Chapter 49
Nahlah
As I burst through the door to the roof, Amu Sinbad and Huriyah were waiting under a storm-ridden sky. Rain was pouring as I skidded across the roof in their direction, the storm echoing the turmoil inside me.
“Nahlah, where is he?” Amu Sinbad yelled, extending his hand in my direction
“He’s not coming. We need to hurry!” As my fingers brushed his, the door banged open again, and there was Rami, clutching the doorframe so tightly his fingers left imprints in the crumbling wood.
“Why are you still standing there? GO!” he barked, pain etched in every line of his face. ”Huriyah, take her away immediately!” he commanded. The starllion whinnied in response, his eyes wild with fear as he nudged my back, urging me to hurry.
Amu Sinbad’s arm steadied me as he helped me into the saddle. Before I was fully seated, Huriyah lifted into the air, his panic clear in the frantic beating of his wings. Just as I settled in front of Amu, the Sultan sauntered through the door and onto the roof, uncaring about the rain soaking him. His presence was manic and terrifying as he clutched a large, snake-shaped staff that I recognized from Rami”s dreamscape.
“Blast it to all to the void, he has Farris’ elemental staff!” Amu cursed, his silver locks whipping wildly in the wind.
Sultan Ghazi flicked a glance our way, and as his eyes locked on Amu Sinbad, he threw his head back, laughing wildly. “The poetic justice of finding the great King of Thieves with the Heartseeker!” He flung out his hand, a gust of wind slamming into us with ferocious intensity. As Huriyah struggled against the onslaught, his wings beating furiously, Amu Sinbad hunched protectively over me.
“Nahlah, we need to go!” he shouted, and I glanced over at the rooftop, where Rami was on his hands and knees, his head bowed as the rain battered him.
“If you won’t give me the Heart, and my genio fae is worthless, then I will take it myself!” Sultan Ghazi shouted. He banged the staff on the ground once, twice, thrice, before an enormous blast erupted from the snake’s mouth, a ball of the six elements heading in our direction.Huriyah whinnied in a panic, but before he could move out of harm”s way, Rami materialized in front of us, taking the full brunt of it right to his chest.
“RAMI!” My scream tore through the storm as he skidded across the rooftop, slamming into the wall with a sickening thud. As Sultan Ghazi strolled over to his prone form, panic seized me, and without thinking, I threw my leg over the saddle, intending to jump back onto the roof.
“Nahlah, stop!” Amu Sinbad exclaimed as I thrashed against him.
“Let me go!” I cried out. But he locked his arms around me, keeping me in place.
The Sultan sneered as he tapped the staff against the ground again, a dagger appearing from the snake”s mouth, gleaming menacingly in the dim light. With the blade poised dangerously close to Rami”s heart, he issued his ultimatum: ”I”ll count to three, and if you don”t give me the Heart, he meets his end before the poison can claim him!”
“No!” My voice broke, and I elbowed Amu Sinbad hard until he released me with a grunt, desperation fueling my actions.
“Nahlah!” he shouted, reaching out to grasp my kaftan. Years of running from the guards had prepared me for this moment, and I avoided him, jumping from the saddle. Landing on the roof, I rolled to absorb the impact, and once back on my feet, I raced across the way, skidding to a halt a few paces away from them.
“Stop!” I demanded.
Rami shook his head, pain and resignation mixing in his hoarse whisper. “Nahlah, you have a duty to save the Heart and Nephria from this tyrant. It’s too late for me.”
The Sultan’s wicked laughter filled the air. “Isn’t it touching? This tragedy of star-crossed lovers? But enough is enough,” he jeered, glancing at the heavy clouds overhead as if they were an audience to his macabre performance. “One,” he counted, pressing the blade down hard enough to break Rami’s skin.
I trembled, my gaze fixated on the drops of blood appearing on his jellaba, my heart filled with turmoil. As a Heartseeker, I bore a heavy responsibility. The thought of the Sultan wielding the immense power of the Heart was unthinkable. Yet, the prospect of losing Rami tore at me, and with every passing second, I could feel him slipping further away.
”Perhaps you don”t love him after all?” The Sultan”s voice dripped with venomous glee. ”Two,” he declared, pressing the blade deeper, eliciting a guttural cry from Rami as it sank into his muscle.
“Wait! Wait!” I cried out, unable to bear it any longer. “I’ll give you the Heart! But you must set him free in return!”
“Nahlah, no!” Rami’s eyes, wide with shock and terror, met mine.
”Really?” Sultan Ghazi paused, his expression shifting to one of curiosity. ”You would trade such a treasure for this worthless fae?”
“He is not worthless!” I shouted, my voice firm. ”He”s worth more than you will ever be!”
