Eleven's Ghost

Chapter 20: Failure And Nightmare

Shams and Yayis started fighting. The crow cawed and stood in front of Malik. The grey-haired poked its head and gazed into its eyes. The crow cawed and rested on Malik’s shoulder. Malik moved his gaze back to Shams and Yayis, watching them in silence.

Yayis smirked and pushed Shams back. “You’re not so bad! Those two years made you pretty shredded.”

“I spent them carrying around stuff and running kilometres every day,” Shams jumped skywards and punched the spot where Yayis was standing. “I’m bound to build some flesh!”

They fought for the next two months before Malik stood up. “All right. Enough.”

They glanced at him. Malik stood between them. “You have one month until Shams turns fifteen, and two until Sirkus opens the doors for new candidates.”

He backed away slightly. “In those two months, you will both attack me.”

They blinked. “R-Really?”

Yayis pulled out his blade and pointed it at him. “You’re not wearing any armour. Will you be fine?”

“Don’t worry about me.” Malik folded his arms.

Shams smiled and nodded. “All right! Come, Cherry!”

Cherry jumped on top of his head. “Yes! Mastah!”

They both fused, and Shams had orange hair, a green eye and a blue eye. His horns grew bigger, his claws longer. He prepared to attack. They both jumped at Malik and attacked together. Their eyes widened as they bumped into a shield around Malik. He shut his eyelids. “I will not move from here. I will not use any spells. If you fail to break my shield in two months, I will not let you apply for the auditions this year.”

Their eyes flashed wide. They exchanged glances and attacked infernally without stopping for weeks.

“Nothing…” Yayis fell to his knees, panting. “There’s only one… one week left! What do we do?”

Shams gritted his teeth and stood up. “I will not give up! I will pass this test! I will! I will go to Sirkus. I will save Zultan.” A brown aura started building up around his as he clenched his teeth. “You will not stop me.”

Malik eyed him in silence.

Shams screamed as a brown light burst from around his body and made the water around them evaporate instantly. Malik’s shield cracked. He narrowed his eyes, and a glint of interest showed in them. Shams fell to his knees, panting.

Malik stood in front of him. “I see.” He tilted his head to the side. “Interesting power you have.”

Shams instantly jumped on him with a roar and bit his shoulder, his teeth penetrating the barrier. He roared in rage. Yayis’s eyes flashed wide as he stared at him. “Sh-Shams…?”

Malik gazed at his bleeding shoulder with a calm look. A masked man appeared from his shadow. “Chief, should I kill him? He lost control.”

“No,” Malik picked up Shams in his arms and gazed into his eyes. “This child is an interesting creature. It would be nice to watch him grow.”

His shoulder healed on its own, and the masked man nodded and disappeared into black fog. Yayis stared at Shams, worried. “Do you know… what happened to him?”

“You will not go to Sirkus this year.” Malik placed Shams down. “In your current condition, you will never leave alive.”

Shams was about to protest, but he fainted suddenly. Yayis jumped to his side and hugged him protectively, started healing him. Cherry left his body. “Did Chewwy… Did Chewwy do something bad?” He looked at Malik and Yayis with watery eyes. “Is Chewwy… a bad Chewwy?”

Yayis hugged him tightly and kissed the top of his head. “No. You’re a good Chewwy.”

Chewwy hugged him back and started crying.

Malik snorted and looked down in silence. He turned to them within a few minutes. “Shams has jinn DNA in his blood. It’s not Cherry’s.”

Cherry cried more. “Mastah! Mastah cheated on Chewwy!”

“That’s not it,” Malik spoke, “Something far more sinister happened to him.” He frowned slightly. “It’s not ordinary DNA. It’s Iblis… Is it…? No… possibly someone even stronger.”

“But… Is there a jinn stronger than Iblis?” Yayis asked, seeming entirely clueless.

Malik stared at him then looked away. “You two will stay here with me for an entire year. You will train more and control your abilities. I assume your father prepared you for battle. Your spells are all right, but…” Malik sat down, gazing at the grass. “You lack the determination to unleash your full potential, and you don’t know how to control them properly. This can be solved by more fighting and experience. You can also use more training. I will not teach you anything new, however. I will only improve what you already have.”

