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Another drum roll ensued, and the high priest spoke to the revelers again.
“We have paid tribute to the Twins, and they have accepted our gifts. Go, find joy in the Past, the Future, and the Present.”
He took a fistful of ashes and scattered it on the nearest people, then repeated it three more times to bless as many as possible. When the last speck of ash fell, the musicians started an even more intense tune, although it was almost completely suppressed by the joyful noises of the crowd. The celebration had entered its second phase like a stirred-up beehive, and after the lofty atmosphere, the time for a carefree festival had finally arrived.
As fascinated as I was by the whole holiday, I kept my attention on the altar. Before I could come up with a plan to reach our loot, four muscular men with dreadlocks and similarly painted torsos walked up to the stone table. Two of them picked it up and carried it towards an ornate tent set up in the back, while the other two collected the ashes around them into a bronze bowl, only to scatter it at the edge of the square.
“I don’t like this,” Ezair said.
“Me neither. The crowd would’ve hidden us out here, but inside we got no chance,” I said. “Do you see the lamp?”
“I think it’s still on top of the altar. At least something shiny is there.”
Ezair took a deep breath and slowly let it out. I could almost hear the gears in his brain grinding against each other.
“Nazrik wouldn’t consider this task payment if it were easy. Let’s see how well they’re guarding it.”
I ran my eyes over the celebratory crowd again. Musicians, dancers, fires... There was some potential.
“Let’s take a look. I think I might have a plan.”
Ezair nodded and put his arm around my waist to look like every other reveler, basically pulling me along. Those who were carrying the altar took their burden into the tent and closed the wooden door behind them, while those who had scattered the ashes stood in front of the entrance to guard it. Two outside, two inside. Our odds could’ve been better.
“Here’s the plan,” I whispered softly, leaning close to Ezair. “We need to start a fire. There’s a bunch of open flames here, we could overturn some pots or a stove. The guards hopefully rush to help so I can sneak in and let Chai out of the scarf. From there it’s all on her and the magic ring, but I think we’ll manage.”
“That’s the best shot we got. You want me to be the arsonist?”
I shrugged. “Unless you want to do the thieving.”
“I think I’ll leave that to the experts.”
Ezair let go of me, exposing my racing heart to the cold breeze. I just realized how cool it was.
“Well then, good luck.”
“Thank you, same,” I said with a smile.
He blended into the crowd, disappearing immediately, while I tried to get closer to the tent.
Minutes passed. The crowd grew more liberated, the air filled with a pulsating rhythm, naked skin flashed everywhere, and several people got entangled with each other. I was just getting bored when the melody I was waiting for finally started, in the form of cries and screams. It was clear that panic was about to erupt, and luckily the shrine guards outside saw it.
First, they just exchanged concerned looks, then a younger girl ran up to them crying. One guard put his hand on the girl’s shoulder and barked an order at his companion, who immediately stepped inside the tent.
I didn’t move from my spot. The girl ran back into the crowd, followed by two of the guards from inside, and eventually a third joined them to put out the fires.
I couldn’t have wished for better. Dealing with the last guard inside with Chai at my side was a breeze.
I snuck up to the tent, took the scarf off my neck by the entrance, and released Chai with a wide swing. She staggered a bit, but quickly found her balance again, leaning on her crutches. I didn’t understand how the scarf could hide and reveal those with her, but I had learned not to question magic.
“There’s one guard left. If you put him to sleep, the way is clear,” I explained, keeping my voice down.
“Just one?” she asked, surprised. “I thought it would be more difficult.”
She did some digging in her purse, and she finally found a tiny, green-stone ring.
“We took care of the other three,” I said. I thought she could hear everything from the scarf, but it seemed the magic object didn’t have the power to do that.
“Nice work. Then let’s finish this.”
She limped to the door and we walked in. The fourth guard stood next to the altar, stomping on the ground, trying to mask his nervousness.
“Don’t worry, the others will take care of the fire,” he said, trying to encourage us. I almost felt bad for him.
“But...” Chai stuttered with trembling lips. “But you don’t understand... The fire...”
While Chai stumbled towards the guard I looked around, assessing the terrain, searching for something I could knock the man out with if something went wrong. The middle of the tent was empty, but several mirrors, small paintings, and gleaming gilded objects lined the tent’s edge. The altar stood at the back, and a thin grey line of ash marked its path as the guards had carried it in. I could see several massive candlesticks, but they all seemed too heavy to use as a makeshift weapon.
