35. Ashes

{Naya}

"Mistress, stop! Mistress!"

Through the torrents of blue fire, I could faintly hear Ritsu's pleas. They didn't register with me. The alcohol in my gut was too strong, the blue blaze was too bright. My thirst to burn the ifrit and everything else was not yet quenched.

"Mistress, if you don't stop, you'll kill yourself! The ifrit is gone."

Ritsu's desperation made me aware of the draining sensation that came with pumping out that much fire. Not to mention that I was still clinging to the ceiling upside-down.

Wait. If Ritsu's back in his own body, then how the hell am I still –

The fire faded away. One last pathetic puff of smoke escaped my lips before gravity took over.

+++

{Janus}

The djinni was not abundantly skilled when it came to wielding the firesword, but he knew enough to carve several deep burns across Janus's chest and shoulders.

The collector had no ifrit to shield him and no spell powerful enough to deflect a firesword. All he had was his footwork, which he relied on to sidestep and evade the half-trained djinni.

Damn. I should have done more research or at least come with more binding tools!

No, how could he blame himself? There was no way he could have predicted this. The only explanation was that someone else – another powerful magus – had taught this changeling how to defend himself. He had received help from a traitor of the dark arts.

"Changeling! Tell me who spoiled sorcery by teaching the likes of you," Janus snarled. "I'll make sure that they end up just like all the other magi I put down."

The changeling swept into a low stance, trying to wound Janus in the knees.

"Temper your tongue, collector. You're not in a position to make threats."

Janus darted backwards, chuckling, "Maybe not yet, but when I get there, I'm not only going to come after your mentor, but your djinniyah too."

The changeling hesitated, his eyes turning a dangerous shade of mauve – just the reaction Janus was hoping for.

More ash spilled from the changeling's mouth. "I'm looking forward to wiping your innards from the walls when all of this is over."

Janus braced himself for whatever would come next. Like before, Uriel bit down on the ash, triggering a minor explosion.

Recognizing it as another diversion, Janus covered his nose with his sleeve and pretended to stumble around. All the while, he kept his senses sharp, prepared to disarm the djinni, who would still be enraged and careless.

Janus checked behind, above, and all the spots an opponent was likely to ambush. He strained his eyes in search of the brightness of the sword among the cloud of smoke and ash.

What eventually came crashing against his nose was neither blade nor fire.

+++

{Uriel}

Uriel had traveled under the thickest layer of smoke, his stomach nearly hugging the floor, until he got right below the collector. Then he elevated the sword by the hilt with the intention to knock Janus off balance.

Now that Uriel's opponent was flat on his back, exposed, with a broken nose, he could administer a proper death blow.

There was no hesitation.

The djinni whipped the flaming scimitar in position, plunged downward, and watched as the sword moved on its own accord, prematurely casting itself aside.

Uriel stared dumbstruck at his empty hands, Janus's unharmed body, and the flameless firesword hilt lying out of reach.

<Looks like we'll have to finish this with our bare hands.>

Uriel tried to collapse onto the collector, but hesitated at the arrival of the presence of a new phenomenon. The djinni watched on in perplexity as an arc of scribbled symbols appeared on the floor surrounding Janus's body. Complex rune-glyphs intersected with more alchemic syllabary to form a pungent, protective barrier.

Then a voice called out from behind. "Get back, djinni."

Uriel turned his head to see yet another intruder. This one was freckled, curly-haired, and had a gut that strained against the net of belts and harnesses criss-crossing his torso.

Anger and disbelief caused Uriel's suit of fire to swell when he saw that hitched up by its armpits and leaning with its back against the intruder was the overgrown ifrit – unconscious it appeared. Still, if Ritsu hadn't managed to kill it, there was no telling how much Naya had been hurt.

"I told you to get back. I won't say it again," the stranger warned. His tone was nervous, but firm. He swung a metal censer from a chain. It burned with an incense that made Uriel's eyes water and his fire squirm in disagreement.

Uriel stepped aside without taking his eyes off the man, who could be nothing other than a magus. The magus cautiously made his way to the transmutation circle. The chains on his censer rattled softly as he swung it to and fro, no doubt to mask any evidence that could help Uriel track them down.

Once the magus made it inside the circle, he crouched down to where Janus was and reprimanded the collector in a furious whisper. Janus responded with a pathetic groan. Then the magus tucked the collector and the ifrit's limbs so that they were all inside the parameters of the circle. He drew one last glyph, poured some kind of liquid catalyst over it, and then in a pop of light and smoke they were gone.

Uriel stood alone in the smoky silence, trying to repossess control of his body. The suit of fire grumbled as it sank back to its state of slumber. Only when Uriel was sure that his human shell was intact did he make his way to Naya's hookah pipe.

Soon Uriel was materializing from a cloud of smoke on top of a pile of drenched cushions. The room smelled strongly of rare liquor.

"She's all right," Ritsu said from below. The monkey stood beside Naya, watching over her sleeping form.

Uriel dropped to his knees and began to check for any burns and bruises on her. He found some along her ribs.

"What happened?"

Ritsu sat on his haunches. "You're not going to like this, but I didn't have a choice. With her permission, I possessed her and called upon her fire. That was the only way we could fight off the ifrit."

Ritsu was right, but the news didn't sit well at all with Uriel. "She may not wake for days. You forget that she isn't entirely a djinni. Too much fire and phenomena will kill her."

Ritsu surrendered his hands. "I backed off right before she forced me out. Then she just kept calling upon her fire."

Uriel decided not to argue with the demon. Ritsu had kept Naya safe and that was all that mattered.

There were other realities that Uriel had to face. The reason the collector had found them was only because of his carelessness and selfish pursuits.

If I had focused more on strengthening the wards instead of trying to get into Naya's pants, we wouldn't be in this mess.

"What happens now?" Ritsu asked.

Still furious with himself, Uriel turned away from Naya's body. "Janus and the ifrit will be back . . . . Zayn's the only one who can help us now."