“And what about Shams? Will you tell him about… himself?”

“It’s useless.” Malik shook his head. “Even if I did, it will only confuse him. Instead,” he rested a hand on Shams’s chest, and a black crest flashed on it before fading away. “I will simply seal those surges. This will weaken their damage significantly and facilitate their mastery. He will also stop fainting as soon as he uses them.”

“Oh, that’s convenient.”

Yayis stared at Malik then lowered his head. “I have an off-topic question.”

“What is it?”

“Are you Malik?”

“Yes.”

“Malik?”

“Yes.”

“Malik?”

“Yes.”

“M-Malik, Malik?”

“Y-Yes, yes.”

“Nooo…”

“Yes.”

Yayis smiled weakly. “That’s why you won’t smile.”

Malik didn’t reply. Nine masked men appeared behind him.

“They will train you. I will handle Shams. In the last two months, you will try to break my shield as usual.”

Yayis nodded and stood up. He started training immediately. Shams joined him as soon as he stopped protesting about going the next year.

The days and weeks passed by, but the season didn’t change. The peaceful forest remained still, serene and relaxing. Day and night rolled like an endless film, and Yayis and Shams grew stronger with every passing day. The crow watched them from above Malik’s shoulder and flew far in the distance for months before coming back again. Shams didn’t notice the crow, however, too focused on his training, too absorbed in his new life.

“And you will forget me.”

The white-haired gazed at his crimson blood on the floor. It dripped from his forehead and slid down to his chin. He shut his tired eyes, his head leaning forward as his chains clanked.

“Once again, your son didn’t come.”

He gazed up in the direction of the voice, his light blue eyes filled with hatred.

“Iblis.”

Slow footsteps got closer to the jinn, and he felt someone pulling him by his long white hair.

“You seriously thought that wimp would do anything?! For your sake? You?! He already told you, didn’t he?”

Iblis bared his fangs and pushed himself forward, trying to attack. He grunted as purple lightning crashed on him. He threw up blood and relaxed on the chains suspending him mid-air.

“Don’t die now. I still need you.”

He felt a hand caressing his bare skin.

“Anyway, your kid already told you he didn’t consider you a father. So stubborn. You won’t listen to him. Even in this predicament, you won’t call your God for help.”

Iblis clenched his fists and remained silent.

“So much pride. You think your God cares about you? You’re nothing. Always will be. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.”

Iblis’s fists bled.

“It has been four? Five years? Your kid isn’t here. He’s not in the academy. He didn’t even apply to audition. He doesn’t care about you. Nobody does. You’re such an i***t. Maybe if you weren’t so proud, an angel would have come to save you. Even if you aren’t an angel, just a lowly jinn, maybe one of them would have saved you.”

Iblis didn’t break eye contact, and a punch made him cough blood.

“Don’t look at me with your dirty eyes. You’re just a slave. Lower your goddamn gaze.”

Iblis didn’t do as instructed and gasped as stronger lightning struck him. He whined in pain, steam coming out of his body.

“Hey, now, you should be thanking me! I’m training you for the afterlife.”

Laughter echoed in the room.

“You’re no longer needed in this world, Iblis.”

Iblis gritted his teeth as someone stepped on his head.

“This is the age of humans. We are the new Gods. The new villains. The new everything. You, jinns, angels, and even God himself. You are not needed. We’re everything. EVERYTHING!”

Iblis tried to shake the foot off his head and got kicked instead. “You know what? I will propose a deal.”

Iblis frowned and glanced back at the man in front of him. He gasped, feeling the hand sliding along his thighs and tried to shake it off.

“Shush. Hear me out.” The man pulled his hair. “If your son comes here this year, I will give you a better position than being my slut. If he doesn’t, I will kill you.”

“I know he will come,” Iblis finally spoke, “He will.”

The man then broke into hysterical laughter. “YOU’RE CRAZY!” He caressed his lower belly. “All right. We have a deal. If he doesn’t come, I will kill you and rape your corpse every day. Okay?”

Iblis remained silent and shut his eyelids.

The man walked to the door. “One week left until the auditions, dear. If I don’t see his name enlisted, and if he doesn’t make it past the audition, you’re dead.”