Flameseeker (Book 3) (30 page)

“Very well. We accept.”

Zarya held up the mouse in her hands. “Will you
also change Omari back so that he may be able to help, as well?”

Tachus ran his tongue around his cheek. “Very
well. But if he attempts to attack me again, he will be turned into something
far worse than rodents.”

“Don’t worry, honored,
Shak’ha
,” Jarial
said. “I will see that he does not.”

Nester elbowed Kaijin in his leg. “I dunno, mate,
I think I kinda like Omari like that,” he whispered. “’E’s quieter.”

Kaijin arched his eyebrow at the brownie.
Look
who’s talking.

Tachus uttered words to a spell, and his fingers
gave off a soft, white glow. Approaching Zarya, he extended his hand toward
Omari. The glow shot from his fingers in thin beams and impacted the mouse,
which immediately began to grow in size and shape.

Zarya gasped when the mouse in her hands had become
a full-sized man once more, and she released him.

Omari fell on his rear with a thud. “Oof!”

Blushing, Zarya looked at him apologetically.
“Sorry about that ...”

Omari looked puzzled at Zarya, and his gaze
traveled the rest of the room. His attention settled on Tachus, who, with his
arms crossed, glowered at him. Omari opened his mouth.

Before he had a chance to speak, Jarial swept over
to him, grabbed him by the collar of his robes, and jerked him to his feet. “Do
not say a word.”

Omari looked at Jarial and closed his mouth.

“Enough time has been wasted here,” Tachus said.
“Now, your familiars ...” He pointed to three waiting guards.

Jarial gave Kaijin and Omari a stern gaze before
picking up Sable and handing her to a guard. “Do as he says, you two.”

Omari gritted his teeth, then relucatantly plucked
Percival off his shoulder and handed him over. “If this guard gives you
any
trouble, you have my full permission to bite his head off,” he instructed the
weasel.

“Omari!” Jarial growled, his eyes flashing with a
spectrum of colors.

Omari shot Jarial a glare, then quickly looked
away.

A guard approached Kaijin, holding his hands out expectantly.
Kaijin stalled, glancing at Jarial, who returned a hard gaze. Kaijin sighed and
picked Miele from his shoulder.
“I promise I will be back for you once this
is over. Now, you be a good bat.”

Miele screeched in protest but didn’t try to
escape when Kaijin handed her over to the guard. The guard made a face but took
care not to harm the bat.

Tachus pointed toward another hallway at the opposite
end of the room and directed the guards, “Lock the animals away in the holding
chamber.”

After the guards left, Tachus dismissed Kaijin and
his group to find Vargas. Tachus and the last remaining guard followed behind
the group. They hustled through the mansion’s massive, exquisite halls and
discovered Vargas in the main atrium—one room away from the entrance—surrounded
by the guards.

Kaijin hadn’t had the chance to fully admire the
sheer beauty of the room when he and his friends first arrived. High above
them, light shone through the exquisite stained glass skylight, a mosaic depicting
Ignis’s symbol. Red, orange, and yellow-hued images of flames etched on the
windows spotlighted the black marble floor, where, in the very center where
Vargas stood, was a massive tiled image of a flame. Tapestries of Ignis’s
symbol embroidered into the silken red fabrics hung from all four walls.

“Leave me!” Vargas demanded, his entire body
giving off a thin layer of fire. He hugged his stomach and slumped forward,
rocking slowly. “This is ... your last ... warning....”

His tone had changed to something sinister.

“Masrah!” one guard called to the assassin, who
had gone into hiding.

An arrow shot from amongst a group of guards and through
Vargas’s arm. The arrowshaft burned to ashes, and the cleric fell to his knees
with a grunt, clutching his wound.

The fire encircling Vargas blazed larger, hotter,
and brighter, and Vargas fell over on his side, still holding his injury with
his now-bloodied hands. The flames around him left and burned beside him and reshaped
into another being.

An afriti. Za’thaak.

It stood over Vargas and towered over everyone
around it—including Aidan, who only came up to the middle of its torso. Flames coated
its crimson body without burning it, and its piercing turquoise eyes glowered
down at its surrounding assailants, who took a collective step back.

“You have been warned,” Za’thaak said, voice guttural.

“We must contain that creature,” Jarial muttered,
readying a glowing ball of colorful energy in his hands.

Nester gulped. “
Contain
? But ’ow? That
thing is ’uge!”

