The Sole Survivors' Club

Chapter 24

Monica was blinded when her eyes were blasted out of her skull. The ball of fire stuck as a solid object, searing into her back.

The impact shattered her insides. She felt her skin tearing in dozens of places, but her throat was already too badly burned for her to scream. The fiery missile exploded an instant later, and then all of her senses shut off.

Her vision returned first, although she saw nothing but a hazy cloud of grey. Shapes collected in the haze before forming into a distorted image that reminded her of a grainy black and white photo.

She saw three of the marid as solid black shapes on a grey background. All three stood with stiff postures, watching for her.

Monica couldn’t understand why they didn’t see her, but then she couldn’t see the fourth marid either.

A cloud rose from the ground and began collecting into a large body. The fourth marid was reforming. His body had dissolved in the attack, but disintegration apparently did not equal death.

Monica thought of the sword and her vision shifted. She didn’t look down, but she could perceive a blurring shift in the patterns of ash that made her vision in the marid’s scattered body.

The blade sprang into focus. The shiny metal of the blade, guard, and pommel appeared white in her vision, while the handle blended in with the ground for being the same dark shade of grey.

Monica thought of reaching for the blade, and she saw a hand form in the ash. Her fingers opened, seeking the handle. A throbbing heat spread out from her hand, a pain that grew more intense once she’d clutched the sword again.

“There!” one of the marid shouted.

Monica’s vision blurred as her point of focus changed again. She recognized the four marid and her half formed body too. Somehow, she was outside of her frame, residing inside the cloud of ash that surrounded her disfigured form.

The marid who pointed out Monica leapt at her, intending to scatter her ashes again. Monica had steeled herself for the impact when she felt the handle of the sword heat up.

Her vision shifted again, and she saw a dense black shape with white flaming eyes bearing down upon her.

A flash of white blurred between his eyes as she flicked the sword up at the last moment. The marid never saw the attack and had no chance to slow his charge. His forehead bulged on either side of the blade, and then his head exploded.

Monica swept the blade back and forth, following the sword when it urged her to move.

She assumed that she was fanning the air to clear it. But when her vision cleared and returned to a full spectrum of colors, she saw how the blade drew ash in and absorbed it.

The other marid no longer regarded her with scowls of anger. They were frightened.

Monica smiled at the idea, amused that the trio of powerful jinn were afraid of her. Her smile caused all three marid to step back.

She knew it was the sword they feared, and she finally understood its purpose. The blade was a prison, and it absorbed the spirit of any living thing killed by it.

None of the trio moved. They were terrified of her. Only moments before the idea amused her, but their terror was not a feeling Monica liked.

She lowered the sword. “I’m going to leave now, and you will let me go.”

“Who do you think you are?” one of the marid asked, but the rumble of thunder was missing from his voice.

“I’m the owner of the only spirit blade in existence.” Monica raised the sword, and all three pairs of flaming eyes bobbed to follow it. “I don’t want to kill any of you, but if you harass me, I’ve got no choice but to defend myself.”