Chapter 56. A Wet Djinn

Chapter 56. A Wet Djinn

Muramat Kamshad Nishad

Trained steps silently carried him where Muramat expected his quarry to be. Not that he had to try hard to do either — the loud grunts and cracks made tracking easy and silence unnecessary. But some things were more than a habit by now.

The wermage was entertaining herself by releasing anger on the trees, clawing and punching the green trunks until they turned into frayed stumps. He paused for a moment to watch her as his entourage caught up, suppressing a scoff. There was no form or grace in her movements, just strength and desire to use it. Typical behaviour of a country bumpkin — they grew up surrounded by farm slaves fearing their every breath and ended up thinking that their scant abilities put them on par with real wermages.

Her humiliation at the hands of the murk was the clear result of that blind arrogance. She walked in like a Matriarch, thinking he was a companion at most, and got her own milk fed to her instead.

“Do you think that punching trees will earn you honour?” He interrupted the commotion. “Or are you simply hiding here?”

The wermage jumped in place and turned around. The scowl of anger was quickly replaced by a look of apprehension once she saw his sash. So even she could learn from that. His plan wasn’t hopeless anymore.

“Your sight is in my heart... Muramat Nishad,” she cautiously said, ignoring his obvious ridicule. “I was merely training in seclusion. I will find a different spot so as not to disturb your day.”

His lips started to curl into a smile, but he hid it in his beard. “Training to do what? Seek revenge? Emanai arms train Procurers and many Manors employ Collectors for a reason — you will either end up with a kattar between your ribs or a fresh body on your hands. Trust me — getting stabbed would be the better option out of the two. Wermage or not, Aikerim Kiymetl Adal will find the murderer of her prized Alchemist and you would beg for a swift death. You aren’t dealing with an arrogant murk but the coveted property of a Pillar Domina.”

“Surely she is not that tyrannical and can forgive my misstep!?”

“A misstep? You walked straight into a pile of shit because you forgot to look! Even a single glance at his sash would’ve been enough. Unless that was your plan all along?”

“No! I only wished to talk to the Hatay wermage that was standing with the murk — I didn’t know that he was trying to approach the Pillar Domina!” She glanced at his entourage. “The Kamshad are famed for their justice — please help me earn my own!”

Muramat placed his tail into his hands and started brushing it. “Can you? Your recent display makes me question your abilities.”

“I can!” She went down on one knee. “I will not dare to let you down — one chance is all I ask.”

“Then show me your honesty with effort. Take that humiliation to heart and learn from it. Not by punching trees, something that you had no trouble doing before, but by practising what you failed at. Show me you can look first before I consider you a worthy candidate to become our client.”

Her mouse ears twitched. “Just give me the task and I will do it!”

“Remember that murk? Do not confront him, or interact with him or anyone close to him. Your task is to look. You will keep travelling north, eating meals, and practising your shooting skills — and in your free time, you will keep looking. What he does, what he eats... whom he meets.” He reached out and patted Siavash on his shoulder. “Report everything you see to my aide and show me that you can look before you make a step. Avoid notice and I will keep Anaise Hilal from concerning herself with you once more. Draw too much attention to yourself and I will not keep someone that repeats the same mistake twice.”

She nodded eagerly, happy to have an influential patron once again. “Consider it done!”

Muramat swished his tail. “Use your time wisely — the Kiymetl group and ours will join the same arm so you have almost a season and a half to improve your skills. Show me how good you can get rather than how quickly you can fail!”

The wermage got up with a new spark in her eyes. “Thank you for your words of wisdom!”

He rubbed his beard. “What is your name, wermage?”

“Layla Gol,” She scratched her ear bashfully, “of the Denag family.”

Muramat nodded. “Your name is on my lips, Layla Denag Gol. Make sure it stays there when the campaign is over. Now go and let the forest heal.”

Layla Gol bowed deep and bolted away with a spring in her steps.

“Are you sure this is wise?” Siavash murmured from the side. “Planning their original meeting and sending that wer to challenge his music only strengthened his reputation. Perhaps we should’ve goaded her on the path of revenge and have the murk removed entirely?”

Muramat scoffed and tousled his hair. “Have her attack the murk that survived a Collector attack without a scratch? We both have watched him bathe many times — have you seen any scars?”

