City of Daevas Read online

  City of Daevas

  Book 3 of the Baka Djinn Chronicles

  J F Mehentee

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  A note from the author

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  1

  Roshan exited the crumbling, sand-filled city through a space once occupied by doors. She didn’t have to look back. The djinn, silent except for their footsteps, followed and fanned out behind her after clearing the city’s west-facing wall. Five hundred pairs of eyes, their irises surrounded by red flames, watched her. She was ready and so were they.

  The rising sun cleared the city and lit the black line of approaching guardsmen. The sky, however, remained blue-grey.

  Roshan blinked, and the approaching dark blur resolved into a column of cavalrymen, their numbers stretching back towards the horizon. At their centre rode a figure dressed in white, his mount matching the colour of his magus robes. The high magus raised an arm. The column of mounted guardsmen halted. Guardsmen on foot burst from between their ranks and swarmed past them to form two rows of archers, the front kneeling and the back standing. As one, they nocked their arrows.

  Roshan raised her arms. The back of her hands had turned the same colour as the sky. Lines of orange flame whirled beneath her skin.

  ‘Don’t do this,’ a voice said. ‘This is not the way.’

  The archers launched their arrows.

  Burn, Roshan thought.

  The arrows burst into an orange line of flame and hung in the air as if a cloud. The flaming veil boiled and swelled for three heartbeats, its light brighter than the sun’s, and then it contracted. Jagged thunderbolts of orange spewed from it, each bolt lancing an archer. The bowmen erupted so quickly, there wasn’t time to cry out. No sooner had the cloud of flame above exhausted itself than the row of burning archers shrank before discharging more flaming bolts, this time at the soldiers behind them.

  Roshan observed how her thought worked its way through the high magus’s army, reducing it to a trailing column of soot and ash.

  ‘What do you feel?’ the voice said.

  She recognised it now and knew that she lay in a tent outside Baka, dreaming.

  ‘Nothing. I’m not sorry for what I did, if that’s what you mean. I did what needed doing to save the djinn.’

  She heard nothing until Manah sighed.

  ‘Turn around,’ he said.

  She knew then she’d erred. She tried to wake up but couldn’t.

  Roshan turned. So that she didn’t have to take in the full extent of her mistake, she squinted.

  Like High Magus Sassan and his army, she had reduced the djinn to a black line that stretched the length of the city’s west wall.

  A winged bull with a bearded human head, Manah, stood at her side.

  ‘You will have to choose between restoring the daevas’ auric energy and confronting the high magus. All it takes is a thought and your aura will touch all the djinn and daevas. As you channel your energy to them, you’ll bind yourself to them.’

  Roshan surveyed the djinn’s remains. The desert wind blew across it, scattering the djinn’s ashes and erasing the black line.

  ‘So, if I were to help the daevas, help them become djinn again, I’d hurt them if I fought Sassan at the same time.’

  Manah nodded.

  ‘Until you can master sabaoth magic, I’m afraid so. You must do one or the other, but you’re not ready to do both.’

  Roshan wanted to fight, and she wanted to rescue Yesfir.

  ‘There’s around four hundred daevas and one hundred djinn, most of them camped outside Baka. How long could I channel energy to so many?’

  As if she’d asked the wrong question, Manah shook his head.

  ‘As I explained earlier, Domain power will replenish the energy you pass on, leaving you filled with sabaoth energy. You’ll feel drained, and you’ll need time to recover your strength, but that’s all.’

  If she knew how long it took to regain her strength, perhaps between breaks from channelling energy, she could help with the fighting and Yesfir’s rescue. Before she could ask him, Manah began to fade.

  ‘Is Yesfir all right?’ she asked instead.

  ‘She is,’ Manah’s shadow said. ‘But it won’t be long before she submits completely to the seal’s influence.’

  Roshan woke and found herself back inside the tent. Navid lay next to her. So as not to wake her brother, she rose quietly. After shape-shifting three times and getting injured, he needed his rest.

  She’d reached the tent flap when he spoke.

  ‘Where are you going?’

  Roshan looked back and saw Navid awake and sitting up. She told him about her dream and Manah’s news.

  ‘I have to tell the prince,’ she said, ‘and Behrouz needs to know what’s happening to Yesfir.’

  Navid pushed himself up and onto his feet.

  ‘I’m coming with you. If there’s a plan to rescue Yesfir, I want to be part of it.’

  Roshan winced at the mention of a rescue plan. If she hadn’t hesitated, if she’d killed the high magus instead, a rescue wouldn’t be necessary.

  Outside, Roshan glanced up. From the sun’s position, it would be another two hours before noon.

  Four hundred paces separated their tent from the city. Even from that distance, the amount of work required to make the city defendable was plain. Baka lacked doors, the west-facing wall contained a breach and sand covered most of the northern watchtower.

  Things weren’t any better inside.

  ‘Look,’ Navid said, sounding aghast.

  On their left they saw sand covering the watchtower being shovelled into bags. Daevas carried the bags out of the city to empty them.