“Everything will be fine,” the guard said, walking towards us.
“But my brother... And my darling... And...”
She slid out of my grip, her leg twisted under her, and she collapsed into the man’s arms.
“They’ll be fine, too. Don’t be afraid.”
“Oh, I’m not. Not for myself, at least.” She grabbed the guard’s shoulder and they immediately staggered, slowly descending to the ground together.
I helped Chai up, grabbed the lamp, and put it in her hand. “Excellent performance. Now, let’s get you back in the scarf before anyone—.”
Judging by the slow, cynical applause behind us, though, it seemed I wasn’t the only one impressed with Chai’s acting.
“Here are all the treasures of the Twins’ Eve, and you think one guard will watch over it, even with all the commotion you caused out there,” a familiar voice said. From this close and personal, the paint on the high priest’s skin wasn’t white, rather silver-grey, just like the ash on the altar.
“Well, a girl can dream,” I replied, trying to keep my cool.
“You dream in vain. Especially if you’re trying to steal from the Priest of the Future on the day I actually see into the future. You’re not from here, are you?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m not. But if you can see the future, you should know it’s a matter of life and death, so can’t we just... leave?”
“I’m afraid I can’t let you walk out with a New Seed in your hands. But as soon as you give up on the lamp, you can go and enjoy the ceremony like everyone else.”
“I don’t think you understood what we said,” Chai said, running her palm across the gold-trimmed red shawl resting on her shoulders. The sudden heat wave emanating from her back was comforting, just like the bright wings of flame that formed above her. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Stupid girl,” the priest said, shaking his head. “I saw seven of these Flamefeathers. You’ll have to try harder.”
I let Chai go and tried to approach the edge of the tent. While they were juggling words, I decided, it was time to take matters in my hands, along with a sufficiently heavy ornament.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. In the next five seconds, you could die three times,” the priest suddenly turned to me. My throat was tight from his gaze, but I had just figured out why. His left eye was missing, replaced by a large obsidian gem wrapped in silvery silk, only barely mimicking a real eye.
“Zaira. This man is unlike anyone we’ve faced before,” Chai said. Her usually calm and collected tone wavered, and her nervousness utterly terrified me.
But I think I can keep him busy while you run away with the lamp, she continued. I could hear her voice right next to my ear, yet her lips remained motionless, only an earring of her shook wildly.
I had a bad feeling about this priest, and even though Chai was infinitely more capable against him than I was, I couldn’t leave someone who had absolutely nothing to do with this all by herself. But... If I had the lamp, maybe they’d chase me and leave her alone.
At least that’s what I was hoping.
I closed my eyes in agreement, then looked at her, trying to get the message across.
Run, she screamed silently in my ears, then her wings burst out like two rivers of flame, locking the priest in a fiery embrace.
I ran out of the tent without looking back, but the sudden heat explosion behind me still knocked me forward as a dried leaf. I stumbled, then held my arms out to regain my balance and kept running.
After a good thirty feet, I looked back over my shoulder – and the sight rooted me down.
The tarpaulin of the shrine bulged ever outward. The support ropes slowly surrendered to the tension and snapped, one by one, until the whole thing just flew into the air and crashed down on other tents a few streets away.
In its place, among the scattered offerings, the two mejai stood staring at each other. The silver paint rose up from the priest’s skin and clutched Chai’s wings, straining them upward like a pair of ephemeral arms. That had to be the most bizarre magic trinket, and it even gave Chai some trouble.
A shout erupted from the crowd, and people started gathering around the two as their fight began. If I hadn’t known this was a battle to the death, it would have suited the Eve as an exceptionally spectacular show.
A thin golden chain lit up on Chai’s waist and lifted her up a few feet into the air, gliding towards the priest’s left while avoiding the magic powder.
“Was it worth giving your legs to fly?” the priest asked and bent his fingers. The dust receded and swirled around his body like a storm. Chai didn’t even bother to answer, just swung one flaming wing towards him. “It was worth my one eye to truly see for a day. The light of the moon shows the truth. You’re not a local swindler. Why are you here? Why don’t you enjoy the title in a princely Secret Circle?”
