Mistlyn

Chapter 17: Blindfolds and Coins

Dinjn led us out of the vined area into the woods beyond the Shack. Dry leaves ribboned into spirals as the wind picked them off the cold ground. Some of the leaves were dragged along the dirt, sounding like old paper crinkling in a fire.

"The easiest way to the Jinn kingdom is by blindfold," Dinjn said, pulling out several black bandanas and some large gold coins.

He brought the blindfold to my face, but I pushed his hand away. "What's that for?"

"For traveling," he said impatiently. "I put this blindfold over your eyes, put a coin in the middle, and you're in the Jinn kingdom."

"That's it?"

"That's it." The Jinn brought the blindfold back to my eyes. "Now," he said, "You'll end up in a desert. Just stay where you are. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Why don't you go first," I said, stepping away from him.

"Because I have to make sure the blindfold is one you correctly," he sighed.

"I can go first, if she's scared," Majnoon sneered.

"Fine, fine, go first." Dinjn put the blindfold over Majnoon's eyes and placed a large coin in the center of the blindfold. The coin stuck.

Majnoon's skin wrinkled and buckled, folding in on itself until he was only a floating dot in the air. A flash of dim light took him away.

"You're next, Junoon," Dinjn said. The Jinn was blindfolded and his flesh wrinkled and shriveled until he also disappeared.

"Are you ready now?" Dinjn asked me.

I nodded, waiting for him to put the blindfold over my eyes. Something cold wrapped around my arm, squeezing slightly.

A tingling feeling swept over me and the smell of honey wafted into my nose. Like little bugs crawling all over me, my skin felt tickly and itchy. It felt like my skin was stretching out, then shriveling, like a date fruit left to dry out in the summer sun.

Hot air slapped my skin as small particles stabbed me. The cold around my arm let go, but stayed near my right side, like a ghostly presence.

The blindfold was ripped off by Majnoon. He grunted, throwing the material at me. I caught it, looking around.

I could almost see the heat coming off the sand dunes in waves. The desert stretched off to the horizon, merging into it so I couldn't tell what was sky and what was the sea of sand.

There was no movement except for the sand particles picked up by the wind.

Prince Cogaje appeared next to me, tearing the blindfold off his face. He looked around, his eyes squinting against the sand and wind.

"So this is the Great Jinn Desert," he said.

"This is it," Majnoon said.

Dinjn appeared in the desert, a smile on his face. "And now the real journey begins," he said. "We go to the Roc first."

The Jinn walked off, his feet leaving trails in the deep sand that was quickly erased by wind.

"No camels?" I said, "We just walk?"

"Just walk," Dinjn said. "And no, no camels. They'll come later."

I looked at Cogaje, his face sweating already. Squinting in the glare of the heat and sun, I moved fast to keep up with the three Jinns ahead of me.

Wherever I walked, that cold presence followed me, like a parasite to its host.

"Oh, by the way," Dinjn turned around, "I want your blindfolds back." He stopped waling, his hands outthrust.

Cogaje and I handed him the black bandanas and Dinjn smiled. The expression was malicious.

Before the hour was up, Dinjn was dead.