Jinnbane

CHAPTER 1 – ENVOY

I stared out over the harbor towards the sea. From inland came the eternal noise of Myrlia, capital of Hizmyr. With close on a million inhabitants, it was the largest city I had ever seen, a glittering hodgepodge of colors, smells, riches and abject poverty.

‘Why?’ I said for the umpteenth time. After getting Aya’s troops back from their Kas Bahaan adventure, we had rested in Myrlia a month, and by now I was getting darned impatient to go north.

‘Something is going to happen,’ Teodar said, not for the first time, either. ‘Be easy, little brother, enjoy the break while you can, it will soon be a memory.’

‘What is going to happen?’ I knew how futile the question was. Even if he had the answer, he wouldn’t tell me until he thought it necessary.

‘Eskandar, dear heart, I know you’re eager to go on. Darn it, I want you to go and finish the whole thing! But the prophecy demands you wait for somebody.’

‘Who? Does the flippin’ prophecy tell us who I’m waiting for?’

Teodar hesitated. ‘The Walker from the North. That’s all, and I’m not sure I should have told you. Let’s leave it at that, shall we?’

Before I could say anything, he was gone.

I stretched my dark gray, five-feet-and-a-bit tall body and swallowed an exasperated curse. ‘The Walker from the North. That’s who we’re waiting for.’

Kellani looked at me. ‘And no idea if it’s a he or a she, big or small, or even human.’

I grinned, relaxing. ‘No.’ I patted her arm with my hook hand. ‘Let’s go feed peanuts to the elephants at the market.’

So that afternoon, Kellani, Naudin, Sergeant Jornyll with his three guards, our guide Orin and I sat at ease on a low brick wall in the shadow of a tall tamarind tree and slurped our syrupy shave ice from the nearest drinks vendor. Around us, thousands of stands and stalls offered the wares of a mighty kingdom, both legal and illegal, moral and immoral. We would have been lost here without Orin. He was a local boy who had been a prisoner of the pirates at Kas Bahaan, and he kept us from being fleeced by unscrupulous sellers, or robbed by pickpockets who saw foreigners as their legitimate prey.

‘Since I’ve seen this city, the bureaucratic stupidity back home in Seatome seems less awful.’ I pointed with my chin at a passing merchant and the two bearers behind him, loaded with his wares like pack camels. Both men were shackled together by a collar and chain. ‘You won’t find that in the Weal Nations. What’s the difference between those bearers and slaves?’

Sergeant Jornyll spat in the dust. ‘They are slaves.’

I saw the disgust in his face. Once, Jornyll had been a rebellious street punk, a heavyset fifteen-year-old with a flattened nose, who priced freedom above everything. He was one of the orphanage kids who joined us when we captured Marigold, and I had seen him change into a good soldier and a leader.

‘They’re guild prisoners,’ Orin said softly.

‘What did they do?’ Kellani said, as we watched the men weave their way through the crowds. ‘Murdered someone?’

Orin shrugged. ‘Perhaps they couldn’t pay their monthly dues, or fell afoul of a competitor, and the guild judges ordered them into servitude. But Jornyll is right, there ain’t no bliddy difference with slaves.’

‘That’s what bothers me about Hizmyr.’ I felt a surge of anger. ‘King Rashaunt is a decent man and so is his son, the crown prince. Yet still these things happen.’

Orin lowered his voice even further. ‘Best not talk too loud, boss. The guilds are very powerful and they have sharp ears.’

‘More powerful than the king?’ Kellani said.

Orin shrugged. ‘The guilds have the money the king needs for his armies and fleet. Money is power. Even if the king wants to, he can’t go against the guilds.’

‘That’s going to make trading difficult,’ I said. ‘I don’t care to do business with people who keep slaves. What does your god say about it?’

‘Divine Tenaaz? If he speaks to the guild priests, we don’t hear it,’ Orin said. ‘We pay him lip service, and our tithes, dues and taxes.’

‘Perhaps we should trade with those guild guys,’ Naudin said pensively. ‘Make them like our money and then try to change things.’