“There’s many of us, but only one of it. Let’s
attack from all sides,” Jarial explained. “We can try to give Aidan an opening
to attack it with his ice breath.”

Aidan grimaced. “Aidan will do his best.”

“There’s no room for doubt, Aidan,” Kaijin said.

Jarial began moving in and Nester, Omari, and
Aidan followed. Kaijin took a step but felt Zarya’s gentle touch on his
shoulder, and he paused.

“Kaijin, I have a feeling that none of us will be
able to contain this creature.” Her lips thinned. “No one but you,
Firebrand.
”

Kaijin blinked. “What? What can I do?”

Zarya didn’t take her eyes off the afriti. “Do you
remember what the Mistress said? Afriti always serve a master.”

“Are you saying that Za’thaak serves Vargas?”

“Perhaps.” She pointed to the creature, who continued
standing over the still-prone Vargas. “Have you noticed how it has not strayed
from Vargas?”

Is Za’thaak trying to protect Vargas?
Kaijin wondered, tilting his head at the scene.

“Perhaps there is a way for it to serve
you
instead.” Zarya rushed off to join the rest of the group.

Me?

Kaijin watched the battle of magic, swords, and
fire.

“By the Almighty Firelord! An afriti!” Tachus’s
voice exclaimed from behind him.

Kaijin whirled and found the
shak’ha
staring in awe at the creature.

“How did that creature get here?”

Kaijin frowned. “Vargas. And that afriti is no
servant of the Firelord.”

The
shak’ha
’s awestruck face darkened. “Yes,
there
is
something different about that one. Well, we will send it and
Vargas to the abyss.” He extended his hand toward Za’thaak and spoke a prayer.
A chain of fire extended from his palm and wrapped around one of the creature’s
legs. At the same time, Zarya shot a chain of golden light around the creature’s
other leg.

All the guards grabbed hold of the chains of light
and attempted to pull the creature off its feet, but the afriti’s fire turned
the chains red hot. The guards promptly let go.

Jarial hurled a ball of colors at its face.

Upon impact, the ball exploded in a blast of multicolored
light. Energy surged through the creature’s body. Snarling, the afriti held its
clawed hands over its eyes. It swayed and stumbled about in a daze. It left
Vargas and crashed into a wall, causing it to shake and crack upon impact. The
sound of glass cracking was heard above, as well.

The guards rushed in and attacked its legs—the
only areas they were able to reach. Their weapons penetrated Za’thaak’s tough
skin, eventually tearing through to tendons and muscles. Nester moved swiftly,
attacking vital points in Za’thaak’s legs and feet with his daggers. Za’thaak
dropped its hands from its face and let out a painful roar. Amazingly, it
remained on its feet by bracing itself on the wall.

Omari held his staff aloft, and lightning streaked
from the tip and through his eyes. After he uttered a single command, bolts of
lightning shot from the staff and toward Za’thaak’s face. The lightning
enveloped the creature, and it howled. Flames erupted from Za’thaak’s body, and
fizzled out the lightning.

“Fall back!” one of the guards shouted to the rest
of his comrades as an array of fire and lightning displayed before them, and
the men cleared.

Aidan, who had shielded himself from the clash of
elemental magic with his wings, lowered his wings and tipped his head back,
assessing the creature. He took a deep breath, his chest expanding. He clenched
his fists, and the rippling muscles in his chest tightened as he exhaled white,
crystalline air toward Za’thaak’s torso. Ice formed over its skin, extinguishing
the flames burning there into hissing steam. The ice traveled downward, encasing
its legs.

Unable to move, Za’thaak howled louder. Its eyes began
to glow white, and Kaijin could sense its rage building. Bright yellow, almost
white flames burst from Za’thaak’s hands, the heat quickly melting the ice
around its torso. It hurled the flames at Aidan and the rest of its assailants.
Everyone scrambled away as some of the tapestries caught fire, and areas on the
ground began to burn.

The ice soon melted around its legs, as well. Once
freed, Za’thaak tried to walk, but its weakened legs buckled, and Za’thaak
crashed to the ground on its belly. The ground shook and more cracks formed on
the walls. One of the stained glass windows shattered, and multicolored shards
rained down on everyone, including Za’thaak. The glass melted as soon as it
touched Za’thaak’s burning skin, and the fire in the room intensified, making
the room an inferno. There was nowhere to escape; everyone was trapped.

