Oops! I Caught a Genie!

Chapter 15

NOTE! Fritz Point of view! (Jumping up and down with neon lights! Please dont get confused!) 

Leaving Nora outside worried me. Even though I had conjured some djinni fire in the overhang it was still dangerous. Dangerous not just because of the cold, but because her father’s allies were searching hard to find the person we had come to see.

I suppressed a shudder as I remembered my time in that horrible little storage space and thought about how different Nora was from her father. I knew that if she had taken after her father, I wouldn't have seen the sunlight ever again.

I was torn from my thoughts by a swift and hard kick to my shin. I glared up at my old friend and was about to say something biting when I noticed his expression. I followed his gaze to a large elderly man lying in a bed that was pushed up against one wall of the cabin. It was rather small and cramped on the inside, but there was a roaring fire going in a firepit in the middle of the room that made it appear slightly larger. As I looked at the man, his age became more and more apparent.

I knew that he was an elderly Muwakil, a guardian djinn. It was said that even he himself had forgotten his own name. He had chosen to become a hermit in the northern European mountains to protect his knowledge and extensive research. The reason he hadn't been found before us was the simple fact that no one had had a reason to care. Those who did care did not have the resources necessary to track down a powerful and old djinn.

“Afi*, We have come to-”

“I know why you have come.” The old djinn rumbled.

“Then you will help us?” I asked hopefully.

“We will see about that."

"What can we do?" Mangoo asked

"Eliminate the binder."

“What?! She had no idea what she was doing!” I cried in horror.

“Does she know the incantation?” The old djinn asked.

“No, she read it off of a piece of paper.” I said.

“Very well. If she does not know the incantation, I will allow her inside. It is terribly cold out.”

Understatement of the year I thought.

I walked out of the warm cabin into the biting wind and tried to call for Nora but my voice was ripped away by the wind. I grumbled to myself and trudged out into the snow and Ice, half regretting not getting another jacket after giving my own away. I could have called another one up from my storage place but I wasn't going to be out here long.

I spotted Nora huddled up to my djinni fire and sprinted over to her. I stuck out my hand and the fire disappeared. She whined in protest and looked up at me. Not wanting to expose her or myself to any more of this freezing cold than necessary, I picked her up and carried her to the cabin. She protested weakly but was too cold to do anything.

Once inside, I set her down a safe distance from the fire. She slowly sat up and held her hands out towards the fire slowly. Poor human…

The old djinn watched her silently, not saying anything. I hoped that he had seen that Nora wasn't a threat and that she was innocent of her father’s crimes. Muwakil djinn supposedly had the ability to know all. This was seen as dangerous and as a result, little over one thousand years ago there was a mass execution of the class. Rumor has it that only the elder djinn had escaped with his life. Ever since that time, he has completely withdrawn from the world.

“What is going on?” Nora asked weakly. I winced slightly as a pang of guilt came over me, it was all my fault that she was here and cold. My fault in the first place for getting caught in that bar and exposing her to djinn, though I suppose her father would have caught someone else if not me.

“Have these two explained what you are?” The old djinn grumbled.

“T-they said I was a binder, all I know is that I accidentally bound Fritz…” Nora stammered. Noticing the old djinn seemingly for the first time.

I nearly smacked my forehead and yanked my hair. I should have explained what binders were before we came all this way! I’m surprised she didn't learn more from all of the notes and research that we went through. I was surprised Mangoo hadn't lectured her. The old djinn took a deep breath and started to explain.

“Binders were initially what humans call witches, basically the anti djinn. For generations, djinn and binders fought against each other. The binders of ancient times could wield powerful magic. However, most of that knowledge disappeared when the binders fell. The djinn made sure to wipe out their advantage so that they would never be a threat again. They obviously missed a fraction of their most dangerous magic and that is the binding curse. This curse was used to enslave djinn and use them to fight against their own kind. Fritz and Mangoo have not encountered many binders because your kind is almost extinct and they are still young.”

“Wait.” Nora said, “I don't understand djinn aging…”

I decided to let the old man take this.

“Our lifespan is about one thousand years. We age roughly one year per ten of your human years. I am reaching the end of my lifespan, at this point I could die any day. Fritz and Mangoo did well in coming now.”

“So you will help us?” I asked.

“Yes.” The old djinn said.

We all relaxed, this was it. We were finally going to figure out how to end this curse.

Mangoo grinned and sat down where he had been standing. I sat close to the fire next to Nora. We looked eagerly up at the old djinn. We probably looked like a bunch of children at storytime.

The old djinn began to speak,

“There are three ways to break the binding curse.

The first way is kill the binder

The second way is the djinn escaping through death.

The third way-”

The old djinn was interrupted by rumbling, followed by an explosion outside that shook the ground. Everything in the cabin rattled and shook. A few bottles fell from the shelf above the wood stove and shattered on the wood floor.

“What was that?” Nora whispered through the sudden silence following the shockwaves from the explosion. I lept up and hissed urgently,

“Mangoo, stay here with Nora and the elder. I’ll go see what happened.”

I sprinted to the door and opened the door. When I caught a glimpse what was going on outside, I blanched.

*Afi- Grandfather...Ect... Something to call old people (Note: It is not in spanish or persian((I dont speak persian...)))

What do you think? :3 do it again? Or burn this chapter with salt and predjudice? (I personally am not sure how I feel about it...) 

The next chapter is also in this POV so.... Idk.... I'd like to know if this is an okay thing to do...