I cocked an eye at him, mulling the thought over. ‘You could be right, if we had a handle on those guild high-ups, we’d...’

‘Watch out, wyrm boy!’

I sat up at Lothi-Mo’s mental cry, nearly sloshing half-melted water ice all over my fine tunic. My wyrmling companion was out flying, helping little Tiu-Ti strengthen his wing muscles, but I didn’t know they had followed us.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Be prepared!’ she said.

Experience taught me to take her warnings very seriously, and I automatically scanned the area.

‘Something going on over there.’ Kellani gestured toward a disturbance down the street.

‘Guards!’ Sergeant Jornyll snapped. ‘At arms!’

I heard harsh shouts and saw a small shape dart through the crowds, face contorted with fear and bare legs racing over the hard-packed pavement. Behind him came two burly men in wide, bright-red uniforms, waving wicked-looking blunderbusses.

‘Get the boy!’ Lothi-Mo said urgently. ‘We need him!’ A quick glance told me she circled overhead, with the smaller Tiu-Ti winging in her wake.

Now the fleeing boy was close enough that I could see the laboring of his chest and the tears running from his eyes as he made for the next side street. At that moment, a man with a large handcar blocked his path, and I saw the boy look around in a panic.

I had no idea what was going on, but I jumped to my feet. ‘Boy! Over here!’ I shouted.

As if by instinct, the boy vaulted over the wall and disappeared in the shade behind our backs.

‘Darn!’ Orin muttered. ‘Those guys are guild officers, boss.’

The two men came to a panting halt, pointing their guns at us.

Jornyll’s guards brought up their swords, but I waved them back.

‘In the name of the Merchant Guilds of the City of Myrlia, hand the vermin over!’ one of them barked, jutting a square, badly shaven chin.

‘Who are you?’ I said coolly.

‘What? We’re street officers of the Merchant Guilds,’ the other said. ‘We done an arrest, but the little beast escaped.’

‘You cannot be hiding him, that’s a crime,’ the first one said. ‘Now hand him over and be quick about it, or suffer the consequences.’

‘You will not threaten me, officer,’ I said sternly. ‘You don’t want to create an international scandal. I am the Wyrmcaller Eskandar, Ruler of the Pasandir Peaks, on a visit to your king.’

The officers looked at each other, clearly at a loss.

‘I heard of yah,’ the first officer said. ‘Apologies to bother your honor.’

‘Yeah, well, but we must have that kid,’ the second man added.

I looked at both men — the one anxious and the other belligerent. ‘What did he do?’

‘Acting suspicious, he did!’ The first man waved a fist. ‘He’s a foreigner! Must be a darned spy, skulking round the guild headquarters. The justices will see to his deserts.’

‘A spy!’ I let disgust color my voice. ‘He’s nothing but a child. If his presence bothers you, I will relieve you of him.’ I got a gold coin from my pocked and flipped it at the first man. ‘There, that should compensate your trouble. Leave the boy with me and let us enjoy the hour in peace.’

Both men stared at the gold piece. The first officer nodded and opened his mouth, but the second man interrupted him.

‘Enough! I will not be thwarted. I want the boy. You silly human, you don’t know who you’re up against.’ The officer broadened, and changed into a hideous creature, a cross between a pig and a very large, coarse-haired monkey. ‘Now you will all die.’

The first officer screamed and backed away, his eyes bulging.

Other people started yelling, too, and running, crashing into merchant stalls in their haste to get away.

‘Not a chance, fool jinni,’ I said through the din, and I tried to keep my voice from cracking. ‘I have killed many of your kind before, and I’m not impressed by another low-level jinni peon. Lothi-Mo, we’re under attack!’

‘Tahoedh is no peon!’ the jinni bellowed, and he sprang at me, claws outstretched. I jumped out of his reach, and he ran into the ice vendor’s stall. Bottles of brightly colored syrup crashed to the ground as the stand collapsed under the jinni’s weight and the vendor scrambled away on hands and feet.

The jinni snatched a box of ice cups from the wreckage and threw it at my head. ‘Die, maggot wyrmcaller boy!’