  ‘At the rate they’re going, the city won’t be defensible for years,’ he said.

  If daevas hefting bags filled with sand was the only way to conserve what remained of the djinn’s auric energy, Baka was in more trouble than she’d imagined. If Yesfir and the daevas weren’t being held prisoner, she’d raise a portal to Arshak and level the encampment, solving the problem in a single swoop. She’d do it and live with the guilt of all those deaths. The thought of having to face Behrouz and share news about Yesfir filled her with dread.

  ‘Over half, maybe three-quarters of the buildings are uninhabitable,’ Navid said.

  His comment interrupted her thoughts and yanked her out of herself. Somehow, while she’d mulled over Yesfir and the captured daevas, they’d ventured farther into the city and now approached the ziggurat at its centre.

  ‘No wonder everyone’s having to live in tents,’ Navid continued. ‘What was the king thinking when he sent everyone here?’

  There was no point reminding Navid that, by now, the king had hoped he’d have Solomon’s seal. Then, there’d be no need to conserve auric energy. Her brother’s question, however, was still valid. There had to be other cities the king could have chosen, or—if he had the seal—built one like Iram from the foundations up. What was so important about this long-abandoned city?

 
; Navid spotted the prince sitting on the ziggurat’s steps. He sat with rounded shoulders and his face lined. A deep, visible crack snaked its way from the base of the structure and stopped two-thirds of the way up. A strong gust might collapse the building and send it crashing down on him.

  The prince spotted them, stood and waved.

  ‘Well, he looks happy to see us,’ Navid whispered. He waved back as they continued on.

  They climbed the steps, Roshan ready to hare down them at the slightest breeze.

  ‘Welcome to Baka,’ the prince said. One corner of his mouth turned down. ‘Right now, it isn’t much.’ He gestured for them to sit, the step wide enough for them all to take a seat.

  Untroubled by the ziggurat’s soundness, Navid sat down first. Roshan was about to say she was more comfortable standing, but her brother scowled at her.

  ‘Manah visited Roshan again,’ Navid said.

  Grateful for her brother’s directness, Roshan described Yesfir’s well-being. The prince shrank at the news and blood left his face.

  ‘Did Manah say how long before my poor niece breaks?’

  Too wrapped up in her choice between channelling her auric energy and fighting, she hadn’t asked.

  ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know, Your Highness.’

  The prince grimaced.

  ‘Let’s make one thing clear, both of you,’ he said. ‘We’re no longer in Iram. Out here, I’m Emad—not Your Highness and not Prince Emad, just Emad.’

  Navid nodded.

  Hadn’t her brother found that strange, the prince—Emad—insisting on such a thing, especially with Yesfir being tortured and the threat of an invasion looming?

  ‘From now on, it’s just Emad,’ Navid said. He nudged Roshan between the ribs.

  ‘Yes,’ she said, nodding. ‘Of course.’

  The prince clenched his right hand over his left and squeezed.

  ‘If Yesfir’s close to breaking, Sassan and his soldiers will soon appear outside Baka. Then we’re finished.’

  The weight of her news made the prince crumple.

  ‘Manah told me how to channel my auric energy to all the djinn and daevas. If everyone could weave magic, we could transform this city in a matter of days instead of years.’

  The prince stared at her as if the burden he carried had gotten heavier.

  ‘And what about you? There are five hundred of us here. You can’t possibly have enough auric energy to go around.’

  Roshan didn’t know whether to be grateful or worried that he’d put her own welfare before everyone else’s. She shook her head.

  ‘You mustn’t worry. Domain power, the power sabaoth use to weave magic, will replenish it. Depending on what’s going on, I’ll get tired and nothing more.’

  The prince’s gaze never left her.

  ‘Are you sure? You’re not just saying that to help, or because you’re feeling guilty about the prisoners in Arshak?’

  Roshan’s face reddened, and she glanced down.

  ‘You’re right; I feel terrible about what happened there. But that’s not the reason I want to help. I want the high magus to stop what he’s doing to the djinn and daevas. If I can help them regain their powers, even temporarily, they’ll stand a chance. I’m offering more than shovelling sand into bags and carrying them out of a city with no doors.’

  The passion behind her answer surprised her.

  The prince smiled. He straightened, and his demeanour softened.

  ‘What happened in Arshak to those daevas in the alley, the little boy, isn’t your fault. And it’s the same with what happened last night. The fault lies with that deluded high magus. He has to be stopped. With so few of us left, we have to find a way to make do while suffering minimal loses or, ideally, none.’ He glanced around at his surroundings.

  ‘My brother insists Baka is our new home. Until I can convince him otherwise, our first priority is to make the city both habitable and defendable. Our second is to rescue Yesfir. If you believe channelling your energy won’t harm you, then we need your help right away.’

  Roshan couldn’t tell what it was about the way he looked at her. She’d seen something similar cross Yesfir’s face. It happened whenever she got a recitation right for the first time. The prince was proud of her. And there was something more than just pride. Roshan couldn’t be sure, because she’d only seen it directed at others. He looked as if he believed in her.