“Not everyone appreciates sacrifice.” Chai opened her mouth wide. The screeching sound coming from her was inhuman, and it tore at my ears and shook my bones, even from that far. The priest took the attack full-on and collapsed, trying to shield his ears with his hands, although from the clear agony on his face, he could not.
Ezair chose this moment to push himself between the awestruck bystanders. “Zaira, did you— Is that Chai?”
“You didn’t know she was this awesome either, did you?” I asked with a grin, still clutching the magic lamp.
The girl screamed again, forbidding the priest to regain his posture.
Little by little, all the paint particles detached from the priest and formed an ever-thicker cloud around him, creating a makeshift barrier.
“I have to help her,” Ezair said, shoving the onlookers aside and running toward the priest. I tried to pull back. I should have left a long time ago, but I couldn’t resist watching how the mystical duel ended.
“Ezair! What are you...? It doesn’t matter, get out of here!” Chai shouted, floating towards him.
“You focus on him!” Ezair shouted back.
The priest pushed his hand forward and the silver cloud followed the command, making the solidified barrier into a ram that crashed against Chai. The blow pushed her a few feet back, and for a moment her foot hit the ground. Ezair chose that moment to charge at the priest, who pulled the shield back so Ezair’s attack hit a solid wall of silver.
“This is foolish. You don’t stand a chance.”
“We already have what we came for,” Chai said, rising into the air and moving to strike with her wings again.
“I see the future, don’t you understand?” The priest laughed as he separated the silver shield with two palms. “First I deal with you, then I’ll recover what’s mine.”
Even if he truly saw the future, he couldn’t focus on two directions simultaneously. Ezair took advantage of this to pummel the shield with an unending barrage of punches and a series of side jumps to keep the man’s attention on him.
“You can see the future all you want. You still can’t watch both of us,” he cried, giving it all his strength.
A stomach-churning metallic scent struck my nose, and I soon saw the bright red spots on the wall of silver. It was Ezair’s blood, as he slowly but surely bruised his fists on the magic dust.
I wanted to run over there and help, even though I knew he couldn’t get better protection than Chai.
Chai rose higher, some of the feathers detaching from the wings and forming a burning ball of fire. She took a last deep breath and unleashed a ravaging scream into the fire, creating a gale of flame and wind, and striking the priest down.
He didn’t have time to pull the dust back on to his skin. The attack smashed him against the closest tent, ripping a hole into the fabric.
Chai descended, grabbed Ezair’s arm, and dragged him toward the crowd as quickly as possible. I ran up to them before the priest could get his act together and attack us again.
“I think...” Ezair said, hissing from the pain. “It’s time to run. Chai, I don’t mean to offend you, but maybe it would be easier if you took the lamp with you in the scarf.”
We were in the middle of the crowd. I glanced around looking for the guards, and unfortunately I spotted their bald heads and painted bodies too soon.
Chai took the lamp and disappeared into the scarf. I threw it around my neck, and ran towards the nearest tents as fast as I could.
“Are you all right?” I asked, looking at Ezair running next to me.
“I’m fine. I’ve bruised my hand a little, but it’s nothing serious.”
Looking at one of his knuckles, he was telling the truth. A bit of skin came off every finger, but it didn’t seem serious. That didn’t explain the blood I saw, however, and he kept his other hand hidden from me.
We kept running, followed by the cries of the temple guards trying to cut us off. I pushed Ezair into a darker street of this tent city, and he pulled me into an empty booth. We collapsed in a corner, trying to regain our breath as quietly as we could.
Others ran past the tarp, but luckily, none of them were smart enough to stop by. I didn’t dare peek to see if they were the guards or revelers. If the priest saw the future, he knew who had hired us, but that was Nazrik’s problem.
I walked up to Ezair and crouched down next to him. “I saw the blood on the shield. Show me your other hand.”
He sighed and raised his hand.
At first I didn’t recognize the white bits flashing under his bruised flesh, until it realized they were tendons. There was also free bone surface, blood leaked from a deeper cut between his index and middle fingers, and his thumb twitched almost continuously. I never had seen a horse trample on someone, but that’s how I would have imagined it.
It took a significant amount of strength not to look away, but I controlled myself and ripped a large piece of fabric off the sleeve of my dress. It was expensive and quite a spectacle, but I didn’t care.
I held Ezair’s hand by his wrist, wrapping the improvised bandage around it as carefully as I could. I wanted to stop the bleeding and protect the wound from any dirt. There was no sign of the silver grains, but it was better if neither sand nor dust got into it either.