I ducked, while close by Kellani and Orin crouched, blades in hand. Stooping, I managed a spell, and a wave of solid air slammed the jinni on the chest. He staggered and wheezed, glaring at me.

‘Ha,’ I said, hoping I sounded mockingly self-assured. ‘Enjoy your final moments, Tahoedh. I am the one who killed Ozoezd.’

‘Aaahh!’ The jinni plucked a giant sword out of the air and roared.

At the same time, Jornyll and his three guards attacked. Kellani and Orin joined them, slashing at the monster’s muscled belly, where his brain resided. Naudin gathered his favorite spell and a swarm of red-striped bees went for the jinni.

From above, the two wyrmlings dove, screaming battlecries as they clawed at the jinni, and chaos reigned.

For a split second I hesitated. I couldn’t do my rain-and-freeze spell in a busy street, not without risking my friends or any innocent bystanders. Instead, I created a flaming spear out of thin air and, gripping it with hand and hook, slashed at Tahoedh’s stomach.

The jinni yelled. He disregarded the swords and the wyrmlings’ claws as he refocused on me. With a mighty jump he evaded all swords and kicked the sideways fallen awning of the ice vendor’s stall. The lower beam slammed into my backside and I went down, still gripping my spear. Then the jinni stood over me, grinning gleefully as it lifted its sword to strike.

I gathered as much of my god’s power as I could handle, and sent it into my hook hand, while I slashed upward, into the monster’s unprotected nether regions.

‘Bodrus aid me!’ I yelled, and the monster arched backwards, while great spasms tore through its monstrous bulk where my artificial limb had torn open its belly. I rolled away through the sickly sweet-smelling mush of syrup and melting shaved ice, until I ended up at the foot of the tamarind tree. Behind me, the jinni imploded with an ear-shattering noise.

‘Shucksie, shucksie, shucks!’ a voice from above exclaimed in a tone of wonder. ‘You all right, great lord?’

I looked up at the face of the strange boy peering at me through the leaves of the great tree. ‘Sure.’ I shook my head to stop the ringing in my ears.

‘You did it again,’ Kellani scolded as she knelt beside me, peering at my face. ‘Can you stand?’

‘Of course I can,’ I said, surprised by the fear in her eyes. But when I tried it wasn’t all that easy. ‘Earthquake? Stop moving so much, world.’ It seemed the whole city shook, and I needed two pairs of hands to stay on my feet.

‘This won’t do,’ Kellani’s voice said from far away. She dragged me back onto the wall and sat me down on the warm stone. Her big hands gripped my shoulders and a warm glow of wellbeing flowed into me.

From a distance came the roar of steamcarts approaching, followed by screaming brakes and shouted commands nearby. Then a voice I recognized, but I was unable to answer.

‘Wyrmcaller? Dear gods, what happened here?’ Crown Prince Meshan exclaimed.

‘He’s still a bit dizzy, Highness,’ Naudin said. ‘It was a jinni, impersonating a guild street officer. He attacked us. The wyrmcaller managed to defeat him, but these things are tiring. He needs a moment to recover.’

‘A jinni?’ the prince said and the horror was plain in his voice. ‘Here in the city?’

I tried to say something, but no words came, so I merely waved at the shaking guild officer sitting among the remains of a nearby fruit stall.

The warmth from Kellani’s strong, reddish-brown fingers brought new energy and slowly my head cleared.

‘Thanks.’ I rubbed her hand with my cheek, grateful for her closeness. ‘I feel better now. Darn that jinni, without Bodrus’ power I wouldn’t have done it.’ I looked around. ‘Where is that boy?’

‘Here, lord.’ The strange boy came down from the tree like a squirrel.

‘Stay close,’ I said. ‘Yes, prince, a jinni, here in the city. He wasn’t coming for me, either.’ I rubbed my temple with my hook hand and looked at the boy. ‘It was you he was after. Why?’

The boy hesitated. ‘I didn’t know he was on my heels‘I am Lykas, and I’m an envoy of the Dukes of Ozzoon and Wattash.’

