to rest?” Zarya asked.

Aidan slowed his walk until she rode up alongside
him. He looked at her and smiled. “No, Aidan is all right. He is enjoying this
exercise very much.”

Jarial, who was ahead of her, turned slightly and
peered over his shoulder. “Exercise? Surely you jest. We’ve been traveling for over
three hours. There is no shame in saying that you need to take a break.”

Aidan shook his head. “No, no. Aidan insists he is
fine. Aidan has walked up steep mountains every morning carrying heavy things
on his back when he was training at White Lotus monastery.”

Shaking his head, Jarial turned back around.

“Heavy things?” asked Kaijin from behind Zarya.
“What kind of heavy things?”

“Oh ...” Aidan looked thoughtful. “Things like
logs, boulders ... Sometimes, Aidan carried Master up mountain, too. But Master
was not very heavy, so it wasn’t so bad.”

“Now
that
I would have loved to see,”
Kaijin said, laughing.

Zarya sighed.

Aidan smiled at her reassuringly. “Aidan
appreciates your concern, Zarya, but he will be fine.”

“He looks like he eats well. Probably has enough energy
to last him for days,” Jahi said.

“Weeks, you mean!” Nester said, looking behind
him. “You should see th’ way ’e packs away food. Can also ’old a good drink
better than th’average drunken sailor. Belches louder than an ogre, too—no, a
Dragon!”

“Yes, that pretty much sums it all up,” Kaijin
said.

Aidan scratched the back of his head. “Aidan does
not know why everyone thinks his eating habits are so strange.”

Zarya chuckled lightly. “They’re not strange,
Aidan. Just ... different.”

Grimacing, Aidan walked ahead again and returned
to Omari and Nester’s side.

As Zarya watched the half-Dragon leave, a song
came to her mind, and she began to hum its chorus.

Jarial looked back over his shoulder. She caught
his gaze, and he smiled.

She stopped humming and felt her face warm, though
she knew it wasn’t solely from the desert’s temperature.

“Please don’t stop on my account, Zarya,” Jarial
said. “That song sounded beautiful. What is it called?”

“Ah ...” Zarya fidgeted with the reins of her
mount.
He likes the song?
“It’s called ‘
Il Lacrim Deae
’—‘Tears of
the Goddess’.”

“Interesting. I have not heard of such a song before.”

“It was an old canticle that I learned as a child,
growing up in the Celestran clergy.”

“You should sing some of it,” Jarial said, looking
forward again. “I know you must have a beautiful voice.”

“Aye!” Nester piped from up ahead on Omari’s
mount. Looking over his shoulder, he smiled brightly in Zarya’s direction.
“What beautiful lady like that don’t ’ave a voice to match it?”

Zarya bit her lip.
Well they all certainly know
how to flatter a girl.
She felt her face get hotter. The sun was nearly at
its peak, so perhaps it was the temperature this time. “Ah ... all right,” she
finally said. She cleared her throat and began to sing the slow, melodic
chorus.

Tears of
old, tears of regret

Washed
away by Her happiness

Evil
lurks, darkness we see

But
tears, great goddess

She
cries for me.

Zarya held the last note and let it fade. Then she
bowed her head a moment to speak a brief prayer.

“Wow, what a voice!” Kaijin said.

Zarya smiled and looked behind her. “Thank you.”

“Indeed, m’lady,” said Jahi, who brought up the rear.
“You have the voice of an angel.”

“I could not have said it better, Jahi,” Jarial
said.

Zarya blushed.

The group reached the mysterious circle of sand by
early afternoon. It lay beside a tiny oasis surrounded by a group of palms. Everyone
dismounted, and while Jahi and Haas stayed with the animals, Kaijin and the
rest of the group followed Zarya to the circle—or rather, circles, for there
were seven, one inside the other and diminishing in size until the center ring.

Zarya stopped on the outer ring and knelt to study
it.
Surely, no mortal could draw something so intricate and perfect as this.

A shadow loomed over her, and she turned her head
to see whose it was.

“What do you make of it?” Jarial asked.

Zarya looked back at the circle and placed her palm
on the edge of the outer ring. Light flashed, and she felt intense heat beneath
her hand. For a split second, she saw a walled city—burning.

She gasped and withdrew her hand. The vision
ceased.
A ... portal?

“What is it?” Jarial asked, concern in his voice.

“This is a portal,” Zarya replied, standing. “It
has been enchanted with a divine power. I saw its destination—a burning city.”

“Is the portal activated?” Jarial asked.

Zarya shook her head. “It doesn’t appear to be.
But the amount of divine energy it requires to open it is beyond my ability.”

Jarial swore under his breath. “All right.”

Zarya frowned at him.
He’s disappointed in me.

“Who or what do you think can open such a thing?”
Kaijin asked.

“A highly experienced cleric, or even a creature
that is not of this realm but can harness divine energy,” Zarya replied.

Kaijin pursed his lips. “No doubt it was probably
Vargas or Za’thaak who is behind this, then.”

Zarya nodded. “Yes, it is possible.”

“And the city you saw,” Kaijin continued. “Do you
think it was Zebi?”

“We have no way of knowing if it is Zebi or not.”
Omari looked at Zarya. “Are you certain it was a
city
you saw?”

“I am,” Zarya said, nodding again. “I saw ... and
felt.”

“So what do we do now?” Nester asked, looking
around at the group.

“Since we can’t use this portal to get there,”
Jarial said, “we will have to continue on to Zebi in the manner we have been
traveling. And let us hope we will find Vargas and Za’thaak there, too.” He beckoned
everyone back to the animals.

With a sigh, Zarya watched them leave, then turned
back to the circle.
Why couldn’t I have been strong enough to help my
friends?
They were all counting on me. If only I—