Chapter Twenty-Five
An alien tree had sproutedin the center of the more familiar landscape of the spirit plane. Its massive branches reached out in every direction, creating a near perfect circle. And the branches were bare so Darren saw the birds—fantastic creatures who had modeled themselves after animals in other dimensions. A blue-black bird with three legs watched with huge eyes, and a conspiracy of oversized ravens had claimed an entire branch. However, two birds on one of the lowest branches commanded most of the attention.
A pair of phoenixes watched, their long tails shimmering in brilliant shades of red and gold. They had long necks and tiny beaks. Darren’s memories of the bonding ceremony was hazy, almost as if he’d been a half-asleep, but he remembered these birds. These guides had been the witnesses when he and Kavon had entered the ancient well of magic the ifrit called home.
Shadowy figures appeared in the distance, their human shapes distorted as if they were in a fog. A few had distinct features that stood out—a carved necklace here, a dangling feather there. For the most part they were faceless forms. “Oh boy,” Darren said softly.
Kavon stood close enough that their shoulders brushed. “Anzu’s here.” He pointed.
Anzu squatted on the ground, his feline hind quarters hunched as though he was about to launch himself into the air. A trio of hummingbirds darted around him, and every time Anzu moved in any direction, all three dove toward him. Pochi had friends. Above, a golden eagle screamed as it flew in huge, lazy circles.
Darren’s breath caught. “What do we do?” Darren had thought Pochi and Bennu would end the fight, so he hadn’t made any plans for how to handle a defeated durance. It wasn’t as if they could send Anzu to prison or even contain him if he joined with another shaman. Right now he was quiet only because he was bleeding power all over the spirit plane—and the presence of the other ifrit likely helped. Darren was getting a sense of serious power standing close to their tree.
Dave and Thuya appeared. “Excellent work,” Dave said. “We have to destroy the evil guide. Do it quickly, before the monster can recover.”
“Wait!” a woman called. Salma’s form solidified and she hurried toward Anzu. However, she stopped several feet away and faced Dave and Thuya. “All the ifrit are the creation of Allah. To destroy one is a fearsome decision. We should drive Anzu away.”
Thuya exchanged a weary look with Dave and then held out her hands toward Salma. “The old guides are part of creation, like any other part of Allah’s universe. However, they cannot be allowed to live and corrupt this world—not again.”
Salma reared back as if she’d touched fire. “Thuya,” she said in a wounded tone.
“The world is more complex than the ifrit can imagine. They are not greater than us. We must make difference choices if we want a different outcome,” Thuya said. She chose to look like a woman in her twenties, but she had her disappointed grandmother tone down pat. For a minute, she continued to hold her hands out to Salma.
Salma shook her head. “Lock the infidel ifrit away. That is the choice the ifrit made. We walk their path.” Salma pressed her lips together. Darren knew that expression. That meant she was going to insist on doing something even after they gave her every reason to avoid doing it. She’d had that expression right after Kavon listed all the reasons why they should sell the jet. And they still owned it.
“We can’t. There’s too much magic in this world for the lock to hold,” Thuya said. “Our magic weakens the barrier.”
Dave moved to stand beside her. “For exile to work, the ifrit would have to purge the world again.”
Salma raised her chin. “If that is the price that must be paid to win this war, then we will pay it.”
“God save us from believers,” Dave muttered.
Darren noticed that he wasn’t appealing directly to Kavon. Maybe he knew he had damaged their relationship, and maybe Kavon was right that Dave had always been using him. If so, that was a sad thought. Darren moved close to Kavon.
Thuya focused on Salma. “Child, the ifrit are masters of their world. This is our world. We must make the decisions required to protect it, and I know that is difficult. You are young and I died before I could teach you the more complicated realities that come with age.”
Julie appeared. Her body should’ve still been on top of the hotel with Ahtisham, but apparently she had decided to send her soul to oversee the battle. She looked around, her gaze taking in Anzu. As she studied the assembled group, her frame grew straighter and taller.
“This is something I had never expected to see. Truth be told, I haven’t even taught the younger ones this lore because I thought it was fantasy. Joke’s on me since that meant this task fell to me.” She sighed as she took a step closer to the tree.
“I can’t say your kind are welcome back here. We told you last time that your light was too bright for this world.”
“I don’t know who you are, but this is not your fight,” Thuya said, disapproval dripping from her words.
“Spirits save us from arrogant white folk,” Julie said with disgust.
“I am not white,” Thuya snapped, offended at that accusation.
Julie studied her. “Funny, you look pretty damn white and too damn young for someone as old as you.” She turned to Kavon and Darren. “You can reach this place because the ifrit changed one of your ancestors. I inherited this place just like thousands of other holy walkers have. No ifrit blood required.”
“We’re trying to figure out a solution,” Darren said, hoping to shut down any potential conflict between Julie and the shadowy figures standing with Thuya and Dave. Now that they were on the spirit plane, Darren could feel her power. It wasn’t the same. It was warm, summer sand instead of the velvet feel of ifrit power, but it was there. “If you have a suggestion, we’d love to hear it.”
“We should lock the evil ones away,” Salma said, “exile them.”
Julie ignored her. Taking a deep breath, she walked toward the tree. Hundreds of birds watched her, some with heads cocked, others with beaks open.
“This is our spirit plane,” Julie told the birds. “You found us here.”