‘That’s in Takkala,’ the prince said. ‘You say you’re an envoy? At your age? Envoy to whom?’

‘I’m sixteen and a trained snoop,’ the boy said. ‘I can go into a lot of places an adult person cannot enter.’

‘So you’re a spy,’ the prince said, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Lykas.

‘I am, but I’m not here to spy on you. I really am an envoy. My orders are to seek help. I came here, hoping to reach the king. That,’ he said darkly, ‘wasn’t as easy as I’d thought.’

The prince gave a grim smile. ‘My father is not seeing many visitors.’

‘You may be grateful to the jinni,’ Jornyll said. ‘Now you have the ear of both the prince and the lord wyrmcaller.’

‘I’ll not be grateful to any jinni, soldier. Not ever. They are our mortal enemies.’ The boy squared his shoulders. ‘For a long time we were free of them. Then, a few months ago, the jinn came back and stole our lands of Ozzoon. My duke and the remnants of his court are hiding in the forests. I was with him, the last of his snoops. He sent me to Wattash for help. With two soldiers in a canoe down the river, braving rocks and eddies, crocodiles, cataracts, we nearly didn’t make it. We fell down the last waterfall, nearly thirty feet — shielded, for I have some magic. I survived, but the soldiers left their bones at its bottom. Alone, I managed to reach Wattash, but their duke couldn’t help us. He was scared the jinn would come for him next. Instead, he arranged for a fishing vessel to take me south to Hizmyr. Surely a big and powerful country as that wouldn’t be in danger, he thought.’

The boy looked at me. ‘Would that jinni have followed me? Why?’

‘Not followed you,’ Lothi-Mo said. ‘I think the jinni was here already, doing mischief. He went for you because his masters didn’t want you to give your message to the wyrmcaller. Too la-ate they were, for you have. Silly jinn!’

The boy frowned as he looked at my wyrmling. ‘You speak, and your words are harsh. I’ve seen your sort before, at a ruined town. Only a handful of them, calling out in a strange language along the river, My friends and I had plans to go and seek them out. What matter of beings are you?’

‘I’m Lothi-Mo of the royal sept, a wyrmling of high degree. Ruins along a river, you say? Like these?’ Apparently she projected an image of Tiu-Ti’s home in the boy’s mind, for Lykas’ eyes unfocused. Then he blinked and nodded.

‘That’s the place.’

‘My nest, my kin,’ Tiu-Ti screeched. ‘We go there! Please?’

‘We will,’ I said. ‘We’ll go by air to Wattash, and from there we’ll follow that river to the ruins.’ I took a deep breath. ‘After that, we’ll see how matters stand in Ozzoon.’

‘You need help, but my father will never consent to sending troops into Takkala.’ Prince Meshan grunted and turned to stare at the ravage. ‘I can’t let you go empty-handed, Lord Wyrmcaller. Allow me to offer you a troop of Disposables, fifty boys, trained to die for the fatherland. They’re rough types, but I am sure you can handle them. They are at Camp Gloshad, near the Takkalan border.’

‘I know the place,’ Lykas said. ‘I’ve been kicked out of it.’ He grimaced. ‘They, too, didn’t trust my honest face.’

‘I will send for the Disposables,’ the prince said. ‘They can be here in a week, if that suits you.’

‘I would be happy for their assistance,’ I said. ‘If it’s the same to Your Highness, I can pick them up. I’m going north myself.’

‘Then I will have their orders prepared,’ the prince said. ‘You will have the papers tonight. The boys bring their own arms, but of course you will be responsible for their pay. You can do with them what you want for as long as you please, such riff-raff is easily replaced.’

Prince Meshan looked at the ruined stalls. ‘The guild will handle the mess. I must report this to my father.’ He beckoned to the guild officer. ‘You come with me.’

We shook hands before he went back to his cart, and watched his whole motorcade storm off to the palace.

‘Riff-raff,’ Orin muttered. ‘That’s us street kids, y’know.’

Jornyll slapped his shoulder. ‘It’s a badge of honor.’

‘So it is.’ I glanced around. ‘Anyone hurt?’

