Oops! I Caught a Genie!

Chapter 18

I inhaled deeply and thought about the decision. A little voice inside my head told me not to think, I already knew who I was going to help and I needed to stop hesitating. I willed the flow of energy towards Fritz.

I watched as the light twisted though the air and shot like a lightning bolt towards him. It hit him in the back and he fell forward, face first into the snow. It took them both a minute to figure out what had happened and when they did, Fritz shot a concerned look toward the cabin. I gave him the thumbs up gesture and motioned for them to go on.

Fritz looked like he wanted to protest, but he turned to Mangoo and they used hand motions to form a plan. From what I could tell, it was I'll jump left and you'll jump right, then shoot. I wasn't sure how I felt about that plan, but I was beginning to feel very tired.

"Hey, Nora, do you have any tea bags?" Liana asked me.

"I have a couple, Fritz got some for me yesterday." Liana didn't press for details thankfully and got up and walked the small old fashioned stove and started trying to turn it on to boil water. I turned back to the window and looked at the flashes and bangs of magic and the sharp cracks and booms of technology. I couldn't help but wonder if the energy that i'd given to Fritz was enough. Could I give more? I could feel another presence faintly in my mind, on a far edge of my consciousness. It felt familiar, I couldn't touch it, but it didn't feel like an evil presence.

I started to gather more energy around myself to try and channel at the presence but was interrupted by a pained grunt, followed by a soft gurgle.

"Drop your magic, binder." Said a cold masculine voice, "and turn around, slowly."

I brought my hands up in a sign of surrender and turned around as slowly as possible.

In the middle of the cabin stood a tall man holding a knife to Liana's throat. My eyes darted to the side and I suppressed a scream. A wave a nausea crept over me as my eyes found the body of the elder djinn, a stab wound in his chest and his throat cut from ear to ear. Smoke and blood leaked out of the openings.

I turned to the man again and took in his cold hard face, he had a small amount of stubble on his face, his eyes were stone grey and merciless.

The knife at Liana's throat had runes carved into its red blade. It must have been iron.

I raised my hands higher and asked slowly,

"What do you want?"

"You." He hissed. He suddenly raised the butt of the blade and brought it down hard on Liana's head. She crumpled to the floor like a broken doll. I hadn't even had time to blink before the man was dragging me by the hair out the small hole he had made in the back of the cabin.

Once outside in the harsh wind, he shoved me into a waiting covered snowmobile. Not before clamping my hands in some sort of metal handcuffs. I tried to reach my power, but failed. Something was blocking it and I would bet my last dollar that it was the handcuffs. Terrified, moistness filled my eyes and I bit back a whimper. This man had just killed someone. He had killed an ancient djinn who had probably known about defense. I lost hope. If he had been able to kill a djinn with as much experience as the elder, what chance did Fritz have? If he and Mangoo even survived the army out front.

The man turned around in his seat and struck me with the blunt end of his knife and darkness filled my mind.

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