”Very well,” Sultan Ghazi laughed, wild and unhinged, the storm above us seeming to churn with his madness. “Give me the Heart of Eternity, and I will free him.”
Seeing no other option that wouldn’t end in immediate tragedy, I unclasped the amethyst pendant. ”Here!” Dread pooled in my stomach as I handed it over.
Sultan Ghazi’s cruel smile widened as he yanked the blade from Rami’s chest before eagerly reaching for the Heart. Rami cried out in pain, blood and black sludge gushing from the wound—a visible sign of the poison killing him from within.
”Yes!” An evil cackle burst from the Sultan, his shadow growing as he cradled the Heart of Eternity in his hands. “The power! The absolute power!” he exclaimed, malevolent glee twisting his features.
The skies above Nephria, already stormy and tumultuous, responded to him with a violent energy. Sheets of rain poured down like a relentless torrent, thunder roaring like the drums of war, and lightning splintering too close, each flash a bright lance tearing through the dark clouds.
Dropping to Rami’s side, I pressed my hands against his wounds, trying to stem the flow of blood. He was deathly pale, his breathing ragged, the black veins spreading faster and faster across his skin. “What have you done?” he asked, his voice nothing but a hoarse whisper.
“I couldn’t let him kill you!” Tears blurred my vision as I leaned down to kiss him, pulling back sharply at the taste of blood. A sob caught in my throat as he coughed violently, red flecking his lips as blood dripped down his chin.
”The universe is mine to command, to control!” Sultan Ghazi”s red cape whipped wildly in the wind as he slammed his staff violently into the ground. The very earth groaned under the impact, wisps of dark energy spiraling out of the snake’s mouth, weaving up into the air before exploding, a shower of shadows scattering across the city.Huriyah whinnied in pain as a tendril hit him squarely in the chest, sending him and Amu Sinbad tumbling backwards, swallowed by the storm.
In the distance, buildings exploded, and glass shattered, the resounding claps of thunder swallowing the sounds of screaming as people ran through the streets, trying to find shelter. But there was none to be had.For the third time, the door to the roof burst open, a swarm of the Sultan’s guards marching forward with eerie and unnatural movements. With their eyes glazed over, they clasped their swords tightly in hand, coming to a halt before him, waiting.
“Go, my soldiers,” his voice rumbled, echoing through the air as a wave of shadows burst from the snake”s mouth, surrounding the guards like a cloud. “Bring forth my victory!” Spreading his arms, he steadily lifted into the air, the guards vaulting off the rooftop, their bodies twisting as they ran down the palace walls, defying gravity entirely.
As the screaming from down below increased, the elements appeared to conspire with the Sultan, bending to his dark will. The rain intensified, and the wind howled furiously, lashing through the city and destroying everything in their wake. Honeybelle and date palm trees were ripped from the earth, their massive forms spinning wildly past the palace. Black flames erupted spontaneously in all directions, the unnatural fire spreading voraciously with a malevolent life of its own, destroying homes and heritages alike, devouring all in its path.
Above it all, the Sultan’s laughter echoed, a sound devoid of sanity. ”Total dominion will be mine!” he bellowed, his eyes gleaming with a manic light. Spinning in a circle, he reveled in the havoc and destruction before his gaze fell upon us. Abruptly, his expression changed, fury flickering across his features. The air crackled with a sinister energy as he dropped from the sky, and as he landed heavily on the rooftop, cracks spread outward from his belgha.
His figure loomed larger and larger as he stalked toward us, his transformation absolutely horrifying. Clasped around his neck was the Heart of Eternity, the once beautiful amethyst pendant now transformed into a dark, malevolent stone, pulsing with shadow and darkness. His eyes were voids of black, darkness spreading rapidly across his skin, reminiscent of the poison in Rami’s system. He grinned grotesquely, his gums bleeding as if his unnaturally sharp teeth had pierced straight through them.
“I believe you bargained for the genio’s freedom?” His voice slithered through the air, a hoarse, venomous whisper that sent chills down my spine.
”Stay back!” I exclaimed, a sense of foreboding creeping over me as he tilted his head, his grin stretching wider.
”Oh, but what kind of benevolent ruler would I be if I didn’t honor my word?” He swung his staff in my direction, his laughter booming louder than the thunder as a blast of air hurled me backward across the rooftop. I skidded across the wet tiles before colliding with the wall, pain radiating throughout my entire body. ”The genio fae wishes for freedom? So be it.” His sneer twisted into a grotesque mask of malice as he tapped his staff against the ground, the blade once again reappearing in the snake”s mouth. Rami glanced up at him, so weakened that it seemed he couldn”t even muster the energy to react. “But to be free doesn’t mean you’re alive.”