Siavash shook his head. “There are some marks on his upper back and belly. Otherwise, his skin is clear and unburdened by labours of life.”

“Those look too old to be relevant. Probably caused during birth or shortly thereafter. What matters is that he is alive after Samat Collectors; his handling of the wermage, no matter the lack in her skill, shows his hidden aptitude. Not only would she fail, but she would bring unnecessary attention to us as well. Especially when Aikerim Adal is the holder of the Orb of Truth.”

“Do you think she will uncover something?”

“I do not believe she will even remain unseen, but Anaise Hilal would likely not act unless Layla does something stupid again. The wermage was humiliated for her previous actions and justice has been done. If Anaise Hilal decides to look petty and fickle by seeking her personal justice — I am simply educating a wayward wermage. Otherwise, Layla Gol will remain a distraction and nothing more. And if she does uncover something important? Well, I can recognise good work when it brings results.”

Siavash nodded. “And while she pays attention to her, she won’t be looking elsewhere.”

“Precisely. Now, about that wer — what have you found about the music?”

His aide sighed and shook his head. “Very little. There are plenty of rumours but no one knows with certainty where that music or even that kithara comes from.”

Muramat frowned. This was unfortunate. “What about Azhar Hatay Mesud playing it? Any connection to the Hatay Manors?”

Siavash shook his head. “Unlikely to be related to the Hatay themselves. He did not bother hiding while learning the instrument the last few days. If Erf isn’t the source of that music — he is the only known connection to it so far.”

“I see,” Muramat murmured, then nodded to himself. “Sounds rather barbaric, don’t you think?”

His aide tilted his head. “Muramat?”

Muramat smiled at him, his hand gently caressing his chin. “All those trials weren’t done to make him look good in front of the crowds, nor were they planned to humiliate him. We did them to learn more because knowledge reveals weaknesses. Do you know what happens when you don’t learn anything?”

“You search harder.”

“You can. But sometimes there is simply nothing to find. Rather than admitting defeat like someone less driven, you create your own knowledge instead. His music is barbaric — those drums are akin to the chants and roars of the eastern tribes while the kithara reminds you of their howls. Who knows, maybe this is the reason why there is a wercat slave in her ‘sadaq’. A wermage slave, at that.”

“I see,” Siavash smiled, “those tribes use drums too. Must be more than a coincidence. Perhaps I should talk to others about it.”

Muramat smiled. “Good boy.”

XXX

I splashed the water into my face and vigorously rubbed my skin. Yes, the skinsuit under my clothes kept me clean, but there was a certain charm to standing in a river and letting the cold water wash away the fatigue of the days past.

Things were moving along. The plantations and olive orchards of the south were long gone, giving way to fields of grain, pastures, and temperate forests. Our method of travel changed as well. After reaching Amul, the city where the two major rivers of Emanai met together and united the whole country, it was decided to take the Nuur River downstream all the way north to Uureg rather than keep walking alongside it.

Our pace improved as a result while giving us plenty of time to relax and pursue tasks other than simply walking toward sunset, but I still felt unease brewing inside of me.

Back in Samat, Yeva was building what was going to be the first workhouse ever in the history of Tana. Hopefully, without the negative aspects they developed in the past. With a dash of the industrial revolution as a side project. And Aikerim was gearing up for the next round of posturing, grandstanding, and intrigue among the upper echelons of Emanai society. Here, Anaise and Irje had been steadily improving their magical powers. When they were not attending meetings barred to murks or slaves, or both. Their progress was vastly different: while Anaise was learning to control the unleashed power of her old spells, Irje was figuring out ways to apply force in general. Yet both were showing consistent progress.

For starters — our boat was still afloat and only a very small half of the sail ended up missing until we stopped at the next port. At the same time, I had to stop myself twice from decking an innocent passing sailor when I felt fingers on my junk, only to see a glowing glove and a very entertained cougar nearby. Granted, floating dildoes, tickling, and sexual harassment at a distance weren’t the only skills she had managed to pick up. While the armour manipulation was still risky — or effective, depending on how it was applied — due to the occasional crumbling and warping when Irje’s concentration slipped, she was getting pretty good at controlling short swords. While I knew where she got the necessary experience from, the potential was immense — a floating monomolecular blade in the hands of a telekinetic could cause untold amounts of damage.