  Roshan sat up.

  ‘I can channel energy to everyone right now,’ she said.

  2

  Emad watched as the daevas filed into the square in front of the ziggurat. The djinn soon followed, although they must have taken a different route, because they entered the square from a side street. Just as they’d pitched their tents at a distance from the daevas’, so the djinn stood in the square, a gap of ten paces separating them. The djinn and daevas standing either side of the gap acknowledged those they knew with a nod or a wave. Emad smiled when he saw a djinn child pointing excitedly at his daeva grandparents. For a moment, he put aside his concerns for Yesfir and studied the crowd. He saw among their faces exhaustion, fear and—from those watching him and Roshan standing on the ziggurat’s steps—anticipation.

  He raised his hand for silence.

  ‘Are you ready?’ he said to Roshan, from the side of his mouth. The girl pushed her shoulders back and nodded. ‘Good luck,’ he whispered. I hope this works, he thought. Emad lowered his hand. ‘From this day forward,’ he said, addressing the square, ‘there will be no daevas, only djinn.’

  He held his breath and scanned the larger group, the daevas.

  Looks of puzzlement met his statement. Then a hubbub started among the daevas but also developed among a group of djinn who spotted a change in the colour of the flames surrounding their neighbour’s irises. Parents stared at their children with an intensity that made them either laugh or cry. Couples hugged. The gap between the djinn and daevas shrank, until Iram’s djinn roamed the square, searching for friends and family.

  He glanced at Roshan. She appeared unaffected by her channelling to so many. Emad smiled at her. With her full attention focussed on Behrouz and Zana, she hadn’t noticed it. Aware that so much needed doing before dusk, he held up his hand again. Apart from the odd child still crying, a hush filled the square.

  He thanked Roshan and then explained to the gathering the limitations of her gift.

  ‘Your auric energy will need replenishing, so this isn’t a permanent fix. If you take off your bracelet, you will break the connection between you and Roshan, and you’ll no longer receive her energy. We are five hundred and Roshan is only one. To avoid overburdening her, we will work in shifts. When you’re not working, please refrain from using magic unnecessarily.’

  He paused, studied the crowd’s faces to ensure they had heard and understood what he’d said.

  Now comes the bad news.

  ‘As you all know, the high magus has Solomon’s seal. His attack on Iram means an attack on Baka is likely and soon. We must prepare the city for this, and we must work fast. I’ve assembled a restoration team. They will assign you tasks and the time of day during which you must complete them.

  ‘For Baka to remain our home, it must be defendable. Those are our priorities for today. Members of the defences team, the engineering team and the supplies teams will meet every other hour to assess the progress being made. If we are falling behind in one area, they might ask you to stop what you’re doing and join a different group. Please be flexible. Even with magic, we have so much to achieve before the light fades.’ He paused to let what he’d said sink in. ‘Work begins within the hour. Thank you for coming and thank you, once again, Roshan.’

  The djinn turned and emptied the square faster than they had filled it. They strode away with purposeful and confident steps.

  He turned to Roshan, followed her gaze and saw how Behrouz, Zana and Navid had remained behind. Emad descended the steps and approached them, Roshan close behind.

  Behrouz cl
utched his upper arms. Zana lacked his normal cheerfulness, dark crescents under his eyes.

  ‘Roshan told me about what’s happening to Yesfir,’ Behrouz said. ‘We have to send a rescue party to Arshak before she starts raising portals.’

  Emad cringed at the memory of the daeva he’d beheaded outside Iram. It left him with little doubt that, once he had the coordinates, Sassan would use Yesfir to transport his army here.

  ‘Give me an hour, Behrouz. I need to make sure work gets started. Then I’ll go to Iram and speak to Fiqitush. I’m sure he’s already come up with a plan.’

  Behrouz’s jaw muscles bunched. This wasn’t the answer he wanted.

  ‘Every hour is an hour she’s being tortured by the seal.’ He touched his bracelet. ‘She’s weakening—I can feel it.’

  As a captain, Emad had dealt with similar behaviour. After they’d docked and disembarked, and whenever a crewman got into trouble, he was always the one having to stop the rest of the crew from rushing off to help them. He’d have to keep everyone calm before the situation grew out of hand and out of proportion. It didn’t make him popular.

  ‘We will get her back, Behrouz. If you try to rescue her yourself, and you get captured, you’ll only add to the problem: Sassan will have a second djinni to raise portals for him.’ He wanted to remind Behrouz that Yesfir was his niece and Fiqitush was her father; he wasn’t the only one who worried about her and wanted her back. Behrouz, however, didn’t deserve to be patronised. ‘Be patient. While you wait, help prepare the city’s defences. We can’t afford to do anything that will put Baka in further danger.’

  Behrouz’s expression soured.

  ‘Two hours,’ he said, his voice a growl. ‘If you don’t have a plan, I’ll go to Arshak on my own. All I care about is my wife.’