A scream tore from my throat as he pivoted, spinning the staff around and driving the blade straight through Rami’s heart. “RAMI!” Tears blurred my vision as he convulsed, his anguished cry drowning under the storm”s fury. I moved forward, desperate to reach him, to somehow stop the nightmare unfolding before me.
Before I”d taken a single step, the Sultan wrenched the blade free from his chest and blocked my path. A sinister smile pulled at his lips as Rami”s blood dripped from the dagger in the snake”s mouth down his arm. “You would do well not to break promises made to powerful beings,” he growled, swinging the bloodied blade straight for me.
In that moment of despair, where I felt certain my life was over, something within me shifted. As if an extension of myself, I felt the Heart reject the Sultan’s vile intentions. It recognized that there was no saving a soul so depraved, realizing that the evil within him would only grow stronger and stronger, until it spread outward, extinguishing the light from the realms entirely. In response to this understanding, a power burst from the pendant with an intensity that made the air feel like it was burning—a tangible force of righteous fury, seeking balance in the face of overwhelming darkness.
The Sultan staggered back as the light circled him, and a moment later, the full force of the Heart”s power struck him squarely in the chest, the malevolent forces he’d wielded so cruelly turning against him. The black veins under his skin flickered violently, desperately trying to fight back against the overwhelming radiance of the Heart.
He screamed—a sound torn from the very depths of despair—as his body convulsed; the light piercing through him like a thousand arrows, splintering his form from the inside out. With a final, ear-splitting crack, he exploded into shadowy fragments, the Heart’s power absorbing the residual shards, nullifying his evil.
The Heart of Eternity remained suspended in the air as calming waves of power rippled outward, relentless and purifying as it sought to repair the damage caused by the Sultan. In response, the weather calmed; the chaotic winds easing into a gentle breeze, the torrents of rain slowing to a soft drizzle, the thunderous clouds parting to reveal the first hopeful rays of sunlight.
As the dust settled, I crawled to Rami, cradling his head in my lap. “Rami,” I choked out, my voice thick with despair. “Stay with me, please.”
“Nahlah?” he whispered, his eyes fluttering open, pain etched across his features.
“It’s over,” I whispered, tears streaming down my face. “He’s gone, you’re safe now. Everything’s going to be okay.”
”Don’t cry, hayati,” he murmured, managing a weak smile. ”Thank you for… giving me hope... when I had none...”
“No, no, you’re going to be okay,” I insisted, hysteria creeping in as I held him tighter. ”You”re a genio fae. It is just going to take some time for you to heal!”
“Thank you... for bringing light... into... my life…” his voice trailed off as he drew in a rasping breath, blood bubbling from his lips, staining them crimson. An alarming gurgle sounded from his chest, and I choked on a sob, shaking my head frantically.
“Please, don’t leave me,” I pleaded, pressing my hand to his cheek, feeling the warmth quickly fading from his skin. “I love you, Rami!”
“Love you... too,” he whispered hoarsely, his voice barely audible. “Nahlah, you’re... the wish I... never knew... my heart... desired.”
His gaze lingered on me, filled with a profound mixture of love and resignation, as if he was etching every detail of my face into his memory for eternity. Then, with a heartbreaking finality, his light blue eyes dimmed, leaving behind an empty void that echoed with a haunting silence.
“Rami? RAMI!” I screamed, my voice raw with desperation, as I leaned forward and pressed my lips against his, desperately clinging to the hope that my touch would rouse him from this cruel slumber. But there was no response. No flutter of his eyelids, no flicker of life in his still form.
Just the cold, unyielding silence of death.
A heart-wrenching whinny announced Huriyah and Amu Sinbad’s return. As they landed on the roof, Huriyah’s hooves skidded across the tile in his haste to reach us. The starllion dipped his head, chuffing anxiously as he nudged Rami’s still form repeatedly, growing more and more frantic when there was no response.
”Oh, Huriyah,” I wept, overcome with grief as I pressed my hand to my mouth, trying in vain to stifle the sobs that wracked my body. Huriyah”s mournful cries only amplified my anguish, each sound a piercing reminder of the loss I couldn”t bear.
”Habibah.” As Amu Sinbad sank down beside me, I couldn”t hold back any longer. With a heart heavy with sorrow, I threw myself into his embrace.
”He”s gone,” I cried, my voice muffled against his jellaba, the weight of reality crushing down upon me.
He”s gone. He”s gone. He”s gone.
The words echoed in the air, heavy with the weight of my despair. I repeated them, each utterance a dagger to my shattered heart, the pain of his absence threatening to consume me entirely.