Kaijin heard the screams, smelled the smoke, and
heard the past he so desperately wanted to forget. His family’s voices. The
cries of innocent Easthaven victims before they were consumed by death. Tears
stung Kaijin’s eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

I cannot let this happen again.

The cries of his friends mixed with the guards’,
and even Tachus’s voice became clearer as his mind went back into focus. Unharmed
by the fire burning all around him, Kaijin faced Za’thaak, who weakly tried to
stand but could only make it to its knees. Za’thaak’s turquoise eyes bore deep
into him, as if the creature were staring into his own soul. The image of
Za’thaak looked all too familiar, like in Kaijin’s dreams—his nightmares, his
worst fear. That image that had remained branded into his mind for so long.

Kaijin felt his heart sink into his stomach.
Za’thaak!
It is
he
who has been my greatest fear! The one who has haunted me in my
dreams! But why?

A voice spoke from the burning flames.
“Za’thaak
is a rogue flame, and must be contained.”

“Ignis! Is that really you this time?” Kaijin
muttered aloud, but the voice didn’t respond.

Za’thaak broke its gaze from Kaijin and looked elsewhere.
Was he really scared?
Kaijin thought.

Kaijin took a step forward and stood within arm’s
reach of Za’thaak. He slipped his hand through his robes, touching the hot
charm at his breast. He seized the charm and pulled it out.

I am yours, Almighty Ignis. Give me strength.

Za’thaak’s gaze shifted back toward Kaijin, and it
hissed. “You will not succeed, Firebrand!” it spat, its turquoise eyes
narrowing to small slits.

Kaijin smiled.
Za’thaak
is
afraid.
His
fingers gripped the fiery charm so tightly, they grew numb. He felt a sharp
pain in his upper back and winced.

The brand.
Is this—?

The area around him turned a bright white. He no
longer saw his friends. He no longer saw the world.

The charm’s heat increased, burning his flesh, and
the sensation traveled throughout his body. His vision was pure white, and for
a moment, he felt at peace.

Za’thaak’s silhouette was outlined before him, and
Kaijin reached toward it with both hands. He seized the silhouette with his
hands, and Za’thaak’s full body—now standing—came into view. He heard a cry, a
growl, and his nose was assaulted by the stench of burned flesh. Za’thaak was
much smaller, or had Kaijin become bigger? Around the two of them, pure, white,
fire burned brighter than any star. Za’thaak held its hand to its face.

Kaijin observed the afriti.
Vulnerable.
Helpless.

Kaijin put his hands on Za’thaak’s shoulders. He
cringed at the feel of the afriti’s rough, bumpy skin. He dug his fingers tightly
into Za’thaak’s flesh. The afriti roared and lifted its clawed hand, which
shook.

“We are alone now, Za’thaak,” Kaijin said. “Just
the two of us. Why don’t you face me?”

Za’thaak kept silent and didn’t unshield its eyes.

“Or are you afraid of me?”

Za’thaak grunted. “I do not
fear
mortals.”

Then, Kaijin said something he’d thought he would
never say to his own fear. “Then look at me.”

“You will not have me,” Za’thaak retorted, still keeping
its eyes averted.

An eager sensation flowed through Kaijin. It was
the same feeling he’d always felt as a child whenever he tried to stick his
hand in a burning candle. Kaijin’s smile darkened. “Then I will take you.”

White fire flowed from Kaijin’s hands to
Za’thaak’s body, bathing the creature in a bright, burning light. Za’thaak’s
skin began cracking, and white light emerged from the cracks. Za’thaak let out
a terrifying roar of pain and tried to pull away from Kaijin’s grasp, but he
tightened his hold.

“Look at me, damn it! Or I will destroy you!”
Kaijin yelled in a voice that even he could tell was not completely his own.

Za’thaak’s breathing faltered, then slowly, it
turned its head. Cloudy, turquoise eyes stared at Kaijin, and it was Kaijin’s
turn to gaze into the creature’s soulless form. All those long moments of torment.
Guilt. Insanity. The truth was revealed to Kaijin. He had to take hold of those
fears. Control them and never that let go.

The fire that surrounded Za’thaak began to weaken,
transitioning from pure white to a deep orange hue. Kaijin could sense that the
afriti’s powers were weakening. But somehow, he still felt Za’thaak’s rage
lingering—this time, in himself. The brand on his back singed him, drawing a
sharp pain, almost making him release Za’thaak. Kaijin arched his back inward
and cried out. His tears stung his eyes, and dried to salty streams before they
could reach his cheeks.