Chapter 19: The Grey-Haired
1110 Words
The crow cawed and stopped flying suddenly. It lowered its head and gazed down in silence. Shams and Yayis stared at it. “Wh-What happened to the bird? Is it broken?”
Shams shrugged and sat down, observing a red flower. “Let’s just wait.”
The crow sat down for three days, looking down in silence. Yayis poked its wing. “Hey, are you depressed? Hey. Talk it out! We’re travel buddies now.”
The bird stood up after three days and cawed before flying and leading the way again. They followed the bird until a large building appeared far in the distance. Shams swallowed hard. “Is that… what I think it is?”
Yayis nodded. “It should be. It’s just a silhouette for now, but there’s no mistaking it. We haven’t seen a single building in months. We’re probably close.”
They saw a hooded man walking towards them and took a step back. Yayis took out his sword and glared at him. “Are you the one we’re looking for?”
The hooded man nodded without saying anything. Shams hid behind Yayis. “Sh-Show us your hair!”
The man nodded and removed his hood. Shams then ran away and pulled Yayis with him. The red-haired frowned. “What the hell are you doing? That’s the dude!”
“He’s not! It’s a trap!”
Yayis glanced behind. His face went blue, seeing that the man was pointing pistols at them. “Oh, hell, no!” He grabbed Shams in his arms and flew skywards to evade the shots. Shams started crying. “WHY ARE WE SO UNLUCKY? AAAHHHHH!”
His eyes flashed wide as a black arrow passed right in front of his nose and stabbed the man. Black flames then burst from the spear and ate the imposter alive.
Yayis stepped on the floor and stared at the flames in shock. “Those flames… Only one person in the world can master those flames,” he whispered.
They heard the sound of slow, heavy footsteps. They glanced behind and saw a man with long grey hair. He had piercing orange eyes that brimmed like eternal flames. His gaze was blank and frigid, however. He stood in silence, metres away, gazing at them.
Shams gazed at him, shaking. “A-Are you… Are you the… the man Ihdaachar taaaa… talked about?”
The man took a step closer to them, and they backed away, scared.
He folded his arms, not moving from his spot. “Yes. My name is Malik. I assume Ihdaachar said a thing or two about me.”
“N-Not to be scared of you… He trusts you.”
Malik lifted his chin slightly, not breaking eye contact. “Then why are you afraid?”
“Because you just barbequed someone as if it was nothing!” Yayis protested. “You think that’s not scary?!”
Malik seemed hardly humoured. “I only punish those who deserve punishment. Despite the rumours, I’m not bloodthirsty.” He took another step closer, and they didn’t back away this time.
He pushed his hands in his pockets. “I see that we established a form of trust, despite our awkward first meeting.”
He stood an inch away from them and looked at the building. “That’s the building of the Sirkus branch on Earth. You can fill in application forms to audition. They test you briefly over here, and then they give you a pass to travel to the headquarters. There, you will have the actual exam that will legitimise your enrolment. There will be thousands and millions of participants across the universe. You certainly won’t feel lonely.”
Shams smiled weakly and nodded. “O-Okay. Thank you for the information.”
Malik eyed him. “However. Your current level is problematic. It will not get you anywhere.”
Shams panicked. “But… What to do? I need to go in there!”
“I’m more or less aware of your situation.” Malik folded his arms again. “Ihdaachar told me about you.”
He sat down. “Can you summon your jinn?”
Shams nodded and summoned his jinn. Cherry jumped on his back and peeked at Malik from over his shoulder. He looked down, scared, unable to keep eye contact.
Malik stared at the jinn for a few minutes. “Well, try fusing with your jinn.”
Shams’s eyes widened. “That’s possible?”
“Yeah.”
“How?”
Malik glanced at Yayis. “Teach him.”
Yayis pouted and nodded.
“You need to mix your blood,” he started, “Only the first time though, then you can just do it. Don’t mix too much blood. Just a drop. It will be life-threatening otherwise.”
Cherry dropped in Shams’s arms and cut his finger with his fang. Shams blinked. “Oh… Do that to me. I don’t have such sharp fangs.”
They mixed their blood, and a green light covered them.
Shams then grew fangs and horns. He looked up, curiously. “Why did my head get heavier?”
Yayis poked his horns and narrowed his eyes. “Hm… So you’re a Marid.”
“A what?”
“Marids represent a clan in the jinn race. In the old world, humans used to portray them as people who appear out of lamps to grant wishes. That’s obviously not true… They’re just children tales.” Yayis stared at the horns. “But the Marid race is very strong among the jinns. I didn’t expect this chibi to be part of them. He’s still a baby, so that’s why his horns weren’t fully developed.”
Shams grinned. “I see! And what’s your race?”
Yayis lowered his head and turned away from Shams. “It doesn’t matter.”
Shams frowned and poked his horns. He smiled at Malik. “So, what can I do like this?”
Malik lifted his fingers up and down. “Jump.”
Shams nodded and jumped. His eyes flashed wide as he found himself beyond the clouds. He screamed, falling back down. He gasped as Malik caught him. “This mode enhances your physical abilities greatly for starters. This is something you can only do with the jinn assigned to you. Borrowed jinns don’t possess this ability.”
Shams nodded several times. “And… Is there a limit to this mode?”
“Naturally.”
Malik put him down. “It all depends on you. Jinns have more endurance and stamina in comparison to humans. You can test how far you can hold on by fighting Yayis.”
Yayis frowned. “Why me?”
“Because I said so.” Malik sat down on the grass, pushing his long hair back. “I will watch you and give you pointers. You would rather focus on your physical abilities before moving to magic. You can’t cast powerful magic spells unless you have a strong body. It’s all linked and proportional.”
“Woahh!” Shams hugged Malik. “You’re such a nice mister! You’re like a teacher! Oh… Your hair… So soft!”
Malik didn’t react to the hug and waited in silence.
Shams became nervous and moved back, laughing awkwardly. “A-Anyway, did you know dad in person?”
“Dad?” Malik raised an eyebrow, expecting an explanation.
Shams laughed again. “I decided to call him dad! He was so kind to me! He’s not my real father, but… you know!”
Malik nodded and didn’t comment further.
“S-So… Do you know… him?”
Malik remained silent.
Shams looked back at Yayis. “Well, let’s fight!”
- Writer