Bamson, one of the guard boys stepped forward, holding up a bleeding arm. ‘Me again.’

I gripped his wrist. Bamson had been in the orphanage with Jornyll, a big bully who had become gild boss because the others were too afraid not to vote for him. Once he joined us, the clumsiness he had always tried to hide behind his bluster, made him a terrible soldier. But somehow he kept trying, and Jornyll insisted he would make the grade one day.

I merely nodded. ‘Hold your arm steady.’ As my fingers did their healing, I glanced at his face. I’d always thought him a bull, with a broad, hard face, quick to anger. Now I found he looked resigned, and his eyes were sad.

The wound was a mere cut, deep, but not difficult to repair, and soon his arm was as good as new.

‘There,’ I said cheerfully. ‘No sick leave for you.’

He saluted awkwardly. ‘Thank you, lord.’

I turned to the others. ‘Let’s go back to the ship, time for some planning.’

‘You can fly with me,’ Jornyll said to Lykas while he readied his broomstick. ‘That beats running after us.’

‘Riding a broom? That is a great trick,’ the boy said wistfully. ‘Must be difficult to learn, I suppose.’

‘Not at all,’ Jornyll said. ‘The spell does most of the work.’

Kellani snorted and he grinned at her. ‘Unless you wanna be a broomrider, of course. They’re the specialists. But for us rankers the fine details aren’t necessary.’

‘Rankers indeed,’ Kellani said coldly.

I hooked my arm into hers, feeling the play of hard muscle beneath her sky blue broomer jacket. ‘Lykas must be the Walker of the North.’ Then I waited, but there was no protest, either from Teodar or anyone else, so I grinned. ‘Finally he came! Tomorrow we’ll go to that Gloshad place, and then to Ozzoon.’

CHAPTER 2 – CAMP GLOSHAD

We left by sunup, Kellani, Naudin and I riding point, with the others three by three behind us. Lykas sat in front of me, trying to look six ways at once in his excitement.

To the west of Myrlia we passed over a land of salt marshes and creeks, shades of green dotted with yellow flowering trees. The slight wind brought a smell of the sea, rotting vegetation and something pungent I couldn’t place.

‘That’s the swamps, full of crocodiles,’ Lykas said. ‘Not that I’ve seen them myself, I steered well clear of the place. But the local kids told me. There are even crocs in the Myrlia sewers, they said. I dunno what’s true of that, of course.’

‘I’m not going to look,’ I said. ‘I meet monsters enough as it is.’

Lykas grinned and returned to watching the land below.

The marshes turned into shrubland, where we saw our first wild elephants, going someplace only they knew. I checked their minds and found them limited, but unexpectedly lucid.

We went on, crossing a large lake dotted with tree-covered islands, fed by a sizable river.

By now, Lykas had fallen silent and slept, resting his head against my shoulder. Seeing the leagues of untamed lands we passed over, and which he must have traveled on foot, I found it a marvel he had survived.

By nightfall we came to a strange landmark, a tall nature-made needle of reddish stone, standing all alone on the bank of a fast-flowing river. It was on the map the prince had added to his orders, and Camp Gloshad would be close by.

‘Wakey-wakey,’ I said, shaking Lykas’ shoulder.

He straightened, looking around sheepishly. ‘Where are we?’

‘That’s for you to tell me,’ I said. ‘We just passed that Lance Rock landmark.’

‘Is the sun going down?’ he said, mortified. ‘Darn, lord, you should’ve woken me.’

‘You needed your sleep,’ I said. ‘Now, we’re close to the army camp.’

Lykas looked to the passing landscape below. ‘That’s the river. I’ve followed her for almost a week,’ he said. ‘Upstream is a lake. Gloshad is on the northern side, close to the waterside.’

I repeated his words to Kellani, who was lead broom. ‘That ink spot on the map is a lake. Lykas says the camp is on the northern bank.’

‘It is.’ Of course she had spied it already, her eyes were far sharper than mine.

We crossed a small lake, and then I, too, saw the palisade of an army camp. Rows of brightly colored tents, interspaced with small cooking plots,