Until Anaise incorporated another ‘curve’ into some Flow figure that only she could see and threw a cup into a low Tana orbit or something.

I threw some more water on myself and kept scrubbing.

I missed that cup. Under my direct instructions, Keivan and Tuk crafted me a porcelain container of pristine white with two black dots and a tiny bump, glazed orange. I called it a duck cup and Anaise forbade me from walking out in public with it in my hands.

I, on the other hand, was stuck doing very little. Apart from ‘teaching the secrets of sound to the wind mage’ and ‘participating in scandalous public acts’ with the aforementioned ‘wind mage’ as my lovely wife called them, that is. I had very few tools and too many eyes on me to tinker around with my ideas. I asked Yeva to get me a second drone and tried to do some in-depth research on the Forest and quickly lost it after a few probing flights. Worst of all, without Lif by my side, I could only communicate and retrieve data through physical contact via the Harald link, which meant that the knowledge of its attacker died with it.

I decided not to send more for now. Drones were cheap and expendable, but I wasn’t particularly keen on providing some alien lifeforms with the highly engineered DNA of my machines. Especially since they saw humans as ‘food’, ‘prey’, or some ‘targets’. The behaviour that many would consider being expected still confused me — their biology was simply too different from ours for either side to consider the other food. There were no Forest fruits to be eaten, no alien teas brewed from the burgundy needles. No medium rare Creature steak. We couldn’t eat them because there were no proteins to break apart into amino acids, nor fats or sugars.

I blinked. “You didn’t know?”

Kirana huffed, “Well, after such a gift, it would make sense.”

“Oh, it wasn’t that at all. She got that offer for her work on new swords and armour. That gift of steel was her polite way of declining the title of Domina. She chose the power over steel gained through me over the power given by that title.”

“What about power over other metals?” Huare pressed. “Power over earth? Flow?”

“Huare!” Kirana hissed.

“What?” her twin shrugged. “He keeps answering everything anyway. I might as well ask.”

Kirana glared at her for a while, only to glance at me and sigh. “The Enoch Manor stands together with the Kiymetl and will continue to do so in the future. It was not my intention to cast doubt on that. Your assumptions about the limitations of the House of War are indeed correct — they can’t meddle in the tasks of other Pillars, assigned to them by the Goddess. But they do have power and its name is war.”

She walked slowly around me. “Aikerim Adal might frustrate them, but they still have you and your sadaq right where they are the most powerful. Do not forget that. You will need allies here just as you needed allies back in Samat. Allies like Isra Haleh and Aikerim Adal. Allies like us. Azhar Mesud looks like a formidable wermage, but the name of his Manor lacks gravitas while his unclaimed status attracts unwanted attention.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I do not mind his status that much.”

“You should. Anaise Hilal and Irje have enough sway through their status and relationship to demand serving alongside you. If not in the same finger then at least in the same hand. As daughters of the Enoch Manor, so can we, to some extent. He does not. The Kamshad may intentionally try to separate both of you just to weaken your position.”

That... would be hilarious to watch, if I was honest with myself. I didn’t know how many strings Albin had managed to pull in order to create a new persona, construct some alibi in case he met his ‘relatives’, and then organically insert himself into our procession without anyone questioning him too much, but it was likely to be a lot of them. At the same time, Albin didn’t strike me as someone who would forget about the upcoming predicament in troop assignments. Unless it was intentional on his part, of course.

Especially if Albin would ‘discover’ that hidden Hatay talent at leadership just so that he could witness me presenting a looking glass to my future general.

“I welcome your offer with my open heart, Kirana Kausar, Huare Kausar.” I bowed to them diplomatically. “I am certain that our alliance will grow strong over time and you are always welcome by our fire. Anaise would be delighted to discuss this in detail.”

Well, that was that. A bit of posturing on their side and a bit of posturing from me and we finally came to the conclusion that we all expected from the start. This dance was quite annoying sometimes but often necessary. It allowed each party to gauge each other just a tiny bit more so that they could plan further ahead. It was no wonder Isra Haleh hated doing it and Shahin Esca revelled in it. One valued precision and certainty while the other found freedom in chaos and nuance.