“When we get back, Chai will surely heal you. I think she brought the hourglass with her. What were you thinking, smashing it bare-fisted?”
“I didn’t think it through. I didn’t want to ruin my dagger, so I was out of options.”
Someone walked past the tent again, but this time they were slow and steady steps. Running was no longer an option. I let Ezair’s hand go and unsheathed the dagger from his belt. He wasn’t in fighting shape, so for once, it was on me to protect him.
“My, my. If you had just bought another roasted steak and enjoyed the event...” said a familiar voice.
I couldn’t believe it. No matter where I went, I ran into this butcher. It was more than outrageous and far more than coincidence, so I took a firmer grasp on the dagger.
“Maybe... But work is work.”
The man’s lips curled into a puckish smile. “I was hoping you’d say that, Zaira.”
He removed a tiny gold pendant from his neck and flicked his forehead with his other hand to regain a more attractive, white-haired, tattooed figure with a handsome jawline, ember eyes, and—of course—the ever-present golden fingernails.
“You... you...”
For a moment, I couldn’t even breathe. Sun-forsaken lava-runaway was the thing I wanted to call him, but I didn’t want to go there yet.
“Next time you want a sacrificial gift, take the priest’s form and steal it yourself. It would be so much easier.”
“It wouldn’t have been easier. That unpleasant right eye of his can see through illusions. But why are you so upset? Wasn’t this our agreement?”
I blew the air out slowly. “It was. But let’s talk elsewhere, I need to get Chai out of the scarf.”
“Don’t worry, they won’t follow you here. That fight of yours must have drained the honorable high priest of all power. He can rely only his one eye and his servants, and they wouldn’t dare to mess with me. Come, follow me.”
We returned to Nazrik’s tent. I could smell the pleasant incense he had lit outside, and he brought the hookah out and set it up under the tarp.
The efrit sat in a chair and looked at me. I took the scarf off my shoulder, shaking Chai out. “We brought you what you wanted. You’ve got nicer lamps.”
“None more beautiful than this,” Nazrik said, taking the lamp and putting the medallion in Chai’s hand instead. “As agreed, this is yours now. Use it as you see fit.”
“What about the rest? The mute ring, and the scarf?”
“Let me see what you brought me, first,” he said, holding the lamp in both hands as if he was afraid of breaking it. I was sure he never touched any of his lovers as tenderly as he touched this bauble.
“Chai, can you please heal Ezair’s hand?”
“Of course. Show me,” Chai said in a soft voice, but when she saw Ezair’s injury, the blood ran out of her face. “I think Zaira just convinced me how reckless you are sometimes.”
“I told you,” I replied, but let her do her job and focus on what Nazrik was doing instead. The lamp was valuable, but was it worth three magic trinkets?
“This lantern is a seed,” he began, raising it in front of him. His eyes lit up like embers. “Some people think the Old Garden was born of magic, so magic can bring it back. Each new trinket born is a New Seed, a step towards the New Garden. Whether that’s true, I can’t say for sure, but they’re priceless.”
Everything suddenly made sense. For a mejai, that could be invaluable. I felt a certain pride knowing that I stole such a treasure, but I felt a bit ashamed.
“The priest mentioned a New Seed,” I said. “So that’s how magic objects are made these days? What does this lamp do?”
“I don’t know yet,” he replied. “It saw many things. Struggle, strength, and foresight. But whatever left a mark inside this seed, it made it powerful. I think you earned the scarf, and the necklace.”
“Two for one. We’ve got a deal.” I held out my hand towards him. “I feel sorry for these people. They make sacrifices and celebrate, just to make a mejai they believe to be a priest even stronger. The Twins’ Eve is nothing more than a colossal hoax.”
“That’s one way to think of it. But what if they’re right? If the twin gods of the moons find gifts appealing and in return, grant a trinket to their high priest?”
“First I’d have to assume the two moons are indeed two deities. But even if that’s the case, it doesn’t help the believers, just the high priest. And if you ask me, he’s already way too powerful. But I guess that’s none of our business. We’re just spirits.”
Nazrik did not answer. He carried the lamp back into his collection, with a mysterious smile.
“Thank you for your contribution. Make yourself at home, if you wish. I still have some work...”
I glanced around the tent. I hoped Nazrik had everything for a good bath.