I looked around trying to locate my clothes on the shore; Kirana was right that the time was pressing and this conversation kept me even longer.

She took a step between me and dry land. “What if we are interested in... speeding up said growth?”

Huare nodded along. “You haven’t answered my question either.”

“Curiosity is a good thing to have, but you can’t expect me to divulge Manoral secrets right on this spot. We both know that while your help is desired, it is not needed. At least not to the extent where a promise of future support would be sufficient.”

Kirana crossed her arms. “And what does the murk daimon need?”

Huare copied her sister. “The two earth mages in front of you are quite resourceful. Any general worth their salt would be delighted to have us in her arm. We might ask for some... additional concessions when we join.”

“The challenge is that this ‘murk daimon’ has most of his needs met already. And I have ways to ensure the gratitude of my commanders.” I shook my head. “I can’t just come up with some inflated need just so I can give you my secrets in return.”

“Most does not mean all.” Kirana quickly picked up on my wording. “Why don’t you try and ask? As my sister just said — we are quite resourceful. Or we wouldn’t be here at all.”

“Is that so?” I mused in thought.

They were starting to push their luck with their insistence, especially since they were subconsciously blocking my path to the shore. I let it slide for now. A normal murk would’ve been terrified but I knew that I could force my way through if push came to shove. They wanted this alliance, not me.

“There might be something, actually.” I smiled and glanced at Huare.

She blinked.

“You see... I have a certain... curiosity myself,” I said as I started to slowly circle the quieter twin. “A passing fancy, if you like.”

Huare tugged her braid. “Which is?”

Most of their hair was neatly wrapped into a bun, to avoid getting it wet, except for the twin customary braids on their chests. Not for the modicum of modesty but to mimic the facial tentacles of heurisks and imply at least some status while being otherwise naked.

Wermages.

“It is something that I can’t easily get.” My hand reached out and touched her horn. The velvet was soft and warm to the touch. “Something that most wouldn’t be able to get for me. Unless they were... resourceful.”

Huare squeaked from my touch and Kirana quickly pushed her behind herself. “Stop stalling and say it!”

I smiled. “I want a basic spellcodex.”

Whatever Kirana wanted to say, she wasn’t prepared for that. “What!?”

“It is a small codex with simple spells written in it.” I was quick to explain. “Wermage children learn from it.”

“I know what a spellcodex is!” she fumed. “Are you trying to learn the secrets of the Enoch?”

“Aren’t you trying to learn the secrets of the Kiymetl?” I reasoned back. “Besides, those would be hardly secret. I am asking about basic spells like making small flames and moving objects around. Not the secret spells of the Enoch that only adults have access to.”

“Why didn’t you ask your wife?”

I blinked. “A good idea! I shall do this immediately.”

My recent pacing and tactical pokes got me exactly where I wanted — on the clear path to the shore. I turned toward it and started leaving the river. “I am sure that I will think of something else eventually-”

“Wait!” A hand gripped my shoulder. “I will give you my own.”

I stopped and glanced back. “Are you sure?”

Kirana Kausar huffed. “We have two codices between us, and I memorised them all anyway. But you will not say a word about this to anyone else and keep it safe and hidden!”

I shook my head. “My sadaq will know, but no one else. This I can promise. You can remove any spells that you deem too personal to share.”

She scowled at my refusal but I held firm. While this was my personal project to compare how different Manors worded their spells, I had serious doubts about my ability to remain unnoticed. My sadaq would find out anyway or they would notice I was acting suspiciously, which was even worse. It just wasn’t important enough to play spy games.

“Is that how you power their Flow?” Huare asked.

I looked back at her in silence, neither confirming nor denying it.

Huare pulled her sister aside for a hushed conversation and then turned back to me. “You will get a full adult spellcodex, from both of us.”

I felt my eyebrows rise.

“Anaise Hilal is the daughter of Tarhunna Wafiq so it wouldn’t be... suspicious if she happened to know them.”

I nodded. “Then allow me to ask you one last question before we part so that our next meeting would be more productive.

“What do you wish that you could do?”